Topaz Dreams, by Marilyn Campbell

I started a futuristic today: Topaz Dreams, by Marilyn Campbell. I don't remember why I bought it, probably because of a comment in a message board, but I've just read Mrs. Giggles's review and it sounds great.

Plot summary:

Denying his emotions for fear that they will compromise his strength, empath Falcon searches for a ring that threatens his futuristic world and encounters independent Stephanie Barbanell, who is searching for a missing scientist.

Posted later...

Topaz Dreams was a very interesting book. I loved the world it was set in, very inventive. Just one niggle: it's labeled wrong. It's not a futuristic; it's set in the present (or, actually, 10 years in the past, since it was written in 1992) but there is supposed to be another world in the center of the Earth. They should have labeled it sci-fi romance.

The romance is good, basically because it has 2 likeable characters, who have lots of chemistry. I especially liked that Falcon was supposed to be a virgin, so we had a more experienced heroine. Stephanie was also really strong, though she was a bit too quick to resign herself to being separated from Falcon. At one point, near the end, I was afraid Campbell was going to pull a Body Electric on me and have Falcon get more experience with other woman before he returned to Steve. Luckily, he didn't!

The bad points here were 2: First, the villain was much too over-the-top. Plus, we spent way too much time seeing his POV. Second, the prequel was given a bit too much space here, and Campbell revealed exactly what had happened and how all the problems were solved. No need for me to read it, then.

A grade of B+.