Tag: Sci-Fi Romance

Review: Eclipse the Moon by Jessie Mihalik

Posted November 28, 2022 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Eclipse the Moon by Jessie MihalikReviewer: Holly
Eclipse the Moon by Jessie Mihalik
Series: Starlight's Shadow #2
Also in this series: Hunt the Stars
Publisher: Harper Collins, Harper Voyager
Publication Date: July 12, 2022
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: First
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 440
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Kee Ildez has been many things: hacker, soldier, bounty hunter. She never expected to be a hero, but when a shadowy group of traitors starts trying to goad the galaxy’s two superpowers into instigating an interstellar war, Kee throws herself into the search to find out who is responsible—and stop them.

Digging up hidden information is her job, so hunting traitors should be a piece of cake, but the primary suspect spent years in the military, and someone powerful is still covering his tracks. Disrupting their plans will require the help of her entire team, including Varro Runkow, a Valovian weapons expert who makes her pulse race.
Quiet, grumpy, and incredibly handsome, Varro watches her with hot eyes but ignores all of her flirting, so Kee silently vows to keep her feelings strictly platonic. But that vow will be put to the test when she and Varro are forced to leave the safety of their ship and venture into enemy territory alone.

Cut off from the rest of their team, they must figure out how to work together—and fast—because a single misstep will cost thousands of lives.

Eclipse the Moon (Starlight’s Shadow #2) by Jessie Mihalik picks up where book #1, Capture the Sun“>Hunt the Stars, left off. Kee is a systems specialist on board Starlight’s Shadow, a mercenary ship. They’re on the hunt for a traitor set on restarting the war between the Human Federation and the Valoffs. Neither Kee nor any of the rest of the crew is willing to go back to war, so she heads to, Bastian, a space station in human airspace just outside a Valoff wormhole to see if she can track down their enemy or figure out what plot is afoot. If that gets her away from Varro, the sexy Valoff she’s been crushing on, all the better. She’s been sending out hints for weeks and he’s clearly not interested, so she needs some space to get her head on straight and move on.

Only Varro follows her. When things escalate and they end up fighting for their lives she’s grateful, if mortified that he doesn’t return her feelings.

Kee isn’t my favorite crew member, but I liked her in the previous book and wanted to know more about her and Varro. I enjoyed them both, though I did think they danced around each other a bit too much. There’s a lot of action in this book, which kept the pace moving but left me frustrated at times since it interrupted communication between them. Still, I enjoyed how they worked together and how the overall storyarc progressed. I’m anxious for the next book.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Starlight’s Shadow

Capture the Sun

four-stars


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Review: Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik

Posted October 17, 2022 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Hunt the Stars by Jessie MihalikReviewer: Holly
Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik
Series: Starlight's Shadow #1
Also in this series: Eclipse the Moon
Publisher: Harper Collins, Harper Voyager
Publication Date: February 1, 2022
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: First
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 419
Add It: Goodreads
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

The critically acclaimed author of Polaris Rising takes readers on an exciting journey with the start of her brand-new series about a female bounty hunter and the man who is her sworn enemy.
Octavia Zarola would do anything to keep her tiny, close-knit bounty hunting crew together—even if it means accepting a job from Torran Fletcher, a ruthless former general and her sworn enemy. When Torran offers her enough credits to not only keep her crew afloat but also hire someone to fix her ship, Tavi knows that she can’t refuse—no matter how much she’d like to.
With so much money on the line, Torran and his crew insist on joining the hunt. Tavi reluctantly agrees because while the handsome, stoic leader pushes all of her buttons—for both anger and desire—she’s endured worse, and the massive bonus payment he’s promised for a completed job is reason enough to shut up and deal.
But when they uncover a deeper plot that threatens the delicate peace between humans and Valoffs, Tavi suspects that Torran has been using her as the impetus for a new war. With the fate of her crew balanced on a knife’s edge, Tavi must decide where her loyalties lie—with the quiet Valoff who’s been lying to her, or with the human leaders who left her squad to die on the battlefield. And this time, she’s put her heart on the line.

