Dark Solstice is a book to please romantic fans of Alien 3, Prison Planet, Escape from New York, and heroic anti-heroes like Kurt Russell's Snake Plissken, or Todd in Soldier. SF fits squarely in the niche prison planet genre. You know the type of plot: the characters are so evil that society has cast them away rather than deal with them. And of course, our hero emerges from amongst them, and we either find a thread of humanity within the compound or discover that society that is corrupt. Into this ravenous mix, our naive heroine is tossed like a bone to a pack of rabid dogs. An additional element is that the planet is in the process of terraformation. The malevolent dregs of society are workers herded around like vicious sheep; and everything seems to be run by a mysterious all-powerful entity referred to as "the company."

When we step into this story in media res, virtually innocent Rhea is being offered as a naked prize to the last man standing in a gladiatorial contest on this entirely male prison planet. There's not a drop of human feeling in the entire lot--including the guards and wardens. Rhea is certain she is doomed. As the story moves along, we find that she is not a criminal; she is a geologist who lucked into a discovery. Unfortunately, it is a discovery that someone doesn't want her to share, which leads to her current situation. Until she spies a few women in the arena, she is certain of her imminent death, but their appearance gives her hope of survival. When the dust settles, her fate lies in the hands of the man who wins her--the meanest of the lot--the assassin known as the Iceman.

There are not one but two key competitors for the role of protagonist, though it is a coin toss whether it is Raathe, former military hero/assassin turned corrupt; or Kyle, the former military man and possible snitch incarcerated for who knows what crime. Which of them is set up to be the heartless brutal bad boy hero with the heart of gold is anyone's guess.

I've read Kaitlyn O'Connor before. She writes a strong SF futuristic romance. Stylistically, I wasn't thrilled with her choice of limited omniscience for all three main characters. Even so, she doesn't break her own omniscience "rules" and generally does not give away more than would be observed by any observer, a technique which prevents the problem inherent in multiple omniscience--taking away from the ultimate suspense of the thing. As is the case of many books of this type, conflict and resolution is somewhat abbreviated to fit the format. Very well done, Dark Solstice has lots of steamy pairings, and is a perfect steamy summer read.