As one reviewer put it, the PTSD was handled reasonably well. There for a while, various romantic suspense authors gave me the feeling it was the trope du jour and they researched just enough to be dangerous. Worse, they gave their heroines magic hoo-hahs which cured whatever ailed the heroes.

Not this time. In fact, the longer and more involved the H was with the h, the worse it became. It stemmed from his inability to protect some people when a space station was destroyed, and his subconsciousness was fretting about his being able to protect the heroine. Eventually, she'd had enough - he wouldn't seek help, and he wouldn't talk about it - so went on a mission that took her away for a couple of months. Ironically, she sent him a message telling him he either got help or she was gone at about the same time he sent her one telling her he couldn't live without her and was going to seek help. The best part? Disaster struck, forcing her and the others (that didn't get eaten) to run for their lives after sending up a distress signal. He went out to rescue her, and neither read those two messages.

As an aside, the dude on the cover has goose bumps. hehe.

Okay.. This one may have taken a minute for me to get into. It didn't start to really interest me until about the 30-40% mark. From there on it was a pretty awesome read. Although it has a simpleton, light quality to it, it was great watching how things unfold here. I loved the ending as well.

I may just have to tackle the other reads in the series. This is the 1st book I've read in this series. I was not lost or confused about previous characters and plots that are present here. Everything flowed really well without being overwhelming in the reveals.

I would say based on book 3, you don't need to read these in order, to enjoy the story.

A loose end from a series orphaned either by a publisher saying "we don't want <insert sub-genre here>" or by a publisher going under. Since I think the first three of the series were published by Dorcester, might be a little of both. Regardless...

Star Princess kinda left a loose end in the form of the H's brother who escaped house arrest to save his brother and the sister of the hero from Star Prince. The author changed publishers somewhere around in here so the series was not completed. That was years ago, and it's been a while since I read the original three. I was delighted to discover she had a new one out, and it was Klark. I really feel I should have pulled the others from my shelf for a refresher though. I wasn't totally lost, mind you.

This picks up several months after Star Princesss and I kinda suspect the author went back and refreshed herself with the world she'd created first - there was nothing that screamed "waitaminute!"

The H - the aforementioned brother who'd been on house arrest and escaped (by removing a tracker chip from his head) - has been on house arrest of a different sort - some kind of beam similar to an invisible fence, that would alert anyone if he left. His sentence is commuted for whatever reason, and he goes back to working with his bajha team.

The h has been playing bajha in disguise because the sport isn't open to women. She caught a scout's attention, and he and a couple of his team go to see and recruit her. He at least figures out she's a female and after a bit of soul searching, decides to aid in the deception.

Bajha is like fencing with light sabers...blindfolded. Only, the lightsabers are more electroshock or tazer than laser knife. And to be good at it means using a sixth sense...kinda like the Force. So...our H/h connect in some odd ways.

Eventually, her skills make other teams suspicious of enhancement tech and the commission attempts to force a physical. He refuses to let them on the grounds that she's a woman, so she's banned for unspecified reasons.

They go their separate ways which lasts all of half a day due to his uncle telling him not to be stupid like he was - go forth and fetch thy woman. Meanwhile the team, and others work to figure out how to get the commission to change their minds. Which does work - public pressure and all that.

So did i like it? Yes. Neither character made me want to shoot something - point in their favor. H was in on the deception (hate it when heroes appear clueless). Heroine was a realist. H didn't give her false hopes. The supporting cast was entertaining (the part where they tried to give their new team member a good time by securing "him" a call girl...oh boy... and the h managed to handle it with aplomb. Even better - the H didn't wig out at finding her missing).

If I had gripes, they were...the several chapters before the h even met the H. I get that they were on opposite sides of the galaxy seemingly but the time taken... and... the whole training and try-outs particularly for women. I'm not sure why this bothers me - it didn't take up that much page count. Maybe because the whole galaxy appeared to have changed its mind in an instant and now everyone is ok with women playing. I dunno - maybe I would have liked to have seen that worked through over another book or three.

An alien crown prince with a deadline to marry...

A working-class bachelorette from Earth allergic to long-term commitment...

Ché Vedla is less than thrilled about his family choosing the perfect princess bride for him, but as the crown prince it is his duty to comply. With an arranged marriage looming, he escapes to Earth to sow some wild oats. Falling head over royal heels with his friend Ilana Hamilton, a gorgeous but completely unsuitable Hollywood filmmaker, may not have been in his plans, but he is determined to convince her of their happily ever after.