In 2850, Tanna Aldrick captains the Andrusis, a salvage ship operating with an all-female crew on the outer reaches of the galaxy. Men of this day and age are not only scarce, they're so afraid of radioactive sterilization that most of them leave crewing spaceships to women. Moreover, the men that do exist aren't exactly big and brawny. So it's no surprise that every woman onboard Andrusis begins drooling at the mouth when they come across an ancient shuttle floating in space and make the find of all finds when they discover a man onboard, a man in cryogenic suspension. A man they'd never seen the likes of before. A strapping six-foot-four astronaut from the 22nd century! And he was alive...

When they revive Garrick Carlisle, he's astounded to discover that his shuttle has been floating in space for over 700 years. Not only that, it's managed to end up 35,000 light years from earth, an earth that's changed so much he doesn't want to go back, especially after setting his sights on the sexy, dark-haired ship's captain. As sensible as Tanna's rationale is for not getting involved with Garrick, she still finds herself taking him into her bed. And into her heart.

Unfortunately, neither of them is aware of the machinations going on behind the scenes,
big blue-eyed blonde men like Garrick just didn't exist anymore. The sizeable price slavers could get for him on the auction block is tempting to unprincipled pirates willing to do whatever it takes to capture him. To what lengths will Tanna go to protect her valuable cargo, and what will Garrick do to rescue the woman he loves when she's suddenly and violently ripped from his arms?

Valuable Cargo is an out-and-out WINNER! From the very first page, this well written and plotted sci/fi romance seized my attention, tugging me eagerly along in a wild roller coaster ride of passion, intrigue, swashbuckling action and simmering jealousy. I've read several of Ms. Tyler's books now, and this one is her best yet. In the past, she's had small issues with telling the story herself rather than letting her characters tell it, but I found only one spot early on in the book where she fell into this unfortunate trap. I also came upon occasional stumbling blocks from an overuse of words, but it didn't distract from the story.

While I know of no plans for this to become a series, I truly hope Ms. Tyler has plans for sequels featuring Tanna's kick-butt crew. I want to know more about Ena, Vi, Leala, Jalena, Sela and Naya, and what this exhilarating far off future holds for them. For now, read this one and enjoy.

Reviewed by: Merrylee