Beyond the Next Star

<p align=center style='margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Times New Roman; caret-color: rgb(0 0 0); color: rgb(0 0 0); text-align: center;'><em>She wasn't dreaming in a coma having a mental breakdown or in hell.</em></p><p align=center style='margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Times New Roman; caret-color: rgb(0 0 0); color: rgb(0 0 0); text-align: center;'><em>She was abducted by aliens.</em></p><p style='margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Times New Roman; caret-color: rgb(0 0 0); color: rgb(0 0 0);'><br></p><p style='margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Times New Roman; caret-color: rgb(0 0 0); color: rgb(0 0 0);'><em>An intolerable order.</em></p><p style='margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Times New Roman; caret-color: rgb(0 0 0); color: rgb(0 0 0);'>Before Commander Torek Renaar can return to active duty he's ordered to purchase an animal companion to help relieve his PTSD symptoms. But having been a caretaker for and lost a loved one keeping even one little <em>human</em> alive is a challenge he feels doomed to fail. It doesn't help that his animal companion is the newest most exotic breed on the market demanding constant attention daily grooming and delicate handling. If she doesn't die first in his incompetent care she'll be the death of him.</p><p style='margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Times New Roman; caret-color: rgb(0 0 0); color: rgb(0 0 0);'><br></p><p style='margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Times New Roman; caret-color: rgb(0 0 0); color: rgb(0 0 0);'><em>A desperate charade.</em></p><p style='margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Times New Roman; caret-color: rgb(0 0 0); color: rgb(0 0 0);'>After witnessing the murder of her domestication specialist Delaney McCormick allows her new owner to treat her like the pet he believes her to be. If anyone suspects she's more intelligent than a golden retriever her murder would be next. She endures the humiliation of being washed the tediousness of being trained to sit and come and the intrigue of hearing private conversations. But in Torek's care she finds something unexpected on this antarctic planet something she never had in all her years on Earth while house-hopping between foster families: a home.</p><p style='margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Times New Roman; caret-color: rgb(0 0 0); color: rgb(0 0 0);'><br></p><p style='margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Times New Roman; caret-color: rgb(0 0 0); color: rgb(0 0 0);'><em>A deadly secret.</em></p><p style='margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Times New Roman; caret-color: rgb(0 0 0); color: rgb(0 0 0);'>As companionship grows to love must Delaney continue the charade acting like an animal and hiding from the murderer waiting on her misstep? Or can she trust Torek with her secrets even if the truth threatens everything he holds dear-and both their lives?</p>