Tavi was a soldier who saw terrible things in war. Now she and what remains of her team are mercenaries. When she’s approached by the general of the opposing army with a job, he makes it too lucrative to refuse. She’s suspicious of his motives and the job, but not enough to walk away from the fortune he’s offering her. She knows he’s hiding things, but she has no idea the depth of his secrets until it’s almost too late….

Mihalik is excellent at writing very immersive stories. I easily fell into this. I enjoyed Tavi and her team. They worked very well together and I appreciated the way they incorporated Tarran’s team into their plans. I’m very much looking forward to more from this series.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Starlight’s Shadow

Capture the Sun

three-half-stars


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Review: The Segonian by Dianne Duvall

Posted August 1, 2022 by Holly in Reviews | 3 Comments

Review: The Segonian by Dianne DuvallReviewer: Holly
The Segonian by Dianne Duvall
Narrator: Kirsten Potter
Series: Aldebarian Alliance #2
Also in this series: The Lasaran, The Segonian
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: January 19, 2021
Format: eBook
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 435
Length: 12 hours and 31 minutes
Add It: Goodreads
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four-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

New York Times bestselling author Dianne Duvall brings readers the second stand-alone novel in a thrilling new sci-fi romance series full of action, humor, and happily-ever-afters.
Eliana's life has never been what one might term ordinary. At least, it hasn't been for a very long time. As a powerful Immortal Guardian, she spends her nights hunting and slaying psychotic vampires that most of humanity doesn't even realize exist. Then an opportunity arises that instantly makes her extraordinary existence seem downright boring. The leader of the Immortal Guardians asks her to guard a group of mortals who are embarking upon a voyage across the galaxy to the planet Lasara. How could she possibly say no?
In no time at all, Eliana is hurtling through space on board a Lasaran battleship and getting to know not one but two alien races. It's the most exciting adventure of her long life... until the ship is unexpectedly attacked. Amid the chaos and destruction that follow, she valiantly helps everyone she can before an explosion renders her unconscious. When Eliana awakens, she finds herself alone, floating in space, clad only in a spacesuit, with no ship in sight. Alone--that is--except for the warm, deep voice that carries over the comm in her helmet.
Commander Dagon and the crew of the Segonian battleship Ranasura respond to a distress call from their Lasaran allies and join a massive Alliance-wide search-and-rescue mission. He quickly achieves communication with a lone Earthling female and races toward her. Every time they speak, his fascination with her grows and he becomes more desperate to reach her before her oxygen supply runs out. Her strength, bravery, and humor entice him, even more so when she defies all odds and they meet in person.
As he and Eliana embark upon a quest to find her missing friends, a bond swiftly grows between them that deepens with every laugh and smile and tender touch they share. But they are not the only ones searching for Earthling survivors. When Eliana herself becomes the hunted and their enemies begin to close in, can the two of them fight their way to victory, or will their enemies take everything?

The Segonian by Dianne Duvall, the second book in the Aldebarian Alliance series, a spinoff of Duvall’s Immortal Guaridans series, features Eliana, a character we met in the previous series. She traveled in space to protect the Gifted Ones who chose to go to Lasara with Prince Taelon in the hopes of finding a quieter life. When their ship is attacked on the way there, Eliana ends up floating in space in a space suit. For weeks her only lifelines are Captain Dagan and the other Segonians on his ship. She’s never met them, but they become the most important beings in the world to her.

The early chapters where Eliana were floating in space were so gripping and heart-wrenching. Her strength and humor really came through, but I felt her loneliness and fear in a visceral way. I really love Eliana and Dagan. They had a great dynamic when all they could do was talk via comms. I also liked how they came to know one another once she was onboard his ship.

Their quest to find the others who were missing from the Lasaran ship was interesting, but I enjoyed their life on the ship more. Especially Eliana training with him and his men.

This is my favorite book in this spin-off series, and my second favorite of Duvall’s books to date.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5

Aldebarian Alliance

four-half-stars


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Review: Brilliant Starlight by Anna Carven

Posted April 13, 2022 by Holly in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Brilliant Starlight by Anna CarvenReviewer: Holly
Brilliant Starlight by Anna Carven
Series: Dark Planet Warriors #8
Also in this series: Dark Planet Warriors, Dark Planet Falling, Into the Light , Out of Darkness , Forged in Shadow , Infinity's Embrace , Electric Heart
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: July 8, 2017
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Point-of-View: Alternating First
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 220
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2021 Goodreads Challenge
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three-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Abbey We're back on Silence, orbiting the Dark Planet while my husband handles unfinished business on Kythia. For some reason, he seems a little bit tense. According to Tarak, Kythian politics can be complicated, especially when the entire Kordolian Empire has just been destroyed. I hope things don't get too complicated, because I don't want to be stuck here for too long. A warship isn't really the best place to raise a child.

