In His Majesty’s Service

In this space opera romance from Silver and Urban (Fae Haven), the leads just can’t keep their hands off each other, fast-tracking the central relationship from casual lust to mutually protective love. This inevitably leads to shortchanging the cultural implications of a mystical system in which soulmates have matching birthmarks but marriage and the deeper “bonding” of bloodborne telepathy can happen without a match. Lord Anders Hawthorne, aka Crown Prince Philip, is traveling in disguise to the funeral of the king of the Drion Collective. He starts an intense fling with flight-loving Capt. Zachary O’Connell. After an attack on the ship, Anders discloses both his true identity and their birthmark match to Zach. He feels that public acknowledgement of the relationship is the only way to protect his claim to the throne, but Zach is resistant to being grounded as prince consort. The forgettable political plot brings a little structure to what would otherwise be hot quasimilitary porn, but the stereotyped antagonists are given little more motivation than a facile power grab. (Sept.)