Deception

4.25 stars-DECEPTION is the second instalment in Nina Croft’s sci-fi, DARK DESIRES: ORIGINS paranormal/ fantasy romance series. This is Warlock Milo Velazquez, and Destiny’s story line. DECEPTION can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary. DECEPTION and the Dark Desires : Origins is a prequel series, set five hundred to a thousand years earlier, to the author’s DARK DESIRES series. SOME BACKGROUND: One thousand years earlier Earth was dying, and one hundred and twenty thousand of Earth’s Chosen had set off in search of a new planet able to sustain human life. Fast forward five centuries wherein the seven surviving space ships and their crews find themselves following a self-declared profit and leader, and the formation of the Church of Everlasting Life. These are their stories. Told from dual third person perspectives (Milo and Destiny) DECEPTION follows Warlock Milo Velazquez, and the crew of the Trakis Two as they are called to a meeting where the goal of the mission is about to be changed. Milo, along with Wolf shifter Dylan, have stepped in to represent the Trakis Two, a space ship manned by a crew of supernaturals, supernaturals considered to be abominations and against the law of God. But all is not well on the planet’s surface as Milo and Dylan will soon discover when an underground armament of nuclear weapons threatens the lives of thousands of people, and an intriguing young woman crosses paths with our hero. Enter Destiny. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Milo and Destiny, and the potential fall-out as Destiny’s future is about to be revealed, and the crew of the Trakis Two are targeted for who they are, and their interference in the formation of a brand new Order. Milo Velazquez is a warlock-the product of a demon/wizard breeding and as such is considered an abomination for his use of magic and power.Meeting Destiny, a young woman whose naïveté borders on innocence and childlike, but a woman who is quick to learn about life and everything it has to offer, gives Milo pause but our hero discovers there is more to the mission, a mission that is no longer focused on reestablishing a planet for Earth’s Chosen but a planet ruled and controlled by a chosen few.Destiny’s existence raises too many questions for the crew of the Trakis Two, an existence that shouldn’t be, yet an existence whose sole purpose is that of supply and demand. The relationship between Milo and Destiny is one of immediate attraction yet there is something about our heroine that doesn’t quite fit into the objective of Earth’s Chosen and the Church of Everlasting Life. Destiny was ‘born’ while everyone else was in cryo- hibernation, and awoke to find herself without direction or purpose. Curious as the reality of her new-waking world, our heroine finds herself confined to a cell until a stranger’s visit affords Destiny the opportunity of freedom. The $ex scenes are intimate and erotic, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text but I have to shake my head at the need for $ex when an entire army is on the hunt for our story line couple. There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including wolf shifter Dylan, and Trakis Two captain vampire Rico; geneticist Elvira; self-proclaimed leader Luther Kinross, and Silas Wynch. DECEPTION is a story of secrets and lies, deception and betrayal; friendships, relationships and love. The character driven premise is edgy, engaging and captivating; the romance is passionate; the characters are colorful , energetic, and charismatic.