Sons of Lyra: Runaway Hearts by Felicity Heaton hits all the marks--hot guy, steamy sex, girl with some sense, and space ships. A perfect combination.
Lyran crown prince Sebastien has a problem--a mother with a bad case of weddingitis. When she signs a marriage contract and tells Sebastien his wedding date, he does what any sane person would do...he runs.

When Terea picks Sebastien's pocket, he sees an opportunity--an unknown face/travelling companion who can buy tickets off world without rousing suspicion. He offers her a ticket if she'll join him and Terea, needing immediate passage more than money, agrees.

Add in alcohol and a prince who holds his liquor better than Terea expected, and you have lemons, romance, a painful separation, and a joyous reunion. In the end, they even make the Rents (his mother/her father) happy.

Well, as happy as parents like them can be.

My Reaction

If a book begins with a character thinking about him or herself, I normally skip the beginning, but Sebastien's opener was entertaining. His reaction to "petty flattery" and thoughts on marriage, his brothers, his position, and his parents were both interesting and funny. The first pages painted a picture of this handsome prince who gives his mother more nightmares about his future relationship status than I give mine...love.

The tension builds continuously until the last scene with escalating sexual tension, military intervention, and parental machinations all playing a role, keeping my thumb on the next page button and my eyes glued to my Kindle.

I'm sure there were a few grammar wobbles--commas are so subjective--and the formatting was so-so. (Centered scene breaks would be nice.) But the plot moved quickly, the premise was believable, and the lemons were well-written and steamy.

Terea's big reveal felt a little contrived, I prefered her as a pickpocket, but it meshed well with the plot and gave the novella the expected warm-fuzzy ending.

This novella pairs well with lazy evenings, fuzzy bathrobe, and spiked hot cocoa (peppermint schnapps or grand marnier for me).