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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780765354488
ISBN number: 0765354489
Label: Tor Paranormal Romance
Manufacturer: Tor Paranormal Romance
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: February 07, 2006
Publishing house: Tor Paranormal Romance
Release Date: February 07, 2006
Sale Popularity Level: 567800
Studio: Tor Paranormal Romance
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Dr. Alara Calladar needs a man...
...but she sure as krek doesn’t want one.
If Alara doesn't make love soon, her cells will fail to regenerate and she'll die. Unfortunately, her only option is an enemy--Rystani starpilot Xander, her abductor... and a member of the race who has been battling hers since the beginning of time.
Xander issues an ultimatum: He'll make love to Alara only if she will use her psi-talent of identifying DNA to help him find the cure for the deadly Terran virus spreading across the galaxy.
Alara is trapped. She gives Xander what he wants--and gets when she needs. But Alara holds a pair of secrets: the more they make love, the more Alara's cells adapt to Xander's body, until the only person she can make love with is him--and the more time they spend together, the more Alara likes Xander.
When it seems that all the forces in the universe have aligned against them, can Alara trust Xander with her life... and her heart?
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Rated by buyers 
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Hard at work on a critical experiment, being interrupted by a man is the last thing Endekian scientist, Dr. Alara Callandar, needed at the moment. Alara had been hailed as a war hero simply for surviving at terrorist attack at the hands of the Terrans. It was for that reason alone that she'd been allowed to continue with her controversial project. Now that her world had achieved peace though, her work was becoming vastly unpopular. Time was of the essence.
Unlike other humanoid women in the Federation, Endekian women were slaves to their biology. Once a female reached childbearing age they would enter a critical stage called Boktai every other year. During Boktai a women must engage in regular sex in order to regenerate their cells. It didn't matter if they were in a relationship or not, if they did not do so they would die. To make matters worse, when the need became too strong any male would do and if a female mated with the same male too often she would adapt to his essence and their lives would be inextricably intertwined. If the male refused her or died, she too would die. Alara had lost her beloved mother when her father had died during the Terran attack on her village.
Space Captain Xander is a Rystani warrior who had suffered torture at the hands of Endekian soldiers as a child when they'd conquered his home planet (THE CHALLENGE). Taking an Endekian woman as one of his crew was unpalatable but the Terran's predicament left him with no choice. He is on a mission to travel to the rim of the galaxy in hopes of finding a Perceptive One, the legendary higher intelligence who had left behind the machines that manufactured the psi suits every Federation member wore from birth.
Federation mythology proposed that these beings had once seeded their galaxy with pure DNA to create the diverse life forms in existence yesterday and had placed Sentinels on the Rim to protect their galaxy from attack by the evil Zin. Then they'd simply disappeared. The Terrans (earth dwellers) were now dying in droves from a mysterious incurable virus which was quickly spreading throughout the universe. By finding the Perceptive Ones Xander is hoping to bring back a strand of pure DNA to affect a cure. Alara has a unique talent which Federation intelligence has indicated would be necessary for the sucess of his mission. She is able to read a life form's DNA by sight alone. It is a testament to Xander's courage that he is able to accede to this necessity. He would surely have died from the Endekian torture had it not be for the bravery of the 21st century Terran, Tessa Camen. He owed Tessa and her people a debt of honor.
Alara isn't about to agree to give up her life's work. She has no love for the Terrans who killed her family and besides, due to same biological issue she seeks to cure, no Endekian female has ever been allowed to leave the planet. Xander, who isn't about to leave behind his best hope for the mission's success, is forced to make an untenable deal with the Endekian leader, Drik. To free Alara from this edict Xander must leave behind a hostage, Kirian the beloved Rystani wonder child, now 18, whose unique abilities stemmed from the fact that he had been born in hyperspace. As Drik and the other males of Endeki enjoyed their dominance over their woman, Alara would not be missed.
Since Alara isn't amenable to Xander's proposition he kidnaps her only to discover what a good deal Drik had actually made. Alara is in the throws of Boktai and with no Endekian male aboard Xander's ship, she will surely die. Just being in Xander's presence has pushed Alara's hormones to the limit causing her to lose control of her psi. As Xander becomes aware of her predicament he proposes a new experiment, and what an experiment it is! Does Xander have the cure for what ails her? Or will she be forced to give him an ultimatum? Will they find the Perceptive Ones or will the experiment which is their very existence end in failure.
