Really entertaining dystopian future, time travel novel. Set in the late 2000s after disease and environmental catastrophe threaten daily life for all living beings.

When Jackson and Ellie meet in a hook-up bar, they never expect to see each other again. Soon the two are part of the same scientific team - Jackson, a pilot, and Ellie, a scientist - traveling back thousands of years to attain the missing ecological link to keep the Earth alive. But things are not as they seem and schemes may soon leave them both in mortal danger.

**I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

In the near future, earth's temperature has risen to a tipping point, and the earth is on the brink of collapse. Jackson is a Captain with the Space Force and she is charged with protecting paleobotanist Elle when they go back in time in order to find a way of saving the sea and consequently the earth. The two women bond over their mission and their simmering attraction towards each other. Their connection may be their only chance to save each other not only physically, but emotionally as well.

This was a really unique and interesting idea - these books apocalyptic books are my favourite kind by Missouri Vaun - I need a steady diet of these books. The romance happens very fast, but I guess when you are time travelling, fast or slow is all relative anyways right? To me the romance was more of a bonus in this story - adding some sweet and steamy moments in all the turmoil to give the character and the reader a reminder of how good life is in the middle of everything that is going on. The action and the saving the world was exciting and interesting and also very terrifying reminder of where the world is heading. The descriptions were so vivid - I really felt like we were in the not so distant future and then in the beautiful pure world of the past. It all felt so real that the stark contrast between the two time periods was very powerful. I couldn't recommend this book more and I look forward to reading more like these books in the future.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review of the story.

I am a fan of Missouri Vaun - her stories are fast paced, the characters are believable and the romance always feels fresh.

This is a romance, in the future, set against the timely scenario of saving the environment .
Captain Jackson Drake is a pilot with Space For e, a loyal soldier and friend. Jackson is also a widow who five years after her wife's death, is still emotionally crippled.

Eliza Graham is a scientist working feverishly to find a way to save the world.

Jackson and Eliza meet by chance at a sex club. A one time meeting not to be repeated.

Until, they meet again, on a military mission to travel back to when oceans were healthy to secure new life for the oceans of today.

Chemistry, sexual tension, intrigue, betrayal in one novel.

Set in the not-so-distant future, Vaun paints a grim picture of an Earth that is barely alive. Humans have caused irreversible damage, and because they have not heeded scientist's warnings soon enough, Earth is on the brink of dying.

Elle, a paleobotanist tasked with finding a way to heal the dying Earth, is fighting a race with time to find a way to reverse the effects of climate change before the oceans dry up. The only problem - the solution can only be found in the past. When Captain Jackson and her team come along with a time traveling solution to help Dr. Elle, they embark on the adventure of a lifetime to save Earth from a certain death.

Vaun did a phenomenal job in this story of interweaving some incredibly important topics without being too "preachy" or overbearing. It was a perfect way to engage even the casual reader in a very important subject that we all need to work together on. Vaun really did her research too, it's obvious in every word.

Unfortunately though, I found that the romantic arc felt a bit cheesy, with both of the main characters falling quite flat. It's a fast read though and incredibly interesting, but don't go into this one expecting a perfect love story. There just wasn't enough character development in this one for me to really get behind their story. 3.75 stars.

**Many thanks to Bold Strokes for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.**

3.75 Stars. Another fun read by Vaun. Not sure the timing except maybe since these books are releasing in October -and everything is more fun in October- but Bold Strokes Books are putting out one entertaining book after another. First Z-Town, then Renegade's War, and now The Sea Within, these were three super entertaining books in a row. While they have not been wow reads that have blown me away, but they all have been fun to read and a wonderful distraction from the worst year in most of our lifetimes. What a great way to start the new releases and I have not even gotten to Zak, Vali, Saracen, or Bryant yet. I’m a happy reader right now.

While the cover might look like a more traditional wlw romance, this is actually far from the case. This is a cli-fi (climate fiction), time traveling-romance. Cli-fi is a newer genre that has become popular with global warming being such a threat. I’m a cli-fi fan because most of the stories can go into the pre or post-apocalyptic tag which I enjoy reading. But there are three other words that make me way more excited than cli-fi does and that is “time traveling-romance.” Yes please, all day and any day, thank you. I love the whole concept of time traveling and when you mix it with two lesbians who are time traveling to save the world, how can you not have fun with that premise?!

This book was action packed. While things started out a bit slow, once the book gets into gear it is one thing after another to keep up a nice fast pace. I started this book late thinking I might read a third or half, instead I flew though this book stopping only at the end. Not being able to put this book down was a nice problem to have.

Both characters are easy to like and I thought they had some decent chemistry together. However, it was disappointing that the romance never got as deep as I was hoping. They were attracted to each other but it seemed more on the outside, like mostly physical, so that deeper connection didn’t form. While the characters themselves were very likeable they were not that deep either. It reminded me of watching a big action movie. Things are more on the surface, but you care less because you are so engrossed in the explosion or the big gun battle in front of you that it’s all you can think about. So the romance is not that deep and actually a little sappy in parts, but overall I was so absorbed in the story that I didn’t care as much as I normally would.

If you are looking for a fast paced, save the world action book, I would recommend this. You will be completely sucked into the read and you’ll hopefully have as good a time as I did. This was fun and I’m glad BSB went for entertainment this month; I think we all could use it.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.


Dr. Elle is a paleobotanist who is tasks with trying to find a cure that would saves the oceans from becoming dry. She collected samples and uses it to apply the data to find the source of why the oceans won’t last much longer she narrowed it down to the past where there might be cure but the problems is it’s been extinct.

Jackson is a Captain she hasn’t really gotten over losing the women she loves Camille who had put her life on the line to save others.

Elle and Jackson meets at a bar and almost had one night stand they meet again when Elle boss informs her that she and Captain Jackson will be going back in time to find the cure that may help but when things go sideways they both have to put aside their conflicts and the feelings that are evoke in each other to ensure the mission is complete.

What I like is how the author really did the research on how everything really does have a purpose in helping keep everything alive.

plot: in the future, climate change is earth's greatest fear, but scientist elle graham might have found a cure. the only way to get it though is to time travel back with captain jackson drake, who's still caught up in a romance long gone.

3.5/5🌟: even though i was never good at science in school, i'm kind of a huge science nerd. i love hearing cool facts about space and biology and all that stuff. i adore shows like the flash featuring time travel, so this book was a catch for me! on top of that: lesbians! lesbians, who are not defined by their sexuality! thank goodness. nevertheless, the love story got a bit too cheesy for me throughout the novel. while i know a lot about the effect of climate change in their futuristic world, i still don't know what these two ladies have in common except for being attracted to women. at last, this was a quick read with a super interesting and important topic intervowen, but the characters were a bit too flat. (+ be aware of explicit sex scenes)

thanks to netgalley i received an early access copy in exchange for an honest opinion.