Desire Disguised by Lynn Rae
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books (1/4/2014)
Series: Love Under a New Star, book 2
Genre: Romantic Sci-Fi
Source: Book Enthusiast Promotions
Buy from || amazon | add to your goodreads
Source: Book Enthusiast Promotions
Buy from || amazon | add to your goodreads
My Rating: ★★★★
Cara Belasco has been on the run from assassins since childhood. Living in the shadows with her younger brother and one elderly guardian, her luck nearly runs out when the smuggler’s ship carrying them crashes into a soggy jungle planet.
Ben Zashi, the stalwart head of security who rescued her from the wreckage, is very curious about her cover story, and Cara has to fend off his inquires as well as her escalating attraction for him. Will the secrets she’s been hiding come between them, or can Cara allow herself to find passion with the one man who longs to protect her?
{ excerpt } .
Cara followed at a jog, or tried to for a few paces until a broad chest appeared in her line of sight, blocking her view of the doorway. Ben Zashi. She’d forgotten about him for a few minutes, which was a first during her time on Gamaliel. He held up both hands and tilted his head, his eyebrow quirked in an inquiring fashion.
“What? Move, I need to go—”
“Actually it would be better if you waited.” He directed her to stand by his door and she did, too shocked by his interference to protest. He walked into their suite of rooms, and she heard his low voice, too indistinct to make out any words. Mat replied a few times and Ben returned, closing the door behind him.
“What are you doing? I need to get in there and—”
“No, you need to get in here unless you want everyone in the building to hear this,” Ben commanded, and a flicker of something close to fear wrapped in a thrill fluttered in her chest.
He jerked his chin at the door behind her, and she turned and entered his rooms. She’d never been inside. The layout seemed to mirror their suite, but she was too unsettled to take notice of more than a piano and a blue sofa. Whirling around as soon as she heard the door close, she found she was face to face with an unsmiling man.
“Give yourself a minute, Cara.”
She shook her head. “No, let me out of here. I need to talk with him.” She’d just found Mat, and this man was going to keep her from him. Unacceptable.
She tried to dodge around him, but he was too quick, flinging out an arm to block one side of the hall, and then the other when she tried it again. Her frustration built up in her chest, and she found it hard to take a deep breath. Ben’s dark eyes never left hers as he talked.
“Listen. You’re upset. He’s upset. Take a breather before you see him. He’s safe in there, and he’s not going anywhere tonight.”
“How do you know that? He just disappeared—”
“No, he went to a new friend’s house and thought he’d have time to get back here before you returned. The school routine is new for him, and he just forgot to check his datpad. Cara, listen, he’s just being a kid, don’t be so hard on him—”
The anger popped in her head in a burst of red light, and all the years of fear, the stress that never let up fueled her rage as she lifted her hands fully intending to shove at Ben’s broad chest with all her might. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I have to be hard on him or he’ll—we’ll die.”
Her strength failed her as soon as she touched him, and her arms gave out before she could actually push. Ben pulled her in as she fell against him. “Nobody died.”
“But we will,” Cara muttered into his chest as his arms wrapped tightly around her. She wasn’t going to be able to do this on her own. Two men had already died protecting them, and Soren was nearly dead. That left her, a naïve woman with no experience or skills.
“Not on my watch.”
“I can’t do this.” Cara shivered into the comfortable warmth of Ben and tried to talk herself into some courage. She had to do it, there was no one else. But she’d already lost Mat once in the few days she’d been responsible.
Something moving against her hair distracted her. Ben’s grip on her loosened, and with an unexpected ache, she realized he was going to let her go. She didn’t want that, not yet, so she slid her hands around his arms and held on. He said something low she couldn’t make out, and he touched her hair again. The soft and mysterious strokes were mesmerizing. She could hear his heart beating and the steady thump made her feel sleepy, a strange reaction after so much heightened emotion.
Ben moved one of his hands to her cheek and tilted her head to peer at her. She stared into his eyes and wanted to fall into unconsciousness, to just let all of it go for the rest of the day. A respite from her tattered life was all she wanted.
Ben frowned, looked at her mouth, and said, “Blast it.” Then, he kissed her.
about Lynn || Lynn Rae makes her home in land-locked central Ohio after time spent in the former Great Black Swamp, beside the Ohio River, and along the Miami and Erie Canal. With professional experience in fields ranging from contract archaeology to librarianship along with making donuts and teaching museum studies, Lynn enjoys incorporating her quirky sense of humor and real-life adventures into her writing (except the naughty bits). She writes sci-fi, contemporary, and historical romances.
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{ review } .
I've never read a Sci-Fi romance... not sure that it's a genre I would have ever chosen to read.
When books pop up in newsletters with tours and what not, I typically will choose them if A) it's a book I've already received via NetGalley or the author and was just waiting to publish my review, B) it has a really pretty cover and a good synopsis, or C) it has a good synopsis.
I didn't see the cover for this book, but the blurb seemed interesting enough. When it downloaded and I saw the cover, I kind of went squinty-eyed, trying to figure it out. And within the first paragraph, I knew it was sci-fi. Hm... What was I going to do?
I'm not one to not at least try a book. Once it's in my possession, I feel that I owe it to the author, the publisher, the blog tour company -- whoever granted my access to the book -- I owe it to them to at least try.
It was not possible to forget that this was sci-fi. Between the names, the ships, the food, the constant reminders... you knew throughout the book it was sci-fi.
What Lynn does well is she helps the reader through it. There were plenty of descriptions and hints to help the unknowing reader navigate this "new world".
I appreciated that.
As a romance, it was good. It fell along the path that many romances do -- guy meets girl, girl doesn't want to like guy, guy fights for girl, girl eventually falls for him. If one were to take away the sci-fi aspect, it still falls firmly in a good romance.
Cara has her reservations -- and while she recognizes that Ben has the ability to destroy her and expose her (he is, after all, the equivalent of president/mayor/overseer of all things in this place):
Ben took a deep breath. "Would you like to explore Pearl before you headed back?"...
"You ordered us to go back."
"I didn't order." He had, but he was allowed to reconsider. Apparently Cara didn't think so.
"Right. As if I'm going to risk angering you."
Ben felt his eyebrows pull together. "What do you mean?"
She took a step closer to him and lowered her voice, her eyes never wavering from his. "Because you could make our stay here very unpleasant. Turn us in whenever you want."
"Turn you in for what? To who?"
"You know our secrets. I never should have told you so much." Now the full mouth that had smiled for Soloman turned down at the edges, and she clenched her jaw. Mat shifted his feet and glanced back and forth between them, seeming ready to run at the first signal from his sister.
"I don't know why I babbled like that."
..."You hardly babbled." Ben tried to regroup. She seemed frightened of him. At the very least she was defensive and upset. He hadn't planned to question her in any formal way and now it was out of the question.
I wish she would have trusted him sooner. Ben, you can tell from the beginning, it an all-around good guy. He doesn't keep things from Cara and does his best to help her out. He is her shoulder to cry on, her ear to talk to, and her person to confide in whenever things go wrong with her younger brother, who she is acting as mother to.
Their age difference doesn't even remotely come into play -- as a reader, you don't even realize there is an age difference until Ben is called out on it. I suppose part of Cara's inhibitions could come from her young age (twenty-one).
At times, the writing seemed to push forward too quickly, but for the most part, it was an enjoyable read!
At times, the writing seemed to push forward too quickly, but for the most part, it was an enjoyable read!
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