As the saga continues, these books become more and more impossible to put down! Xander and Alara's quest brings whole new elements to the existing plot, but I have the feeling that Kerian has only begun to tap his potential, because as the story concludes the "powers that be" appear to have more plans for him. Look for his story THE QUEST in July 2006! If you love a scorching hot romance combined with suspense, spirituality and intriguing science fiction run, don't walk, to the nearest bookstore and begin reading this fascinating futuristic series!
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch for PNR Reviews
Rated by buyers -
Susan Kearney really knows how to build a world. Learning more about the different kinds of aliens and societies she can come up with is always intriguing. And this one is no exception. The only thing I didn't care for (and thus, why I took 1 star off), is the sections with Kirek (a super genius and the possible key to saving the future) as a sexual slave. Slavery is just hard to take, even for the sake of a story.
But otherwise, the story and the characters continue to feel fresh and interesting.
Rated by buyers 
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Scientist Alara Calladar lives to research the unique problem women fromher planet, Endekia suffer. They die without sex. Worse, once they bond with a man, they cannot even get the revitalization they need from other men. Knowing this, Endekian men treat their women cruely. Still, hate it though she does, Alara is as subject to the forces of biology as any Endekian woman. And when sexy Rystani warriro Xander of Mystique walks into her lab, her hormones demand that she mate with him--or die.
With a deadly virus spreading through the galaxy, Xander knows there's little time to head off a tragedy beyond anything the universe has experienced. The virus attacks not only humanoid life, but every form of life--and it's spreading quickly. He hopes that Alara's unique skill, the ability to see DNA with her naked eyes, might be the extra he'll need in his hunt to find the "perceptive ones" who very first seeded the galaxy with life and who seem to have vanished but who, if rumors can be believed, still live on one remote planet. Since the Endekians are responsible for his people losing their planet, an Endekian woman would be his last choice. Still, if sex is necessary to keep her alive, he's certainly willing to oblige.
For the perceptive ones, humanoid life is a form of game--but a game with high stakes indeed. Their enemies threaten to wipe out their great accomplishment, but the perceptive ones can only do so much--humanoids much achieve a higher level of evolution--and there is little that the perceptive ones can do.
Author Susan Kearney continues in her efforts to combine science fiction and romance for the Tor Romance line. Following on her previous novels in this series, THE ULTIMATUM explains more about why the galaxy is how it is, how alien life-forms are able to breed so easily, and why the apparently senseless war between Endekians and Rystanis took place.
THE ULTIMATUM certainly combines solid SF world-building as well as the traditional elements of a romance novel. But Kearney is not quite the writer to merge the two--at least not in this story. Following a clunky opening where the reader gets an information dump, Alara and Xander set off to explore the universe. Manipulation of events by the perceptive ones weakens these two as protagonists. Kearney does better when it comes to the sexual side of her story--with spankings and dominance games, as well as alien but not-too-alien names for body parts to intrigue readers.
Kearney fans are certain to enjoy THE ULTIMATUM. For those who are looking for the real integration of romance and SF, though, this story just doesn't quite fill the need.
Rated by buyers 
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Every time Kearney comes out with a new one I read the synopsis and it looks good. Unfortunately there are no laws against bad authors taking good ideas. If Kearney were a true book lover she would give her ideas to someone who could do them justice. I mean my god! Every single one of her books is disappointment after disappointment. You'd think that even if she couldn't manage to come through with the story she would at least put some spark into the romance. I swear she uses the same sex scene in every book. And its not even a good one! Spanking, and 'tavis's' and submission as if she's following a manual. She manages to remove any sexyness (not a word I know) from the sex scenes! How the hell did she get published? It's just wrong! I know the story looks good, but if you read them you will only be infuriated that an author like this got her hands on a plot with such potential.
Rated by buyers 
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When two enemies need one another, diplomacy enters new realms. Alara is a brilliant scientist among the people of her world, but her species' women are cursed by the need to mate at certain intervals or suffer a painful death. She is less than thrilled when that time comes upon her and the one available man is Xander, a man whose allegiance is to her people's enemies and who has come to kidnap her so that her unique talent for being able to see DNA can be used to help find a way to cure a galaxy pandemic. He's only too willing to help out, and the two agree to exchange services for their mutual benefit. Their quest will be long, dangerous, and filled with surprises, and much copulation.
* This story is bogged down by excessive emphasis on sex and a need to have the past books fresh in one's mind, despite claims that it stands alone. The highlight of the story are the italicized conversations between two semi omnipotent beings, rather like the Q, discussing the fate of the galaxy. *
Amanda Killgore
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