Angela Verdenius is a must-have, auto-buy author for this reader. Her entire Heart and Soul futuristic series tells stories that are unforgettable. Although all of the characters have very different tales, Angela Verdenius makes every single one come alive with her attention to detail. Small nuances add familiarity as you read through the series, making the characters and different races of people seem like old friends. The latest instalment, Soul of the Forgotten, begins in a distant corridor of the galaxy; it is a dismal place where a young Reeka warrior woman was sent to die, lost and forgotten.

Prisoner 948, Liane, has been to hell and back many times. She was imprisoned as a child, and abandoned in the notorious Cardrak Prison to fend for herself. A Bounty Hunter had only recently noticed the young, unmistakably Reeka, woman in the hellhole. His report raised a quick and immediate response from the Reeka race. It was fortunately that a Dammen Trading ship was in the vicinity of Cardrak, and they swiftly redirected to retrieve the girl. She was not far from madness when the Daamen traders came for her

The Daamens have been told that the girl is insane. As they arrive in the middle of a riot, her wild, animalistic behaviour would seem to confirm this. Borga’s heart goes out to the lass. He intends to do all that he can to make her transition to civilian life on board their trading ship go smoothly.

Liane did not know that she had been forgotten. Her only crime had been her youth. It was easy for the blame of a serious crime to be directed toward the slave child to take attention away from the true culprit. Now that Liane has been released, she does not realize that enemies from her past will again see her as a threat. They will do anything that they can to silence her permanently this time.

This tale is complex; Liane struggles with everyday issues of freedom and trust. Her focus is no longer just on survival, she also needs to understand her strange new feelings towards the man who refuses to let her face the world alone: Borga, the Daamen Trader who rescued her. She has lost her youth, but is she ready to give away her entire future to an intimidating, sexy stranger?

The Daamen traders are, for this reader, perfect males. The combination of alpha male, with a strong dose of sensitive new age guy, who also possess an intuitive knack of saying the right thing at the right time, always leaves me with a smile on my face. Their friendly ribaldry and some fast paced action sequences, make the Daamen males leap off the pages, larger than life. Who could fail to fall in love with any man like this?

Borga and Liane are made for each other. He understands the importance of allowing Liane to feel safe in her new life, by letting her take control, even going against his natural desire to protect what he sees as his woman. For Liane, the security of another person who can be relied on is a luxury and she is almost afraid to test Borga in case she is let down again. Their shared passion grows as the action picks up. When the final chapters play out, a secret is hinted at, revealing past events in a manner that will have readers quickly turning the pages.

If you love futuristic romance, you will probably already be familiar with Angela Verdenius’s Heart and Soul books, if you are not, Soul of the Forgotten is a perfect place to start; prepare yourself for a real treat and a new addiction!

Reviewed by: Naomi