In the Light of Every Morning

Senitiya lived through hell as a sex slave for the New Regime, which dominates multiple worlds, and Earth is next on their list. The life expectancy of a slave is less than a month, but she has endured two years. Survival depends not just on how she plays the game but also how the game plays her. And it plays her wrong when an abused child dies in her arms. Her grieving heart launches her on a suicide mission to find any way to stop the slavers.

Her almost failed escape makes her dependent on a stranger named Joshua for survival, but if he learns what she is, he could sell her back to the slavers for a fortune. To buy his help she tries to ply her trade to make him fall in love with her, but his heart stubbornly belongs to some silly mystery princess he's been searching for, said she calls out to him from the dark of every night. Just her luck, of all the testosterone poisoned males in the galaxy, she gets stuck with the only guy who could tell her no. And thus begins her battle for Joshua's heart, a phantom princess in his mind versus a real woman who has been forced to play this deadly game.

Hepler is 59 years old and a medical engineer in Texas. He has worked for several years at a center for abused children and pregnant teens. This experience has provided some insight into how abusers psychologically manipulate their victims.