Monday, June 24, 2013

MindLink by Kat Cantrell


Science Fiction Romance

What Goodreads Says:

"Determined to revitalize her imploding career, blacklisted movie star Ashley V takes on her biggest role yet: posing as one of ten scientists invited by aliens to a universal summit. But when the aliens seize, strip and implant the entire delegation to extract their knowledge, she is quickly found out and sent to a cell to await recycling.

The alien research director designated ZXQ-One devised a plan to let the humans volunteer their best and brightest in a gamble to solve his people’s energy crisis. But he fails to find anything useful and winds up imprisoned alongside the fiery human woman who refuses to give up, and who insists on calling him Sam.

After an accidental link between their implants lets them share their thoughts, they find themselves drawn to each other. Sam will have to trust in her human compassion and forgiveness for his role in her capture, and Ashley will have to trust him with her deepest secrets if they are to have any chance at survival. "

MindLink has an interesting start and one that caught my attention right away.  Who would have thought to send an actress masquerading as a scientist to meet an alien species?  Of course she is caught, not because she is a bad actress but because the role was not what anyone thought.  With that novel beginning the story moves along a very unique path.  Sam or ZXQ-One goes from being the villain to being the hero.  Ashley becomes a star in a very different way.

I like the way the plot developed.  There is no love at first site for Ashley and Sam.  They start as enemies, progress to barely willing to speak, have to work together to escape and then there is the mind link.  Even that does not lead straight to love.  In fact it complicates things even further.  Who wants an alien knowing what you are thinking?  But who is the alien and who is the human? 

Both Sam and Ashley did a lot of changing and growing as the story progressed.  Sam had spent his life in a very structured society.  His change came as he realized that what he had always believed was no longer true.  Ashley had to forgive herself for the thing she did in the past.  The story worked because both characters grew and changed. 

I enjoyed reading MindLink.  It is a good addition to SFR and a good book to recommend during the SFR Brigade Mid-Summer Blog Hop.

Carina Press published MindLink by Kat Cantrell in 2012.




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