Rebels Divided — Lance Erlick

The first time Geo Shaw (19) sees Annabelle Scott (19), they meet as enemies and she doesn't kill him, which mystifies them both. It's after the Second American Civil War with the nation divided into the all-female Federal Union and the warlord controlled Outland. Geo is a rugged frontiersman who hungers to bust loose from the impoverished Outland glen where he and his pa hide from the local warlord's Rangers and Federal Mechanized Warriors. Annabelle is out of step with her Federal society where males are hunted, imprisoned, and used to train the Mech Corps that took her parents when she was three. Then she's forced to become a Mech. The Outland warlord and the Federal governor conclude a secret deal, pledging Annabelle to the warlord to provide heirs, and putting a bounty on Geo and his pa. When Annabelle refuses, the warlord kidnaps her and her beloved sister. Geo's plans to break loose of his pa's control and Annabelle's attempts to escape and enlist his help backfire, and bring them into conflict with military on both sides of the border. Can Geo and Annabelle overcome mutual distrust and work together to rescue her sister and gain justice for his pa's murder? And will their feelings for each other derail or further their goals? Written as a standalone story, Rebels Divided is also part of the Rebel series, three years later.