The Haven Category:  Science Fiction Publisher: Aspen Mountain Press Type: Fiction Pages: 184 Copyright: July 31, 2007 ISBN-13: 9781601680501 It’s the future, and a new kind of prejudice has replaced the racial prejudice Caitlin experienced in the last century. After all, when you’ve been given a second chance at life, you are expendable. When Caitlin Driskoll is awakened from a cryogenic stasis, she's got a lot of adjusting to do. It's a new century and the planet is at war. Once married to a Navy JAG, she now experiences life from the viewpoint of a Jarhead, and the view isn't pleasant. Colonel Medoro Keegan lost the two most important things in his life during his Marine career: his wife to friendly fire, and his ability to fly combat missions. Now, he's stuck aboard the Blanchard as the XO. The Corps is the only family he has left and he's not about to lose the last thing he values. Until he meets Caitlin, who isn't shy about telling Medoro what she thinks about his Marines. How can such beauty wrapped in an icy body have so much fire? It's the future, and a new kind of prejudice has replaced the racial prejudice Caitlin experienced in the last century. After all, when you've been given a second chance at life, you are expendable.    Excerpt He tossed the weapon back to the recruit who dropped it awkwardly before dropping it. "Follow it down recruit!" Graham's gloved finger pointed towards the sandy earth. He obeyed promptly. "This weapon goes down, so do you. On the ground all of you now!"

Cold Warriors
Caitlin knew about discrimination, she’d lived with it her whole life, but this type was something she’d never dealt with, being a nonentity. Waking up she finds herself in the year 2096, 99 years after she was placed in cryogenic state by her husband and declared dead. Caitlin now finds herself on a ship in space and in the Marines. But not everyone is thrilled to have any of the cryros around, they aren’t human to them, they’re expendable in the war that is being fought. Now she’s just a number, except to one XO Colonel Keegan, who finds her interesting, more than he should. The feelings that start to grow between Caitlin and Keegan put his career on the line and her life in more jeopardy than it was before. Can these two find happiness, or will others conspire to keep them apart?

After Keegan’s wife was killed by friendly fire, he made the Corp his life. Never taking one step out of protocol, everything was by the book to him. That is until on feisty woman was awakened and he found he didn’t like his lonely life after all. How is he going to keep her safe on the mission that was supposed to be a one-way ticket for her?

Ms. Dargin’s story is a tale of how two people try to overcome the prejudices of others around them as well as their own. These characters are so real that the readers feel they know them. It isn’t a story you’re reading but watching as friends try to find a way to make things work. The secondary characters only make it more so. It’s a sweet romance but with a hard-hitting storyline. Cold Warriors will be one that readers will be talking about for a long time to come and recommending to one and all. I’m looking forward to more of her books.
-Donna Fallen Angel Reviews

Cold Warriors
Colonel Medoro Keegan is the Executive Officer aboard the space carrier USS Blanchard. Once upon a time he had a wife and his pilot’s wings, but now all he has left was the Corp. The thought of risking his heart again shakes him to the core.

Caitlin Driskoll awakens to a whole new existence. She soon finds out that a century has passed during which time she lay in a cryogenic stasis. She might have had a Masters in Education on Earth but now she is nothing more than an indentured servant.

Keegan’s job includes greeting the cryos upon their awakening. He is not the only one who is annoyed with their presence aboard the ship. They are nothing but a drain on the ship's resources, and most have no military background. However once he meets Caitlin Driskoll his perception changes. He cannot allow his personal feelings to get in the way of his job, so he keeps his contact with her to a minimum. The war that they are in proves to be more than the average human can handle, but the cryos are not average. With much lower core temperatures the cryos are readied for battle on a planet that makes Antarctica seem balmy. Caitlin becomes a soldier, knowing she has little choice in the matter. Her feelings for Keegan can only put them both at risk, so she pushes them aside to do her job. Their mission is nearly suicidal and leaves little chance of coming home. Keegan cannot accept never seeing Caitlin again, so he riskes everything. He only hopes he is not too late.

This is definitely not a sugarcoated fairy tale. Colonel Keegan is all military but he also has a heart. He treats all of the people on the ship with respect and expects the same in return. His feelings for Caitlin may be the end of his career, but he does not risk his crew in the process. Caitlin became the best soldier she could. She knew that wallowing in self-pity would get her nowhere. Her goal was to survive, after that she could only dream. The feel of this story is gritty and raw and the characters very real, making for a really great read.

Lototy
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Book