After working for His Imperial Highness Palden VII for five long years, Amanda “Amy” Tyrell is finally free of the overbearing ruler.  Palden is not willing to let Negotiator Tyrell, his most formidable nemesis, best employee, and yes, best friend, leave so easily.

All of Amy’s plans are trampled in the dust under the weight of more duty, when she is contracted to produce an heir for his highness.  Palden is unaware that she is Tyrell because for years she wore the protective suit required by the Alliance.  Everything is on the line for a happy (or at least profitable) outcome: her freedom, friendship with Palden, and her heart.  Will she manage it all unscathed?

What happens when you cross superior world building with spunky heroines and unique love interests along with strange new worlds (Eat your heart out, Captain Kirk!), hot sex, and heaping doses of humor?   You get a kick butt Viola Grace novel set in her amazing universe where humans are in such high demand they are stolen to sell on the interstellar black market by a wide variety of fascinating, though unscrupulous ,beings.  Haldis Imperium is the fifth installment in the Champions of Terra series, and the creative juices in this author’s wellspring are far from dry.

Amanda and Palden’s extraordinary courtship is fiery, feisty and just downright fun from start to finish.  I couldn’t wait to see how Amy was going to wriggle her way out of the situation with Palden, regardless of the fact she’d been a class act negotiator for the Alliance. Despite his arrogant, womanizing antics, Palden is no slouch in the brains department and is truly likeable. With Ms. Grace’s superior writing and imagination, this segment exceeded my expectations because Amy is a character whose appearance has haunted me since I first read Blood Proxy, which was amazing on its own.  I was exceedingly happy that she tumbled into her HEA with a guy who was more than ready to match wits with her in and out of the bedroom.  On a scale from 1-10, my overall enjoyment factor was 10.5!  So much so, that I couldn’t wait to write this review to tell readers about it.  Now that’s saying something!