Federation Chronicles - Rebel’s Lust

When last we saw the troopship The Federation (in Hart’s Lucy’s Lover), Major Lara McDaniel had not yet appeared on the “stage.” Rebel’s Lust is McDaniel’s story. The Major is the Chief Security Officer of the troopship, and the head of the Emperor’s personal guards. As the story begins, McDaniel is about to go off duty - she’s sick and tired of smiling and flattering and fending off the Emperor’s advances. She turns over the watch to her second-in-command, Captain Drog, and heads for her bunk - only to be awakened again two hours later when the ship is under attack by a force sent in to kidnap the Emperor. The entire crew, other than McDaniel, is incapacitated, so she is left alone to commandeer a small fighter ship and chase after the kidnappers.

After being attacked in space by the bad guys, McDaniel is rescued by Riley -- a small-time operator who makes his money retrieving and reselling space junk. He’s hand-in-glove with smugglers and other criminals throughout the galaxy. How can such a man work with a by-the-book military officer like McDaniel to rescue the Emperor?

This is the second book in Hart’s Federation Chronicles. Just as the first story was, this one is written with a light touch. It skims along at a fast pace, just as an adventure story should. The story is good science fiction, combined with well-written erotica. The lead character, Lara McDaniel, comes across as a real person - she is efficient, likeable, and very dedicated. Riley is a bit more superficial, but as the story develops, so does his character. The male/female sex scenes are frequent and explicit, but are not too shocking for the adult reader. I enjoyed this story a great deal, and will look forward to further installments in the series.

Reviewed by: Jean