The Stars Between Us

This lavish space opera by Terrill (Here Lies Daniel Tate) combines classic romance and sci-fi tropes to deliver a tale of greed, love, and skullduggery. While 18-year-old Viktoria Hale’s unknown benefactor provides some necessities, she and her family, who live on the planet Philomenus, still struggle to make do, until she’s visited by attorney Archer Sheratan. He informs Vika that her benefactor, billionaire Rigel Chapin from neighboring Ploutos, has died, and that his will stipulates that his son, Leo, must marry her to claim his inheritance. But then Leo dies in a bombing, apparently a target of a group rebelling against the aristocracy. Fearing for Vika’s safety, Chapin’s new heirs invite her to stay with them and, on Ploutos, she enjoys the high life and gradually grows closer to prickly Sky Foster, the heir’s assistant. But as the attacks increase in frequency, Vika and Sky worry that the rebels will stop at nothing to secure their deaths. Though descriptions of the opulent setting eventually peter out, disrupting narrative immersion, Terrill handily utilizes a mysterious heir, a secret antagonist, and a mystifying crime for a potent rags-to-riches romance. Characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Aug.)