"Great futurisic romance that soars"

When she relocated to a different quadrant, Celie Cameron gave up her successful smuggling career to go straight. Her plan is to ship only legal cargo. Her latest shipment is to Joba, but upon landing at the settlement, Celie discovers that nineteen year old Raven McKnight, the daughter of her friends, has stowed away on her vessel.

Celie accompanied by Raven is completing the transaction with Max Rior and the android Rurick when a firefight occurs. The two women flee with Max and Rurick. To her surprise, the independent Celie is attracted to Rurick, but avoids males, even technological ones, as if the gender was the plague. However, she cannot resist Rurick just like he cannot ignore her. As they fall in love and keep Raven safe, they team up to battle the evil that endangers the quadrant.

The fourth Shielder novel is an enjoyable outer space romance that has fan favorites returning while providing a fresh tale to new fans who will want to read this author's backlist. The lead couple is a delight as both suspects avoid anything remotely entangling the heart yet they fall in love anyway. The myriad of subplots tie back to the prime theme so that fans of both genres receive a strong novel that stands alone, but is even more satisfying for those who have read Catherine Spangler's previous "S" (for stupendous) works.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted March 16, 2003

Author Interview

Summary

Ex-smuggler Celie Cameron meets her match in a mysterious android pilot, one who harbors surprising secrets of his own. Celie can handle the glaxay-spanning intrigue and deception into which Rurick throws her, but her attraction to him is another matter entirely. Forced together by circumstance, Celie and Rurick blaze across the galaxy, engaged in the oldest combat of all - the battle of the sexes.