Broken Angel: The Lost Years of Gabriel Martiniere by Joyce Reynolds-Ward is a Western Fiction/Romance Event pick #scifiwestern #western #giveaway
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    • Apr 23
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Broken Angel: The Lost Years of Gabriel Martiniere by Joyce Reynolds-Ward is a Western Fiction/Romance Event pick #scifiwestern #western #giveaway



Title: Broken Angel: The Lost Years of Gabriel Martiniere

 

Author: Joyce Reynolds-Ward

 

Genre: Science fiction western with romantic elements

 

Book Blurb:

 

Exiled heir. Rebel. Husband. Father.


In 2029, Gabriel Martiniere testified against the Martiniere Group's forced imposition of mind control programming on unwilling indentured workers.


For his pains, he was forced into exile for over thirty years. Forced to divorce the love of his life.


But he's still coming.


Still bent on vengeance against the man who forced him into exile, Philip Martiniere.

Gabe will win...or die trying.

 

Excerpt:

 

Over one year on the run now, staying ahead of Philip’s bounty hunters. Gabe exhaled heavily as he waited for the next round of saddle bronc competition to see if he’d scored in the money at this little rodeo somewhere on the Oregon-Washington border. Right now, it was barrel racing time.

 

Gabe was barely in third place, tied with his buddy Craig Yellowhawk, who perched on the fence next to him. He couldn’t dial into the moves of the buckers well enough to finish in the money consistently. But he didn’t have anywhere else to be, and he still wasn’t sick of hanging out at rodeos. Craig had invited Gabe to stay at his place for the night. Despite their thirty-year age difference, Gabe and Craig had become fast friends while working in a frozen food factory near Pendleton.

 

Gabe considered the next round of bronc riders. He and Craig might have gotten lucky. None of the top riders were here. But there were still some good riders left in that next go-round. All the same, the broncs were tough, and the riders not that good. He and Craig might still manage to earn something.

 

“Hey bitch!” Troy Ridley, one of their competitors, yelled at the woman heading out to run barrels. “Come over here when you’re done, honey, and I’ll give you a good ride!”

 

Gabe winced. Troy and his followers sat on the fence about ten feet away, drinking heavily. He’d been loudly rating each barrel racer on her attractiveness, potential ability in bed, and how much verbal abuse he could dish out before she’d cry. Gabe was surprised that Ridley hadn’t been booted out of the rodeo yet—then again, he thought Ridley was a local boy. That might affect things.

 

Craig shook his head. “Asshole’s on a roll tonight.”

 

“Sure is,” Gabe said. “Awfully damn tempting to shut his mouth for him.” But that would be stupid.

 

“You hear anything more about that girl in California?”

 

Gabe and Craig had been amongst a group of cowboys who’d come across Ridley beating the crap out of a girl at another small rodeo in the middle of nowhere. They’d called the cops and exacted their own vengeance before the authorities showed up.

 

Gabe shrugged. “District attorney called and asked if I’d testify in front of the grand jury. I said yes. She’s still in pretty rough shape.”

 

He wasn’t eager to appear in court again, even for just a grand jury hearing. Not after the mess that his appearance in US vs Martiniere Group had been. But the DA had been desperate for grand jury witnesses, and Gabe couldn’t stand abusers. Even if it risked his freedom from Philip.

 

“Next up, Ruby Barkley on Sunshine,” the announcer said.

 

“Oh, this is gonna be good,” Craig said. “Ruby’s a hell of a good rider, but that damn palomino mare of hers is unpredictable. You never know what that Sunshine horse is gonna do—run or buck.”

 

Gabe scowled. The name Ruby Barkley sounded familiar. “Have I seen her run before? I recognize the name.”

 

“Not likely. She sticks pretty close to home when she’s not at college. Lives with grandparents. But Ruby’s one of the Pendleton Round-Up princesses.”

