Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Life For Sale by Linda Nightingale

August 27, 2020 - Uncategorized

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Linda Nightingale will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

GENRE: Science Fiction Romance

Book Description

Mayfair Electronics has created life.

But four of their Special Editions—sentient androids indistinguishable from human—have escaped. Rebel, Christian Aguillard and his owner, March, are on the run, but they have a bigger problem than his creator’s plan to destroy him. They’ve discovered that one of the renegades has suffered a dangerous malfunction, threatening them with more than just exposure.

Trapped on a cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic, March and Christian must stop the insane robot before someone else dies. All the evidence points to March being the killer’s next victim.

Excerpt

Life for sale “Why are you here? To spout more nonsense?” Spitting mad, Monica reared up in her enemy’s face.

“Not at all.” March’s hand flashed, almost too rapidly for Monica to see, and came down hard below her nose in a Judo-like attack.

Shocked and in pain, she stumbled back, switching modes as she pushed off the bed. “That’s it, whore. You’re a dead woman.”

“I don’t think so,” her rival gritted out, hands braced on her hips, her expression as cold and hard as her mediocre brown eyes. She shook her head. “Look, Monica, I know you’re aware of your actions. I’m going to give you a chance. You must deactivate until we can safely transport you to Dr. Cross for testing. Surely, you know something is wrong.”

“As they say in the films, you and whose army?” She squared her shoulders, preparing to strike without notice. “I didn’t do anything to that bloody dog. I didn’t do anything to you, fool.”

“You didn’t mention Anne.” The other woman seized Monica’s arm. “What did you do to Anne?”

Claws out, Monica lunged. March darted beneath her guard, stabbing at a spot beneath her left earlobe. Monica shoved her back. “Looking for my off switch, fool? It’s well hidden, like where Ms. Goodie Two Shoes wouldn’t even think about going.”

Her insane human rival stood at the locked door, her stance as much as saying to leave Monica would have to get past her. No prob. She stalked toward her rival, murder in her eyes. March didn’t move. When Monica threw a punch at her eye, she moved by the gods.

The American whore lurched back, crossing her arms across her face, anticipating Monica’s next attack. Forearm struck forearm. A human bone should break, but March stood her ground, her limb intact. She recovered too quickly, dealing Monica a hard blow beneath her cheekbone, barely missing her eye, slamming her back against the wall.

“I don’t know what you are, March Morgan,” she sneered. “But it’s not going to save your butt.”

“No, but I am.” Looking like an avenging angel, Christian—in a Houston t-shirt and khaki shorts, his long hair disheveled—had somehow appeared behind March without either of them hearing.

Interview with the hero, Christian Aguillard

Today, we’re speaking with Christian Aguillard. He admitted that March, his owner, paid a price equal to that of a modest home for him—in case any of you want your own Special Edition. You see, Christian is an android. Since I write sci-fi romance, I thought you might like to meet an android with true consciousness and emotions. So, everyone, here’s Christian.

character interview

What is your greatest temptation?

In women: You’d be shocked if I said anyone other than March, wouldn’t you? What if I rambled on about a petite, sexy, beautiful woman engineered to be a temptation no man can resist? I’d be describing Monica II, my sister android, and I did have a crush on the original Monica before I saw March. But I won’t mislead you. To answer truthfully, March Morgan, my first and last love, is petite with fashionably styled brown hair and big brown eyes. In her red Tadashi gown, or a business suit, she’s subtly sexy and as devoted to me as I am to her.

In food: I have no digestive system. I have no need to eat and no way. I regret that omission in my design. I like the look of March’s thick, juicy steaks cooked Pittsburgh style (charred on the outside; rare inside).

In clothes: Tuxedos or tailored suit with silk tie and crisp white shirt. That might seem at odds with my long hair, but I tie it back in a neat ponytail at my nape.

What is your greatest weakness (example: buying shoes)?

Making love to March. She had a program added to my Pleasure Mode, giving me a strong sex drive. That isn’t the real reason. Love is.

character interview

If you could have any car you wanted, what would it be?

BMW Z3, preferably a 2002, the last year the model was produced. I’d prefer an Atlantic Blue roadster. The car is sleek, nimble, and fast. It has an inline 6-cylinder engine. The color was a limited edition and the same as James Bond’s Z when Pierce Brosnan was James Bond—the best of all Bonds in my opinion.

character interview

Your dream home – mountains or ocean?

Ocean. March and I are buying a house on Galveston Bay near my work. I’m an aerospace engineer with a consulting company for NASA. We both love the ocean song and the beauty of the endless sea.

Do you have a hobby?

I like to tinker with electronics. I enjoy video games and always wonder what would happen if I could give the machine a real consciousness of itself and the world, in a word sentient like I am. It’s an interesting process but one that Mayfair, my creator, has religiously guarded. To my knowledge, the low-profile company is the only one who has created life.

If the company is low-profile, how did March find you and Mayfair?

Mayfair wanted to test how well we’d be accepted as human and ran one very small ad in the UK, several European countries, and the United States. She saw this ad in a women’s journal, called, and made an appointment. She was advised to watch a certain late-night talk show and see if she could spot the android. When she saw my brother Daniel, he clinched her determination to follow through.

How do you maintain an android?

I have reservoirs of bodily fluids to make me as perfectly human as possible—for instance tears. In time, or with great use, these reservoirs must be replenished, either by Mayfair or DIY. Our purchasers are given instructions on our care. Likewise, the purchaser is given certain secret information (and that person is the only one) made privy to the location of his android’s kill switch, a device hidden somewhere on the android’s body. Even the android doesn’t know the location. We don’t need oil changes or tuning like a car. (Smiles) As I said, the Special Editions don’t have a digestive system and do not eat. Other than these minor lacks, you can’t tell us from human.

Who is your favorite author?

Tanith Lee. March introduced me to her books with the Silver Metal Lover series and Dark Dance, both excellent reads. I’ve read her backlist and her more current releases.

What actor would you want to play you in a movie version of Life for Sale?

March says a clean-shaven Travis Fimmel (pre-Vikings days). I don’t really mind a great deal. As long as he can deliver his lines and is handsome. March has taught me to be a bit conceited—or maybe I was programmed that way. Still, there’s a part of me who questions this fact as seen through March’s big brown eyes.

character interview

Speaking of acting, what’s the most dramatic scene in Life for Sale?

When we are trying to destroy or restrain the insane, killer bot. It was the most dramatic in my life.

What’s your all-time favorite movie?

So many from which to choose. Probably, Gone with the Wind.

What’s your favorite color?

Red. Especially in those formals March likes to wear. My lady in red.

Is there anything else you wish to say to our audience?

Thank you, Deborah, for letting me talk to your followers today. I enjoyed the interview and hope they did, too.

Author Bio & Links

Life for sale author After 14 years in Texas, Linda returned home to her roots in South Carolina. She has 8 published novels, four of which are available from Audible.com in audio. For many years, she bred, trained and showed Andalusian horses. So, she’s seen a lot of this country from the windshield of a truck pulling a horse trailer. Linda has won several writing awards, including the Georgia Romance Writers’ Magnolia Award for Excellence, the Raven Award in Anthologies, and the SARA Merritt. Sinners’ Opera is a finalist in the 2020 Raven Awards. She loves horses, sports cars, music, reading, writing, and piano—oh, and dressing up and hosting formal dinner parties.