"Magic, space travel, fantastical creatures, an intriguing storyline, lovely romance."

Serena (a 6'2" female wrestler - there's a unique romance heroine!) and 99 other women have been abducted by aliens and taken to Volarn, a planet whose population is dying off because many of the women are infertile. The Volarnians have determined that Earthlings are physically and genetically compatible with them. This first 'test case' shipment of Earth women will reveal whether they can produce Volarnian babies. The alien captors made an effort to select only women who had no close family or friends on Earth, therefore serving the dual purpose of making their disappearance less noticeable and making it easier on the women to give up their old lives. Now it's up to the women to adjust and make new lives for themselves on Volarn.

This book stayed in my hand through phone calls, dinner time, and past bedtime. I didn't put it down until finishing it at 2 a.m. -- a wonderful, intriguing story and characters. I really liked Rhamus, the hero. There were a few points early in the relationship where he was the obnoxious alpha -- you know, just laugh at the little woman rather than take her seriously, because he knows that as soon as he kisses her she'll just melt and forgive him anything. But overall the hero is a caring male, communicates well, admits his mistakes, and shows real concern for the heroine's happiness.

The 'world' the author created was an interesting mix of medieval-type culture exposed to futuristic technology. A society trying to get the best from both. The society has basic equality between men and women, women can even be warriors.

There is the "destined" aspect of selecting mates, which is a plot device I enjoy. Ms. Nour's version is especially good because it is explained that the 'Tarthra' selects mates who are compatible and can love each other, but is not some magic guarantee of life-long bliss. The man and woman still have to work out their relationship and will still have the normal disagreements and problems as any couple.

Now the bad news: The writing is a bit rough, especially in the early sections. Poor transitions, rushed action, uneven flow -- a good editor could have done a lot here. Luckily, the flow and writing improved throughout the book and the storyline is great enough to keep the reader going through the rough patches.

I would highly recommend this story for paranormal romance readers -- it has magic, space travel, fantastical creatures and an intriguing storyline with interesting and realistic characters. I am looking forward to the sequel, HEART OF THE DRAGON.

- - - Footnote - - -
The cover art of this book is fantastic, including the step- back. Unfortunately that quality does not extend into the production of the contents. The pages are loaded with typos, incorrect words (you know, when you let a spellchecker automatically replace words with the wrong ones), screwed up word sequences, typesetting mistakes. It shows poor quality control and absence of proofreading on the part of the publisher.

Although none of that is the author's fault, it was quite distracting when reading. I wondered if the same errors occurred in the e-book version. I assume not, since I don't remember any reviewer mentioning it, and it is too continual and glaring to miss. Except for the marvelous cover, it truly is one of the worst production-quality print books I've seen.

Reviewed by Raelene Gorlinsky
Posted June 8, 2002

Also available in eBook format: New Concepts Publishing (November 12, 2001); ISBN #1586082604