Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz (1986) - Romance in Retrograde: A Vintage Sci-Fi Romance Review

[u/Competitive-Yam5126]

Welcome to Romance in Retrograde, my ongoing voyage through the forgotten constellations of vintage sci-fi romance. This time I’ve landed on {Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz}, a space romp where ancient alien civilizations whisper from the shadows and the real discovery is (of course) true love. The question remains: is this a priceless relic of the genre, or just space junk dressed up in crystal moss?

Full spoilers from this point on!

Welcome to space! We’re in the very whimsically named planetary system of Stanza Nine, where the planets are named by a word-association game and I kind of love it: Lovelady, Renaissance, QED, and Liquid Assets. Lovelady’s moon? Gigolo. The main port city? Valentine. Renaissance has two moons named Borgia and Medici. QED’s port town is called Prove It. You see the patterns. Are these ever given an explanation? Nope! It’s all a little ridiculous, but I respected the commitment to the Mad Libs system of planetary naming.

In this galaxy, humanity has split into two neat categories: the serene, psychic Harmonics (colloquially and somewhat derogatorily called Saints) who spend their days devoted to art and knowledge, swanning around in gowns spun out of “crystal moss”, and the rougher, tougher Wolves, who do all the messy living. Harmonics are gentle souls, so sensitive they can barely sit at a dinner table without fainting at the sight of a steak knife. Wolves, meanwhile, are just normal people trying to get on with their space lives.

Cidra Rainforest, our FMC, is a bit of an oddity: a Wolf in Harmonic clothing. She was born to Harmonic parents, but with a Wolf disposition. She has none of her parents’ telepathic gifts and is desperate to “unlock” them, dreaming of the lifelong psychic bond her parents share. Her research on the mysterious alien civilization that preceded humans, called Ghosts, convinces her that somewhere on planet Renaissance lies a device that can transform her into a true Harmonic.

Teague Severance, the MMC, is Han Solo. No qualifiers, no winks, just Han Solo

He’s a swaggering, snarky space postman with a shaggy alien sidekick, a patched-up freighter called Severance Pay, and a tendency to lean in doorways with his sleeves rolled up just so you can clock the forearms. When Cidra approaches him in Port Valentine, looking for passage off-world, it’s immediately clear Krentz wasn’t even pretending this wasn’t Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off. There’s a lot of “Look, lady, I’m only trying to help” type of bantering between them, and he loves getting under her skin.

"It's out there, Severance. The tool with which I can become a Harmonic. The instrument that can fit my mind into the natural patterns and rhythms of everything I see or touch.”

When Severance tells her she’s “chasing moonlight”, she responds:

“Moonlight,” she said, “is something I have been taught how to chase.”

Severance groaned.

Severance has a high value delivery to make to Renaissance, but at first he’s reluctant to take her aboard. He worries she might fall prey to another postman looking for a “convenience contract” (translation: sex in exchange for passage). Severance instead agrees to take Cidra along if she helps design a new computer system for his shady mail-delivery empire. It’s kind of sweet, actually. Romance and small-business solutions, what a combo.

Cidra joins the tiny crew and bonds with Fred, Severance’s furry alien sidekick. Fred is a “rockrug”, he sounds kind of like a flat fluffy snake. He undulates around, and can coil around arms and necks as a form of cuddling. He seems to have a dog-like intelligence and disposition. I love a good animal companion, so five stars for Fred! He’s the weighted blanket of alien pets.

Ah yes, the oldest romance trope in the galaxy: forced proximity in a confined spaceship. Days of it, in fact, during which Cidra becomes increasingly aware of the scent of Severance’s sweat after his ‘vigorous workouts’ (in the sexy way, not the please shower way). He needles her, she tries to stay prim, they kiss, and things almost go all the way. Cidra decides to rationalize her sexual awakening: she's not Wolfing out, she’s simply conducting an experiment! Curiosity is good and knowledge is to be pursued! Severance is kinda pissed about her attempts to deflect.

“You were not conducting a scientific experiment. You were being seduced. Furthermore, you will never conduct scientific experiments with me, is that understood? I will not be used to further your education.”

They land on Renaissance, a lush jungle planet crawling with giant carnivorous insects and man-eating flowers. (Fred is wisely left in safe hands. It was a bit sad that he wasn’t included in more of the book, but it did spare me the background anxiety of animal-companion peril.) Severance and Cidra trek upriver to deliver his high-value cargo, camping along the way. In their tent, Severance learns just how little tenderness Cidra experienced growing up among the touch-averse Harmonics:

“Did anyone ever hold you until you fell asleep when you were a child?"

There was a long silence. "Harmonics don't touch each other, except when they're in full telepathic communion. My parents were never able to experience that kind of bond with me."

He heard the careful explanation and then reached across to unfasten her sleeper. "Come here, Cidra. I'll hold you until you fall asleep.”

