Rhea’s midlife crisis and a wayward spell sent her on an adventure that was literally out of this world. Roaming the galaxy in an old spacecraft with her cat, Alika, she sacrificed her only means home to save an alien captain and his dying ship.
The last thing she expected was to fall in love with the handsome Akerlon captain.
Widower, C’tloc, wasn’t always the captain of a solitary space junk picker. He was once a respected and wealthy leader on Akerlon in the Segarian galaxy. He lost everything when his planet was taken over. Returning from a routine run, he collects an unusual payload—Rhea, the strangely beautiful H’taerling who renews the joy in his heart that he thought was lost.
Neither C’tloc nor Rhea imagined they would find a second chance for love. Despite their differences, they are determined to make this relationship work.
Rhea’s family drama just went intergalactic!
The family homecoming goes well until C’tloc and Rhea declare their wish to spend the rest of their days together.
Did Rhea really think this would be easy?
Their timing couldn’t have been worse to break the news to C’tloc’s adult daughters that they’ve become pair-bonded mates.
Exiled on Drakarus, life isn’t peachy for any of their people. In fact, unbeknownst to C’tloc, a rebellion is in the works.
By any galactic standard, Rhea doesn’t look anything like C’tloc’s people or anyone else in the Segarian galaxy. It doesn’t help that the odd small dark creature that sticks close by her side (who, by the way, is her familiar feline Alika) speaks their language.
Can Rhea’s whimsical charm overcome his family’s suspicions, or will their love be lost in the stars in this magical addition to the Baga Shores series?
I was invited to write a sci-fi story for PETS IN SPACE 7, a limited-edition charity anthology benefiting HERO DOGS. This unique annual anthology features the best sci-fi authors out there, and being invited to participate was an honor. And it challenged me to up my game!
Because…
The qualifier was that the story must be science fiction. I’d never even dipped a toe into writing sci-fi, although I love reading them. And I’m a massive fan of older and modern sci-fi movies. And I dropped many hints in this story. So far, nobody’s picked up on them. Will you be the first?
I love all my Baga Shores characters, but one stand-out is Rhea Tanner, the quirky witch you met (or if you haven’t met yet, you should!) in BEWITCHING ANDIE. Rhea’s in her late forties, dresses like a free spirit, hates shoes, and wears her salt-and-pepper gray hair in dreadlocks.
Oh, and she floats in and out of her family’s life on a whim.
I should add that ‘floating’ means appearing and disappearing. Sometimes it’s subtle. Sometimes, it’s with great flourish. You see, her superpower is mystical transportation through meditation. Fine and dandy until it goes haywire. And it does frequently.
With Alika by her side, Rhea has followed her wanderlust spirit to see firsthand the world’s past and present wonders.
She’s transported to Norway to view the northern lights and slept under the Milky Way on a cliff in New Mexico. She witnessed the summer solstice through the stones at Stonehenge. And she’s traveled back 5000 years to watch the Egyptians build the pyramids.
That escapade was nearly her last one. If it hadn’t been for her feline familiar, Alika, who once again got her out of an impossible jam, Rhea was about to be sealed in a dead pharaoh’s tomb.
Now that her grown-up kids are on their own, in RHEA’S CONUNDRUM, she attempts one last session before settling down to help her daughter raise her precocious seven-year-old, an emerging wizard. But when Rhea opened her eyes, she discovered she was not in Baga Shores, Florida. She’s not even on Earth. She and her snarky familiar are in the cargo hold of a junk-picker alien spaceship.
That’s when the story took off!
You may have heard about authors who stand to the side and let the characters tell the story. That usually happens to me. But Rhea’s story flew onto the page. I barely had any say-so about what would happen next.
Do you think that could have been part of Rhea’s magic?
This story is one of four in the Witch In Space spin-off series. Rhea and Alika are just getting started!
Goodreads Reviews for RHEA’S CONUNDRUM in PETS IN SPACE 7:
“I was so excited to dive into this anthology after how fun the previous one was. Although I enjoyed reading each novella, “Rhea’s Conundrum: A Witch in Space” by Candace Colt was my favorite. Where can I find my own Captain C’tloc?”
“Rhea’s Conundrum: A Witch in Space” by Candace Colt. This one was my favorite because Rhea is a witch of a certain age who learns that love has not passed her by, and that she is not yet ready (if, admittedly, she ever will be) to settle down and help raise her grandchildren. Her conundrum is a devastating one, as the necklace that powered her journey to C’tloc’s spaceship can either take her back to her home or power his spaceship so that he can get back home, but not both. If she leaves, he’ll die. If she stays, by the time she manages to get back to Earth her family will probably be long dead. She can only live one life, and she has to make a bittersweet choice between loves – with the help of her very snarky cat. This one was a heartbreaker.”
“Rhea Tanner is a witch who has the ability to travel in the past and present. What she doesn’t realize is that she can also travel into space. When she finds herself on C’tloc’s spaceship she struggles to cope with her sense of adventure, her growing feelings for C’tloc, and her grief at leaving her family behind. I enjoyed this story of two older characters finding love again. Rhea and C’tloc had an interesting adventure and fast-paced romance.”
Grab your copy of RHEA’S CONUNDRUM the first Witch In Space spin-off!
