Caught in Amber by Cathy Pegau

Science Fiction Romance

Goodreads Summary:

"Recently out of rehab, Sasha James is determined to keep her head down, complete her parole and never touch amber again. The chip in her neck controls her cravings for the highly addictive drug, but also tracks her every move. Not that she goes anywhere other than work and the halfway house she calls home—a far cry from her luxurious former life as lover of the mining colony's top drug dealer, Guy Christiansen.
Agent Nathan Sterling has no desire to see Sasha fall back into amber, but his sister has become Guy's latest conquest and the unexpectedly attractive Sasha is the key to getting her back. So in exchange for an introduction, he offers Sasha the one thing she can't refuse—her freedom. From the chip, her parole and even the planet if she wants. Though he would be sorry to see her go…
Torn between her growing attraction to Nathan, fear of Guy and the allure of amber, Sasha accepts. But who will save her if Guy refuses to let her go a second time."

Caught in Amber is set in the same universe as Rule Breaker (see my review).  In fact there is a brief mention of Liv Braxton and Zia Talbot in this story.  While Caught in Amber is listed as Science Fiction Romance, like Rule Breaker, you could easily move the location to the present day and have a contemporary romance.  Having said that Caught in Amber is a strong story filled with very strong characters.

I wasn’t sure I liked Nathan Sterling through much of the story. He started out not caring about Sasha James as a person and the way he used her did not sit well with me.  He did change his attitude as the story progressed but I still found him a little cold. Sasha on the other hand was a very strong character.  I admired how she was working to change her life and keep off of the drug that had possessed her.  She was the one with the most to lose if anything went wrong but she felt it was worth the risk. 

Guy was a contradiction.  He still wanted Sasha, in fact it was stated he loved her.  However his love was more possession than love.  He did make a very good villain.  There were other side characters that added to the story.  One of the side characters looked like she was being set up for her own story.  Time will tell if I am right.

The story moved at a fast pace with an interesting plot.  There was a lot of tension.  Some between Nathan and Sasha, some brought on by the danger in the plot, and some because of other characters.  There were enough twists and turns to keep me reading. 

Cathy Pegau writes a very tight well-thought out story.  I'll be looking for what she publishes in the future.

I received an ARC of Caught in Amber from Netgalley.

Carina Press published Caught in Amber by Cathy Pegau in 2013.