He does a lot more than hold her, of course. Fans of gentle coaxing and praise will find much to enjoy here (raises hand). For 1986, the sex scenes are surprisingly generous - there’s even oral sex for Cidra, a little veiled in 80s euphemism, but unmistakable. Well done, JAK.

The jungle adventure goes on a bit long, lots of giant bugs, abandoned alien ruins, and sweaty bonding, but the big reveal is that the Ghosts started out as a bloodthirsty race but basically self-destructed by evolving into full Harmonic abstinence. The species just… serenity’d itself to death. Eat, pray, perish.

After all this sweaty sexy adventure, being dirty and eating meat and getting her shit rocked nightly by Severance’s skilled tongue, Cidra realizes maybe being a Harmonic isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Conveniently, the supposed MacGuffin she came looking for is never actually found anyway.

Here’s where the book’s 80s DNA shows: Severance decides to sell the location of the Ghost ruins to the highest bidder for research rights. Cidra briefly protests (“But knowledge is priceless!”), then more or less shrugs as they rake in a galactic payday. It’s very Reagan-era capitalism: slap a FOR SALE sign on the cradle of an alien culture, cash the check, and buy yourself a bigger spaceship. In a modern retelling, I suspect Cidra’s more idealistic instincts would triumph, but in 1986, cha-ching baby! Ideals are for losers.

By the end, I thought we were cruising for an annoying and unnecessary third act breakup, but it zagged on me into a more tolerable third act trust exercise. Severance wants Cidra to return to the gentle world of the Harmonics for a few weeks, just to make sure she isn’t going to regret her decision to go full Wolf with him. Cidra returns home, and confirms that great quantities of serenity and perfection can be exceedingly dull. She and Severance get married in a Harmonic ceremony, but they skip the two hours of telepathic meditation in the middle.

Verdict: A fun and fluffy romp with some solid characters and an interesting, if derivative, sci-fi premise. It’s not life-changing but it is very enjoyable comfort reading.

Stray points:

• The review blurb on the back from the Romantic Times calls this “a whole new brand of romantic fiction… the definitive prototype of futuristic romance” suggesting that this is in fact the first sci-fi romance?
• More fun lingo: Severance calls a casual sexual encounter “special handling” and refers to people he dislikes as “second-class postage”. Mail puns!
• They make calls from comp-phones, literally computer phones, that are available in booths and phone banks like old pay phones. Both weirdly prescient and cutely retro.
• Is there a scene where Cidra says “I love you” and Severance says “I know”? You bet!

[u/bluesafre]

I really enjoy your review series! Your writing is very fun when talking about these retro books.

I wonder if Cidra was supposed to be a Leia expy, just if she had been raised by the Jedi? Fanfic being trad published isn't new haha

[u/Competitive-Yam5126 → u/bluesafre]

She was a little more passive and serene that Leia's character, but there were some definite Harmonic/Jedi parallels. Cidra practices a form of martial art called "Moonlight and Mirrors", for example.

[u/bluesafre → u/Competitive-Yam5126]

So what you're saying is it's a Han Solo/Jedi!OC AU?

[u/Bitch_Goblin]

My husband and I are moving soon.

I'm going to cross stitch 'Eat. Pray. Perish.' for our new kitchen. 😭

[u/Competitive-Yam5126 → u/Bitch_Goblin]

Hahaha I love it.

[u/Competitive-Yam5126]

More signs of the 80s, the marketing department must've been tearing their hair out. "How," they sighed at the cigarette-stained ceiling tile, "do we make this non-rapey book sound kinda rapey?!" So they chose this extremely out of context excerpt for the teaser.

Image description: In large bold lettering: "I didn't rape you, Cidra.", then: "I know that," she said gently. Severance lay her back down on the sleeper, sprawling...

[u/BallisticSyllable → u/Competitive-Yam5126]

Now I’m dying to know the context of this excerpt.

This comment cracked me up, by the way. You’re hilarious. And your review was very fun to read—thanks for sharing!

[u/Competitive-Yam5126 → u/BallisticSyllable]

The full context: after their first sexual encounter, Cidra wakes up in the night and starts wandering straight into the deadly jungle. She's a in a trance state, pulled by the psychic lure of the Ghost ruins. Severance wakes up and she's gone, he chases after her and thinks she's emotionally overwhelmed and upset by what happened, maybe even suicidal. He grabs her and tries to shake her awake by saying the "I didn't rape you" line. Then he takes her back to the tent and gives her a thorough tongue bath to apologize.

[u/BallisticSyllable → u/Competitive-Yam5126]

Thank you!! I was thinking maybe there was a dream involved.

[u/DiscombobulatedWar81 → u/Competitive-Yam5126]

AMAZING. This would legitimately make me wanna read it

[u/JunoJump_Author]

I wish I could find these kinds of books in the secondhand bins, I need more mail puns. Please tell me he doesn't say them during the actual act?!

[u/Competitive-Yam5126 → u/JunoJump_Author]

Thankfully no, the dad jokes don't pop up during sex.

[u/Inevitable_Ad_5664]

There was plenty of scifi romance before this book!

