Series: Consortium Rebellion

Review: Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik

Posted January 13, 2021 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Aurora Blazing by Jessie MihalikReviewer: Holly
Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik
Series: Consortium Rebellion #2
Also in this series: Polaris Rising
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: October 1, 2019
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: First
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 400
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2020 Goodreads Challenge, Holly's 2020 Reading Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Bianca von Hasenberg did her duty for High House von Hasenberg and ended up trapped in a terrible marriage. When her husband dies unexpectedly and leaves her a happy widow, she vows never to marry again. Instead, she uses her connections to save other young women. Information is power and Bianca has a network that would be the envy of the ’verse—if anyone knew about it.

After an attack, Bianca’s oldest brother, the House von Hasenberg heir, disappears from Earth without a trace. Determined to find him, Bianca leaves against orders. When she refuses to return, her father sends Ian Bishop, the director of House von Hasenberg security, to haul her home like a recalcitrant child.

Bianca leads Ian on a merry chase across the universe, but when their paths finally collide, she persuades him that they would be far more successful at finding her brother if they worked together. She will do anything to save her sibling, even if it means spending time alone on a small ship with the handsome, infuriating man who once broke her heart.

As clues lead them deep into rival House Rockhurst territory, Bianca must decide if she can trust Ian with the one piece of information that could destroy her completely. . .

Bianca von Hasenberg was sold off by her father into marriage to a monster. He slowly separated her from her support group, tore her down, then experimented on her without her consent. Now she’s a happy widow, but she’s still dealing with the pain of his betrayal and the consequences of his genetic modifications. She’s healing, but it’s slow going. When her eldest brother is kidnapped, she knows she has the skills to find him and bring him home….The head of house security, and her long time crush, disagrees. She ends up running from him and the planet. When he catches up with her, they decide (grudgingly on his part) to work together. Bianca knows how Ian feels about her her – he’s made it clear on multiple occasions he finds her to be nothing more than a spoiled Princess. That doesn’t stop her heart from wanting him. When she uncovers some of his secrets, she realizes there’s more to Ian than she ever knew….She can only hope he realizes the same about her.

We met Bianca in the previous book. She was publicly in mourning from the death of her husband, but it was obvious there was no love lost and something was going on with her. I enjoyed her strength and determination, her loyalty to her family and her overall smarts. She was an excellent character. I didn’t love the romance, however. They spent years sniping at each other, and their transition from adversaries to being IN LOVE didn’t work for me. It didn’t help that despite Ian constantly tearing her down (usually unintentionally – she had hidden emotional scars he wasn’t aware of), she still pined for him. For years. I think I’d rather have seen her walk away from him, which would force him to work harder for her affection.

Still, I enjoyed the story and the nonstop action enough that I’m rating this higher than the first book.

3.75/4 out of 5

Consortium Rebellion

four-stars


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Review: Polaris Rising by Jessie Milhalik

Posted December 30, 2020 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Polaris Rising by Jessie MilhalikReviewer: Holly
Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik
Series: Consortium Rebellion #1
Also in this series: Aurora Blazing
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: February 5, 2019
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: First
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 448
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2020 Goodreads Challenge, Holly's 2020 New to Me Challenge, Holly's 2020 Reading Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

A space princess on the run and a notorious outlaw soldier become unlikely allies in this imaginative, sexy space opera adventure—the first in an exciting science fiction trilogy.

In the far distant future, the universe is officially ruled by the Royal Consortium, but the High Councillors, the heads of the three High Houses, wield the true power. As the fifth of six children, Ada von Hasenberg has no authority; her only value to her High House is as a pawn in a political marriage. When her father arranges for her to wed a noble from House Rockhurst, a man she neither wants nor loves, Ada seizes control of her own destiny. The spirited princess flees before the betrothal ceremony and disappears among the stars.

Ada eluded her father’s forces for two years, but now her luck has run out. To ensure she cannot escape again, the fiery princess is thrown into a prison cell with Marcus Loch. Known as the Devil of Fornax Zero, Loch is rumored to have killed his entire chain of command during the Fornax Rebellion, and the Consortium wants his head.

When the ship returning them to Earth is attacked by a battle cruiser from rival House Rockhurst, Ada realizes that if her jilted fiancé captures her, she’ll become a political prisoner and a liability to her House. Her only hope is to strike a deal with the dangerous fugitive: a fortune if he helps her escape.

But when you make a deal with an irresistibly attractive Devil, you may lose more than you bargained for . . .

Tracy recommended this series to me. It took me several days to read it, but I think that had more to do with my current state of mind than the book.

