From the #1 bestselling author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, a queer sci-fi novel about a refugee from Earth and a xenophobic Mars politician who agree to a fake marriage after a media encounter damages both their reputations.
In the wake of environmental catastrophe, January, once a principal in
London's Royal Ballet, has become a refugee on Tharsis, the terraformed colony
on Mars. In Tharsis, January's life is dictated by his status as an
Earthstronger-a person whose body is not adjusted to Mars's lower gravity and
so poses a danger to those born on, or naturalized to, Mars. January's job
choices, housing, and even transportation options are dictated by this
second-class status, and now a xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale is
running on a platform that would make it all worse: Gale wants all
Earthstrongers to be surgically naturalized, a process that is always disabling
and can be deadly.
When Gale chooses January for an on-the-spot press junket interview that goes
horribly awry, January's life is thrown into chaos, but Gale's political
fortunes are damaged, too. Gale proposes a solution to both their problems: a
five year made-for-the-press marriage that would secure January's future
without immediate naturalization and ensure Gale's political future. But when
January accepts the offer, he discovers that Gale is not at all like they appear
in the press. They're kind, compassionate, and much more difficult to hate than
January would wish. But as their romantic relationship develops, the political
situation worsens, and January discovers Gale has an enemy, someone willing to
destroy all of Tharsis to make them pay – and January may be the only person
standing in the way.