Like most of you, I have a list of authors who leave me in jittery anticipation of their next book. I go back to my favorite authors because I can trust them to deliver exactly the kind of story I need when a particular mood strikes.

Of course, all this trust and routine leaves little room for taking risks. As an author, I find reading time a precious commodity, so I find myself reluctant to try on new authors. I wouldn’t have picked up Jessica Inclán’s Being With Him, had I not stumbled upon her book-signing table at the BEA. I’m so glad I did!

In Being With Him, Mila Adams, a reclusive artist with a socialite background, and Garrick McClellan, a rising star in the investment world, find themselves at odds with ordinary life. They feel like the only two people on the outside looking in and trying desperately to make sense of this world. Unfortunately, being able to move time isn’t a gift that is likely to make one feel normal. Mila can move time forward. Garrick can move time backward. Separately, they have only been able to live with their powers by denying them. Together, they can begin to unlock the secrets of their hearts as well as their origins and destinies.

Not only does Being With Him embark on an arousing romantic journey between a man and a woman who can only find true love if they find each other, but it plots a climactic climb toward the very frontier of paranormal romance.

Mila and Garrick have a very good reason for not feeling quite at home in San Francisco. They actually come from planet Cygiria. Before Cygiria was attacked by the Neballats, a shadowy race which blindly consumes resources for the sake of technological advancement, a few Cygirian children with special powers were shipped off to other hospitable planets.

When Mila and Garrick come together with an explosive mix of paranormal gifts that are destined to be unified, one can only anticipate the page-burning potency of their erotic consummation. The paranormal aspect of the romance genre, after all, represents all of our yearnings to discover that something special inside of ourselves and then to have the same recognized and embraced by our chosen mate. When true love is only possible with one other person in the entire known and unknown universe, as is the case with Cygirian twins, bringing the intensity of such a union to the page requires plotting skills capable of propelling the story into another orbit.

Jessica Inclán sets a contagious romance in a paranormal world with extra-terrestrial origins with such flourishing ease that I can’t help wanting more. Fortunately, Being With Him takes off into the great wide yonder as Mila and Garrick reunite with some of the other long lost Cygirians and make a plan to rescue those still left in hiding on planet Upsilia. Among the rescued is Mila’s brother Edan who has yet to find a woman to match his special power. Still lost is Edan’s and Mila’s sister, Sophia.

While most romance novels build their cast of characters in the first half in order to bring them all together for the final battle, Being With Him needs the first half to build an unbreakable bond between Mila and Garrick. Only when they unite their hearts (and bodies) can they find the courage to unite their twin energies into a power capable of rebuilding the fragments of their lost world.

Once Mila and Garrick are armed with their love, they are ready to meet other Cygirians who share their destiny, so in a very short amount of time, the second half of the story introduces a history of Cygirian exodus as experienced by a group of other twins. For a spell, I found it difficult to keep track of who goes with whom, and who can do what, but Ms. Inclán quickly brings the focus back on Mila and Garrick while managing to intrigue us with Mila’s brother Edan. Edan’s quiet wisdom, physical charisma, and yearning for his still unidentified twin leaves more than enough unanswered questions to keep this series going for a long, long time.

And just in case the promise of future romance doesn’t quite reel you in, Being With Him also leaves the final show-down with the Neballats for the next installment.

I am excited to have discovered Jessica Inclán and Being With Him. While I wait for the next Cygirian adventure, I’m going to look for Ms. Inclán’s ‘Believe’ books. Something tells me I’m going to love them.

Reviewed by Erin Asilin, July 3, 2008, http://paperspineblog.com
 

Reviewed by Cristina, ManicReaders.com
 

In Inclán’s sweet but sometimes silly trilogy opener, finding a soul mate is child’s play compared to discovering that your perfect match is from another planet. San Francisco artist Mila Adams meets Garrick McClellan, a successful financier, on a disastrous blind date that turns providential. The pair are actually natives of Cygiria, 149 light years from Earth, who find they truly complete each other as “twins in thought and action,” perfectly matched lovers whose alien powers enable them to communicate telepathically and move outside of time. After they discover they’re orphans of a planet destroyed by Neballats, they soon link up with other displaced Cygirians on a mission to save the last of their kind. Inclán (Reason to Believe) injects a bit of an X-Files feel into the hilariously soft science and yummy romance as Mila and Garrick fight the “slippy-slidey” Neballats, but they lack the Scully/Mulder pizzazz. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly
 

Summary: Brought together by matchmaking relatives, financial whiz Garrick McClellan is cold but polite to artist Mila Adams -- at first. But they soon discover how alike they are. Garrick and Mila can hear the thoughts of others, and Mila can push time forward, while Garrick can move it backward. Together, they seek to discover who -- or what -- they really are, a journey that will literally take them out of this world.

(Zebra, Feb., 352 pp., $13.00) HOT

—Susan Mobley, Romantic Times
 

Title: Being With Him Author: Jessica Barksdale Inclán Publisher: Kensington Release Date: February, 2008 Blue Ribbon Rating: 5

CATCHY SNIPPET:  What if you could change the flow of time?  Mila Adams can do just that.  An exhilarating adventure ensues when she meets a man with a very similar talent. Will they discover the source of these extraordinary abilities together? 

Jessica Inclán has a distinct flair for writing entertaining and enthralling tales. This is particularly apparent in her latest foray into the paranormal romance genre. BEING WITH HIM is an amazing love story concerning two people who have felt different and alone all of their lives.

Bohemian artist Mila Adams discovered early in life that she has the ability to shift time.  If she doesn’t want to sit through a boring meeting, she just thinks about moving time forward and, voila, the meeting is over.  The same goes for all of the terrible blind dates that she’s had.  Through it all, Mila has felt there must be one perfect man out there for her – one who understands her unusual talent. When her mother sets her up on yet another blind date, Mila is tempted to fast-forward through it and get on with her life – until she sees Garrick McClellan.

Garrick McClellan is a financial genius on the fast track to success.  Garrick’s aunt is determined to fix him up with the perfect woman.  She’s sure that Mila is “the one”.  After viewing one of Mila’s paintings in a local gallery, Garrick is not so sure about his aunt’s assessment. Something in the painting strikes a cord in Garrick and he fears that Mila could change his entire world.  With one touch, he recognizes an immediate connection with the beautiful artist.  Neither one has ever experienced such an intense passion.  What is it that draws them together so powerfully?  Who are they?  Where do they come from?  Are there others who possess similar gifts?  Why does it feel like their time for discovering answers is running out?

BEING WITH HIM is an extraordinary love story with a compelling plot and captivating characters.  Jessica Inclán has created a world filled with possibilities and intriguing situations.  I fell madly in love with Garrick and Mila separately and as a couple.  I experienced their fears and their joys throughout the course of this amazing tale.  By the time I finished the first page, I knew that BEING WITH HIM had earned a permanent spot on my keeper shelf.  Make sure to give it a place on yours too!

Reviewed by Robin Snodgrass, Romance Junkies