Knight's Fork

What's a virtuous and virginal knight to do when saddled with a fair but married damsel in distress?....Tarrant-Arragon is at it again! Djinn Princess Electra-Djerrodina, sister to Tarrant-Arragon, is Queen of Volnoth. It had been a strategic marriage politically. However not until Viz-Igerd's older brothers had died leaving him King had the pressure been put on the pair to produce an heir. Every creative method of conception had been employed without success and still her husband would not admit that their two species were incompatible for reproduction. The situation was becoming urgent, if they didn't soon produce an heir they would be set aside.....or worse. Electra however had devised a plan which, if successful, would produce the desired heir and no one would be the wiser. Well, except the true father. He would have to be someone discreet as well as potent and genetically compatible. He would also have to have a shared physical trait with her husband as well. The handsome young green-eyed Prince Djarrhett was her target. As luck would have it, her sister's public Mating ceremony was the perfect opportunity to approach `Rhett with her unusual request. Of course the virtuous and inexperienced knight refuses the proposition but his libido is not appropriately put off. Segue to where INSUFFIENCENT MATING MATERIAL left off, on the Pleasure Moon of Eurydyce following Django Ra's fateful tarot reading. Electra arrives after her great uncle fails to return to their convoy and seizes another opportunity to convince `Rhett to do her bidding. It's still a no go for `Rhett, but unfortunately his half brother Deveron gets a whiff of scandal when he discovers that the two have been together in Djarrett's bedroom. Deveron is suffering from frustrated rut-rage having caught the love-scent of a mystery female while on Earth. The two battle, `Rhett's possessive instincts come to the fore and Deveron is injured. Seizing the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, Tarrant-Arragon strong-arms Djarrhett into taking up a quest to determine whether a Djinn or part Djinn female existed on Earth. In no position to refuse, `Rhett accepts the mission taking Tarrant-Arragon's man Grievous to serve as an Earth liaison, and Martia-Julia's younger son Thor-quentin who is in need of a good male influence. Only Grievious is aware of the sleeping beauty lying in suspension inside one of the Trajant's sleep pods...that is until Electra awakens at the opportune moment completely unaware that she is no longer in her scheming brother's keeping. Oh no, she's due to meet her husband for a public mating, and instead she's bound for Earth locked in a chastity belt with no key at hand, about to become rut-rageous in the presence of two male Djinn. `Rhett is incapable of rut-rage but there's still some question about Thor-quentin's paternity. He had to protect them both, but who would protect him? Tarrant-Arragon's great enemy, Rhett's father, the Saurian Dragon has his

Volnoth Queen Consort Electra loves her mate Viz-lgerd, but knows they are checked when it comes to siring a child. She chooses Rhett as the sperm pawn for her offspring. However, she is unaware of two key facts about the pawn she has chosen. First he is the son of Volnoth's greatest enemy Ala'Asrer-Djalet, who is better known as the Saurian Dragon of the Djinn family; second he adheres to his vow of chastity. Electra and Rhett are surprised by finding themselves attracted to one another. However, her brother Prince Tarrant-Arragon assumes they are having an affair. He insures they are trapped together on their way to earth. As they fall in love, his amoral father and her outraged family insist something must be done to the assumed lovers. The latest chess futuristic romance (see FORCED MATE and INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL) is once again a strange but well written and fascinating tale. The story line is character driven as Electra tries to checkmate her reluctant knight. Fans will enjoy the latest sci fi romance from the creative Rowena Cherry as she has aliens falling into a taboo love which makes make for an intriguing albeit weird but entertaining saga. Harriet Klausner

Rowena Cherry is a brilliant writer. Blending humor and romance is much harder then most people believe and she does it effortlessly. Her third Djinn novel is an excellent example. KNIGHT'S FORK had me laughing from the first chapter all the way to the end. Rhett is a hot and smart leading man that had me thinking of old Carry Grant movies and some of the great one-liners he delivered on the silver screen. Electra is an intelligent, beautiful woman who captures the reader's heart from page one. These two are thrust together through a series of hysterical misadventures that lead to a sizzling romance. This novel has it all and I would recommend it to everyone. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that this is the third book in the series and makes reference to characters and events in the previous books. Readers might want to read this series in order and not as stand-alone books. ~ Sarah Gentili

I am a fan of Rowena Cherry. No doubt about it. She's a stellar writer, and her worlds are incredibly intricate. Not to mention the fact that her Djinn Princes are mouth-wateringly hot and scrumptious. To boot, she has a great dry wit, that classic English humor found in Monty Python and other greats. I was lucky enough to be gifted an advance copy of KNIGHT'S FORK, book three in Rowena's Tigron/Djinn Princes. What a gift! It hasn't been long since I've read the first two novels in this series (FORCED MATE and INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL), though I read the novella more than a year ago (MATING NET). Still, I don't think this world would diminish, even if it had been years for all of them. Like all the books in this series, the title is based on a chess move or situation. A "Knight's Fork" arises when an opponent's knight is faced with two of your pieces, and you must choose to save one, knowing that the danger still looms for the other. In short, it's the proverbial "rock and a hard place" situation. For Prince Djarrhett, The Saurian Djinn, trouble comes from all sides. He's taken a vow of chastity, in a large part due to his "unfortunate childhood accident of fate." Read that as a bout of human mumps leaving him a very virile and potent Djinn but incapable of experiencing the rut-rage. That is both a blessing and a curse to him, since it means he isn't dangerous, when a fertile Djinn woman is around, but it also means he can't experience the imprinting, which will make him crave the first female Djinn who is rut-rageous he scents. He's pursued by the Queen Consort of the Volnoth, Electra-Djerroldina (Prince Tarrant-Arragon's older sister). Her pursuit isn't completely carnal, though. Electra was mated to the youngest Volnoth prince to seal an alliance between Tigron and Volnoth, a mating that was never expected to bring forth children. Who knew his father and older brothers would be killed off, leaving Viz-Igerd with the impossible task of impregnating the wife he loves? Electra has no wish to commit body-treason (adultery) with Rhett. All she wants is his semen to accomplish a pregnancy she might pass off as her beloved husband's...and perhaps prepare her reticent body to carry a child that Viz-Igerd would sire later. He's on an impossible quest, namely proving his unstable half-brother Devoron has rut-raged on a full Djinn female on Earth, Demetra, who is believed dead. He's temporary guardian and male role model to a spoiled and deceptively-innocuous half-Djinn prince (Thor-quentin, the younger of Tarrant-Arragon's nephews from his younger sister Martia-Djulia). Oh, and let us not forget the devious Saurian Dragon (aka Rhett's father), who will do anything up to sacrificing his son to break the alliance between Tigron and Volnoth...and the "Wicked Tarrant-Arragon," who believes his older sister guilty of body-treason and sees only one way to save her life... Okay...you MIGHT believe that I've told you the whole book. You'd be dead

Knight's Fork by Rowena Cherry is a taut and heady romance story of epic proportions. Move over Helen of Troy and Paris, you've been bested by Rhett and Electra. I recommend this sci-fi romance to anyone who enjoys emotional chess and divining astrological tarot cards. - Lillian