Reader Vicki tipped us off to a Robin D. Owens’ Celta’s Heartmates series, which is currently featuring several of it’s books on sale. This is what she had to say:
I love these books because Robin D. Owens writes a good story and there are actual plots with resolutions. You can tell an adult is writing the books, which is what I also feel about Patricia Briggs.
The heroines are independent and the heroes are alpha without being alp-holes. Everyone has some sadness or trouble in their back stories but they are not only victims. They are willing to overcome and have a good future.
It is just overall a great world. The premise is that their ancestors fled earth because of persecution of their psychic natures; most of the population has some magical ability and use it in everyday work.
There is great world building. The series is set on the Planet Celta, with a Wiccan belief system. There are pet familiars; they can communicate telepathically with their bonded humans. Communicating cats are a great reason to love the books.
Anyway, of the 14 books in the series, 13 titles in the Heart books starting with Heart Mate, plus one collection of short stories, there was only one book that didn’t work for me.
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Hearts and Swords
Hearts and Swords by Robin D. Owens is $3.79 at Amazon and $3.99 elsewhere! This is a collection of short romances set in the Celta world from the rest of the Heartmates series, and it might be a good place to start! As Reader Vicki mentioned before, Celta has Wiccan influences with a good mix of scifi and fantasy. For the most part, readers enjoyed the collection, though some felt there was an odd one out.
Four original novellas in the Celta series. Award-winning author Robin D. Owens returns to the futuristic world of Celta with four original romantic fantasies as four different couples find their HeartMates and their destinies on Celta.
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Heart Search
Heart Search by Robin D. Owens is $3.79 at Amazon and $3.99 elsewhere! This is the tenth book in the Celta’s Heartmates series. The hero is a noble who was tricked into thinking he found his heartmate. Now that his wife has died, he finds out his true heartmate is really her best friend. It has a 4.1-star rating on Goodreads.
Noble Laev T’Hawthorne must rebuild his life after marrying a woman he believed was his HeartMate, only to fall victim to her greed.
Abandoned at fifteen, Camellia Darjeeling values her independence above all-even as her father and uncle emotionally scourge her and extort money. For Camellia, trusting men, even her HeartMate, is too risky.
When Laev and Camellia meet, they refuse to acknowledge that they are true HeartMates. But their destiny cannot be avoided…
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Heart Secret
Heart Secret by Robin D. Owens is $3.79 at Amazon and $3.99 elsewhere! This is book eleven in the Celta’s Heartmates series. This has some second chance romance vibes, and can be read as a standalone. Some readers felt the villain was too over the top, though many enjoyed the mystery at the center of the plot as well as the romance.
On the faraway planet Celta, there are some things you can never tell—until someone discovers your Heart Secret…
When a virulent disease killed the woman he loved and her baby, Garrett Primross was left alive, a reluctant survivor. Now, as a private eye, he strives to banish the memories of his past and rebuild his life. The Healers of Celta have something else in mind: Discover why he survived.
He is monitored by Healer Artemisia Panax—his HeartMate, a love he never pursued. Still mourning his loss, he refuses to acknowledge her. Since her family was publicly disgraced, she’s used to such treatment. She wants nothing more than to guard her livelihood and protect the secrets she’s sworn to keep.
Thrown together by duty, Garrett and Artemisia find the body of the last Black Magic Cultist who ruined her family. Suspicion flares, but they have little choice but to investigate the crime together. When their own lives are placed in danger, they realize that denying their HeartMates is only denying their own future.
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Heart Fortune
Heart Fortune by Robin D. Owens is $3.79 at Amazon and $3.99 elsewhere! This is book twelve in the Celta’s Heartmates series. The hero and heroine has some past history with one another, and are now forced to work together. A few reviews mention that the main couple seemed to lack chemistry, but many loved the fate mate trop. It has a 3.9-star rating on Goodreads.
On the faraway planet Celta, there are some forces you cannot fight…
Jace Bayrum has always been a loner. Concerned more with getting an adrenaline fix and making money to live on his own, Jace cares little for family ties or matters of the heart. On the other hand Glyssa Licorice, Jace’s former fling and true mate, is both loving and loyal. She is determined to track down her HeartMate and have him claim her.
After hearing that Jace has been involved in an accident, Glyssa sets out to find him, departing for the excavation site of the lost starship Lugh’s Spear. Though her goal is to help Jace and finesse him into recognizing her as his mate, the excavation itself draws her in…
Thrust by fate into working side-by-side, Jace and Glyssa’s electric connection from years before sparks once more. She intrigues him, and Jace begins to realize that a HeartMate can make a difference. And one as magnetic as Glyssa could be exactly what he has been searching for…
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Yes, this is a fun series. I’ve also been enjoying the author’s completely different new series which starts with Ghost Seer.
Goodness. I finally made it here! Hooray! Thanks so much Vicky for spreading the word, I really appreciate it. Thanks SBTB for letting people know the books are on sale. And thanks to Kareni, who likes Ghost Seer, too! The week is definitely looking up….oh, and it’s Thursday, which reminds me that I usually do outtakes/cuts on my Facebook page from the Heart series. So I need to do that, and letting those who read here know that “a little something extra” goes up on Facebook and my blog on Thursdays.
