Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Meteors and Menorahs by Nessa Claugh

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Meteors and Menorahs by Nessa Claugh. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the book as well as a fantastic guest post from the author. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: Meteors and Menorahs

Author: Nessa Claugh

Publication Date: November 15th 2021

Print Length: 180 pages

Genre: Science Fiction Romance

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'Your dad invited your ex-boyfriend.' Already committed to going home for Hanukkah, Leah panics at her mother’s text and invites her crush to come with her. The catch? They aren’t dating. The other catch? He isn’t Jewish. He isn’t even human.

Knar has been studying the physiology of humans for years in preparation to introduce Earth to the rest of the galaxy and present them as a species that can adapt to change well. Although he believes in his mission, he’s also had his eye on his coworker Leah, and her invitation to come home with her for the holidays is just the opportunity he’s been looking for.

Going home for Hanukkah is normally the least of Leah’s worries until her mom lets it slip that her dad invited her ex-boyfriend. Desperate to keep him at arm’s length, Leah invites her handsome coworker Kenneth Knar to be a buffer against her family. Having to pretend he’s her new boyfriend doesn’t hurt, and if it annoys her parents, all the better.

He just has to find some way to tell her that he’s more than just a gentile. He’s not even from this planet. And Leah hates liars.

The menorah isn’t the only thing getting hot this holiday season…

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EXCERPT:

A man in a freshly pressed shirt and tie bustled into the kitchen, arms out. Before I could say a single word, he pulled Leah out of my arms and into a long hug. “There’s my girl!”

To her credit, Leah was out of the embrace as quickly as she was able to shove her hands up between them. “David! I wasn’t expecting you this early!”

Was that a grimace on her face?

“Well, your dad said you were here, and my last cardiology patient canceled so I figured I’d get over here.”

“Weird flex,” Leah said. “We all know what you do.”

“And who is this?” he said, ignoring the dig.

“This is Kenneth,” Leah said, grabbing my arm. “My boyfriend.”

David looked thunderstruck. “Boyfriend? Why haven’t I heard of this boyfriend?”

“We aren’t friends,” Leah said. “I have no reason to talk to you.”

“Leah, be nice,” her mother chided. The woman was short, but she still managed to move everyone with sheer presence out of the kitchen and into the living room without anyone complaining.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t had the opportunity to tell you all about my nice new very handsome boyfriend,” Leah said, running one palm up over the swell of my arm. I’d been feeling a little underdressed since the ex-boyfriend was in a nice shirt, but if I’d known it meant she’d be touching me skin to skin like this, I would have worn a tank top.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nessa Claugh grew up thriving on trips to natural history museums and Jurassic Park. Once adulthood was upon her, it was only a matter of time before she discovered dominant aliens and shifter erotica. She enjoys titillating the Triassic and stargazing.

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GUEST POST:

- If you had to host an alien visitor for a week, what Earthly experiences would you want them to have?

If I had an alien visitor, sampling cuisines from different cultures and exploring the wide variety of biomes that Earth has to offer would be at the top of my list of experiences to offer them. If real aliens had planets like what we see in a lot of sci-fi, there are a lot of single-biome worlds. Someone from an ice planet like Hoth (Star Wars) might enjoy seeing the American southwest or the jungles of southeast Asia. A native from Tatooine (Star Wars) or Arrakis (Dune) would probably be blown away by snorkeling the coral reefs we have left or exploring the swamps of Louisiana or Florida in an airboat.

Even just the array might be an unthinkable wonder to someone coming from the more interactive experience of 2181 Despoina from Mass Effect 3. To a native, the comparably dry air of Earth might be painful, but seeing oceans side by side with land could be an incredible sight, especially when a coral reef marks the boundary.

Food availability in space could be something as wondrous as spices and plants and meats from thousands of different worlds, or it might mark the intersection of what a ship can carry that's palatable to every being on board, which might come down to a tasteless gruel of the lowest common denominator. Coming to a planet like Earth which has thousands of different cultures might be a culinary wonderland for an alien. No two cultures prepare something the same way.

Israeli shawarma can be found served in a pita with tahini sauce and not the traditional yogurt sauce because of religious rules, where it might be served with a yogurt sauce elsewhere. British Madras curries are different than ones from Trinidad and Guyana, and those themselves are different than traditional Indian coconut milk curries. Between the varieties on different dishes, surely aliens would be able to find something they would enjoy on the planet we call home.

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GIVEAWAY:

Nessa Claugh will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Good luck!

(All the Ups and Downs is not responsible for this giveaway, its entries, or the prize. Goddess Fish Promotions assumes all responsibilities for this giveaway.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway