Thea Haven was once engaged to the exiled king of the Refarians, an alien race now established on earth and committed to protecting humanity from the invasion of the parasitic Antousians (yes, that would be yet another species). Instead, following a sequence of events narrated in the first book, the king married some human. Which makes Thea a very dissatisfied virgin warrior. On the prowl in human bars for some way to relieve her frustration, she meets Marco McKinley.

Marco claims to be a Madjin, or part of an elite Refarian group dedicated to protecting the king and the royal family (if you don’t get this, don’t worry; the novel repeats so many times that by the time you finish the first third you will be reciting it by heart). Thea isn’t sure whether to believe him or not, but she feels there is something between them. It’s not just the overriding magnetic attraction; they also seem to have met in some alternate universe or timeline where their bonds lead to betrayal. Staying on course is just a tad more serious than it would be for most couples (and if you don’t get that, Marco will be glad to explain it again).

All this might be interesting if Thea and Marco actually had personalities and a real relationship. Unfortunately, there really isn’t much more to them than mutual fascination and some hocus-pocus about empathy and true essences. What’s more, Marco has all kinds of reasons why they shouldn’t get together. Which means we are locked into a loop that is replayed over and over and over again. Thea and Marco give into their attraction and start feeling each other up. Then Marco realizes he really shouldn’t be doing this, and pushes her away. A couple of scenes later, they’re at it again.

After several such incidents, Thea says, “I’m onto your game, Marco. You’re all about, ‘Come close, I’ll push you away.’” She got that part right. I wish she would get the rest too and just walk away.

When the novel manages to break-away from Marco’s game, it is dedicated to resolving issues from the previous novel and to setting things up for the next one. In fact, I suspect that much of the mystery surrounding Marco’s motivations and the alternate timelines, not to mention the Refarians’ presence on earth, might have been clearer had I begun at the beginning of the series. Still, I’m not sure my lack of interest can be chalked up to my irresponsible reading habits. While I admit it can be difficult to make sense of a story if you don’t start where you are supposed to, this isn’t the first time I’ve jumped in at the middle. I haven’t always been so disappointed. A good novelist knows how to help the reader make sense of things without giving everything away. Knight fails miserably. Readers of Parallel Attraction might disagree and want to find out what happened. But after forcing myself to finish this book, I have no interest in uncovering the early history of the Refarians and in discovering how their future struggles will fare.

--Mary Benn