Shannon C.’s review of Earthchild by Katriena Knights
Science fiction romance published by Samhain Publishing 6 Jun 07 

I love being able to discover a new-to-me author. It’s one of the greatest perks to reviewing, but more often than not, my new author discoveries aren’t really all I wish they were.

Then again, sometimes I get a book like Katriena Knights’ Earthchild which manages to do pretty much everything right and leave me with a smile on my face and hope for one of my favorite romance subgenres.

The story here centers around Noisy Girl, a human who was raised among the indiginous White Fur people on the planet Denahault. She is so named because the White Fur people don’t actually vocalize and rely on sign language. Anyway, Noisy Girl goes to the human portion of the planet because she wants to learn more about where she came from. She meets Jeff Anderson, who is on Denahault for the wedding of his former commanding officer, and the two of them immediately strike up a friendship. But when the friendship turns to love, they have to make an important choice–pursue their dreams or find some way to be together.

Noisy Girl is a great heroine. She is sweet and full of bubbly enthusiasm. In many ways, she is quite innocent, but this never really comes across as particularly infantile, so I wasn’t creeped out by the time she and Jeff start having sex. In fact, her people are pretty wise in the ways of sex, which was a nice change from my preconceived notions. I also really like that Noisy Girl didn’t immediately embrace everything about human society, and figuring out her place is, at times, a heartbreaking struggle for her.

I liked Jeff, too. He’s a nice, beta hero with dreams about captaining his own starship. He doesn’t even really understand why he’s so drawn to Noisy Girl, but he is and he wants to help her accustom herself to being human. I loved watching him realize that, in the end, there was no way he could live without her, and I loved the solution they found to their conflict.

I love the growing friendship then love dynamic of this book. There were no huge misunderstandings, both of these characters seemed very level-headed, and yet they have to grow up and come to terms with what they each want in life before they get their HEA.

The secondary characters are great and well-developed. I also found that it wasn’t necessary to have read the previous book in the series, Starchild, because the world building works just fine on its own. That said, I have already bought my copy of Starchild and intend to put it up high on Mt. TBR. I think fans of science fiction romance will really enjoy this book. I know I certainly can’t wait to see what else Katriena Knights has in store for me.

Grade: A-

Summary:

Could he give up the stars…for her?

Taken in as an infant and raised by the primitive, non-human natives of the colony planet Denahault, Noisy Girl has always known she was different. Human settlers initiating peaceful contact confirm it—her true home is a planet called Earth, millions of miles away among the stars.

Her search for her heritage leads her to the home of Harrison Fairfax and Trieka Cavendish, and their guest Jeff Anderson, Trieka’s former second-in-command.

For Jeff, Trieka’s offer to captain the legendary ship Starchild is a lifelong dream fulfilled. Then he meets Noisy Girl, an entrancing young woman who speaks only in sign language. She captures his imagination like no other woman ever has, and his efforts to teach her English deepens a relationship he never thought was possible for him.

But the claustrophobic, technology-laden atmosphere of Earth traumatizes the gentle Noisy Girl, and suddenly Jeff’s choices aren’t quite so clear.

If he accepts permanent command of Starchild, all hope of happiness with this beguiling woman will be destroyed. Unless a compromise can be found…

Warning, this title contains the following: Sensual content, environmental pollution, emotional mothers and extensive use of alien sign language.

You can read an excerpt here