"A Stunning Science Fiction Series Debut"
Present Day Earth After years of sacrificing her dreams to help her parents,
Tess MacKenzie had finally gotten her singing career off
the
ground. Unfortunately that often meant leaving the clubs
late at night with her pay in her purse. Getting mugged in
an alley was something she definitely didn't need,
especially when all her bills were due. She decided to
fight with the only weapon she had at hand, a can of
hairspray. She had just begun to realize that it hadn't
given her the edge she needed to escape, when she barreled
headlong into a tall, muscle bound, hunk. The man was
accompanied by a strange mechanical creature that he
ordered to immobilize her attacker. Talk about your good
luck! That is until the creature turned the device on her.
She awoke aboard a ship, and her swimming skills wouldn't
help her here. Cohl Travers, is on a desperate mission. His father had
been kidnapped and had become a pawn in a civil war on
another planet. Two brother's battled for supremacy on
Trakas. An magical amulet hidden on a desolated world would
give one of them the advantage. Cohl, adventurer
extraordinaire, had been charged with finding it. Traps
had been set to protect the precious artifact. Cohl was
more than capable of handling those, but in order to free
the amulet, a song must be sung by a very specific voice
and pitch. One mistake would mean death. He had followed
the sound of this woman's voice
across the galaxy. From the purity of that voice he had
expected a fragile creature, in need of his protection. He had thought the mission would be easy. Grab the Earth
woman, recover the amulet, free his father, return her
home, and continue with his adventures. He was prepared for
her to awaken angry, but he had not thought she'd refuse
his request once he explained. However he had not been
prepared for Tess's spirit, or her stunning beauty. She was
going to be trouble. The Planet Yre Gault Unable to convince her to help him, Cohl had no choice but
to take her to his home world, and hope his mother could
win her over. He had not wanted to return there, to give
his parents or his people the hope that he would someday
become their king. He had had enough of that lonely life as
the only child of the planet's rulers. Though still angry
with him, Tess couldn't help but see what he refused to see
for
himself -- how much he loved his planet and his people.
But
Cohl's absence had given his lifelong enemy the leverage he
needed to attempt to take over their world. Cohl was
forced into fighting the man publicly in the game arena.
The game was a brutal one, and for the first time Tess
realized
just how much Cohl was willing to risk for them. Now the whole planet knew he was home. He must play the
charade of acting the crown prince, or risk the
world finding
about his father's kidnapping. Tess would be expected to
play
his mate, a role that was becoming easier as she began to
learn what a fine, caring, man he truly was. Things had
become complicated for Cohl as well. The woman he'd
unearthed had become quite dear to him. Could he bear to
risk her life in this endeavor? And even if she agreed to
his proposition, could he bear to send her home if they
succeeded? The science fiction genre may indeed by the last frontier
of paranormal romance. I am definitely pleased to see more
and more novels released in this category, especially
when they are as fine as this one. While the focus was
definitely on the romance, the plot was much more
complicated than one might have expected. Ms. Barry only
dropped small pieces of the puzzle at a time to keep the
reader intrigued and turning pages until the whole story
came together at the end. The imagery was dazzling. I hope
to see more books by this amazing new author in the very
near future. Copyright © 2003
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted April 14, 2003
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Life on Earth was just getting interesting for Tess
MacKenzie. She'd postponed her singing career to support
the family business and after eight long years, she
finally
earned her chance to shine. Her band was hot, her songs
were rocking and Tess was on her way to becoming a
star. Things were definitely looking up. That is until Cohl Travers, alien extraordinaire, swoops
out of the night sky and snatches her off her planet.
When
he says he desperately needs her voice for a dangerous
cosmic mission and the fate of two planets hangs on her
song, she figures one of them is in for some serious
therapy. Tess soon finds herself up to her neck in smelly
bad guys, a robot with a superiority complex, an ancient
Amulet that could end her singing career permanently and a
man who can burn her from the inside out. Cohl Travers thought he was free and clear of his destiny
to become the next ruler of his planet. But when the
warring Trakas abduct his father and hold him hostage for
the Amulet, Cohl is dragged back to a fate he does not
want
with a woman he cannot ignore. Together, they might defeat the Trakas -- but what is Cohl
supposed to do about the feelings that Tess has unearthed
in him?
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