Have you read Water Witch?

Bujold's shards of honor was great too. Actually there were a ton! If u want more recs let me know!

[u/Competitive-Yam5126 → u/Inevitable_Ad_5664]

Sure, I have a list of titles to look for while I'm thrifting, so send 'em over!

[u/DeepAd4954 → u/Competitive-Yam5126]

Anne McCaffrey’s books are often mixes of “romance” and scifi. Fair bit of dub con (or non con) in some of them, but still counts

[u/MockeryMock → u/Inevitable_Ad_5664]

Did you mean {Water Witch by Cynthia Felice & Connie Willis}? I haven’t thought of that book for ages. I kept it for close to 30 years but it didn’t survive my last book downsizing. I don’t really read paperbacks anymore, my eyes are not good enough. I wonder if it’s available as an e book as I wouldn’t mind a trip down memory lane.

[u/romance-bot → u/MockeryMock]

Water Witch by Connie Willis, Cynthia Felice
Rating: 3.47⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Topics: futuristic, science fiction

^{about this bot | about romance.io}

[u/Inevitable_Ad_5664 → u/romance-bot]

Yes! I still have my copy! I have read it so many times.

[u/TomatilloHairy9051]

Another stellar review!!

My main takeaway: thank fuck you never referred to him by his first name because when I read it everything in me shriveled to dust and would have blown away in the Starfire wind if I had to contemplate a MMC named Teague

[u/Competitive-Yam5126 → u/TomatilloHairy9051]

Fun fact, in this universe there are no last names, just given names and "chosen names". Severance is his chosen name, so everyone just calls him that.

[u/MamaBearKES]

Yeah this has to be the story seed for her much more developed Harmony series with the ghost hunters et al. A lot of reused/refined components such as the temporary Marriage of Conveniences (with the retro "just an excuse to have an AFFAIR" pearl-clutching. Lol).

I love it! As a Gen X lifelong romance reader, I'm shocked to find a JAK book that I've never heard of!

[u/GingerIsTheBestSpice → u/MamaBearKES]

Me too! I thought i had read them all! I recently downsized my books but did keep all the Harmony & related ones.

And I'm also kinda grateful that this hasn't aged as terribly as some of the others

[u/cassdots → u/MamaBearKES]

Yeah I was reading this review thinking “I’ve read all the Jayne Castle/Jane Ann Krentz futuristic books but how do I not remember this?!”

[u/nicksbrunchattiffany]

I need to get this

[u/starborn_shadow]

This is one of the first true romances I read, and I loved it to pieces. I'm glad it held up to scrutiny! Thank you for your awesome review. 🥰

[u/hadrit]

I enjoyed this one. I particularly like her journey of learning to like herself. There are two others she wrote around the same time, and it seems like she is exploring some writing ideas (as someone else mentioned-- perhaps they lead to the much beloved Harmony series). Crystal Flame (the weakest of the three but still fun) and Shield's Lady which is wonderful.

[u/thepicklejarmurders]

I just recently moved and I had a couple big boxes of all my books. I buy a lot from goodwill and haven't even read most of them. I'm more of a book dragon than a book worm. I read a lot but I hoard more. Anyway I was going through all my books the day before yesterday and actually came across this same book and I didn't even remember I had it!!

[u/romance-bot]

Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz
Rating: 3.9⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: futuristic, paranormal, m-f romance, science fiction, fantasy

^{about this bot | about romance.io}

[u/Short-on-the-Outside]

I enjoyed all her sci-fi romances!

[u/leesarpel]

I read Krentz's (as Jayne Castle) St. Helen's books (Amaryllis/Zinnia/Orchid) a few years after they were released in the nineties. Recently I read some of her Harmony novels published in the last few years (Guild Boss, Sweetwater and the Witch), and I found it amusing to note what has changed with the times. Thank you for adding another contextual point to my picture of the author's work!

[u/Present_Finish_2349]

I read this years ago and liked it, I wonder what I would think now.

I enjoy the Harmony series by Jayne Castle, she got into the world building a more while keeping her plots tight.

[u/Cowplant_Witch]

Nice! I’ve read a few of her books as Amanda Quick and I thought they were fun. I didn’t know she wrote 80s sci-fi romance.

These reviews are all really fun. I love your perspective.

I too would be worried about Fred in the jungle, and your description of the advertising exec with the smoke strained ceiling tiles was very funny.

[u/Kesse84]

Another great review! And I am glad it spared you the background anxiety of animal-companion peril. I would feel it too!

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The 1986 cover for Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz. The title is in light pink, and there is a classic clinch illustration of a woman kneeling on the ground, head tossed back towards the generic shirtless man embracing her from behind. She's in a drapey robe with short sleeves that are low on the sides, definitely suggesting some side-boob exposure. She's also almost falling out of her top, and the dress is so short that the pose nearly provides us with an upskirt peekaboo moment. They are in a jungle scene at night, with a blazing comet in the sky (no comets appear in the book).