 

“Ah.” He’d seen her at National Finals last December, shortly after dumping the Feds. Back then he’d been even more skittish and cautious, slipping into his new life.

 

“Hope to hell you lose, you damned bitch!” Ridley bellowed.

 

Craig chuckled. “Ruby kicked the shit out of Ridley for getting handsy with her a few years back, when she was Thunder County Days Queen and still in high school. I would not cross that woman. She’s tough.”

 

“Hmm.” Gabe leaned forward as the big palomino mare with the redheaded rider burst out of the gate. Now that was interesting. A woman capable of intimidating Ridley.

 

The mare crowhopped around the first barrel but Ruby straightened her out. The second barrel was beautiful and fast, and Gabe got an idea of just how good the pair might be.

 

Then Sunshine sucked back and started bucking within two strides of the third and last barrel. Gabe whistled as the big mare bucked high and hard.

 

“That woman would make a pretty damn good bronc rider,” he said to Craig.

 

Craig laughed. “What do you think she’s riding right now?”

 

The golden mare sent the third barrel flying. Ruby got her straightened out and pointed toward the gate. Sunshine dropped to a trot.

 

“Hey Ruby, this isn’t supposed to be saddle bronc barrels,” the announcer said. “Tough luck, folks. That’s Ruby Barkley, Pendleton Round-Up Princess, unfortunately disqualified. Good ride, Ruby, just in the wrong event. Folks, let’s give this good cowgirl a hand.”

 

“Well, maybe the Ice Princess won’t be so high and mighty now,” Ridley jeered as a scattering of applause came from the stands.

 

“She did a damn good job riding that buck through the third barrel!” Gabe yelled at him. “If that girl was riding saddle broncs, she would have placed better than you did, Ridley!”

 

“Boy, you are looking for a fight,” Craig said.

 

“I think I’ll wander off for a while,” Gabe said, ignoring whatever it was that Ridley hollered back, his focus on the redhead and her golden mare. “Make sure no one bothers her.” He slipped off the fence. From the way that mare moved, she might start bucking again. He’d give good money to see how this rodeo queen handled it.

 

Craig snickered. “Ridley calls her the Ice Princess for a reason, Gabe. Nobody, but nobody, gets very far with Ruby Barkley.”

 

Gabe shrugged. “I think there’s gonna be more fireworks with that mare. Gotta feeling it’s gonna be well worth my time to watch.”

 

Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What makes your featured book a must-read?

 

Broken Angel is a thrilling mixture of science fiction and western genres, with a dash of romance to boot. When Gabriel Martiniere goes into hiding after testifying about his family’s company inflicting mind control technology on unwilling subjects, he finds refuge on a small ranch in an isolated corner of Northeastern Oregon. But that technology he originally testified against ends up being used against Gabe in an attempt to destroy him. However, Gabe is a Martiniere. That means he’ll fight back to regain everything he’s lost—his love, his money, and his vengeance.

 

Even if it takes thirty years to make it happen.

 

Giveaway –

 

Enter to win a $20 Amazon gift card:

 

 

Open Internationally.

 

Runs April 23 – April 30, 2024.


Winner will be drawn on May 1, 2024.

 

Author Biography:

 

Joyce Reynolds-Ward’s work includes themes of high-stakes family and political conflict, digital sentience, personal agency and control, realistic strong women, and (whenever possible) horses, frequently in Pacific Northwest settings.

 

She is the author of five speculative fiction series: The Netwalk Sequence, Goddess's Honor, The Martiniere Legacy, The People of the Martiniere Legacy, and The Martiniere Multiverse as well as standalones Federation Cowboy, Beating the Apocalypse, Klone's Stronghold and Alien Savvy. Her new trilogy, The Cost of Power, will be released in September, 2024.

 

Joyce is a Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off Semifinalist, a Writers of the Future SemiFinalist, and an Anthology Builder Finalist. She is a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, and a member of Soroptimists International.

 

Social Media Links:

 

CounterSocial: @joycereynoldsward

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