Rogue-Cheryl Brooks

Rogue
Cheryl Brooks
Sourcebooks, Mar 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 1402217625

Queen Scalia of the remote planet Darconia hires Upper Sandusky, Ohio resident Kyra Aramis to teach her daughter Princess Zealon to play the piano. The Queen assigns slave Tycharian to cater to whatever the earthling needs while she stays on the arid reptile dominated world.

Ty informs his “mistress” that he comes from the destroyed planet Zetith, and Scalia saved him and his brother Trag when she bought them at a slave auction. He also tells her he can smell her “scent of desire”. As they begin to fall in love, Trag becomes jealous while Ty turns possessive and Kara confused. However, there are bigger issues on the planet as some of the more traditionalist reptiles object to the Queen’s efforts to assimilate their world into the greater galaxy starting with the piano teacher and subsequently a McDonald’s.

The third Cat Star Chronicles science fiction romance (see WARRIOR and SLAVE; neither read by me) is a terrific character driven thriller as the piano teacher and the slave fall in love on a third world. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Trag introduces himself to his “scent of desire” and never slows down as plots against the Queen balance nicely with the romance. Fans will enjoy ROGUE and look forward to Trag’s thriller as he wants what his brother got, his own “scent of desire” and some more daring readers would also like a certain assertive female reptile’s tale told.

Harriet Klausner