Solar Wind by Carole Ann Lee is the long-awaited sequel to Banner's Bonus, a futuristic romance published by Dorcester, and recently re-released by Awe-Struck E-books.

In my review of Banner's Bonus I mentioned the rest of the Banner brothers, and Zeke as begging for their own stories.  With Solar Wind Zeke Slater finally gets his novel. 

Zeke gets more than he bargained for when he finds a stowaway on board his spaceship, Solar Wind.  He is well aware of who Kira Delaney is, and knows that she is nothing but trouble.  With a reputation for recklessness, Kira is the last person he wants on board his ship for numerous reasons.  Not least of which because Zeke is secretly working as a privateer with a top secret agenda.

Kira didn't mean to find herself about Solar Wind.  Since her father's death three months before her life has been turned upside down and finding herself in a crate of fruit and aboard Zeke's ship is only the latest in a long line of mysteries.  She has been struggling to learn the ropes as she takes over her half of Major Metals and has been finding that things are not as they should be.  Things are being authorised in her name, which she knows nothing about, and even more disturbingly, it seems that the company is involved in the slave trade.  And as someone who knows more than she ever wanted to about the slave trade, this is something she is not prepared to stand for, and will do anything to put an end to.

Zeke does not want Kira on board his ship and is determined to put her off at the first available opportunity.  But they are being followed, by men who appear to want Kira dead, and out of respect for Renn, Kira's father, Zeke will do everything in his power to protect her until he can reunite her with her father.  He has no way of knowing that Renn has died, and Kira has no intention of telling him. 

Of course, doing anything to protect her doesn't mean he wants to marry her, spend the rest of his life with her, and put her in danger because of his line of work.  That isn't to say he doesn't want her, especially when she insists on wearing little more than his shirt and making outrageous propositions in her efforts to remain on board Solar Wind. 

Fast paced and engaging, Solar Wind has moments of light humour and occasional calm that contrast nicely with the dramatic and darker themes.

Solar Wind also has a good range of secondary characters in the form of Zeke's crew, Frank Reno being the most well-rounded and fleshed out character of the bunch.  Frank and the Banner boys not withstanding, I would have liked to see a little more of some of the other characters - Leon/Wolf, Gibby and Steve Talbot for example were interesting enough to make me want to see more about them and learn why they did the various things that they did in the story.

That being said, this minor quibble aside, Solar Wind is an enjoyable read that I read in one sitting, something I rarely do these days, and Zeke and Kira are engaging enough to carry the story through to its conclusion. 

As a final note, for fans of Banner's Bonus, in Solar Wind Carole Ann Lee also reintroduces the Banner boys (and girls) and we get to catch up a little with Nick and Tressa.  Although not as much time has passed for the characters as has for the readers, the family is still enthralling and I only hope that it won't be as long to wait for Clint and Marc's stories as it has been for Zeke's. 
 

RATING : 

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Links to  online stores

Also by Carole Ann Lee: Banner's Bonus

Solar Wind will be available in September 2008 from Awe-Struck E-books

Visit Carole Ann Lee online here