Ties of Power (Trade Pact #2) ★★★☆☆

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Title: Ties of Power
Series: Trade Pact #2
Author: Julie Czerneda
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 499
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Sira and Jason Morgan are living safe from the Clan. Jason has been growing in power under Sira's tutelage. Things start to go sideways though when Sira's cousin, now also exiled, shows up on their doorstep. It would appear that there is another splinter group of the Clan opposed to the Council but who want Jason just as dead and Sira under their control. The Council itself hasn't stopped playing games either.

This leads to Sira being abducted and her reproductive organs stolen. Morgan rescues her and then she compels him to go after those who did this to her. Meanwhile, she gets sidetracked into attending a ceremony on an alien world where the aliens apparently know about the M'hir, the energy space the Clan uses. Sira learns that the M'hir is a whole other ecosystem and not some creation of the Clan.

Kidnappings, murders and mystery abound. Everyone comes together and Sira deals with those who have crossed her. Her own father tries to murder Morgan in an attempt to kill her but thanks to Sira's training Morgan not only survives but fights back. This allows Sira, as the most powerful of the Clan, to wipe her father from existence.

The Clan is invited into the Trade Pact and the Council has voted to join. Cooperation, good cheer and hope are everywhere. And Sira has her naughty bits back so she and Morgan can consumate their Joining.

My Thoughts:

Yeah, not nearly so enthralling as the first book. Way, way, way further down the romance road.

Most of my problem stemmed from the fact that if Jason and Sira had taken a straight line from point A to point B, they could have solved their problems with power and force and violence. Instead, because of “feelingz”, they continually get hurt and so can't fully use their power together. This leads to an elliptical storyline where they keep going in circles while edging extremely slowly to that mythical point B.

A bloody ship with some big guns and a fully healthy Sira with her powers could have wiped her father and co-conspirators from the face of the universe in about 1 month. But my goodness, where would the “feelingz” be then? There would have been at least half the collateral damage if Jason Morgan had been a bloody man and just killed the people who were threatening him and his wife. Running away and wishing that things will get better don't solve problems.

This crossed the line from the kind of romance that I do like into the kind that I really don't like.

Up until the very end, Sira just gets hammered and reacts, every single time. It frustrated me because I could see how easy it would have been for the Morgan's to have planned differently and have everything turn out better. The story was interesting and everything we learn is cool but it came at the cost of Jason Morgan acting like a pussy and Sira a fainting maid instead of the extremely powerful and talented powerhouses they are.

Czerneda is now on probation and depending on how the next book turns out will decide if I continue with her or not.

★★★☆☆

• A Thousand Words for Stranger (Book 1)