Once Upon a Galaxy . . .
Zana Starchild is on a mission to restore her tribe’s livestock and save herself from one more meal of kelp. Sure, it’s technically illegal to visit Old Earth, but to a rim rat like Zana, galactic laws are really just guidelines. Her wrecked starship just means she’ll need to use her backup plan to get off the abandoned world, an old Earth legend her uncle passed down to her.
Pulled from a relaxing shower, across the galaxy to Old Earth, Galactic Marshall Kyle Kepler finds himself naked and marooned with a quirky rim rat. Zana’s broken more laws than Kyle can count, and he plans to arrest her, just as soon as he can find transport off the planet and a pair of pants.
A junk heap of a starship, a magical tree, and a roving gang of mutant kangaroos are just the beginning of rollicking intergalactic journey filled with laughs, love, and adventure.
With her sidearm leveled on the eight surly creatures, she took a step back. “Leave me alone and nobody gets hurt.”
“An’ if we doesn’t leave you alone, maybe we gets dinner.” The speaker was the biggest roo in the pack. “I ain’t had humie before, but I hears it tastes good.”
Its grin bared fanged teeth at the end of its long snout. Floppy ears perked up on top of its head as a narrow sneer tilted the side of its mouth. “Humies ain’t s’posed ta’ be here, so’s if we eats you, nobody knows or cares.”
“Back off. I’m warning you.” She didn’t want to shoot them. They were just dumb animals. Well, maybe one evolutionary step above dumb animals. Still, if they surrounded her, she could kiss her ass, and her planet’s survival, goodbye.
Zana squared her shoulders. She could handle eight roos, no problem. The blaster was set for stun, so no permanent damage. I’ll just shoot ’em and get the hell out of here.
To her left, four more floppy–eared heads popped up.
Oh, not good.
A third group of five rose up on her right.
“Crap,” she muttered, as the mousy-eared marsupials maneuvered to surround her. They were slow-witted, primitive creatures, but strong as shit.
She could only hope they’d played their hand before their trap closed behind her. If so, she still had a chance.
Now or never . . . She whirled around and raced away.
Review
Laugh-out-loud funny and sweet. I read BETWEEN VENUS AND MARS in one sitting. I’ve been on a major scifi kick lately, and it came time for me to read this book. For my scifi kick, it did not disappoint, and the romance was so satisfying.
The two main characters of this story come from two different worlds, literally and figuratively. But that doesn’t stop them from working as a couple well. Zana is from a primitive-ish outlying world and is on a rather illegal mission to find food for her starving people. Kyle is in law-enforcement, which creates nice tension against the rather illegal nature of Zana’s quest. Both are fully realized characters I could totally see myself having coffee with, especially Zana. Her consistent bad language should be at odds with her innocence (sexual and otherwise), but it’s not at all. She actually reminded me of a younger version of myself a little. By contrast, Kyle does not curse (for the most part). One might expect the character who’s in law-enforcement to be more crude, but this role reversal of sorts was just great.
The humor is spot-on. I especially love the tree’s “help” in getting Zana and Kyle together. On the opposite end of the humor is a truly sweet romance and seriously dangerous situation for Zana. It all balances perfectly into an action-packed, heartfelt and funny package.
Lastly, I loved the incorporation of earlier stories in the Soul Mate Tree series as reference materials for Zana to figure out how the tree worked. I’m the person who loves when actors are given lines that refer to another movie they were in, and this felt like that. So cool. I recommend this book to anyone wanting a quick read with a little bit of everything.
S.C.Mitchell grew up an avid reader of comic books, science fiction and fantasy literature. He’s been writing stories for over thirty years. In 2010 he left his job as a computer desktop support specialist to pursue his passion for writing full time. He is a PAN member of the Romance Writers of America as well as the Wisconsin chapter.
As a writer of paranormal, sci-fi, and fantasy romance, S. C. Mitchell crafts unique and wondrous worlds where characters explore, romp, and fall in love. Whether traveling through dark, demon filled dimensions, the edge of wild space, or ancient mythological heavens, heroes and heroines, guided by their adventurous hearts, discover hidden strengths on their pathway to enduring love. Find her online at http://scmitchellauthor.com/
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All the opinions expressed in this review are my own. Read the full disclosure here.