Captain Cyani looks forward to completing her final assignment prior to retiring to her home planet of Azra. Having completed the freeing of the Union soldiers she was sent to retrieve, she risks her own safety and escape to free a Byralen prisoner her scout leads her to. Byralens are a mysterious race whose bodies produce a hormone that they use to bond with their mates, but on the black market it can be used as a powerful sexual narcotic.

Soren has been held captive for years, enduring endless torture while his captors milk the narcotic hormones from his body for their profit. He has been held in darkness with no real hope of escape, always to be a slave.

When Cyani frees Soren, his sense of elation is quickly replaced with the sickening realization that the years of manipulation he has undergone to siphon the narcotic hormone from his body, has caused his system to become unbalanced. Unless he finds the woman he is to mate with, he will die.

Cyani and Soren begin to build a bond between them while attempting to escape. One not simply out of Cyani's honor or out of Soren's gratitude toward his rescuer but out of feelings the two are acquiring between them. Soren soon realizes that Cyani may be the woman he needs to survive, but for Cyani to turn her back on her home world, would mean a death sentence to not only herself, but her family as well. Would Cyani choose her own happiness and freedom to spend her life with Soren, or would she return to her self-imposed prison and allow Soren to die?

Jess Granger's BEYOND THE RAIN is a refreshing tale of two strong characters, however in this story, the female is not lead by the male like in most romance driven stories. Even though Soren's life hinges on the choices Cyani will make, he does not once try to force her to his will, allowing her complete freedom in her choices. This is a very nice change when most speculative fantasy romances have the ever so dominate males forcing the women to their mindsets. I also enjoyed the world building around the story. Ms. Granger's universe was very clear, whether it is the dark underside of Azra, or the beautiful open plains of Makko, she paints the worlds clearly. I look forward to the next book in this series.