Judith‘s review of Forsaken Desire by Aubrey Ross.
Rhys’ abuse as a Setti slave has left him emotionally distant from the conflict around him. The last time he trusted a woman, he ended up in a breed pen in the Setti homeworld.
Frustrated by his son’s determination to keep himself isolated, Xenos sends temptation personified into Rhys’ path. Andara Kinson has proved her allegiance to the Resistance despite her Setti blood. Xenos challenges Andara to find a way beyond Rhys’ reserve and to rekindle the passionate soul Rhys has buried beneath a mountain of responsibility.
Andara thinks of Rhys with fondness and affection. He was gallant during a horrible ordeal and she will always be grateful. She isn’t opposed to flirting with Rhys. He is, by far, the most attractive man she has ever met. But her Setti abilities have filled her mind with images of another man, a dark and sometimes frightening being, tormented and alone.
This futuristic novella is a second novella from Aubrey Ross that is an encounter between the founder of the Resistance, a group formed to fight the incursion of the Setti threat, and those who have either experienced the Setti captivity like Rhys or who are being rescued from some form of political captivity that involves all sorts of very frightening scientific genetic engineering. Filled with alien life forms from worlds that have sprung whole from the author’s incredibly creative imagination, this story is a tale of love remembered and reclaimed. Having experienced the horrors of Setti captivity, Rhys and Andara find that the link of shared experience is far more durable than they realized. And while any of us can call up a sexual fantasy or two, these folks know how to create a mind link that can get them involved with the person in their fantasies far more completely than any person in our present world.
That being said, at the core of this story is the concern of a father for his son who has obviously not dealt with the long-term effects of his captivity. It is the remembered horrors and the rage they inspired that cause Rhys to even foment what is now known as Resistance. So it is not unusual to find that his emotions have shut down and his life has become one intense focus on neutralizing the Setti influences in his world. Andara, on the other hand, has several goals. She is obviously useful in relating to any Resistance captives who are either wholly or partially Setti. She also has a legitimate reason to come into Rhys’ world in order to put her unique gifts to work for the Resistance. But her most compelling reason–at least on the surface–is to find help in rescuing a captive she has encountered quite by accident during one of her sexual fantasies. Javier is alone and has been for a very long time, when Andara accidentally links telepathically with him. Her contact brings him great comfort but as their contact is almost like modern phone sex, Javier becomes convinced that Andara is his mate.
While this is just a novella, there is lots going on in this story. The tension in Rhys’ daily life is obvious and easily felt right from the first. His attraction to Andara is also immediately rekindled, but she wants to be very careful not to have any sexual tension between them to increase pressure on Rhys. She also needs his help in rescuing Javier and his fellow captive, Kamn. It would appear that their earlier shared captivity formed more of a foundation for their relationship than either realized. It took very little time for their romance to blossom into a torrid affair. However, in rescuing Javier and being brought face to face with his rage at what he views as her betrayal, Andara tries to find a way to bring Javier out of his mating frenzy and to heal much of the emotional injuries his captivity has caused.
This novella is really a beautiful love story but it also highlights the open, loving, giving, caring spirits that both Rhys and Andara display toward Javier. Their care of him result in a brief menage a trois, but Javier recognizes that their allowing him into just a portion of their relationship is a loving gift that heals him. Whether contemporary 2011 circumstances or times far in the distant future, the power of love to heal and restore is never changed. It is a healing potion that medical science has never found a way to replicate.
I have to own up to the fact that sci-fi and futuristic tales are not my number one fiction source. But I enjoyed this story and found that the open hearts of Andara and Rhys were very endearing. My only difficulty was that not having had too much history with some of these alien worlds via previous stories, I felt just a little lost in trying to slot everyone in and find mental categories for really understanding what was going on. Aside from that concern, however, the story held together well and was very well written. It is a short read but one that is very intense and filled with strong emotions and some very basic human need, regardless of the futuristic setting.
So I hope you will investigate this novella and the other writings of Aubrey Ross. She has an impressive portfolio of published work encompassing a variety of themes. She is a very good story teller.
I give this novella a 3.75 out of 5, not because of any lack in quality–I would have loved for it to be a bit longer.
You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.
Leave a Reply