Inherit the Stars by Tessa Elwood seamlessly blends science-fiction, politics, and romance into a space opera full of adventure and heart.

Asa is the youngest daughter in the House of Fane, and though she is often pushed to the side, her actions are about to make her center stage in a world of cunning politics she can barely keep up with.

After one sister was injured, Asa knew the only way to save her was to replace her other sister during an arranged marriage. The joining of the Houses Fane and Westlet would create an alliance that could save Asa’s planet, and it was a bold enough move to convince her father to keep her oldest sister alive.

Except nothing is going right, and Asa seems to have created more problems than she can solve. Treaties are called into question, as are bloodlines, and through everything she and her betrothed must convince the public they are madly in love. That, at least, is the easiest role she must play.

‘Inherit the Stars’ book review

In Tessa Elwood’s story, people laugh in sunshine and feathers. Fear grips you beneath your rib cage, and silences speak so loudly, they knock you to the ground. In a novel that could have been easily filled with explosions and gun fights, the prose is exquisitely delicate, lending a kind of detail to the story that you can feel in your bones.

Asa’s naiveté is at first endearing. She is the youngest, the most sheltered, the one whose head is always in the clouds. Later, it is a strength that allows her to punch past walls. Her unassuming, simple demeanor finds its way to the heart of a person, especially Eagle, who is used to being misunderstood. But Asa understands all too well.

Politics and romance battle each other across the book’s 300 pages, giving you a taste for one and then the other, teasing you with subtle, non-verbal moments between Asa and Eagle that makes your heart pound, and then giving you an intricate story about power and control and how both of those are not as easy to capture and maintain as one would like to believe.

Asa’s selflessness put her in danger throughout the book, and yet that altruistic nature is what saves her. Her strength is buried, told that it was not good enough, and yet it is all her family, both old and new, needs to fix their intergalactic problems. When that realization is made by those who had doubted her, there is no sweeter revenge. Asa may not be that petty, but we have no problem feeling smug on her behalf.

Inherit the Stars by Tessa Elwood is available now. Add it to you Goodreads list or purchase it on Amazon or IndieBound.