Parhelion by Lisa J Lickel is a Shake Off Winter Doldrums pick #sciencefiction #scifi #mustread #giveaway
top of page
  • N. N. Light
    • Mar 18
    • 6 min read

Parhelion by Lisa J Lickel is a Shake Off Winter Doldrums pick #sciencefiction #scifi #mustread #giveaway



Title: Parhelion

 

Author: Lisa J Lickel

 

Genre: Science Fiction

 

Book Blurb:

 

Parhelion—prisms dogging the sun. it’s a rainbow hope of reaching the stars for a small group of colonists preparing to preserve life.

 

If humanity wants to survive, there should be ground rules.

 

Maeve Michels hit earth hard, falling in love with a former Air Force test pilot. No longer in the military, Harry Kane’s mysterious work as a consultant for a space engineering company piques Maeve’s interest. Maeve’s sixth sense says there’s more to Harry than he’s telling her, but with the world about to fall apart, she must decide to trust him with her future. Harry is keeping a secret from Maeve—he has to, or his one chance at being a real hero goes up in flames with the rest of the planet. His assignment: get her to join the program, and him. Hopefully willingly.

 

With war no longer empty threats and posturing, Maeve and Harry are about to take part in the most important experiment in human history. Bigger secrets threaten not only their survival but their fragile co-existence with the cosmos.

 

If you could choose, what kind of a world do you want to live in?

 

Excerpt:

 

Chapter 2 – Harry

 

Harry cupped his hands around Maeve’s shoulders. In her sandals she was the perfect height to rest his chin on her head, but he resisted the urge tonight in front of her parents. She might get annoyed if he messed up her glossy hairdo, after claiming how long she’d had to sit for the woman who tried to make it curl. He liked it silky, flowing through his fingers.

 

Heat through the thin fabric of the green thing she wore soaked into his palms. So beautiful in anything he’d seen her wear. So independent, so giving. He loved watching her with the kids in the family, separated through crazy circumstances by a generation. They were all fiercely loyal to each other. And so, he respected Maeve’s need to be sure before committing to him, to the institution of marriage and their foreverness, like Werner and his bride. Harry had spent two years of watching, then wondering, and now waiting for her. He’d even met privately with Gervas and Rachel to ask their blessing. Gervas had understood and appreciated Harry’s challenging personal and professional dilemma. Maeve was the only holdup.

 

He hadn’t meant to love her.

 

The least he could do while he waited and watched was be her wall to lean on. He squeezed gently and let her go. He loved her enough to be there, yet not there, as he’d been the past two years while he finished his commitment to Uncle Sam. Twelve years for school and active duty. If that didn’t prove he was able to commit, nothing else could. Not even the secrets they’d shared of her past alternate lifestyle and his daughter bound them yet. Once he was able to share his biggest secret, the truth behind the future, would she run to or from him?

 

Harry watched Gervas kiss Katrine, convulsively, but gently, clutching her hands, face working to dam tears behind his lids. Werner told him Katrine’s dad wasn’t crazy over letting Katrine with her delicate health out of his sight again for long, especially not moving from base to base around the world.

 

Werner was a lifer, career German military. Harry’s adjusted career path led him into the even wilder beyond and he was eager for Maeve to join him and his new life.

 

What did Gervas think about how far away Harry planned to take Maeve?

 

The old man had been called to consult on the project, of course, although Dr. Professor Gervas Friedemann, world-renown socio-economic expert, only knew part of the scope. They’d just have to deal with the distance factor when they got to it.

 

Harry rubbed his chin over the top of Maeve’s head and twirled her to face him. If he and Maeve couldn’t talk to each other about the immediate future in this time and place, at least they could dance. He pulled her back out on the floor and held on as if he meant it.

 

<> 

 

In the morning Harry stood on the balcony outside his hotel room overlooking Lake Mendota, gripping the wrought- iron railing with both fists, cooling down after his run. Since the company was picking up the tab, he simply soaked in the luxury he was not used to after his years as a tramp flyboy.

