Yolande Kleinn, $0.99, ISBN 978-1-946316-06-6
Sci-fi Romance, 2015

There is the embryo of a beautiful love story in Yolande Kleinn’s Take Your Best Shot by Starlight.

After all, it is about Halden Blake, a 52-year old President of the Intergalactic Alliance of Worlds—not because he is a crafty politician but rather, he feels that he just happened to be at the right time and the right place. It was just after a big war, and with him being a famous war hero, being elected was inevitable.

Deep inside, Halden is still a military man still getting used to being a president of the world, and probably never well, even into his third term. He’s also very lonely, and contemplates whether he should just retire after this, as he’d put fifteen years of his life on hold for this.

Of course, a chance of love is just around the corner. Isaac Knox is his ally, friend, and a good public liaison that’s more than happy to serve the President in every capacity, right to the hilt.

I mentioned “embryo” earlier because the love story part never feels fully fleshed.

Sure, this is a short story so the author has to play within the limitations of the word count, but much of the early parts of the story is wasted in explaining the history and background of the Intergalactic Alliance of Worlds and humanity’s integration, that I can only wonder why all this info is necessary. After all, these details don’t play into the actual story at all.

Let me put this way: Halden could have been the principal of wookie school, and Isaac the math teacher or something, and the romance can still play out mostly the same.

Those parts could have been replaced, I feel, with scenes that give me more insight into Halden’s head. The romance could resonate better with me had I been more privy to his aching loneliness, maybe how his age affects his view of life these days, that kind of thing.

Isaac, sadly, is the standard horny rogue type complete with a tendency for smugness. I wish I know more of him through Halden’s point of view, how much that man has been his BFF and more, that kind of thing.

Hence, there is a hint of a romance that can be refreshingly different from the usual gym bunny crotch bump stories out there, especially with Halden being a much older man than the usual romance hero, but the execution is a missed opportunity.

Mind you, the narrative style is lovely, even poetic at times, and I love the cadence and the phraseology of various parts of the story. It’s just that the story just doesn’t feel put together well enough.

Oh well, maybe another time.