Alternative cover edition ASIN B00CKXWOM2 Cassandra Chamberlain has always stood out. It's hard not to at 6’1” and 165 pounds with jet black hair and sapphire blue eyes. And if that wasn’t enough she is also brilliant, graduating from Harvard at fifteen, teaching at MIT at nineteen and up for the prestigious Magellan Award at twenty five. But she’s never really fit in. Not with her peers, not with her contemporaries, only with her family. But everything changes when the Earth is attacked and Cassandra and her niece Victoria are the only survivors. Suddenly the smartest woman on the planet has to relearn everything. Everything she’s believed to be true is challenged and she has to learn to survive, not only for herself but for Victoria, because someone wants them dead. Admiral William Zafar is the youngest Admiral ever in the Coalition fleet, the hero of the Battle of Fayal. At 7’1” he’s 325 pounds of Carinian male in his prime who is feared and respected throughout the fleet. He is a royal from the House of Protection, carrying its birthmark and considers its King one of his oldest friends. But when the Regulians destroy a previously unknown planet leaving only two survivors he finds he's willing to risk it all to protect the woman he loves from the Regulians and the Carinian traitor that wants her dead.

Victoria Lynn Chamberlain… at two, she was abducted by an alien race, the Regulians… at nine, her world literally explodes when the Regulians returned, destroying Earth. She and her Aunt are the only survivors thanks to another alien race, the Carinians. Now she’s eighteen, a new graduate from their top medical school, and is ready to claim her life mate. Lucas, the handsome Carinian pilot that saved her all those years… cycles… ago. Major Lucas Matthew Zafar is a decorated pilot for the Coalition who has worked hard for every promotion, earned every decoration, despite his father being High Admiral. Nine cycles ago, he crashed on an alien world and discovered his life mate, a nine-cycle girl with flaming red hair and sparkling green eyes. She captivates everyone around her with her strength and determination. She is his world, or will be once she grows up. When he’s injured in an explosion, he discovers that his wait is finally over, for Victoria is more than grown up. Together they discover what it truly means to be life mates. That’s it’s about doing what’s best for the other even if it’s not best for you. That you have to do more than just love, you have to trust and be willing to sacrifice the things you never thought you would. And if you are lucky and the ancestors are watching over you, you just might get everything you’ve ever dreamed of...

Jotham is the King of the House of Protection. He was the youngest male ever to assume the position because of the sudden death of his father in Jotham’s twentieth cycle. In the last forty cycles, he married his life mate, Lata, and lost her in a transport accident. He had two sons and lost one due to his son’s own treachery. Now his first son, Barek, is interested in a woman and Jotham is going to find out everything about her he can. Jacinda is from the House of Healing. She is the widow of an Assemblyman for the House of Protection. Stephan was her life mate even though he was twenty cycles older than her. His sudden death devastated her and if it weren’t for her three children, she isn’t sure she would have survived. In the years that have followed his death, she has learned to live with her loss and more importantly has learned that life can still be good. She has healed. When Jotham summons Jacinda to the Palace, his only intent is for her to help him gather information on Amina, Jacinda’s great-niece. That plan goes out the window when Jacinda refuses. She challenges not only his right to interfere in Barek’s life, but questions how he's lived his own since Lata’s death. Two strong personalities come together after having loved and suffered the loss of that loved one. Can they find enough common ground and courage to chance a new love? Or are they destined to live the rest of their lives alone?

Stephanie Michelakakis worked and sacrificed for her position as a Lieutenant in the Coalition. She was on track to become the first woman ever accepted into a Royal Guard, specifically King Jotham's Royal Guard. Then a life-altering injury shattered her dreams. Now she must figure out how to move on with her life.Nicholas Deffand was the youngest male ever named as the Captain of King Jotham's Royal Guard. He served and protected his King to the exclusion of everything else. But now he's found a woman who not only understood what his job entailed but his dedication to it as well.These two dedicated people never expected to find love. Will they be strong enough to make it work or will their relationship be another sacrifice they must make?