Forced Mate

“…Twists and turns, which will keep you guessing right to the end, and beyond!”

Forced Mate is an ingenious title, as it’s a term used in chess when two Kings and one pawn are left on the board.  The King who takes the Pawn, will not only win the match, but keep his catch and turn her into his Queen, as the custom demands.  Well, that is the plan of Tarrant –Arragon, a Tiger Prince of Tigron.  So you can imagine the Prince is confused when his lusty advances are ignored, even found repulsive. On his planet it is quite normal to use his power and persuasion to get what he wants, when he wants it. To make matters worse he is fuelled with an uncontrollable lust towards Djinni, determined to do anything to make her acknowledge and love him, whether she agrees or not. Despite, already being betrothed to someone else called ‘JJ’ who she hadn’t seen since she was five years old, he will not take ‘no’ for an answer. 

However, Djinni is no ordinary pawn, and refuses to act like one too! Half-earthling, half Saurian crossbreed, she is a fully trained Saurian Knight, taught by her father, the Saurian Leader, otherwise known as the Saurian Dragon.  The Saurian people plan to enthrone Tarrant-Arragon, handing the title of God-Emperor to ‘JJ’. However, the Prince doesn’t play fair and impersonates a Saurian Knight, hiding his real name from her.   What will Djinni do if she finds out that the man who is hell bent on making her his new half-earthling wife, is actually Tarrant-Arragon, the enemy she has been taught to hate?

The main plot had enough ups and downs to keep me thoroughly glued, with a mixture of action, romance and terrific one-liners! Not only is this futuristic and changes being two different worlds, it includes surprising twists and turns, which will keep you guessing right to the end, and beyond.  In fact, a few endings were left open, so I can only assume there is another book to follow, which will tie up a few loose ends.  All in all, I found this an entertaining book, full of glass-steaming romance scenes, and political conflict.  As a bonus for me, parts of this book are set in my own hometown, here in the UK.  I even know the very house, which is mentioned.  Which is nice.