Their lives are on hold…

Dr. Valda Bashan wakes to the inexplicable—a biosphere where she and four others are the only occupants. Before this place, she possessed a life and a career. A computerized voice welcomes her to the biosphere and the job she’s apparently accepted. The terms are clear, she and her companions have to survive there for a year, and only when the time is up, will they be free.

Her companions trouble her on a deeply personal level…

Andreas, Hatch, Oz, and Dirk couldn’t be more different. Each man seems to be in the same predicament as her. No one remembers agreeing to the project or what task they have to complete. If they can’t work together, they may never be able to escape.

The first order of business: learn to get along. Though that task may be the most impossible of all, because everyone seems to be hiding secrets.

NOTES:
**Please note this is a reverse harem and the author suggests you always read the forward in her books. This is the first in a trilogy and the story will continue through future books.

***Previously published as Their Memoriam by Jazz Michaels, a pen name. Now re-edited and proofed for re-release.

When I started reading this I immediately thought, how apropos, a pandemic. I knew this book had been written a few years ago and once again marveled at how Heather Long can weave a tale that enthralls from the very first page.

From the first page I was intrigued and as each of the characters awaken from life pods my curiosity grew. Beginning with Valda the apparent Team Lead, and the next day her team. Each waking with the same needs but also differences.

This is a favorite scene after solving the puzzle of what one of the guys ate.

“Seems like we all signed up of our own volition,” Oz said, though his careful phrasing held elements of doubt.

“Some of us signed up for personal reasons.” Hatch glanced from me to Rossi, then back again.

“You need to fuck off.” Still, Rossi kept staring at me.

“Do we know each other?” It was tantamount to admitting I did suffer from memory loss.

“I have my orders.” The AJ’s reply wasn’t an answer.

“Way to duck the truth,” Hatch echoed my thoughts.

“Whether we knew each other or not is irrelevant.”

Not to me, but I bit my tongue and kept it to myself. Rossi had proven his trustworthiness several times today and continued to demonstrate it now. I wasn’t comfortable with personal discussions and observations. We could take it up later, when we were alone.

“Says you.” Hatch stood up and paced. “Says all of you. Memory loss— for all of us? Except you? I’d call that convenient.”

“The captain isn’t the only one who isn’t suffering from memory loss,” Oz offered into the quiet. Thankfully, he pulled all of our attention with the announcement. “I was approached about a specialized program and asked to participate. I was also told it required non-disclosure and it was on a need to know.”

The description was anticlimactic. All Oz knew was he didn’t know.

If he told the truth. I didn’t have enough empirical evidence to ascertain whether I could trust his veracity or not. His smile was nice. Pretty faces told lies just as easily as unpleasant ones.

“So you were recruited for a classified project in an undisclosed location that you knew nothing about,” Andreas summed it up, and banged his head against the pillow. “Not helpful.”

“I didn’t say it was helpful, I wanted to indicate that memory loss or lack thereof isn’t a marker for what we’re doing here or motives for any of us.” Oz made a fair point. We didn’t know each other, and we didn’t know why we were here.

“What we do know,” I said, trying to compartmentalize the data. “We all apparently volunteered. We filmed messages to ourselves. They also seemed… scripted, and they were filmed in non-descript locations with no corporate or even governmental identification. We know we arrived in lifepods, and that we are in a place designated as Biosphere One. We each have a suite, and I am presuming a few personal items each. There is a large garden in the sublevel with a faux sun and fresh air. The air in here is recycled and ionized. I have a laboratory, and Doctor Morgan has the infirmary.”

As I ticked off the details, I was able to organize it. Continuing, I found myself staring at one of the empty beds. “There are only five beds in here, which is odd, because there are five of us— but one would presume we would not all require medical treatment at the same time, because there’s no one to look after us. The computer has specified details on us and provided different details to each of us— or perhaps only to the three of us who are scientists. We’re here for a year, and today is day two.”

“Day one for some of us,” Rossi said, his attention fixed on me. “But what does the day have to do with it?”

“We have roughly 363 solar days to get through if we’re running on Earth time.”

That had their attention.

“If we’re on Earth. If not, we may have longer or shorter depending on the solar rotation of the planetary body.” The very thought had the oxygen clawing to escape my lungs. “That is not our primary concern.”

“Seriously?” Hatch gaped at me, then shook his head. “I’ll bite. What’s our primary concern?”

An even more unsettling proposition, I feared. “Survival.”
Heather Long. Paused (Kindle Locations 833-863). Kindle Edition.

I loved the vivid descriptions of the Biosphere and the gradual settling into a team rather than individuals. Although it took Valda longer to reach that point.

There is attraction between them that is undeniable but still no clue as the purpose of the sphere.

I have to say I wasn’t prepared for the answers given and was truly shocked but not appalled. There’s lots of suspense, intrigue, secrets and sizzling romance.

I can’t wait to see what happens next!

5 Contented Purrs for Heather!

Heather Long

USA Today bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas in the summertime.

From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories–her characters drive the books.

When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.