Bright Star by Talia R. Blackwood

 “I am his guardian angel. I don’t know who he is. I know every line of his face—the curve of his lips is carved in my soul—but I don’t know his name. I always called him just Prince.”

Tasked to watch over a young man in suspended animation, Phae, a clone, spends his life alone on an empty spaceship, focused only on the protection of his ward. Prince isn’t scheduled to wake for another twenty years, but an attack on the ship starts the automatic awakening procedure. Prince relieves Phae’s loneliness and teaches him the meaning of love. However, the mission becomes more complicated than either man was led to believe—and far more dangerous. Their destination is a world held hostage, where clones are disposable and Phae is scheduled for “recycling” when his duty is done.

When I first started Bright Star, I will admit I kept thinking “This is the strangest book I’ve ever read.” I never expected to like it. In fact, I kind of forced myself to keep going – wanting to just get it finished. At the beginning it reminded me of two movies – though I can’t remember their titles. The first was a Disney movie with the little robot who lived alone. That’s how the guardian angel appeared at first. Then, when the huge alien spiders arrived, I was put in mind of a sci-fi movie I saw where alien spiders attacked a ship and tore it apart.

I must insert an eye roll here as that was how I felt at the time.

But then, something happened. Our guardian angel had to wake up his prince. It was an accident, and he didn’t know what to do about it, but his only goal in life was to take care of his prince – a human who was cryogenically sealed in a sarcophagus. This human was scared, alone, and saw our guardian angel for what he was – a clone, but he also saw more. He saw Phae – our beloved guardian’s name.

I don’t want to give away much of went on because it was so incredibly heart-warming in the midst of loneliness and evil. Suffice it to say, I had tears in my eyes by the end of the book. If you decide you want to read one HEA book that makes little sense but you know once you read it, you will want to read and re-read it again and again, this is the book for you.

Did it have faults? Yes – but the book is so danged good, I don’t remember them. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Wow. There was so much about this that I loved – I’m not even sure where to start. I guess I’ll give a brief overview. The events of the story all revolve around a human clone, Phaedrus, who is very innocent and has spent the majority of his life alone on a ship guarding ‘Prince’, a human in a cryogenic state. Prince is on his way to Otherworld, where he’s betrothed to a King who hasn’t even been born yet. Phae is considered Prince’s guardian angel and he watches over his charge obsessively – this is his only task and entire reason for living.

Over the course of the nineteen years he’s been charged with this task, Phae’s developed a hero-worship obsessiveness over the young and beautiful, blond haired man. When an unexpected emergency aboard the ship causes Prince to awaken from his sleep too early, they form an instant bond that made perfect sense and actually worked quite well for this story.

I adored Phae. He is so selfless, sweet and loving. Through his innocence, he inspires the cynical Prince to be honest and giving. They complement one another perfectly. There are more events that threaten their deep bond and a few heartbreaking moments where the reader is kept in suspense and wondering ‘how can they survive this?’. It’s all beautifully written and I was completely immersed in their story. The way Phae’s lack of understanding about the human world was portrayed, was incredibly touching and realistic. There was an overall feel to this story that was endearing. I love, love, loved it.

Ms. Blackwood is a newer author and I’m quite anxious to read more of her work (I hope she’s writing something right now!). In seeking out what else she’s written, I saw that she had a three book series through Silver Publishing that is no longer available because it was – you guessed it – from Silver Publishing *grumbles*. The blurbs look fantastic, so I hope there will be a re-release on those.

In the meantime, I highly recommend Bright Star. I was captivated immediately and couldn’t put it down. If you like sweet and sexy sci-fi with loveable characters, then grab a copy of this one! I give it 5 claws.

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