A romance-light space adventure that still has plenty to please readers.
A hacker is determined to stop a person trying to incite war between two galactic empires.
Kee Ildez is a legendary hacker and an integral part of the crew of the spaceship Starlight’s Shadow. The crew's human ex-soldiers served together in the war against the Valoffs and now work across the galaxy as bounty hunters. Kee has one goal: Find Commodore Frank Morten, the man who betrayed them during the war, and bring him to justice. She suspects Morten is trying to rekindle war between the Federated Human Planets and the Valovian Empire by staging an incident on Bastion, a remote space station. Kee arranges to leave the Starlight’s Shadow crew behind for a few weeks to run a solo investigation on Bastion—which will also give her a much-needed break from Varro Runkow, a Valovian munitions expert and telekinetic who recently joined the group. Kee is wildly attracted to Varro, but he has made it clear there can be no future between them. When Varro discovers she’s alone on Bastion, he leaves the ship, determined to protect her. As Kee and Varro hack into Bastion’s systems, they conclude that Morten might cause trouble at a high-profile fashion exhibition featuring human and Valovian designers. Kee and Varro’s adventures on the space station are full of action and intrigue. They make a good team, but their romance is underdeveloped and more of an afterthought than a well-integrated part of the plot. Of note: Kee’s staunch defense of why she continues to fight evil, even against what seems like impossible odds, is clearly meant to bolster readers who might feel overwhelmed in the face of Earth’s many problems. It’s a cogent reminder of why readers are drawn to speculative fiction in the first place.
A romance-light space adventure that still has plenty to please readers.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06305106-5
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
A laugh-out-loud “why choose?” romance of intergalactic proportions.
What’s worse: to be killed by a lion or dropped on a strange planet and forced into an alien breeding program?
Dorothy Valentine had a happy career in wildlife biology, studying meerkats in their native environment and living on her own terms. That is, until a hungry lion decided to make her into lunchmeat. Abducted from Earth at the moment of her death—along with the lion who attacked her—Dory becomes Subject 4 in an alien research project. The goal: to extend the life of the Sankado species, whose females were left behind on their dying home planet. With "a few modifications," Dory is a prime candidate for Sankado breeding…except for the secret birth control implant in her arm. To make matters more complicated, she hooks up with two Sankado men, Sol and Lok, while under the influence of an alien love serum, becoming their Zhali—a mate for life. Luckily, they don’t mind sharing Dory or one another. Just when their three-way honeymoon is about to kick off, however, Lok’s old enemy rears his ugly head, putting all of their lives in peril. Lemming’s characterization really shines here. Sassy Dory, sensitive and whip-smart Sol, and the dominant, flirtatious Lok all feel fully realized, as do Toto and Intern—the lion who tried to eat Dory and the birdlike alien responsible for observing her. The sex scenes are spicy, if perhaps too few and far between, and the dialogue is snappy and realistic.
A laugh-out-loud “why choose?” romance of intergalactic proportions.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780593818633
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A funny but uneven take on love at the end of the world.
It’s the end of the world as she knows it, but the Prince of Hell is fine.
Callie, a recent college graduate living back at home with her mother, is admittedly “flailing a bit” at adulthood. With no idea what to do with her history degree, she's helping to run The Great Escape, the family’s successful escape room business. But on Callie's first weekend taking the reins while her mom is away, all hell breaks loose—literally. A satanic cult headed by the blackhearted Solomon Elerion has been drawn to the occult-inspired escape room for a prop book of spells that turns out to be very real, hoping to summon a high-level demon. Their plan? To bargain for the location of The Holy Lance, which they will use to bring about the apocalypse. Luke Morningstar, Prince of Hell, is also finding adulthood harder than he imagined. He has yet to receive his wings and is under strict orders from his father to start harvesting souls for the underworld. When his supervisor, Lucifuge Rofocale, is summoned by Elerion, Luke goes in his stead with grand plans to accomplish this task and get his dad off his back. What he doesn’t plan for is Callie, their immediate attraction, or how much he wants to help her save the world. The author successfully creates a tongue-in-cheek supernatural adventure held up by witty banter and a ragtag team of heroic underdogs, including Callie's nonbinary best friend, the artistic and stylish Mag. But the lackluster instalove romance between a stereotypically bookish heroine and a demon who's supposed to be hot as hellfire but lacks any sinister devilishness, pacing that's off, and ham-fisted pop-culture references drag the novel down.
A funny but uneven take on love at the end of the world.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-2507-7174-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
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