cover image Desert Blade

Desert Blade

Ella Drake. Carina, $3.99 e-book (77p) ISBN 978-1-4268-9367-4

Drake sets a sweet romance in the burning wreck of a postapocalyptic United States, where engineered plants have destroyed almost all the food crops. Derek Covington, a National Guardsman, tries to rescue his foster mother, Hester, from Chicago rioters, but a Molotov cocktail costs Derek both an arm and Hester. At the hospital, Dr. Lidia Sullivan helps fit Derek with a space-age prosthetic, complete with built-in sword. A sizzling kiss ensues, but the two are separated for the next 10 years. Lidia has settled in New Kansas, near Leavenworth, when Derek reappears in her life, trying to get her help for an asthmatic boy in a settlement near old St. Louis. Their wild ride back to his new dwelling contains an abundance of caresses and hair-raising escapes. Despite a compelling premise and well-described physical passion, the short length inhibits Drake’s ability to build the couple’s emotional connection fully. (Apr.)