Kindred

Across a galaxy governed by nobles and commoners, the Kindred system was built to prevent revolt by linking people in mental pairs, so that every individual would be listened to regardless of wealth or status. Joy Abara comes from Hali, a modest world, and lives a quiet life, though her Kindred bond with the nobility's most notorious playboy has made her name known in certain circles.

That playboy is Duke Felix Hamdi, who has a scheme of his own. By behaving so outrageously that his family finally agrees to let him decide his future, he hopes to meet his Kindred in person. His plan is upended when the royal family is assassinated and Felix becomes the heir to the throne, with the murders pinned on him. The killer will not rest until Felix is dead, and Joy is also in danger.

Their first face-to-face meeting happens as they steal a spacecraft and flee the upheaval, a journey that ends with a crash landing on Earth, a strange world their people consider behind the times. Hiding there may be the best way to test the strength of their connection and uncover a scandal, and a romance, that could shape the future of the galaxy.