Ultimatum »

Susan Kearney used to set herself on fire four times a day, but now that she's a USA Today bestselling author, she does something really hot-she writes romance. She is an All-American and professional diver, expert in martial arts, sailor, real estate broker, and owner of women's fitness centers and three hair salons. She resides in a suburb of Tampa with her husband, two children, and their dogs.

Dr. Alara Calladar needs a man...

...but she sure as krek doesn't want one.

If Alara doesn't make love soon, her cells will fail to regenerate and she'll die. Unfortunately, her only option is an enemy—Rystani starpilot Xander, her abductor... and a member of the race who has been battling hers since the beginning of time.

Xander issues an ultimatum: He'll make love to Alara only if she will use her psi-talent of identifying DNA to help him find the cure for the deadly Terran virus spreading across the galaxy.

Alara is trapped. She gives Xander what he wants—and gets when she needs. But Alara holds a pair of secrets: the more they make love, the more Alara's cells adapt to Xander's body, until the only person she can make love with is him—and the more time they spend together, the more Alara likes Xander.

When it seems that all the forces in the universe have aligned against them, can Alara trust Xander with her life... and her heart?

Publishers Weekly

The irregular behavior of the two protagonists in bestseller Kearney's third SF romance (after The Challenge and The Dare), a mix of original science fiction ideas with romantic cliches, poses a credibility challenge. Xander, a spaceship captain, is ruled in turn by honor, tradition, shame and libido, while biogeneticist Alara devotes her life to freeing alien women from genetically induced sexual bondage until she falls for Xander and decides sexual bondage isn't so bad. Hot sex, including interesting applications of null gravity and telepathy, and lovely scenic descriptions are undercut by unconvincing science, including a virus that affects both plants and animals. From the first reluctant coupling to the final lovers' tiff, romance readers will feel right at home; SF fans, however, may have trouble with the deus ex astra: super-beings who won't divulge the cure for the virus until our heroes learn to perform mental tricks. (Feb.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.