Free The Swords of Gregara - Jenala, a sci-fi romance by Cynthia Woolf Page B

it?”
    “Very much.”   He took her in his arms, her back to his chest, and rested his arms across her belly.   “What if it is a girl?”
    “I have not given it much thought.   What would you like?”
    “I’d like to name her after our mothers.   My mother’s name was Jenuvia,” said Santro.   “What was your mothers name?”
    “Vian.   How about Jenuvia Vian Baltin if it is a girl, which I’m certain it is not.”
    “How can you be so sure?”
    “This little one has been fighting with me since I was able to feel him.   He is just to ornery to be a girl.”
    Santro laughed.   “So girls are not capable of being tiny terrorists?   I would bet your father would have disagreed.”
    Jenala pouted.   “I’ll have you know I was the most well behaved child.”   Then with a naughty laugh, “most of the time.”
    He hugged her close.   “I don’t care what variety of child it is.   He or she is wanted and loved by both of us.   We will raise them right here in this valley, safe and secure.   Of course, we’ll have to work on having many more children.   They’ll need to have each other to play with and…” he paused.
    “And what?”
    “Mommy and Daddy need to perfect their baby making skills.   And you know,” he kissed her, “practice makes perfect.”

    *****

    Santro and Jenala went to stay in town a full week before the baby was due.   There was no way Santro was taking a chance with Jenala.   He wanted the new doctor to deliver his child and make sure his wife was well taken care of.
    Little Kreston Oliria Baltin did not arrive on time but was fifteen days late.   He had his mother’s fiery hair and his fathers green eyes.   Luckily for his mother, he also had his father’s gentle nature.

     

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
     

     
    Cynthia Woolf was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the mountains west of Golden.  She spent her early years running wild around the mountain side with her friends.

Their closest neighbor was one quarter of a mile away, so her little brother was her playmate and her best friend.  That fierce friendship lasted until his death in 2006.

Cynthia was and is an avid reader.  Her mother was a librarian and brought new books home each week.  This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug.  She wrote her first story at the age of ten.  A romance about a little boy she liked at the time.

She worked her way through college and went to work full time straight after graduation and there was little time to write.  Then in 1990 she and two friends started a round robin writing a story about pirates.  She found that she missed the writing and kept on with other stories.  In 1992 she joined Colorado Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America.  Unfortunately, the loss of her job demanded the she not renew her memberships and her writing stagnated for many years.

In 2001, she saw an ad in the paper for a writers conference being put on by CRW and decided she'd attend.  One of her favorite authors, Catherine Coulter, was the keynote speaker.  Cynthia was lucky enough to have a seat at Ms. Coulter's table at the luncheon and after talking with her, decided she needed to get back to her writing.  She rejoined both CRW and RWA that day and hasn't looked back.

Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she's made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.
     

SNEAK PEEK
     

     
    THE SWORDS OF GREGARA – HONORA
     
    BOOK 3 in the series
     
    by
     
    Cynthia Woolf
     

“Oww” a woman’s voice awash with pain reached his ears.
    “You disappoint me, Honora.    You continue to try to escape me.    When will you learn?” asked a whiney voiced man.
    The whip struck flesh and the woman moaned but didn’t scream.    She didn’t scream.
    When he woke again he was not alone.    Chained across the room from him, hung by her wrists, was a woman.    He could see the lash marks