Review: I Like this Series
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 12, 2013
Three stars for this book.  Four stars for the series.I started the Forced to Serve series with the free Amazon download of The Demon of Synar and have read all of the series to date.  It's a space opera, with a little action and a lot of personal interaction between the characters.  What I like about this series is that Ms. McDonald portrays the characters as aliens but it turns out that they are not that different from us humans.  That is, only one of the characters has any human DNA and the rest originate from worlds far beyond Earth.  Several of the non-humans appear to be far more enlightened than humanity, but that is probably due to their very long lives.  Not to worry, there are worlds that are certainly less enlightened, assuming you believe slavery to be a bad thing.In The Healers Kiss, Boca and Chiang have been fated for each other by the Creators.  But neither wants to commit. Yes, this theme has been done before.  Yes, I did get a little annoyed with their refusal to see the light since everyone else on board the ship keeps pointing them to it.  However, both characters still endeared themselves to me as each was fully developed and each had their own redeeming characteristics.Along with the theme of the uncommitting lovers is the action side of this story where Boca and Chiang go under cover to rescue a dignitary's daughter who has been captured and is being kept as a slave.  They are assisted by familiar characters from the previous installments in this series: Captain Synar and Ania Looren, the Demon Malachi, Dorian and Gwen Jet.  With the introduction of a few new characters, we are being prepared for the next book in the series.This was an enjoyable read and I look forward to the next in the series.