Beloved Enemy

Meagan An Flena was a lieutenant in Earthforce, the space military of Earth’s armed forces. Not that she really wanted to be there – but her entire family, except for one brother, was dead, and Earthforce gave her the opportunity to fly her Starbird fighter. Earth was now in a war with the Gaians, a rebellious colony. The Gaians were an incredibly sneaky bunch, always seeming to be waiting for Earthforce wherever they happened to be. What was odd was that the Gaians never killed any of the pilots if it was at all possible.

That seeming care for enemy fighters was Meagan’s downfall. When her Starbird was damaged in battle, she headed to the nearest planet to land. A Gaian fighter pilot followed her and then had to ditch on the planet after she got a great shot at him. Now Meagan had to put up with the company of an enemy fighter until her people came to rescue her. Can she put up with the man’s annoying insistence on helping her survive?

This was a very satisfying SF romance, and I quite enjoyed it! The plot makes sense, and moves along at a nice pace. The characters of the two protagonists are realistic and interesting, but the secondary characters are pretty superficial, serving only to move the story along. That’s ok, though, because this is really a “two-actor play.” The relationship between the two protagonists develops quite naturally, and there is a relaxed relationship between them which leads to some funny scenes. The man/woman love scenes are quite explicit, but not shocking. Although Beloved Enemy stands on its own quite well, the reader should consider reading the prequel, Promises To Keep, so that s/he will understand some of the deep background revealed in that book. This is definitely a fine addition to the science fiction romance genre.

Reviewed by: Jean