After thwarting a deadly coup and saving the alliance between their worlds, Cara and Aelyx have finally earned a break. Their tiny island colony is everything they dreamed it would be―days spent gathering shells on the beach and nights in each other’s arms.
But the vacation is short-lived.
The treaty between Earth and L’eihr has awakened an ancient force that threatens to destroy them all. The Aribol, mysterious guardians charged with maintaining interstellar peace, deem the alliance a threat to the galaxy. They order a separation of the races, decreeing humans and L’eihrs must return to their own planets within the month or face extinction. In fact, they already have agents in place on Earth, ready to begin.
With the clock ticking, Aelyx and Cara assemble a team of colonists and race back to Earth, where they unite with old friends to solve the mystery of who the Aribol are, what they want, and the real reason the alliance has provoked them. As tensions build to a full-scale war, Aelyx and Cara must fight harder than ever―not just for their future, but for the survival of both their worlds.
I didn't enjoy this near as much as the other books in the series. It was fine - but I feel like the plot went from plausibly unrealistic to incredibly unrealistic. There's this whole conflict with another alien race and I just didn't buy the way things were handled (world - human and alien - leaders would not leave so much in the hands of a handful of teens, for one!). I would have much preferred a book with conflicts while they setup life in the new colony. That being said, I still enjoyed the characters and their interactions. And the narration was still an A. But maybe this series would have been better off ending with the second book :(
