It's the first month of a war between Earth and the Albegensi, and all aliens in residence are "detained" at the Federation's leisure. Navajo Andrea Talltrees' husband is one of the unlucky ones--until he manages to escape.
When Andi hires the catlike smuggler Sinbad sh'en Singh to find her fugitive-from-justice husband, she runs full force into an immediate clash of personalities--plus a megadose of instant attraction which both try to ignore.
The survivor of a different war with Earth, Sinbad hates Terrans with a passion only the defeated can experience, yet he reluctantly agrees to help the feisty little woman who piques his curiosity, as well as engendering other emotions in his heart. As he takes Andi on a journey halfway across the galaxy, the part-feline smuggler will call on former partners-in-crime for help, and face a deadly enemy with an old score to settle. In his search for Andi's husband, he'll uncover a secret invasion that threatens to destroy the war-torn Terran Federation, and admit certain truths which he's kept himdden, even from himself.
As he fights his desire for a woman who belongs to someone else, Sinbad will learn that it's not how long a person loves that's important but that he has the courage to love at all.
This story was vaguely inspired by the old TV series Beauty and the Beast. I was fascinated by Vincent, the cat-like hero of that show and patterned Sinbad, whose ancestors, the Felidans, evolved from flines, after him in some ways--he's brave, strong, ruthless when he has to be, gentle when necessary, has a wicked sense of humor, and is totally faithful to the woman he loves, even when she's married to someone else--yet he never steps out of line. He never lets her know how he feels about her until she confesses that she loves him, too.
Sinbad is my favorite character, so favorite in fact that I've written four books about him with two more hovering in the wings
Sinbad's Last Voyage is the first book in the series, The Adventures of Sinbad, available as an e-book from Double Dragon Publications as an e-book. The Kindle version can be downloaded from Amazon.com, and the paperback may be purchased at lulu.com. It has also been recorded as an audio book by Books in Motion.
I loved Vincent too. Cat lovers! As with Toni's other works, this one is guaranteed to keep you flipping the pages.
I enjoyed it as I knew I would!
We ought to have an awards banquet in honor of all your writings!
Four books about Sinbad, alone? And more coming? Amazing. Hats off, low bow, 'We are not worthy."
Sail on!