Is it best to read the series in order?
I like Robin Owens a lot. Even though the HeartMate idea is a version of the one-fated-insta-love trope, it isn’t really insta-love. HeartMates aren’t inevitable or undeniable. The characters still have to be willing to compromise with each other and really work on emotional intimacy to get their HEA. The romance becomes much more believable as a result.
I started reading the series as they were first coming out, and thought the first ones were maybe a little cheesy but still a cut above for the time, especially with the worldbuilding. (my love of SF/F led me right to the paranormals, but they were only just starting to really become A Thing, and lots of not-so-great ones were out there. And I still liked the early Celta books even though growing up reading Mercedes Lackey meant telepathic animals were old hat for me.) I really think that Owens has developed a lot as a writer since then and keeps getting better. She has also managed to avoid the all-too-common pitfall of the long ongoing series where all the H/h’s start being cookie-cutter versions and you begin to wonder if you accidentally bought a copy of a book that you already own; all her characters are definitely individuals.
TLDR: I highly recommend this series! I own these already but am using the sale as an excuse to buy more formats!
@Darlynne – there is a definite timeline, so reading them in order does add something. But each book is standalone and you can jump into the series anytime pretty easily.
The books on sale (except some of the short stories) are all from the younger generation of characters, so it’s an especially good point to get started.
Agreeing with most everything above. I started with Heart Mate and have been lost to Celta ever since. (And I agree that the new Ghost Seer series is also good — and getting better as it goes on.) Though heart mates represent a very special potentiality for a relationship, they require choice and work as always in the best romances. For those who like competence porn, the plots are built around the characters’ flair (psychic talent, which varies in its nature and strength from person to person). A person’s primary flair is regularly the basis of her or his profession and these are a terrific part of the world-building, and often of the conflict between the protagonists. I love these books for having both plot and romance in full. Also, the growing ensemble of characters give depth to both the community and the world. While many of the elements have been made use of before, I have never had the feeling (either between books in the series or between them and other books I’ve read — which includes a LOT of fantasy and sci/fi in the same general territory — that I’d read the story before (nor have I been taken out of the story by something that didn’t seem to belong there). Robin Owens is a terrific writer and these books are wonderful.
I do like the Heart Mate books – they are fun reading! The insta-love thing usually isn’t my thing, but the way the characters actually grow and change and make compromises with each other make these books worthwhile. Just about perfect books when you want something to cheer you up!
I also liked the Summoning series and the Mystic Circle books but am slightly less enthusiastic about the Ghost Seer ones, but that’s just me. They’re well written, though, I admit that.
Maybe this is a sign that I should try another in this series! I borrowed Heart Secret from the library (there was evidence of space cats, a Thing I Cannot Resist) and while I liked the setting and the general idea of the book, I had problems with how the H/h got together and the resolution of the plot. Starting with #11 in a series probably wasn’t the best of ideas either! But I love me some sci-fi/fantasy romance, so maybe I’ll start at the beginning and give it another go.
Those who read this series, if you were recommending a book for a person who is picky about prose quality, characterization, showing-not-telling, etc, which one would you suggest? Thanks!
@Cordy & @ClaireC – I’d recommend just starting with the first book, HeartMate. Very good lead characters, and Zanth the cat is fabulous 🙂
this is one of my all time favorite series!!
@ClaireC – I don’t recall exactly which ones have the absolute best writing. I can say that although I liked the first two books Heart Mate and Heart Thief, it was really the third book Heart Duel that convinced me to start buying the series instead of borrowing. Some other faves of mine in the series are Heart Choice, Heart Dance, and Heart Change.
I got nothin. No recommendations. People like different things. I think of Heart Dance as the most intimate book (until Heart Legacy coming November). I have alpha heroes and . . . less aggressive guys, for instance I have an actor and an architect, and a matchmaker. I’ve been blessed with being able to write the characters I want. I have a heroine who is a cartographer who’s walked the world, a priestess, a supreme court judge, a librarian. I have different animals, and I hope I portray them with their animal slant (for instance cats always bargain, there is no such thing as a favor). My blog has a lot of cuts if you want the flavor of my writing, but they ARE cuts. http://robindowens.blogspot.com/
Fortunately, you don’t have to read the books in order in this series! My top three faves are Heart Change, Heart Fate and Heart Dance, but all of them are enjoyable! 😀
Thanks for all the responses! Clarifying my earlier comment – world building, characters and setting were all great, it was just the actions of the hero at the very end that brought my enjoyment down a little. I liked the heroine and really loved the companion animals (cats are cats everywhere!) and want to read more about the sentient houses.
Of COURSE neither of my libraries has the earlier books in the series, but I’ll try an ILL and keep my eyes open at used bookstores! Of course they may just fall into my Amazon cart one day thanks to the lure of the one-click!
NOTE: MY PUBLISHER STATES THE SALE WILL END ON JULY 5. INDEPENDENCE DAY IS THE LAST DAY FOR THE SALE!