This review is on the second book from Catherine Miller's Deridia series. Trade begins with a ragtag group of humans looking for a place to settle in the unforgiving and unwelcoming world of Deridia. They are the descendants of a colony of people who had meant to settle on a nearby planet, but the ship crash landed and they were stuck, the later generations still trying to find a safe haven. The humans contact the Marzon, hoping to settle near their territory, and are offered a deal. One of the female humans is to marry one of the Marzon, and the humans will be allowed to stay. This is one of the Marzon traditions; each treaty they have with the different peoples on Deridia is sealed with a marriage.
The main character, Heather, is the colony's best option for this, as the other unwed women are too young or have children. Heather is a broken woman, having lost everything and everyone she loves, but she reluctantly agrees. Poor Heather is renamed Renna and matched with another broken soul, Machrus who is bitter from his own personal history. Renna is thrust into a completely new and strange culture, while Machrus has to adjust his hermit-like existence to another person. The two agree to coexist peacefully, more like roommates than a married couple, as neither truly wants to risk attachments to another person. This, of course, leads to a lot of miscommunication.
Honestly, this is where Miller shines. She takes the inner musings and observations from Renna, and as the reader I watched as two broken characters struggled, grew, healed, and made their way. The world building is minor, but the character growth is wonderful, and you ache with the characters as they overcome their inner demons. The entire series is like this. Each book is a standalone, introducing people from different areas of Deridia, and their struggles and culture. Some have been beaten down by life, some have been taught they are worthless because of their traditions and peoples' way of life, and some are actually slaves. Each book shows how a broken character, or sometimes, as in this case, broken characters, can find healing and happiness. Each book gets better, and the writing richer.
I chose the second book to review because the first one isn't my favorite. It's still a good story, but I found all the following stories more enjoyable.
I found this story to achieve 4 out of 5 quills, if you are interested in reading it, click on the link below.
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