Starcrossed by Bianca D’Arc

In a universe decimated by biological warfare, can former enemies unite to create a new peace out of the ashes?

A warrior-priest is the only one who can heal a failing empire…
Newly crowned Emperor of all jit’suku, Tigh has come back from self-imposed exile as a warrior monk on the sacred mountain. He had given up his claim to the throne in favor of his beloved brother, and turned his back on worldly things. Tigh would never know what had driven his brother to the madness of releasing a biological weapon on the humans, but the fact that it turned on its creators and came back to the jit’suku to deal out untold death, mostly among their precious female population, would forever stain Tigh’s memories of his twin.

A starship captain with famous ancestry and a killer reputation…
They call her Valkyrie for the way she swoops into battle and usually saves the day. After losing her beloved ship in an ambush that almost cost the Valkyrie and her crew their lives, Captain Gineva Starbridge is cooling her heels at headquarters, waiting for a new assignment, when the Emperor shows up, in person, looking to broker peace.

For every warrior, there is only one woman who is his true mate…
When Tigh sees Ginny across the crowded audience chamber where he has come to make an unorthodox proposal to unite their two ravaged peoples, he can scarcely believe his fortune. Could she be the one woman meant for him? He had come before the human Council, on his knees, to offer his hand in marriage to any human female that would help him in his quest to forge a lasting peace. But, when he sees Ginny, he knows she is the only woman who will do. Can they navigate a rocky road, with enemies on both sides plotting against them, to unite two warring cultures, into one lasting peace?

Note: This book takes place during the Sons of Amber timeline in the overall Jit’Suku Chronicles series, but can easily be read as a standalone.