by Elizabeth Moon
I loved this book. I like my sci-fi with a few space battles, some time on-planet, and a little romance. This had them all. I'm hoping that Esmay is in more of the books in this series, although she isn't a Serrano.
This is the fourth book of a series, but I read it as a stand alone and it worked. Sometimes the book just rambled but you did end up caring for the character and her past and future.