My Favorite Earthling    by Susan Grant Order:  USA  Can Harlequin, 2007 (2007) Paperback     Reviewed by Martina Bexte When readers last met Jared Jasper he'd just helped his Congresswoman sister and her alien lover save the world. Once the intergalactic dust settles Jared is ready to head back to his regular life - but not until he makes a last sweep of his family's ranch in search of a missing alien spacecraft. Once he finds it he can't resist tinkering with the ship's communication system and inadvertently opens a dialogue with the very forces that had been set to invade Earth. Even worse, he insults their queen, Kiera, goddess of the universe. She might be breathtaking but there's something about her icy attitude that revs Jared's engines the wrong way. Within seconds the cocky pilot has antagonized the beauty by identifying himself with his old fighter pilot call sign, The Prince. The goddess is not amused and aborts further dialogue, but within hours her representatives contact Earth demanding that Prince Jared marry and impregnate Kiera, thereby cementing an alliance and guaranteeing a lasting peace. Jared understands the enormity of the volatile situation he created, yet wants absolutely no part of the solution. Eventually though, he knows he has no choice but to say I do and avert an interstellar war. Despite a few calamities on the way to the ice planet where his bride waits, Jared arrives ready to do his duty. As is his Queen, who demands that Jared get on with the husbandly business of impregnating her. Once the unpleasant deed is done, Kiera hopes to see the last of the arrogant and annoying barbarian earthling. However, Jared has other ideas and slowly charms his willful, sharp-tongued - yet also very insecure - bride, eventually showing her how to have fun and live life to the fullest. He also convinces Kiera that it's time to step up to her royal responsibilities and work with him to ferret out the conspirators within her regime, who would destroy her and everything she stands for. While not quite as rich in emotional and plot development as Your Planet or Mine?, this middle installment of Grant's continuing series has a lot going for it. The story is well written and often funny as the plasma sword wielding Queen and her barbarian earthling repeatedly square off, in and out of the bedchamber. Jared has just the right level of cockiness and stubborn determination to make him an extremely likeable lead, the perfect man to help Kiera uncover her own hidden strengths. Grant also does a nice job balancing their developing romance with their quest to uncover hidden enemies. My Favorite Earthling is another engaging romantic adventure from an author who knows how to tell an out-of-this-world story. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Romance books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews