"Exhilarating science fiction romance"

Songwriter and wannabe singer Tess MacKenzie is heading home having just been paid when some street punk accosts her demanding she give him her money. Refusing, she sprays her mugger with hair spray before running for her life. In her haste to escape Tess barrels into someone else, Cohl Travers.

Talk about jumping from the pan into the fire, Cohl abducts Tess. However, this is not your simple kidnapping as this is a real alien abduction. Cohl believes that Tess contains the voice that will save his world Speculator. Though she cannot accept that she is no longer on earth and that she has the singing talent to save a world, Tess agrees to perform, but of course there are a few preliminary steps like risking one's life to find the amulet that her song will activate. However, kidnapping is becoming away of life for her, as thugs on Speculator abduct her. For the good of his world as much as for his heart, Cohl follows in hot pursuit.

Living up to her homonymic last name, C.J. Barry provides an exhilarating science fiction romance that readers from both genres will enjoy. The story line is loaded with action, plenty of humor and romance, and makes Speculator seem like an unearthly but genuine orb. The lead couple is the ultimate star-crossed lovers and Tess is an intrepid Pauline, as peril seems to be her middle name. Though at times the tale turns cartoonish, fans will savor this delightful novel.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted April 29, 2003

Author Interview

Winner of 2003 PEARL Award
- Best Science Fiction Romance

Summary

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?