Earth has been decimated by a comet that has killed billions. Three years ago two million citizens of the United States were chosen to live in a cavern in the Midwest to survive. Their new world is called Sanctuary where people are trying to rebuild their lives. The newly formed government is now called The Committee, and they are responsible for finding mates for men and women. They have three months to co-exist together and hopefully fall in love, get married and have children. If they both decide they are not the right one for each other, they go back into the pool and have a total of ten tries before they are allowed to be by themselves, alone and unloved.

Leah knows this all too well. She is on her seventh time and assumes this time will be just like the rest. She prefers to be friends with the men she comes in contact with because why would they want a short overweight woman like herself? Leah may be kind and generous to a fault but looks wise she is very lacking. When she sees her latest assignment, she definitely knows it will not work out because James Edwards is so good looking. Why would he want to be with her? James has major issues and is not ready to welcome any woman in his life, including this plain woman who comes into his apartment and tries to place herself into his heart. She may want to only be friends, but James has been burnt by women before and Leah is probably just like the rest

As James and Leah come to an understanding, James begins to fall in love with this precious woman. But how can James let go of the past and get over the fact that Leah always rejects the men she has been assigned to?

Jacqueline Roth has written a futuristic romance where the world should seem bleak, but truly isn’t. Leah is almost perfect in everyway but for some reason her fault lies with her weight and physical attributes. I didn’t warm up to James right away because he treats Leah as a disease until she can break through his defenses. When James comes to terms about Leah, their relationship is quite beautiful and this includes some nice love scenes between the two. Their romance is fragile and unknown, which includes a shocking twist that made me scratch my head. Some readers may feel the same as I have, but the outcome has a true happy ending for all. Access Denied has a definite sci-fi feel and towards the end borders on fantasy. Jacqueline Roth has amazed me with her imagination and characters who haven’t given up the will to survive. As always, love is the answer, and it is proven in Access Denied.

Reviewed by: Katie