Houston, Texas, 1961
The race to the moon is on, and engineer Eugene Parsons has two enemies: danger and distraction. Nothing is more distracting than his attraction to the brilliant, beautiful computer scientist on his team, but he’s determined to overcome it since he needs her to help America win.
Charlie Eason is used to men underestimating her. It comes with being a woman in engineering, but it’s worth it to join the space race—even if she can’t figure out what’s behind the intense looks one tightly wound engineer keeps sending her. But life isn’t as unemotional or predictable as code, and things soon boil over with the intriguingly demanding Parsons.
With every launch, their secret affair grows thornier. The lines between work and play tangle even as Parsons and Charlie try to keep them separate. But when a mission goes wrong, they’ll have to put aside their pride for the greater good—and discover that matters of the heart have a logic all their own.
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Reviews
“This is my favorite book of 2016. ….The romance made me swoon in the very best way a good romance can. I love the setting, the research, and the intense competence of the characters. …This book reaches that gold standard of ‘antagonists to desperately, secretly, explosively in love.'” – Binge on Books
“The tension and attraction between them ratchets up over the months until one evening when Charlie spots something in Parsons’ eye which she reciprocates. …The resulting encounters have enough fire power to put a Saturn 5 rocket into orbit.” – Dear Author
“Earth Bound does an excellent job of plunging you into the space race…I really fell in love with them as couple when I closed the book[.]” – For What It’s Worth Reviews
“Earth Bound is compelling, intense, and sexy romance reading catnip.” – Romance Novels for Feminists
“I absolutely loved this book.” – Smexy Books
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How long is Earth Bound? 75,000 words, or on the shorter end of single-title length. It’s quite a bit longer than Star Dust.
- What’s the heat level for Earth Bound? This is a secret affair book. It’s not erotic, but it’s intense.
- Are there any content notes?
Click here for content notes!
On-page sex and alcohol use; profanity; references to sexual harassment and discrimination; loss of a sibling/grief.
- Is it standalone? Yes. While it takes place in the same world as Star Dust (and a decade and a half after A Midnight Clear), we wrote it to make sense for a reader who started the series here.
- What inspired you and Gen to write the book? We were intrigued by the grumpy, ambitious Parsons, who is the villain in Star Dust, but we had to find him a worthy heroine. Charlie is brilliant, witty, and absolutely his match. You can check out the Pinterest board for the book here.
- What’s coming next for the men and women of the American Space Department? There’s the briefest of previews for the next book at the end of Earth Bound. After your response to the teaser for Parsons’ book, we really can’t wait to hear wait you think.
- How many more Fly Me to the Moon books will there be? We’re not sure, but we have to see if ASD makes it to the moon, don’t we?
- I’d like to review the book. Awesome! We hope you love it, but if you don’t, we support your right to review it honestly however and wherever you want. Reviews are for readers not writers. While bad reviews are unpleasant, Gen and I will live and we won’t harass you about it. Promise.
Excerpt
Everyone was at the party celebrating the safe return of Commander Campbell from his mission to space—everyone except the man most responsible for that safe return. They probably didn’t even notice he’d bolted early.
Eugene Parsons pulled into the lot of a seedy motel. One so seedy that not even the astronauts used it for their assignations. Which was the point. No one would see him here.
The powder blue Dodge he was looking for was parked in front of room nine.
He released the breath he always held until he saw the car. That was his fear: one day he’d show up and the blue car wouldn’t be there. He’d enter the room and it would be empty.
That was the agreement. Either one of them could end their arrangement at any time. But Parsons didn’t want it to end. Not yet. No, he wanted these meetings with a force that scared him sometimes.
How far would he have to push her before she decided it was no longer worth it? Before he pushed her completely out of reach?
He didn’t think he wanted to find out.
He parked his own car and went up to the door of room nine, gingerly trying the handle. Unlocked.
He slowly opened the door, walked in, and searched the shadows.
“How was your day, dear?” a voice asked from the darkness of the bed.
She was here. Even though he’d seen her car, a small part of the fear held on until he knew for certain she was here. Waiting for him.
“All right.” He closed the door and began to strip off his tie.
“Make any astronauts cry?” she mocked. “You’re smiling, which means you must have.”
He could see her now, his eyes having adjusted. She was propped up on the bed, her blouse half unbuttoned, her skirt hiked to mid-thigh, her legs bare. Her curls were black in the low light as they tumbled about her shoulders. She had a beer in her hand, and she took a long swig as she studied him.
It had been quite a day, with the stress of thinking Campbell might not make it. For hours Parsons had calculated the odds of the entire mission burning to a crisp in the sky. But it had all ended well.
“Actually no,” he answered. “But that’s on the agenda for tomorrow.”
He unbuttoned his cuffs, rolled his sleeves up to his elbows while she watched. She took another swig, her throat working, her gaze shuttered.
He got onto the bed and climbed over her, enclosing her body with his own. She merely stared back, her bronze eyes defiant. Daring.
She never gave anything easy, this woman. He had to wrest everything from her. Which made it all the sweeter.
She lifted the beer to her mouth, took another swallow. As if he bored her. When she moved the bottle away, a drop of liquid clung to her swooping upper lip. He bent forward and licked it off.
“Hey,” she protested quietly. “That was my beer.”
He took it from her hand. “It’s mine now.” He set the bottle on the side table, lowered his mouth back to hers. “All mine.”
In this room, in the dark, with this woman, everything else fell away. There were no Soviets here. No faulty switches. No recalcitrant flyboys.
“That’s what you think,” she whispered against his lips.
Oh, but the struggle for control was just as real—and so were the rewards.
You can read the entire opening chapter here.
© Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner, 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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