Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. A clash of cultures…

What happens when a woman from a planet where children belong exclusively to their mothers and men are treated as simple-minded playthings; decides to have a child by a man who comes from a planet where children belong to the clan; and also decides not to tell him?

What happens is Local Custom by Lee and Miller, one book in the Liaden universe. She is sure that he intends to kidnap her child and he knows that she has stolen a child that belongs to his clan. And, oh, they are in love with each other.

Meanwhile, the child learns about both cultures, both languages, and both of his parents, even as they struggle to resolve the irreconcilable situation they find themselves in. Luckily before they can come to fatal blows an enemy presents itself: someone from his culture that hates her and her culture, and drives them together.

The background for this book, the Liaden universe, is a complex, rich, science fiction/fantasy universe that combines space ships and lasers with a vague form of magic. But what interests me are the rich characters and the cultures they inhabit. Warning: it is difficult to read just one book in the Liaden universe. This isn’t the first book, but it is certainly readable as your first book.