 

His accommodations on training missions all over, and above, the world had not been this spacious. Neither was his current apartment at the compound. At least they’d get to transition to family quarters after the wedding.

 

His phone rang with Roarke’s triple burr, then silence.

 

Harry hunched his shoulders and took one last deep longing look at the lake before answering his immediate supervisor’s newest demand.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Whoa-ho! I thought Midwest weddings were tame affairs, my man. What—it’s practically noon in Wisconsin.”

 

Roarke was just as scared inside as the rest of them about what they were doing. If he let his humor get out of control once in a while, Harry could handle him.

 

“It’s only eight thirty,” Harry said, squinting back into the room at his bedside clock. “On a Sunday morning,” he added for good measure.

 

“Ouch, yeah. So, we’re all set for tomorrow?”

 

“So I said. It’s not like you to be so jittery, Roarke. What’s up? Tarlig asking for more genetically modified milk?”

 

Harry pictured Roarke shaking himself.

 

“Brrr. It sounds especially sinister when you say it.” Roarke’s voice dropped, as if he didn’t want anyone to overhear him. “News came earlier.”

 

An elephant walked over Harry’s grave. Clouds shrouded the sun. Goose flesh. Harry held his breath.

 

“Your number,” Roarke muttered in his raspy voice, as if the words were so foul not even he would utter them. “It came up. So far Johnsrud has stalled, but…you’re up, Sundog. It’s official. Uncle Sam is recalling a lot of personnel, even you.”

 

Harry slumped on the very firm hotel mattress and rubbed his brow with his free hand. “I bet not even the president knew this was happening before three a.m.,” was the first thing out of his mouth.

 

“He’s not your boss, not right now anyway, so you’re entitled to pique,” Roarke responded. “And I’m not tattling. Though if I did, he may change his mind about you.”

 

“I really wanted more time, you know.” Harry flopped back on the bed and flung his arm over his eyes, even though they couldn’t afford wasting even these few minutes shooting the breeze. “She’s close. She should come of her own free will. So far, the Earthers have kept their distance. They know we’re watching her.”

 

Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


What’s your favorite activity to shake off the winter doldrums?

 

Going for a Walk

 

In Wisconsin, winter means cold and often snow. On sunny days when the sunlight sparkles on the crusty snow, even if the thermometer reads below zero, I like to wrap my head and chin and throat in a long warm scarf, put on my warm coat, hat, boots, and heavy gloves, hat, and head down our long driveway to the mailbox. I live rural and enjoy the company of a lot of critters. Along the way I see where coyotes chased rabbits in the night, the bobcat went hunting for mice, who tunneled under the snow to get away. Deer make cautious steps, and suddenly leap across the path, two or three at a time, leaving little wakes. The badger and the crow take a leisurely walk along the edge where the gravel meets the field. It’s a fascinating community.

 

Why is your featured book a cure for the winter blues?

 

Parhelion takes the reader far away from Earth about to go up in flames, and lands us on a bequeathed world. When you want to escape winter, head for the new planet of Parhelion and its wonders.

 

Giveaway –

 

One lucky reader will win a $35 Amazon gift card

 

 

Open internationally.

 

Runs March 1 – 31, 2024

 

Drawing will be held on April 1, 2024. 

 


Author Biography:

 

Lisa Lickel writes from the peaceful rolling hills of Wisconsin’s driftless area. A multi-published and award-winning novelist, she also writes short stories and radio theater, articles, is an avid book reviewer, blogger, and freelance editor. She loves books, collects dragons, and encouraging authors. She’s a member of the Wisconsin Writers Association, the Chicago Writers Association, and Assistant Director and book coach for Novel-In-Progress Bookcamp and Writing Retreat, Inc. She manages the Wisconsin Writers Association Press and edits Creative Wisconsin magazine. Lisa and her husband enjoy gardening, travel, spending time with their family. They have two grown sons, daughters-in-law, and lots of adorable grandchildren.

 

Social Media Links:

 

Tags:

bottom of page