Your Planet or Mine?

July 10, 2006
Although the book's goofy cover art screams "D-grade syndicated sitcom," fans of Grant's action-packed interstellar romances (The Scarlet Empress
, etc.) would do well to remember the old adage that you can't judge a book by its cover. Fueled by suspense and a sweet, playful romance between state senator Jana Jasper and Cavin Far Star, a human soldier from a distant planet, this colorful tale defies categorization. It starts out tender and whimsical, with hero and heroine connecting as children during Cavin's brief visit to Earth. Then, after the two meet up 20 years later, the story takes a decidedly Terminator
-like turn, as the couple find themselves on the run from a bioengineered assassin and on a mission to save Earth from alien invasion—all while keeping Jana's political reputation squeaky clean. The story runs short on energy midway, bogged down by a transparent subplot involving a group intent on ruining Jana's political career. But once the race to save the planet starts up again, readers will rocket through to the book's pat but satisfying conclusion.

August 15, 2006
When nine-year-old Jana Jasper rescues and befriends a glowing blue-and-green -magic - boy hanging from the tree outside her window, she has no idea that he is actually an extraterrestrial or that years later, when she is a California state senator, he will return to warn her that the interplanetary Coalition he belongs to is planning to invade Earth. Targeted by a Terminator-type assassin and another more earthly villain, Jana and Cavin of Far Star lead their pursuers on a breakneck, hair-raising chase in an often hilarious, occasionally poignant romance that is perfect for those who like their futuristic romances funny and light. Grant ("The Scarlet Empress"), a Rita Award winner, lives in the Sacramento, CA, area.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2006
As a mute nine-year-old from a prominent California family, Jana rescued a space alien stuck in the tree outside her bedroom window and gained the gift of gab as well as her first kiss in return. Twenty-three years later, Cavin, now one of the Coalition Space Force's -highest--ranking military officers, returns to claim the girl he has never forgotten, and to warn her--and all Earth--of impending invasion. But Jana's got problems of her own--unknown persons have targeted her and her family as objects of a smear campaign in an attempt to remove her from office as the state's youngest senator--and it takes several attempts on her life and reputation to convince her to go along with Cavin's agenda. Grant's latest is full of her trademark fun and fast-paced adventure, featuring a good-girl politician who can't stop thinking of the hunky career soldier as her very own Peter Pan, an intergalactic assassin, the Russian mafia, and, for good measure, sly political commentary.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)