I really didn't know what to expect from sci fi romance as a genre, and it kept taking me by surprise (so to speak) when the tone switched from space talk, warp drive and ship repairs to intense chemistry, heavy eye contact and some steamy sex scenes. And you know what? I'm there for it. (Although the change in tone from 'save the galaxy' to 'hey baby ...' was a little jarring at times).

We first meet Tess Bailey and her crew of damaged misfits when they are fleeing a Dark Watch ship, and carrying a precious cargo, straight into more danger. Safe - for now - they need to repair and enlist the help of dark and mysterious Shade Ganavan, who has ulterior motives of his own. The crew are desperately hoping they can find a way to put a stop to a new virus sweeping through the galaxy's orphanage that holds a special place in Tess' heart.

The villain of this piece, the Overseer, likes order, plain clothes and nuclear weapons. His right hand man, Nathaniel Bridgebane is impassive yet conflicted.

And there's a cat called Bonk. And that's great.

The action is punchy, the sex is steamy - I don't know what else to say; it's hard to balance the two!

There were a few specific things that didn't work for me, however. Tess and Shade's flirty talk was pretty cringe in places - 'Space Rogue Phenom'? Baby? I did like starshine, though. And because half of the novel is given over to romance, it meant that this sci fi universe lacked a lot of fleshing out - this is a galaxy of humans? Why are they using terms like warp drive? And, given how this ends, more sexy snuggling probably wasn't appropriate.

I mean, it's not easy to summarise this one. It is Firefly? Guardians of the Galaxy? Or a sexy space romp? Who knows?! But it was certainly fun.

I loved this book from the very first sentence. I'm not usually a reader of sci-fi books so I was a bit wary about starting this book but I am so glad I did.
You are immediately plunged into Tess Bailey's world and it's non-stop action from start to finish. At no time do you feel that background information about this world is slowing the pace, it is all worked seamlessly into the story. The story has lots of plot twists, tension, great charcters. This is the first book in a new trilogy. Threads are introduced that will be developed in the later books, nevertheless, this book has some closure so you are not left frustrated waiting for more.
I can't wait to read the next instalment.

3.5 stars

So, this book started out really good. I liked the characters, the action was engaging and fast paced, and the world building was great.
But then the pacing got really slow for a while and a lot of the scenes seemed like fillers.
And while the story was still good, it just wasn’t great anymore.

(Also, the love interest calls the heroine ”starshine” and that’s just too cheesy for me. I mean, is this a joke?)

Overall, I wanted to love this book, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I’ll still read the next book in the series because the blurb sounds amazing.


ARC generously provided in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge firefly fan and jumping into this book felt like that, all the humour, the family feelings, the sci fi rogues. I loved it, such a fast action packed fun ride. A cast of great characters, amazing writing, this is my first book by Amanda but definitely won’t be my last

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion