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Tag Archives: Christina Westcott

Summon the Stars – Anthology – Review

12 Tuesday Oct 2021

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, Carysa Locke, cats, Christina Westcott, Erin Hayes, Libby Doyle, romance, S.J. Pajonas, scifi, series, short story, space opera


About Summon the Stars

Summon the Stars is a thrilling space opera anthology dedicated to badass heroines on action packed science fiction adventures, and the scoundrels—that is, heroes—who love them.

An Unforgiving Desert by S. J. Pajonas

When their class ship is hijacked during the final exam, and Skylar and Kalvin are marooned in the desert, they have a long way to go to make it to safety, if they don’t kill each other first. Will they make it out of the unforgiving desert in one piece? Part of the Flyght series.

Pirate Spark by Carysa Locke

Vashti has spent her entire life trying to prevent the war she foresaw in her nightmares. Having failed, she must now find an advantage for her people, or watch as it rips the galaxy, and her people, apart. Part of the Telepathic Space Pirates series.

Outer-Rim Rescue by Libby Doyle

Ex-cop Jane Mwanda is in over her head as she tries to rescue a runaway teen from a criminal gang on a dangerous planet. When a man she’d thought was her enemy offers help, they embark on perilous adventure to bring the girl safely home.

The Rogue’s Heart by Erin Hayes

Faced with a failing heart, space pirate Clementine Jones and her crew must come up with the cash to buy her a new one in a brutal, unforgiving galaxy.

Spacer’s Third Law by Christina Westcott

Stranded at an isolated space station, Bru Thorsson must hire a second licensed pilot for her salvage ship before she’s allowed to undock, but the only candidate for the job is a burned out ex-marine who is still reliving the horrors of the war and doesn’t want the job, leaving Bru one last desperate option—shanghai him. Part of The Dragon’s Bidding series.

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Review of Summon the Stars

Imagine one story that combines scifi and romance and then take that times 5.  Each of the 5 short stories tells a complete tale.  There are no cliff hangers and no need to read the rest of the series.  Though you may be introduced to a series that you now need to check out.

Erin Hayes is the only author I had not yet read, though she was on my Amazon wish list.  The Rogue’s Heart starts to read as a YA, with the heroine being quite young.  But Clementine is in a very mature situation.  In this case the space pirates are basically corporate spies, stealing information.  One case puts the pirate crew in a moral situation unlike any they have previously experience.  Doing the right thing is a favorite subject for me.

Libby Doyle’s Outer Rim Rescue starts quietly enough with the heroine, Jane, hired to find a kidnapped young woman.  From there, things snowball with Jane herself needing some help out of one sticky situation after another.  An unexpected hero helps out and then they take a ship all over the solar system.  Lots of action in this one!

Carysa Locke’s story, Pirate Spark, which takes place in her Telepathic Space Pirates series, is the only one that may suffer from lack of series knowledge.  Having read only one of the series, I stumbled across several references that I was unfamiliar with which were not well-detailed.  However, this did not prevent me from enjoying the story.  The old woman who finds herself back in a young body has the most interesting combination of wisdom and daring. 

S.J. Pajonas and Christina Wescott also contributed stories that are parts of series, though both of them stand very well on their own.  In Pajonas’s An Unforgiving Desert, Skylar and Kalvin will learn that first, second and even third impressions often miss the mark.  The story of survival could happen in any genre, but the scifi aspect of the desert may make you appreciate the Sahara.

Westcott’s Spacer’s Third Law was probably my favorite, but that is because I am already a fan of The Dragon’s Bidding series and because it has a sentient cat.  Yes, Lilly the cat can communicate telepathically.  Oh sure, the rest of the story is good too, but …. cat!  Bru’s and Eric’s reluctant path to romance is also quite charming.

Space opera fans, this book is for you. Especially if you like a little romance in your scifi. 

Thanks to Ms. Westcott who sent a copy of this book my way in exchange for my honest review.

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Links

Add Summon the Stars to your Goodreads shelf:

Purchase Summon the Stars:

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The Second Resurrection of Jack Selkirk (The Dragon’s Bidding, #2.5) by Christina Westcott – Review

18 Wednesday Aug 2021

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

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Tags

5 stars, Book Review, Christina Westcott, romance, scifi, series, short story, virtual reality


About The Second Resurrection of Jack Selkirk by Christina Westcott

As an embezzler, Jack Selkirk had been a failure. That had gotten him murdered, mind ripped and resurrected as the assassin Cypher. That didn’t go so well either, leaving him as little more than a scrap of digital rubbish drifting through the datasphere. Now he’s been given a another chance to prove his worth and save the only people who ever gave a damn about him.

Can Jack manage not to screw this one up too?

