Virgin

Brooks's seventh Cat Star Chronicles outer space romance (after 2010's Hero) is heavy on the eroticism and light on the SF. Avondia "Ava" Karon is fed up with working as a waitress to support her abusive boyfriend, so she books passage on a starship piloted by the sexy Daxtronian "Dax" Vandilorsk and returns to her home planet in search of her absentee father. Dax does everything in his power to woo her, and their attraction is definitely mutual. Lengthy scenes of seduction and passion are only briefly interrupted by a slow-moving by-the-numbers plot about Ava's parentage and mysterious crystal necklace. Readers in search of a more balanced SF tale should look elsewhere; this one is all about the heat. (June)