Sanctify is a rabid speiciest group that has dedicated themselves to wiping out their alien "enemies", and they have tried to kill all the Diviners. Diviners are aliens whose goddess give them direction via tarot cards, and by telepathy as the Diviners progress along their spiritual path. Ophelia is a Diviner, like her mother. Her father is an escaped solder from Sanctify, who has a gunrunning business. Ophelia works in her dad's business, and has just returned home after losing all her crew in a devastating attack by Sanctify because she did not listen to the fate her cards foretold.

To drown her sorrows, she has a very hot night of drunken sex (which starts on page 14!) then heads home. When she arrives home, her cards tell her she is supposed to marry the Prince of Hansarda. Having just had it deeply impressed upon her it is dangerous to not listen to her tarot cards, Ophelia sucks it up and leaves with who she believes to be the prince's representative, who happens to be the guy she just burned up the sheets with: Boone.

Boone first shows up to do some reconnaissance, to see if Ophelia is going to bring all the resources of her father's gun running company under his half brother Prince Kristian's thumb when she becomes Kristian's wife. Boone shows up after the card reading in order to kidnap Ophelia, but Ophelia's family believes he is there to take Ophelia to the Prince. Ophelia therefore goes willingly with Boone to his spacecraft. Boone and his alien crew instead transport Ophelia to an outlying planet, so Kristian can't get access to her family's weapons.

Ophelia keeps laying out her cards as the story progresses, a clever literary device that gives us some insight through the plot twists and turns. There are a lot of entertaining interspecies interactions, lots of political intrigue and betrayal, a poisoning plot, and some kick butt action. There are also some very steamy sex scenes. QUEEN OF SWORDS is a romp of a sci fi romance, and it is a blast to read.

QUEEN OF SWORDS is listed as book one in the Sanctify series, but there is a prequel novella, The High Priestess. I did not read the prequel and did not feel it necessary to enjoy QUEEN OF SWORDS.

Book Summary

When the cards tell Ophelia Leoni she's supposed to marry the Prince of Hansarda, the gunrunner grits her teeth and boards the starship that comes for her. It doesn't matter if the ship's commander is the gorgeous stranger she just spent a wild, drunken night with. As a Diviner, she’s painfully aware the cards don't lie. Ever.

Boone O’Keirna knows Ophelia is trouble the second he sees the way she moves. Not about to let the deadly little hellcat marry his sadistic half-brother, Boone pretends to be the Prince’s emissary and kidnaps Ophelia. Too bad they can’t be in the same room without him wanting to throw her out an airlock–or into bed.

Even as they fight each other-and their explosive attraction-Ophelia and Boone sense something is wrong. Too much is going their way. Soon, they realize while the cards may never lie, the truth is sometimes hidden between them...and the future king of Hansarda is not one to take defeat lying down.