"Black Legacy", by Juliana Stone – ARC Review

Genre: Romantic SciFi-Futuristic, Romantic Time Travel
ISBN: 978-1-60504-888-8
Length: Short Story
Publication Date: February 2, 2010
Read An Excerpt

Synopsis:

She’ll make sure he survives the night…even if it costs her heart.

Black Opals, Book 1

Frankie Black is a woman in need of a mission. For a Black Opal—a warrior woman who shifts backward or forward through time in order to, well, save the world—the last six months of downtime have left her bored. Restless. And with a feeling that something is about to hit the fan.

Finally, an assignment: save the life of Dekkar James, an infamous rock god living three hundred years in the past. Tattooed, ruggedly handsome and perfectly imperfect, one look at him and it’s as if her sleeping body springs to life.

One minute Dekkar is having the most mind-blowing sex of his life. The next, goons are breaking down his door, and he’s on the run with a woman who turns from lover to warrior in the blink of an eye.

Dealing with the New Order, operatives who manipulate time without regard for the consequences, is nothing new for Frankie. But this time their tactics have a more personal edge—they’ve found a way to seek out the Opals’ predestined mates.

Unless she can save Dekkar’s life, her future will be the first casualty in a battle for the fate of humankind.

Warning: Contains one hot dude with tattoos, a woman who won’t take no for an answer, steamy sex, an ancient Harley and a little bit of time travel.

Black Legacy

Ms. Stone, penned some hefty world building as well as a very hot romance into this short story’s 35 pages. “Black Legacy” is the first book in the “Black Opals” series. I love the cover art for this little story because the hero and heroine are exactly as I would have pictured them.

Three hundred years in the future “Frankie Black” is one of a few unique women gifted with the power of the ‘black opal’ (a jewel she wears on a necklace) or the ability to time shift. Frankie and her sisters are, as the synopsis indicates, warrior women who defend the world against the “New Order,” a group that has scientifically developed the ability to time shift to use for evil purposes. Frankie and her sisters essentially keep the world safe from a catastrophe resulting from the New Order meddling with time and changing what was meant to be.

Frankie is sent to protect “Dekkar James,” a famous rock star who lives in our time. She doesn’t know why he is important to the world nor does she question her assignment, however her instinct tells her that something very bad is about to happen. When she meets the “target” nothing could have prepared her for the drop dead gorgeous Dekkar, who drips sensuality like a leaky faucet. There is an instantaneous almost feral attraction between these two which leads to a very hot sex scene. Danger interferes as the New Order bears down on them, and to protect Dekkar, Frankie must convince her new found love interest that she is not a crazy woman and further, he is in grave danger.

The synopsis gives an excellent overview of the story so I am not going to say too much more for fear of spoiling it for those of you who might like to read “Black Legacy.” I will say Frankie and Dekkar’s story ends in a cliff hanger and I am really looking forward to the next story in the series. Ms Stone developed a strong H &H and interesting secondary characters for this tale and I found it to be a unique time travel romance as the heroine goes back to present time from a distant future on another planet.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Heat Level: Smokin Hot, as in instant bonding, no names required – human / alien sex…

Many thanks to Juliana Stone for submitting “Black Legacy” for review.