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Review of The Second Resurrection of Jack Selkirk

Since I loved the first two books in The Dragon’s Bidding series, I was eager to get this one on my Kindle.  This short story has a little bit of the first two books (Fitz and Wolf) along with Jack – who was actually an enemy in Cypher. 

In The Second Resurrection of Jack Selkirk (read the story to get up to speed on all Jack’s lives) Jack has a chance to turn things to the good.  Teaming up with Fitz and Wolf, they take on a foe in both real and virtual space.  Missing from the story is Jumper, who’s wit and wisdom cannot be replaced.  But the cats can take a vacation while Jack is on the job. 

Humor is infused throughout the story, along with the intrigue and action.  While it had been a while since I read Cypher, reading this story effectively reminded me of the backstory.  The quick read got me hungry for more of the series. 

Many thanks to the author who provided a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.

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Links

Add The Second Resurrection of Jack Selkirk to your Goodreads shelf:

Purchase The Second Resurrection of Jack Selkirk:

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6th Annual SFR Galaxy Awards

01 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by WWMB in Featuring....

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Christina Westcott, Pauline Baird Jones, SFR Galaxy Awards, Shari Elder, Tiffany Roberts, Vivien Jackson

Yesterday, the 6th Annual SFR Galaxy Awards were announced.  What a great day!  Not just for the winners, but for any fan of the SciFi Romance genre.  So many great books, not nearly enough time!

I am a judge for these awards, so today’s post will be my winners.  Click on the book cover if you want to purchase at Amazon.  Click on ‘My Review’ to get more details on what I thought about the book.

At the end of this post, I will include links to all the winners and I hope you will check everyone of them out!

Best Original Story
Dustwalker by Tiffany Roberts

When I was half way through Dustwalker, I knew it was going to be one of my 2017 favorites. This post-apocalyptic epic scores big with me in all my scoring categories: Complex characters, intricate plot, intense emotional situations, humanity being tested, slow-burning romance, interesting secondary characters and a really good villain. The story of human Lara and synth Ronin has all of this and more, including an epilogue that will make you cry.  My Review

Best High-Tech Love Making
Wanted and Wired by Viven Jackson

Technology, whether it is computers or programming or hackers or robots, is hard to make interesting to this reader. Vivien Jackson makes tech fascinating. She has a knack for stringing a bunch of words together to form a very readable sentence. Any subject is new and exciting in her hands. Even sex. I admit, I am the reader that just scans the sex passages in order to get to the good stuff. But Heron Farad, high-tech genius, puts a whole new spin on making love and I read every word when he and Mari got together. Mix the sizzling sex with a high voltage plot and you have one of my favorites of the year. Wanted and Wired was quickly followed by book 2 in the series, Perfect Gravity, which is also a feast of words!  My Review

Beyond Book 3 Award
Found Girl (Project Enterprise, #6) by Pauling Baird Jones

There are many series that I stop reading after 2 or 3 books because the plot becomes predicable or the book is formulaic. Not so with the Project Enterprise series. Each book in this series has been so very unique. Connecting characters and technology are what hold the series together, but each book stands on it’s own. Found Girl introduces some new aliens that are so not humanoid. Not even close. There is also a heroine, Arian, that gets more mysterious with each new thing you learn about her. Jones’ creativity astounds me and never ceases to entertain!  My Review

Favorite Cat Hero
Cypher (The Dragon’s Bidding, #2) by Christina Westcott

Cypher was actually published in 2016, but I did not get around to reading it until 2017. I love The Dragon’s Bidding series, and Jumper is the main reason why. Don’t get me wrong, Cypher has galactic politics, an evil villain, a kick-ass heroine, a split-personality hero that really mixes things up, and heart-breaking emotions. All great things in a novel. But Jumper, the talking cat, is one of my favorite cats of all time. With his spot-on ability to state the obvious, a line like “Oh shit, we are so screwed.” lets you know that things are not going as well as they could.  My Review

Don’t Judge a Book By It’s Cover Award
Race to Redemption (Green Rising, #1) by Shari Elder

We all do it. Get sucked in by a pretty book cover. Or put off by a cover because of preconceptions. Based on the cover of Race to Redemption (a lingerie-clad woman and a shirtless man), I would never have guessed the depth of the story that would be found within the pages. In addition to a slow-burning romance, you will find class conflict, a desert planet, flawed characters, sick kids and lots of high-flying action in this book. Shari Elder is a skilled, imaginative writer who wrote a thrilling book with a lot of twists and much less lingerie than you would think.  My Review

Links to the 6th Annual SFR Galaxy Awards

Intro and Tribute

Round 1 – Chris Stock

Round 2 – Heather Massey

Round 3 – Marlene Harris

Round 4 – Riley Moreland

Round 5 – Jo Jones

Round 6 – Eileen Koven

Round 7 – Anna McLain

 

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