HERO: CAT STAR CHRONICLES #6

Author: Cheryl Brooks ISBN: 9781402229411 8/2010 PARANORMAL Publisher: SOURCEBOOKS

Raised on earth, Micayla is the last living Zetithian female. Typical of her species, she's aloof and uninterested in men—until she meets Trag, the Zetithian pilot for an intergalactic arms dealer and the sexiest, most irksome man she's ever met. Trag has sworn he'll never marry, unless he can find a Zetithian woman. Considering the odds, it's a safe bet, until he encounters Micayla. Fighting the enemies who are determined to wipe out the Zetithian race may be easier than convincing these hardheaded lovers that they were made for each other…

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Cheryl Brooks sets her paranormal romance HERO (The Cat Star Chronicles #6) on the Orleon Space Station where Micayla serves as a communications officer. She’s always wondered who she is and where she is from. Her adoptive mother raised her on Earth, but could only tell her that Micayla’d been thrust into her arms in a busy spaceport just before Micayla’s family was gunned down. Trag, his brother, and their friends believe they are the last handful of catlike survivors after someone paid the Nedwuts to destroy their planet, Zetithia. Trag is the only one of them not yet married because he is in love with his brother’s wife. In order to keep everyone off his case, he tells them that he is waiting for a Zetithian female. He thinks that will keep him safe since they’ve never encountered a female Zetithian in all of their travels throughout the galaxies. Imagine his surprise when Micayla and her friend Windura stumble into the ship he pilots when it’s docked at Orleon Station. They are being chased by Rutger Grekkor, the head of the Commerce Consortium. Unfortunately for Grekkor, he underestimated Micayla and blurted out his hatred for Zetithians like her because his wife had left him for one, so he destroyed the planet and he's going to destroy her. Mic puts her self-defense lessons to good use and the girls escape to Trag’s ship, which is ready to take off and does. Will two Zetithians who grew up without benefit of their culture, understand the way their hormones are making them react to each other before one of them gets thrown out of the spaceship?

Brooks creates the yummiest heroes, and grumpy, old Trag is no exception. He’s so conflicted. He really doesn’t want to be attracted to his brother’s mate, and he can’t tell if he’s attracted to Micayla or not. He does know that she doesn’t quite smell right for mating yet. He’s hidden his desire for Kyra for so long that he’s not sure if he’ll ever get over her. One thing that he does know for certain—when he gets his hands on Rutger Grekkor, he’s planning to mete out justice for the lost planet of Zetithia. Micayla has wanted to find her people for so long, and now that she’s finally found an eligible male of her own kind, all she wants to do is hiss at him and bite—right there on his rump. What is wrong with her? Brooks has a way of making everything very sensual and erotic—from eating to taking a stroll. Her characters are just plain sexy.

HERO could be the final episode in the Cat Star Chronicles, and it saddens me if it is. I’ve grown accustomed to these big erotic cats with their space adventures, romantic encounters, and near-deadly escapades with the Nedwuts. I guess I’ll just have to go back and start reading the series from the beginning again.

Susan Barton