Robin D. Owens – Heart Fortune

Book 12 in the Celta series, published August 6, 2013.
Genre: sci-fi / fantasy romance
Cover: I like it



On the faraway planet Celta, there are some forces you cannot fight…
Jace Bayrum has always been a loner. Concerned more with getting an adrenaline fix and making money to live on his own, Jace cares little for family ties or matters of the heart. On the other hand Glyssa Licorice, Jace's former fling and true mate, is both loving and loyal. She is determined to track down her HeartMate and have him claim her.
After hearing that Jace has been involved in an accident, Glyssa sets out to find him, departing for the excavation site of the lost starship Lugh's Spear. Though her goal is to help Jace and finesse him into recognizing her as his mate, the excavation itself draws her in…
Thrust by fate into working side-by-side, Jace and Glyssa's electric connection from years before sparks once more. She intrigues him, and Jace begins to realize that a HeartMate can make a difference. And one as magnetic as Glyssa could be exactly what he has been searching for…


Glyssa Licorice is a SecondLevel Librarian in Druida City, the major city on Celta. Both her parents and her older sister are FirstLevel Librarians, which makes them her bosses. Glyssa wants to make FirstLeven Librarian, and she needs a project for that. She is working on HouseHearts, as there is not much information about them in the Library.
Then suddenly her HeartMate takes her energy to save his life, and she knows where he is. She has known who he is for a while now, as they once spend a few hot days together. She never forgot about him, but he doesn’t know she is his HeartMate. But now she knows where he is, working at the excavation of the starship, and it needs to be properly documented. Also, her best friend Camellia Darjeeling-D’Hawthorn has a big inheritance riding on the excavation, and she asks Glyssa to write a play about it instead of something dry and boring.

With some difficulty, Glyssa gets her parents’ and sisters’ approval of her project, and sets out to the country with her new FamFox Lepid. He is trouble, and T’Ash was glad to be rid of him. There will be plenty to explore out in the countryside for a young fox. And of course the Elecampanes have a FamFox as well who will perhaps be able to teach him manners.
T’Hawthorn has gifted Glyssa with a very luxury pavilion for her stay, as she has never even gone camping. With some flair, it is just like living in a small house, nothing like the cheap little tent Jace and others are living in on site.
The Elecampanes are a bit leary of Glyssa at first, as they don’t want any interference from the FirstFamilies with their project. But Glyssa proves herself impartial and a good assistant.

Jace keeps his distance at first, but he does recognize Glyssa, and feels that same attraction to her that he had before. No other woman will do for him. And so he enters in a casual relationship with her, as he is not ready or willing for something more. Glyssa won’t pressure him, but she also won’t be able to deny them being HeartMates for long. She wants him by her side.
Jace had a bad example in his parents. His father adored his mother, and gave her whatever she wanted, at the cost of his own life and that of Jace if necessary. And when his father died saving his mother, she walked away without looking back. Jace has been on his own ever since. Not trusting women at all, and certainly not believing in love. Wandering from job to job, but excavating Lugh’s Spear is a lucrative one, and he likes it. The adventure of finding strange artefacts from their forefathers, and seeing things as first one in. But things go sour quickly, when he is accused of theft and attacking guards. Someone is blackening his name, but who, and why? Lucky he has his new FamBird Zem to take care off, and Glyssa stands behind him one hundred percent. Only he does not want to need her help, he does not like being beholden to someone.

And when he cannot give Glyssa the commitments she needs, she has no other choice but to brake off their relationship completely. She has been living to cater to his needs for too long now, it is just not enough for her. He is taking her for granted, enjoying himself in her bed and just living in the moment. But the danger escalates, and Jace gets trapped in the spaceship …


I love this series. I wish I lived on Celta with a Fam of my own and of course a HeartMate. This was a bit different than the rest of the books, not a First Family relationship, and it took place outside of Druida. I liked that change. I love meeting previous characters, and seeing how they are doing. We did skip a few years since the last book.
Glyssa’s family comes across as cold, and I am not sure I like her mother. Her father is nice, but he gives in to his wife in everything. The sister is just annoying because she is jealous of Glyssa.

I did like the interaction with Glyssa and her two best friends, and I do hope one of the next books is about the third friend, the priestess.

As usual, there are a lot of lovescenes in this book. First only in their dreams (which is how HeartMates find each other), but soon in real time. Glyssa and Jace both made HeartGifts during their Passage, but Jace did not really give his to Glyssa until it was almost too late, and Glyssa never gave hers to Jace in the story. It was mentioned though. His creative Flair is leather working, while hers is origami.

I do like the Fams, telepathic animals, and their imperial ways. It was nice to have a bird this time, that was new. So what other creatures can become Fams?

The intrigue part was good as well, I did not see this coming, nor did I guess who the bad guy was. I am already looking forward to the next book in the series.

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian