Title: Forced Mate
Author: Rowena Cherry
Genre: Futuristic Romance
Published in November 2004 by Dorchester LoveSpell
IBSN: 0-505-52601-8
Debauchery, lechery, and depravity were the hallmarks of the Tigron Emperor, and its current prince played the game with the best of them. Tarrant-Arragon, Prince of the line has a reputation to keep up, and the present situation is but a test of his skills. There is a tension in the air, and there is a movement, the rumour and vibrations of a dissention and a very carefully staged rebellion that is centered on the overthrow of the house and the throne of the Tiger Prince. One way to quell this is for the Prince to marry, and to marry quickly and well. His hope lies in a blood princess of the line, and there is one, a half-blooded princess living on Earth, he can’t ignore. Although Djinni-Vera doesn’t live on Tigron, he is determined to take her for his own. Capture and seduction have ever been the method of securing the next Empress, and the God-Emperor’s right. That is the way of the Tigron Emperors, and that particular tradition he cannot and will not forego. His bride, the only one suitable to help him bring his people into a new world, and to forge a new regime, is now his prime goal.
The Saurian Knights are his sworn enemies, and if his sources are correct, his unwary bride is one of their high-ranking warriors. They are dedicated to toppling the Imperial House of Tigron, and Tarrant-Arragon is intent on stopping them. There are things he can do, but those ruthless tactics are what tore the Royal family apart to begin with, and since the deaths and decimation of the families of pure blood, the future of the Royal line looks grim. There are too few true-bloods left, and he is determined to rejuvenate the psychic part of the line through his marriage. Djinni is the hope for the future, and the one he feels he could love for all time. What those around him don’t know, he figures won’t hurt them, and he is going to do some serious rearranging in the empire. But really, first things first, and his first order of business is to steal his bride. With her by his side, then he can tackle the reforms he wants to put in place. She may not like it, but she will be his, and no one refuses to give the Tiger Prince what he desires.
She was raised on the stories of the Tiger Princes, the God-Emperors and their Divine Rights. To Djinni-Vera, it was not the way life was to be lived. She is grown now, and a formidable fighter of the Saurian Knights capable of holding her own in any battle. She is waiting for the day when the Saurian Dragon would give the word, and she and her fellow Saurian Knights will once and for all take down the Tiger Prince of Tigron. His barbarity, viciousness, lechery, and debauchery are legendary, and made her cringe, and the stories told by her grandmother, Helispeta, only got worse as she grew older. Deep down, she was not sure that she believed them all, for a man that bad could not survive very long, but her grandmother was adamant in her claims. Tarrant-Arragon would never get his hands on her anyway for she was betrothed to Djethro-Jason, and was determined to be his and his alone.
Her plans are totally upset when she is taken, kidnapped by a handsome stranger who is determined to make her forget her love. Odd as it may seem, and as determined as she is to stay far away from the handsome man, she is inexorably drawn to her captor. His gentle tutelage, his interest in her, and his total attention break the bands that bind her heart. When she find out who her captor is, and that she was tricked into a marriage, she rebels in the truest way a rebel can, but finds that it is meaningless when it comes to her heart. Stricken by her discovery, Djinni-Vera can only follow her heart through the minefield that defines her relationship with Tarrant-Arragon. Gone are her hopes of marriage with Jason, unless she can get free of the Tiger Prince, and the only way to do that is through his death or assassination. There is willfulness in her that refuses to think of his death as means to her release, so she starts her own campaign to try to prove to him she is not what she wants as an Empress, a wife, or a lover…
Forced Mate is a wonderful book of romance, intrigue, and character. In her debut novel, Rowena Cherry has taken a book from the chess player’s guide, and written a story that is truly spellbinding. The continued references to the game bring a spark to the book I have not come across before. The moves by Tarrant-Arragon are superb in capturing his Queen, Djinni-Vera, and in bringing her to heel. The capture, and the subsequent maneuvers to win her are masterful, and Djinni-Vera cannot resist. On her part, she must decide what is best for her, to follow the dictates of the rumour and innuendo, and believe the worst of her groom, or follow the dictates of her heart and of her experiences, which have proven him to be anything but the foul monster her grandmother has proclaimed.
Forced Mate is an interesting look at love and desire form many points, and the chess angle is one that in new and inventive. The characters are storing and keep you interested by their constant wrangling, the subtle innuendo, and the downright unusual circumstances in which they find themselves. Through the intrigue and danger, they must attempt to discover what is between them, and how to make things work. Through it all, deceptions will be uncovered, friendships destroyed, and others irrevocably changed, and in the end, hearts may be broken. The resultant challenge of the conquest is in the move, the Forced Mate, yet the question remains, can the Queen be happy? Is the relationship to be doomed? You can only find out if you pick up a copy of Forced Mate at you local bookstore. Also available online from Dorchester LoveSpell, you will be hooked, and Rowena Cherry’s book will find a home on your keeper shelf.
Yours in good reading,
Rose!
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