Andromeda’s Guardian (Heroes of Andromeda Book 3)

An ageless deity is roused when Manitac, an unscrupulous private corporation that dominates the Andromeda Galaxy, drills into the diamond core of her home inside a black dwarf star. When Ioanna (Io) wakens to find her youngest sister missing, the goddess adopts a human form to search for her. The absence of the younger goddess from the core of the vibrant Unity star destabilizes it, and the resulting supernova will destroy all life in the Unity system. Tohva Blayde has been fighting Manitac since the capture of his fiancée five years ago. Io draws Tohva’s rebel fighter onto her world when she needs help getting to Unity. Eager to experiment with her new body, Io seduces Tohva, notwithstanding his search for his lost fiancée. Tohva’s five-year dry spell is about to be ended by a goddess whose understanding of human behavior comes from watching pornographic holographs. Will Tohva and Io be able to find the missing goddess, save Unity, and find his former love?

It’s a space warrior’s dream come true when a being that is older than the known universe, experiencing human sensation for the first time in eons, chooses him to help her explore the urges of her new corporeal form. Debra Jess creatively combines theology, science fiction, and eroticism in this galactic adventure! Tohva and Io’s intimacy feels abrupt and clinical. When their relationship faces the usual challenges of jealousy, doubt, and disappointment, the solutions may appear juvenile in the context of these characters’ disparate backgrounds. The world building feels as if it rests on an astronomically shaky foundation, if the previous books have not been read. It’s an imaginative and titillating space romp for those searching for an edgier opposites attract romance!

Joan Lai