Written by Katherine Allred, and published by EOS in April 2009, it depicts a GEP (Genetically Engineered Person) saving a planet's inhabitants from being exploited by a corrupt company who wants the rights to mine the planet for its crystals and they'll stop at nothing to achieve their goal, but neither does the heroine, Kiera Smith and her pet rockcat Crigo. Synopsis: Kiera Smith is not like ordinary Genetically Engineered Persons . . . The Bureau of Alien Affairs
needed a special GEP agent with empathic abilities to handle their most
extraordinary assignments—and a rogue geneticist saw to it that Kiera
fit their specifications. But she turned out stronger, faster, smarter,
and more impervious to harm than anyone anticipated. A reluctant
"superhero," Kiera wishes she were normal, but it is not to be. On Orpheus Two, the indigenous
Buri race faces extinction, a prospect the powerful Dynatec corporation
welcomes and, in fact, may be actively hastening. It is Kiera's job to
protect these beautiful, exotic aliens . . . and to discover what there
is on Orpheus Two that Dynatec feels is worth killing for. But the magnetic allure of Thor,
the breathtaking Buri leader, is proving a dangerous distraction. And
now, to save Thor's people, Kiera will need a power she's never before
possessed—something hidden in the unexplored recesses of her heart.
On her way to newly discovered Orpheus Two, GEP and Alien Affairs agent Kiera Smith and her rockcat Crigo, on her spaceship Max, are sent to investigate Dynatec's claim of Chapter Twenty--meaning that the sentient species is dying out and Dynatec wants the planet. Once there, the Dynatec crew, led by the sadistic mercenary Frisk and his GEP boss and lover, Quilla Dorn, try and suborn Kiera but it's no use as the Buri--the resident sentient species--leader, a man Kiera calls Thor, wants Kiera for a lover. Thor believes that Kiera is the Shushanna--the one meant to help his people (refugees from a centuries-dead planet) repopulate. After the majority of two months goes by, and offering asylum to GEP scientist Thomas Redfield and Dynatec crew member Claudia Karle, Kiera figures out that the Buri were once the Ashwani and left their home planet when it was dying. As such, Thor's people already colonized the planet so Dynatec loses its claim. Kiera and Thor marry during a ceremony and Kiera--much to her anger--becomes the Shushanna. Kiera tells her boss, Dr. Daniels--the head of Alien Affairs--and he takes it to a judge. Papers are signed but Dorn and Frisk hired pirates to wipe out the Buri and Kiera so they can have the planet. And they do this for the one thing Orpheus II has, the Limantii--a sentient crystal that only the Shushanna can use. Crigo kills Frisk while a dragon bird named Gem leads the other dragon birds to kill Dorn after she (Dorn) kills Thor. Accepting the power of the Limantii, Kiera alerts Dr. Daniels to the plot and then resurrects Thor. Dynatec pulls their crew off Orpheus II, but Claudia stays behind to get married to a Buri warrior named Ghost. Daniels takes Thomas back to Federation space to have him rehabilitated and retrain him for Alien Affairs. Keira is appointed to Orpheus II as a liaison between the Buri and the Federation. She remains behind with Thor with the promise of coming back to HQ for occasional updates in person.
Despite it being all first person, which--if you haven't guessed by now--I can't stand, it is really a superb novel and closely bridges the kilometers-wide hole that is true romance in the realm of science fiction. I highly recommend this one for any fan of romance and sic-fi.
