The Barren Planet Series: Reckless Rescue by Rinelle Grey

Summary
After Tyris’ wife files for divorce, he goes on a dangerous mission with the hope of winning her back. He crash lands on Zerris, a planet removed from the map of the Colonies after it was supposedly destroyed, and discovers it is inhabited by a small village. He also learns it holds the valuable fuel resource he was looking for, but with a damaged ship he can’t make it back to the Colonies to announce his discovery. As winter sets in, he must depend on the hospitality of Marlee, a beautiful and caring woman who may need his help as well.

Marlee has lived on Nerris her whole life. Her mother was pregnant with her when she made the journey to Nerris after their home planet of Semala was hit by an asteroid. Unfortunately, the gas on the planet has rendered many people infertile and they face the danger of not being able to repopulate. The Council tries to overcome this dilemma by dictating that everyone change partners if the pairing does not result in a pregnancy within eighteen months. When Tyris crash lands on Nerris, Marlee takes him into her home as a way to avoid being forced to pick a new partner. In the cold of a Nerris winter, will sparks fly?

Review
I discovered the Barren Planet series by Rinelle Grey when I received an email from Book Bub (I highly recommend this site for any book lover) advertising the first book was available to download for free from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The cover was visually stunning and the plot intrigued me. I figured why not, I will give it a shot. Reckless Rescue sucked me in from the first chapter and I read the remaining books in the series in quick succession. Reckless Rescue gives off a M. Night Shyamalan's The Village vibe but adds a science fiction twist to it. It has the village which functions like centuries past, building their own shelter and growing their own food, while the rest of society lives in modern times. The Council rules over the village but the difference is, the younger generation is aware of those living modernly elsewhere and that brings an interesting challenge to the story.

The part about planet Nerris being removed from the Colony maps gave me a flashback to Obi-Wan Kenobi of Star Wars searching for a lost planet and discovering it had been deleted from the archives. There is so much for science fiction romance fans to adore in this series. It is no secret, I love character driven stories. The writing can be phenomenal and the plot complex, but if the characters do not feel real I will not read on. The characters of Reckless Rescue are well developed and it is easy to become attached to them all, even the minor ones. You will be rooting for Marlee, Tyris and all their friends with the turn of every page. After Reckless Rescue, one book will not be enough. Luckily there are three more books in the series: Reckless Rebellion, Reckless Recon and Reckless Remedy. I highly recommend the Barren Planet series by Rinelle Grey. Check it out!