A thing about Heather Guerre is you can always expect her books to be HOT (capitals intentional). Star Crossed, the first in her Forbidden Mates series, is of course no exception.

The beginning of Star Crossed actually reminded me a bit of the beginning of Ruby Dixon’s Ice Planet Barbarians, since both books begin with human women getting abducted by aliens planning to traffic them. But then again, that’s not a super uncommon plot device in the alien and human romance subgenre.

In any case, the plot device works to raise the stakes for Lyra early in this book. It—along with some of the overarching politics Guerre introduces here—add a more serious—and sometimes dark—tone to the book than I expected. I read this when I was searching for a space western-style romp, and while it didn’t satisfy that particular itch, it instead gave me a great adventure with a more emotional undertone. It also set the stage for the rest of the series.

Overall, this was a quick, hot, and also at times heavy read. While I haven’t yet continued the series, I have plans to.