Ada von Hasenberg fled Earth rather than be forced into a marriage she didn’t want. She’s been on the run for two years, until a Mercenary crew finds her and attempts to drag her back to her father. When the man she was supposed to marry turns up to “claim” her, she knows something is wrong. The son of a rival house, Richard Rockhurst was a good political match, but no one Ada wanted to marry. She escapes with the help of another prisoner, notorious criminal Marcus Loch, and sets out to discover why Richard is so insistent that they marry. It’s obvious he wants something, and Ada is determined to discover what it is.

I really liked the constant action, and I enjoyed how self-sufficient Ada was. She was capable and daring, which worked well given her circumstances. She as also extremely loyal to her House, despite how poorly her father treated her. All the von Hasenberg siblings are close, and she does what she does for them. But I still liked how she wanted to help her House. I did struggle with the romance. I never really felt like Loch and Ada connected outside of the physical. Frankly I was surprised when they made long-term commitments to each other. I didn’t feel like they were read for “I Love You” in any way. I also didn’t get a good feel for Loch away from Ada. The first-person narration worked against the story there. We didn’t see enough emotion or explanation for why he acted the way he did.

I did like the overall storyline, the secondary characters and the action. But parts of the novel felt unfinished to me. I’m looking forward to the next book.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Consortium Rebellion

three-half-stars


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What Are You Reading? (+ Jessie Mihalik Giveaway)

Posted March 1, 2019 by Casee in Features, Giveaways | 14 Comments

Casee: I’m reading Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley. I’m about 20% into it. I actually set it aside the day before yesterday and started Shadow Warrior by Christine Feehan, intending to go back to it. However, someone didn’t like that so I went back to it. I’m traveling today so I’m hoping to finish it.

I am listening to Written in Red by Anne Bishop. It started out really slow, but it has picked up and I am really loving it. It’s not really a romance, though it has romantic elements to it. Usually that would bother me, but honestly, this book is so good that I hardly even notice that there isn’t as much romance as I usually prefer.

Holly: I had a super slow reading week. I spent the entire week reading Wild Country and listening to Lake Silence by Anne Bishop. I’m not sure if it was the books or me, but I had the hardest time focusing. I need to collect my thoughts about Wild Country before I discuss it, but Lake Silence was as an enjoyable as always.

Now I’m reading Wolf Rain by Nalini Singh. I haven’t settled on a new audiobook yet.

Rowena: It’s been an interesting week in books for me. I came off a couple of weeks of not reading much of anything and then this week, I read two books. The first book I read was Bad Bachelor (Bad Bachelors #1) by Stefanie London and while I really enjoyed the romance, there were people and things in that book that drove me batty that I ended up not loving the book as much as I wanted to. I moved on from that book and jumped into the second book in the Bad Bachelors series, Bad Reputation and I enjoyed that book even less. I’m really bummed about that because so many bloggers that I enjoy loved these books but they’re just not for me. I got book 3 in this series for review and I’m stuck right now because I don’t want to read it. I hate the heroine for book 3 so much that I’m like…

View Spoiler »

Fuck that noise, it’s decided…I’m not reading it. Instead, I’m going to read The Dating Game by Kiley Roache.

Giveaway Alert

We are very fortunate here at Book Binge. We have loads and loads of books to read and we want to share the wealth so each week, we’ll be tacking on a Freebie Friday giveaway to our What Are You Reading posts. This week, we’re giving away…

What Are You Reading? (+ Jessie Mihalik Giveaway)Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1) by Jessie Mihalik
Series: Consortium Rebellion #1
Also in this series: Polaris Rising, Aurora Blazing
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: February 5, 2019
Format: Print
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 448
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
Series Rating: four-stars

A space princess on the run and a notorious outlaw soldier become unlikely allies in this imaginative, sexy space opera adventure—the first in an exciting science fiction trilogy.

In the far distant future, the universe is officially ruled by the Royal Consortium, but the High Councillors, the heads of the three High Houses, wield the true power. As the fifth of six children, Ada von Hasenberg has no authority; her only value to her High House is as a pawn in a political marriage. When her father arranges for her to wed a noble from House Rockhurst, a man she neither wants nor loves, Ada seizes control of her own destiny. The spirited princess flees before the betrothal ceremony and disappears among the stars.Ada eluded her father’s forces for two years, but now her luck has run out. To ensure she cannot escape again, the fiery princess is thrown into a prison cell with Marcus Loch. Known as the Devil of Fornax Zero, Loch is rumored to have killed his entire chain of command during the Fornax Rebellion, and the Consortium wants his head.

When the ship returning them to Earth is attacked by a battle cruiser from rival House Rockhurst, Ada realizes that if her jilted fiancé captures her, she’ll become a political prisoner and a liability to her House. Her only hope is to strike a deal with the dangerous fugitive: a fortune if he helps her escape.

But when you make a deal with an irresistibly attractive Devil, you may lose more than you bargained for . . .

What Are You Reading: Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik

What are you reading this week? Any new favorites or books that drove you crazy? Share!


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