Rowena Cherry, Insufficient Mating Material

Insufficient Mating Material is Rowena Cherry's follow up to Forced Mate (Dorchester Love Spell, November 2004) and her novella Mating Net. And if you haven't read this utterly droll, perfect British wit, she is tweaking your noses! These are chess terms, not her...hmm...preoccupation with the mating rituals of humans--and in this, case human beings, godlike ones, mind. She is an intelligent writer that dishes up this sizzling, heady mix with equal servings of originality, humour and hotter-than-hot romance.

One of the hardest parts of writing Off-world/Alternative-world Sci-Fi romances is the world building. Some writers just fail to deliver that crafted realm needed to sustain this genre. Other writers merely "adjust" their worlds, such as J.D Robb does, making the future where Eve and Roarke live not TOO different from now. A handful--C.J. Barry, Robin Owens, Susan Grant--take this to a new level, creating worlds with so many layers, they truly carry the readers into their alternative universe. Quite possibly, Cherry is one of THE best at creating this special world for her characters. Judging by the interactive family tree on her website and the rules of her Djinn-universe, which are so precise and drawn in vivid detail, I would not be surprised to one-day see a Mating Net Video game coming out, along the lines of Dungeons and Dragons. I have a feeling it would be an overnight success!

This second installment of the Djinn realm (with more to come) Princess Martia-Djulia (sister to the hero in Forced Mate) is not happy with her arrogant brother Prince Tarrant-Arragon's machinations. Fresh from claiming Djinni Vera, the last virgin female of the royal Djinn, the arrogant Prince is now trying to set straight the rest of his royal life, and that includes sorting out his arrogant, snooty sister, Cherry describes as the ultimate Fashinista!

Martia-Djulia had a wild night with Tiger prince Djetthro-Jason, the perfect lover. Only now she is being forced to wed this "insufficient" weakling? Faced with no options, she flees the public mating ceremony, only to be stranded on a desert isle. Complications abound, as someone is clearly out to kill the princess and her hunk of insufficient mating material, who bears a remarkable tattoo that may give the whole game away!

In movies, very rarely do sequels ever achieve the brilliance and spontaneity of the original. That is precisely what Cherry does with this wickedly funny, tongue-in-cheek tale. When so many of the big names of Sci-Fi Romance have moved into other genres, Cherry now stands on the cusp of inheriting the title as queen in this category.

Men, especially, will be drawn to Cherry's special mix of adult relations and humour.

Insufficient Mating Material

Rowena Cherry

Love Spell, Feb 2007, $6.99

ISBN: 0505527111

In 1994 (Earth equivalent date), in the Tigran Empire, Prince Djetthro-Jason knows he lost the duel to Tarrant-Arragon in which to the victor went the empire, the Ark Imperial, and any woman he desired. To the loser in the Great Djinn tradition went death, but for some unknown reason the conqueror allows his opponent to live as a love slave to Princess Martia-Djulia, the sister of the taunting winner. Alpha male Commander Jason is dead and crippled surgically with a tattoo you know where to symbolize his insufficiency. The altered Prince Djetthro-Jason must live as a subservient FORCED MATE to a beta female.

Prince Tarrant-Arragon's brilliant plan is to eliminate two natural enemies by forcing them to mate. Thus the loser Jason is stuck with the centerfold of Fashionista. However, Martia-Djulia refuses to wed that loser so she runs away to avoid the public mating rite. Soon she and her INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL are stranded on a not-so-deserted isle with enemies surrounding them who want them both left dead there.

This is a terrific, science-fiction romance in which the world-building is so stupendous readers will believe they are visiting an alien landscape with different societal values and norms. The action-packed storyline focuses on two manipulated individuals with pasts that make both vulnerable to threats. As they struggle to survive while falling in love, Djetthro is willing to die to keep his "Marsh" safe and Martia concludes she would willingly mate with a hero. With her Tigran Empire tales, Rowena Cherry is staking a claim as the Empress of the heated, science-fiction, romantic thriller.

Harriet Klausner