Across the Stars (Cyborg Genesis #1) by Lauren Smith and Noah Chinn – Review

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5 stars, aliens, Book Review, cyborgs, galactic government, Lauren Smith, Noah Chinn, scifi romance, series

About Across the Stars by Lauren Smith and Noah Chinn

“We wait, we hide, and watch Earth burn across the stars…”
– From the lost pages of the ARK Diary

She’s one of the last free humans. On the run… And running out of time.

Laina Roberts has been on the run for ten years, a freeborn human hiding from the cyborgs of the Silver Legion who now controls what’s left of humanity. Moving secretly from planet to planet and space station to space station makes for a damn lonely life—and don’t even get her started on how long it’s been since she last had sex. Sometimes she thinks it might be worth turning herself in to the cyborgs just to end the loneliness. That is, until she’s caught!

Captured by a hot-as-hell Legion officer, the cyborg Ronan makes her think being probed by him might not be so bad. But becoming a cyborg’s slave—sex or otherwise—isn’t high on her to-do list. She doesn’t trust him and doesn’t understand his constant questions about Earth—especially those about her long-dead relatives. Ronan can just kiss her ass—oh yes, please—because she is not going to let her desires or his incredibly perfect body weaken her resolve. She now has a new mission, to convince the cyborgs and the rest of the galaxy that all Terrans, humans and synthetic humans like cyborgs, have the right to be free.

If only he didn’t make her feel like melting into his arms and never leaving. Being captured by a cyborg might not be so bad after all…

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Review of Across the Stars

Loved it! Across the Stars is a great scifi story that takes place in a future where Earth has been practically destroyed and the majority survivors are cyborgs. Oh, there are humans out there, but the political environment that existed when the Earth survivors joined the rest of the galaxy made humans personae non gratae and, in effect, the slaves of the cyborgs. They are hunted all over the galaxy.

In fact, Terrans in general (which are mostly comprised of cyborgs and synths) are second class species, not considered sapient because they are not able to naturally procreate. However, they are admired for the mercenary and/or peacekeeping services they provide to many of the other races. This galaxy, in which Earthlings are no big deal, is going to be a fun place to set this series.

As the creators of the cyborgs, humans are critical to the survival of all Terrans, even if not everyone realizes that. There is going to be a bit of a public relations issue when they discover that Laina is the most critical part of the survival puzzle. When the cyborgs figure this out, Laina goes from being a prisoner/slave to precious cargo. And the Cyborgs are not the only ones that want her.  Just to make things more interesting…

Despite being constantly hunted Laina, does give the cyborgs the benefit of the doubt. However, some cyborgs hold grudges, even though the events that caused the destruction of their beloved Earth (that they blame on humans) happened centuries ago. I think all humans should hate cyborgs just as much, but that would make Laina less of a heroine.

The romance between Laina and Ronan is a little bit of instant attraction and a little getting to know each other’s differences.  The romance intertwines nicely with the rest of the story and just as much as I want to see Laina get justice, I also want to see Laina and Ronan get together.

This is a nice move into SciFi for Ms. Smith. Along with Mr. Chinn, the authors have created strong scifi concepts and an interesting vision of the future. My only complaint was that the space battle scene was sketchy. There was an awkward segue from just after the beginning of the battle to the end when the good guys won. If this series is to continue, the authors may need to work on their space battle scenes, as there could very well be more in the future of this series.

I would not normally look too closely at a book with naked man chest. But Lauren Smith’s name was also on the cover, and she can tell a story. Her books (the ones I’ve read) are mostly romance with a strong secondary non-romance plot to support the romance. I usually like it the other way around. But I admire Ms. Smith’s ability to grab my attention. And this is SciFi. So I had to read it. Good idea!

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Nightchaser (Endeavor, #1) by Amanda Bouchet – Review

Tags

5 stars, Amanda Bouchet, Book Review, scifi, scifi romance, series, space opera

About Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet

Tess Bailey: the galaxy’s Most Wanted.

Captain Tess Bailey is in deep trouble. She and her crew are on the run, pursued by a tyrant who’ll take them dead or alive. Tess’s best hope is a tall, dark, and much-too-appealing stranger, Shade Ganavan, who says he can help her. But his motivations are far from clear…

Shade Ganavan: arrogance, charm…and that special something that makes you want to kick him.