Tarak The only way to ensure Abbey and Ami remained safe was to bring down the Empire. It is done. Now it is up to the statesmen and scholars to rebuild our civilization from the inside out. I'm just here to provide the muscle, but above all, I'm here to keep my mate and my child safe. If anything or anyone dares to threaten them... They know how I will respond. The problem is that not all enemies can be taken down by force.

Warning: This book is a science-fiction alien romance. It contains swearing, violence, sensual sex scenes, and silver aliens with fangs. It's definitely recommended for readers aged 18 and over.

Brilliant Starlight is Book 8 in the Dark Planet Warriors series. It will make more sense if you've read the other books in the series beforehand, but that's probably not absolutely essential.

Brilliant Starlight (Dark Planet Warriors #8) by Anna Carven takes us back to Abby and Tarek, the couple from book 1.

I wasn’t thrilled thrilled go back to Abbey and Tarak. I don’t dislike them, but I didn’t love them enough to want multiple books about them. I thought this was going to follow the groundwork that was started after the political upheaval in the previous books, but that wasn’t the case. It was more of a reaffirmation of how great they are and didn’t really advance the story arc. I’m bummed, because I really wanted more in terms of where things are now. I believe this book started out as a serial and it read that way. The chapters were repetitive and constantly went over the same ground again and again. I’m pretty sure this was just a loving farewell to Abby and Tarek from the author, since this book closes this chapter of the series. If you’re a huge fan of theirs I’m sure you’ll love it. I’m sorry I didn’t skip it.

I am looking forward to the spinoff series, which features other First-Division warriors as they adjust to life outside the Empire.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Dark Planet Warriors

three-stars


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Lightning Review: Electric Heart by Anna Carven

Posted April 11, 2022 by Holly in Reviews | 0 Comments

Lightning Review: Electric Heart by Anna CarvenReviewer: Holly
Electric Heart by Anna Carven
Series: Dark Planet Warriors #7
Also in this series: Dark Planet Warriors, Dark Planet Falling, Into the Light , Out of Darkness , Forged in Shadow , Infinity's Embrace , Brilliant Starlight
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: April 1, 2017
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 260
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2021 Goodreads Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Electric Heart is Book 7 in the Dark Planet Warriors Series. It will make more sense if you've read the other books in the series beforehand. Chronologically, it picks up where Forged in Shadow (Book 5) left off.

Riana's terrified of these fierce Kordolians. They fight like demons and possess strange alien technology which makes them damn hard to kill. After her nerve-wracking experience on the superfreighter Hendrix II, she wants nothing to do with them. All she wants to do is live a peaceful Kordolian-free life back on Earth. Too bad the Board of Corrections is on her case over past misdemeanors. Too bad someone's trying to kill her. She has no idea why. Too bad the only one who can keep her safe is a scary-hot, silent alien with coldfire eyes and a very sharp sword. But hey, at least she doesn't have to deal with flesh-eating insectoid monsters anymore. The only monster she has to deal with now is a silver-skinned one named Kail. And he's more than a match for her attackers. That's reassuring... right?

Warning: This book is a science-fiction alien romance. It contains swearing, violence, sensual sex scenes, and silver aliens with fangs. It's definitely recommended for readers aged 18 and over.

Electric Heart (Dark Planet Warriors #7) by Anna Carven follows Riana and Kail. I was anxious for their story.

I really liked both Riana and Kail. Riana had a mysterious past that we learned more about here. I liked that Kail didn’t immediately fall in love with her, as that’s been a theme throughout the series. There was a lot of action in this novel, which kept the story moving. I wasn’t as invested in the conspiracy aspects of this book, but I did enjoy the way Riana and Kail partnered up.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Dark Planet Warriors

four-stars


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