You can read Taken By The Shark free below.
Blurb:
A shark shifter, paranormal, plus size romance story.
Chelsea never imagined that her new job at the underwater research station Oceanica would plunge her into the deep depths of romance.
Her instructor, Mark, is not just drop-dead gorgeous, but also an expert swimmer whose allure is hard to resist.
But she’ll soon learn that there is more to Mark than what meets the eye.
Not only is he a shark shifter, but also the heir to a powerful sea kingdom!
Determined to claim Chelsea as his mate, Mark is ready to defy any obstacle.
Yet, their budding relationship is soon tested by dangerous waters.
Can Chelsea and Mark’s love withstand the swirling currents of an unseen threat?
Discover now in this BBW, shark shifter romantasy novel by Jane Rowe.
Chapter 1
The atmosphere of the testing facility for Explore International was a heady mix of angst blended with hopes and dreams and aspirations. Sixty total participants had been invited to interview over the next three days, and apparently only the cream of the crop would even be considered.
The participants were competing to fill twelve upcoming positions as a team of underwater scientists after a round of rigorous training at depths some of them had never thought possible. For most of the twenty candidates of Team Alpha now arranged throughout the room, there was no lack of confidence. Each of them was quite certain of their skill sets, and it was likely that their professionalism would play an equal role in their eventual success or failure.
Once the testing was completed only twenty of the sixty candidates would move on to the training facility, while the remaining forty would be sent back home. There were candidates attending the event all the way from Japan, and even some guy from Amsterdam who seemed cockier than most. Erik Stotz seemed to be either extremely popular or extremely well-hated, but so far Chelsea McDonald couldn’t really tell which.
She, of course, hadn’t traveled halfway across the planet to reach the San Diego based facility, since she had trained in Seattle, but still she already knew she would not be going home. She had been at the top of her class in the specialized college where she’d learned the skills of an oceanographer in a hands-on environment, which probably already gave her a leg up when it came to getting in.
If she didn’t make the cut, of course, she still had plenty of options, but she’d still be really disappointed. Explore employed only the best, and working with people like that could really offer some job satisfaction. Not to mention, where else was she going to have the opportunity to live and work in an underwater research facility like the one Explore wanted to send her to? The very idea of it sent a thrill right down her spine.
Most people didn’t know that Oceanica Station even existed. Situated not too far from the coast of California, the underwater biome rested on top of an inactive volcano at a depth of over three thousand feet, and the crews sent down to man it were some of the top scientists in the field.
Oceanica was considered top secret, and each of them had been instructed not to mention the possibility of working there to anyone during the briefing they’d just been given before the testing began. Since the place could sustain life almost completely without outside help it was no wonder they didn’t want to attract any attention just yet. Technology like that was believed not to exist, so Chelsea could imagine the media circus if people found out it actually did.
But if she didn’t calm down and take her test already, she wouldn’t land the job she craved. Shaking her head to clear it of all her future-tripping thoughts, she buckled down over the next couple of hours and answered four hundred questions to the best of her ability, and then sat back with a sigh of relief. And noticed that every other person in the room was still bent forward, intent on finishing. She appeared to be the first one done. She gave the administrator at his desk an uncertain glance.
Smiling, he held out his hand, indicating that she was free to hand in her paper and go. When she stepped up and gave it to him, he said, “Since you have some extra time, feel free to explore over at SeaWorld until dinner time. You just need to show them your temporary pass.”
“Really? That’s great!” she said with a grin. “I’ll do that.”
“Have fun, then,” he said as he glanced at her first answer. “And I’m probably not over-optimistic when I say welcome aboard.”
Chelsea blushed. “Then I’ll give you a contingency-thanks. See you later.”
The testing facility was close enough to the marine park that it only took about five minutes to walk there, and just a few more to approach the gate and show them the pass as the man had instructed.
“Wow, you must have aced that test if you’re here this early,” said the woman she showed it to.
“I guess I did,” Chelsea shrugged. “I thought it would be a lot harder based on all the hype, but I breezed right through.”
“Isn’t it mostly a written exam though?”
“Well, yeah, but I knew most of the answers off the top of my head and I like writing anyway, so it just seemed really easy to me,” she said. “I guess when I left, everyone else in the room was still struggling. It almost makes me feel guilty—almost, but not really. It just means my dream job’s well within my reach, right?”
*
Get premium paranormal romance stories for FREE!
Get informed when paid paranormal romance stories go free on Romancely.com! Enter your email address below to be informed.
You will be emailed every now and then with new stories. You can unsubscribe at any time.
*
“I tried to take that test about a year ago and I only got seventy percent,” she said with a sigh. “I have an idea what’s on it now, though. I’m hoping to take it again sometime when I’m feeling more confident of my answers.”
“Well, good luck to you then,” said Chelsea with a smile.
“Here, have a map,” she said then. “It’ll make it a bit easier to find your way around.”
“Thanks,” said Chelsea as she took it, and then she headed into the park to enjoy the afternoon. After reading the flyer, she became very interested in some of the things she found inside.
She wandered around for a while to kill time until four, when there was supposed to be a guest speaker from Explore over by the shark exhibit who would be giving an in depth explanation of deep ocean dwellers to the masses. Of course he’d be covering more than just sharks during his talk, but since a shark could dive down to six thousand feet into the depths, it seemed like an appropriate place for such a discussion.