Zira and Tige are prisoners of the Ketomir, a reptilian race. When the spacecraft they are being held on is going down, they find themselves freed from their cells and determined to flee. Escaping the ship, Tige and Zira end up stranded together on a nameless planet. Tige is a Thalian Warrior riddled with a biological condition to mate or die called Ken’Ja. Tige is determined to protect Zira and in order to do that he must make her leave him to survive on her own. If he doesn’t, the impulse to take her will become too strong to resist. Zira might be a strong woman but she is also human and Thalian men are savagely passionate while under the influence of the Ken’Ja. Can he force her to leave him for her safety even he it will leave him to die? Will Zira refusal to leave place her in danger from Tige’s intense mating frenzy?

Bernadette Gardner instantly grabs the reader’s attention with a ship going down and prisoners finding themselves free only to have to deal with the results of being from two different races and uncertain of each other. As the plot evolves, readers will find both characters to be honorable and passionate. Tige is a warrior and royalty, offering two different personalities in one man that makes a strong-willed but honorable man. Zira is a feisty woman with a heart and compassion that readers will love. Upon the conclusion of this story, I was pleasantly surprised with the journey Zira and Tige endured and a nice surprise the author gives readers. Ken’Ja has earned 5 Angels for its imaginative story, passion, and touching romance!

Reviewed by: Shayley