What do you think?
Rate this book
Deridia #15
Break
Abandoned. Shamed. Broken.
She was never meant to survive.
Stripped of her voice and her past, Minara has survived a life of being used and discarded. Exiled to an off-world prison colony for the betterment of the homeworld, she discovers the reality is even harsher than she feared. There are no rules. Only power. And those willing to take, no matter the cost.
Min endures the only way she knows how: by staying small, staying quiet… and staying invisible. Until the night she steals something she shouldn’t.
Caught by a dangerous, enigmatic stranger who sees far more than she ever intended, Min finds herself dragged into a world she doesn’t understand—one of secrets, suspicion, and something far more dangerous than cruelty. His attention.
He thinks she’s a spy. She knows she’s nothing at all.
But in a place where survival is everything, being underestimated might be her greatest weapon… or the thing that finally destroys her.
-x-
“Little thief,” he acknowledged. He was going to move. Pin her against the wall. She needed to get back to the open. No, more than that. She needed to get back to the dorm, regardless of who was still awake. A strange feeling to suddenly crave the crowd.
He wouldn’t be able to see many of her features. Not in this light. Except she knew little of his kind, did she? He was tall. Too tall. Not just because she was huddled and frozen, but because it seemed to be a part of his very nature.
He crouched, which was worse. Not close, not exactly, but enough to send another trickle of fear through her. “I believe you’ve something of mine.”
His? She shook her head. It was an act of instinct more than a conscious decision to deceive.
“No?” She could make out his head canting to the side, assessing her.
She needed to move. Couldn’t. Bound by some spell she couldn’t begin to name.
“What brings you out, then? Taking the air?”
There was a metallic quality to his voice. No, not the voice itself. The translator flared in her ear as it did with the guards. She couldn’t answer him. He wouldn’t know that, and his frustration would come quickly. And she would not be there when it erupted.
She was fast. Her one shining quality.
He was faster.
She was never meant to survive.
Stripped of her voice and her past, Minara has survived a life of being used and discarded. Exiled to an off-world prison colony for the betterment of the homeworld, she discovers the reality is even harsher than she feared. There are no rules. Only power. And those willing to take, no matter the cost.
Min endures the only way she knows how: by staying small, staying quiet… and staying invisible. Until the night she steals something she shouldn’t.
Caught by a dangerous, enigmatic stranger who sees far more than she ever intended, Min finds herself dragged into a world she doesn’t understand—one of secrets, suspicion, and something far more dangerous than cruelty. His attention.
He thinks she’s a spy. She knows she’s nothing at all.
But in a place where survival is everything, being underestimated might be her greatest weapon… or the thing that finally destroys her.
-x-
“Little thief,” he acknowledged. He was going to move. Pin her against the wall. She needed to get back to the open. No, more than that. She needed to get back to the dorm, regardless of who was still awake. A strange feeling to suddenly crave the crowd.
He wouldn’t be able to see many of her features. Not in this light. Except she knew little of his kind, did she? He was tall. Too tall. Not just because she was huddled and frozen, but because it seemed to be a part of his very nature.
He crouched, which was worse. Not close, not exactly, but enough to send another trickle of fear through her. “I believe you’ve something of mine.”
His? She shook her head. It was an act of instinct more than a conscious decision to deceive.
“No?” She could make out his head canting to the side, assessing her.
She needed to move. Couldn’t. Bound by some spell she couldn’t begin to name.
“What brings you out, then? Taking the air?”
There was a metallic quality to his voice. No, not the voice itself. The translator flared in her ear as it did with the guards. She couldn’t answer him. He wouldn’t know that, and his frustration would come quickly. And she would not be there when it erupted.
She was fast. Her one shining quality.
He was faster.
418 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2026
About the author
Catherine Miller
26 books128 followersI am an American by birth and situation, whose heart forever remains in Great Britain. I derive much inspiration from my holidays abroad, and my writing is heavily influenced by the delights of the English and Scottish countryside. My author's journey began in several reimaginings of The Phantom of the Opera where I explore happier endings for our beloved Erik-- hopefully aided by my degrees in psychology. I have a love for fantasy and paranormal romance, as well as the pleasure of a thrilling murder mystery... each of which have begun to creep into my writerly pursuits. When I am not consumed with a novel, I enjoy lavishing affection on my two cats, and working in historical costume design.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 7, 2026
I actually started reading this because of the negative review on multiple sex partners and thought 'ooh reverse harem.' But no, they were referring to the heroine's tragic past (and temporary present) as a sex slave. :)
Minara's had an awful life, given to a pleasure house as a child and later becoming a sex worker there. Her species has a defense mechanism that was surgically removed from her, leaving her both defenseless and voiceless. The pleasure house she worked at becomes outlawed, and so all of the sex workers there become criminals and she is sent to this prison planet. On the ride there she, just before being pressured into sex by some of the crew on the ship, gets advice to pick a guy and offer herself to him in exchange for protection so she doesn't have to sleep with anyone else. But the guy she picks ends up being a piece of shit and realizes she's a former sex slave (based on the serial number on her arm) and decides she can continue her work for the prisoners. She later realizes she could've just kept to herself and been better off. Minara is a very tragic figure.
The hero is initially suspicious of her but grows to realize how "broken" she is, and has to change tack since his usual methods of manipulation don't work on someone who's already at rock bottom. But he's good to her and very early on kills the piece of shit guy. Also kind of Freudian in that she reminds him of his late mom who I think was also a sex slave? But whatever, they're good for each other.
Minara's had an awful life, given to a pleasure house as a child and later becoming a sex worker there. Her species has a defense mechanism that was surgically removed from her, leaving her both defenseless and voiceless. The pleasure house she worked at becomes outlawed, and so all of the sex workers there become criminals and she is sent to this prison planet. On the ride there she, just before being pressured into sex by some of the crew on the ship, gets advice to pick a guy and offer herself to him in exchange for protection so she doesn't have to sleep with anyone else. But the guy she picks ends up being a piece of shit and realizes she's a former sex slave (based on the serial number on her arm) and decides she can continue her work for the prisoners. She later realizes she could've just kept to herself and been better off. Minara is a very tragic figure.
The hero is initially suspicious of her but grows to realize how "broken" she is, and has to change tack since his usual methods of manipulation don't work on someone who's already at rock bottom. But he's good to her and very early on kills the piece of shit guy. Also kind of Freudian in that she reminds him of his late mom who I think was also a sex slave? But whatever, they're good for each other.
July 25, 2026
I didn’t get past the first few chapters; I'm not into multiple sex partners.
October 16, 2026
DNF’d. Too boring for me. Good writing though and story was good, I just couldn’t get into it.
May 2, 2026
Another great addition to the Deridia series! Minara’s story is one of my favorites. I hope Catherine Miller keeps this series going!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews