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Trapped on Arden, Earthman Tristan Mallory discovers that men are sex slaves forced into harems. He has no intention of belonging to anyone, not even beautiful fellow scientist Mara d'Jorel.
Mara despises the harem system and has refused to participate, but her heart won't allow anyone else to own Tristan, and owning him will turn his growing love into hate. To give Tristan the freedom her world denies, she must risk everything-- her reputation, her family, and even her freedom and life. But her greatest risk is losing Tristan's love to another woman.
Tristan's friend Kellen Votrain is acquired as a bed slave by vicious Cadaran d'Hasta, head of Arden's Internal Security, who has used the lives and deaths of thousands of men to gain her power. Intelligent and amoral, she'll do anything to destroy him and Tristan and any woman weak enough to love them.
Awards
Winner of the 2001 Write Touch Readers Awards
Winner of the 2000 National Readers Choice Awards
Sapphire Award Winner for the Best SF Romance
A finalist as Best Futuristic and Best Novel, The PEARL Awards
The Dorothy Parker Award finalist for Best Futuristic Novel Reviewers International Organization
James Tiptree, Jr. Award Nominee
Frankfurt Ebook Award Nominee
Winner of the Affaire de Coeur Award
What the reviewers are saying:
"STAR-CROSSED is an involving read from page one... a complex and involving plot, sympathetic and beleaguered characters, and well-crafted world-building.... (A)n accomplished, involving, and challenging contribution to the world of futuristic romance." -- Katriena Knights for Escape to Romance
"Marilynn Byerly has written a fast paced, action filled, sensuous love story." 5 Moons! -- MaryKay Moore for Mystic Visions
"STAR-CROSSED is a tense and exciting science fiction story with engaging characters, a tender romance and some intriguing world-building thrown into the mix.... (It) grabbed my attention from the first page and refused to let go until I had finished it.... This is definitely one of the best books I've read recently." 5 Stars!-- Karen McCullough for Scribe's World
"Ms. Byerly writes with verve and intelligence as she stretches the tension tighter and tighter, piles action on top of action, and creates multi-dimensional characters." Very Highly Recommended -- Patricia White in Millennium SF & F
"If you're looking for a tender, heart-felt romance; If you're looking for a fascinating futuristic - this is the book for you. STAR-CROSSED has got it all, and more. Author Marilynn Byerly will keep you flipping pages right to the end in your urge to discover whether the girl does indeed get the guy and whether the good guys defeat the bad guys once and for all. Ms. Byerly is a wonderful writer, as capable of portraying a tender moment as a brutal encounter, a lingering love scene or a compelling battle, and making the reader feel and believe every word. I loved every minute of STAR-CROSSED!" 4.5 Stars out of 5 -- Norah-Jean Perkin for Word Museum
"Marilynn Byerly can wring emotion out of words the way most people wring water out of a sponge. Something so simple as a change of subject in a conversation reduced me to tears, the tip of an unseen iceberg of conflicts and desires that resonated to heroic archetypes. The characters are all realistically drawn, and the world building is a masterpiece of pragmatic cynicism wed to hopeful optimism.... This book is well worth the read." -- Jennifer Dunne in SF Romance
"I read the book in one day because I couldn't put it down." --Crystal Forkan in Romance & Beyond
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