With the dreaded Dark Watch closing in, what Tess and Shade don’t know about each other might get them killed…unless they can set aside their differences and learn to trust each other before it’s too late.

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Review of Nightchaser

Tess Bailey is my favorite part of this book. She is intelligent, brave, foolhardy and with a large dose of vulnerability. This vulnerability comes not only from being a wanted criminal, but also from her own emotional desires. This combination makes her character one of the most compelling I have encountered in a while.

Tess also has a past that, in a twist, comes out early in the book. It is a revelation to the reader and to her crew on Endeavor. The shocking announcement comes out in the heat of battle right before Tess thinks she and her crew are about to die.

But they don’t die. Hmm. Thinks could get uncomfortable now. Her crew members each have their own past to deal with, so they don’t seem to mind. But the crew are not the only ones that heard it. I have a feeling that Tess is going to be jumping from one frying pan to another. Not just in Nightchaser, but in any books that follow.

“Shade Ganavan had oodles of arrogance, oodles of charm, and oodles of something that made me want to kick him…” Tess Bailey in Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet.

In the book, Tess is actually quite specific about where she wants to kick Shade.

It’s hard for me to say much about Shade without possibly giving up a spoiler. Except that part about kicking occurred to me often and with increasing desire as the book progressed. But he is a charmer, and Tess likes him a lot. So with a bit of a spoiler about to come out – Shade did redeem himself in my eyes and ultimately my thirst for violence directed toward that charming man was abated.

And redirected. In a climactic scene, Tess’s past comes back to totally mess with her life/escape. In a very bad way. I was heartbroken in a scene where two of Tess’s crew pay heavily for their friendship with Tess.

Nightchaser is a welcome addition to the Scifi Romance genre. Colorful, charming and warm characters mix colorful, cold and evil characters. There is also a great complex plot with so much potential that it is sure to get even better with each installment in the Endeavor saga. And romance. Yes, it is a bit shaky at first, but I am planning on it to get even better as the series continues.

So let me say to Amanda Bouchet, “Welcome to Scifi Romance!” Ms. Bouchet’s Kingmaker Chronicles are very popular fantasy romance books, so I am pleased to see her put her talent to SciFi. I am decidedly happy I found Nightchaser on NetGalley, and will be anxiously waiting for the next book in the Endeavor series.

Through Netgalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Prime Target (Prime Chronicles, #4) by Monette Michaels – Review

Tags

4 stars, Book Review, Monette Michaels, scifi romance, series, space opera

About Prime Target by Monette Michaels

Former Prime sex surrogate Susa Anghard has never been off her planet, let alone out of the Cejuru solar system. While she isn’t naive about men and what they want, she isn’t prepared for the predatory males who now have her in their sights. When she’s kidnapped on her way to a galactic rim jump station to visit her cousin Borac, she has no expectations of being rescued.

She vows to free herself or die trying.

When Borac Anghard asks Damon Martin to intercept his cousin Susa’s transport and escort her to their jump station, Damon agrees. When he arrives to meet Susa’s ship, he finds she’s been kidnapped by Dorian mercenaries. He goes in hot pursuit and prays he finds her before she’s delivered to the person who paid for the kidnapping.

He has vowed to save her.

When Damon catches up with the kidnappers, he hadn’t expected to find the resourceful Susa in the act of getting away. And he really hadn’t expected to be so attracted to her. An attraction that could go nowhere—she was his business partner’s cousin and Damon still wasn’t over losing the only woman he’d ever loved.

Take one alpha-male with a slightly broken heart, add in one Prime female finding her courage and self for the first time—throw them together in close quarters in a trip across the galaxy and love will find a way.

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Review of Prime Target

Prime Target continues the story of the Prime people who are losing the struggle with negative population growth. They are dying out as a people unless they can find a way to get past the doctrine that has been ingrained into them all their lives.

Prime should only mate with prime. Mating marks identify optimal mates, but with so few females in the population, the men are having a hard time finding their mates. Some women that did not mark, became sex surrogates to men who had not found their mates.

When the Prime joined the Galactic Alliance, the door was open to the possibility of finding other females that were compatible with Prime males. Some proved to be the Lost Ones, Prime females that had been send away for their safety during the war with the Antareans. Some proved to be humans.

Too many men, not enough women is a pretty common theme in this genre. So, while there are no points for originality, Ms. Michaels does take an old story and give her own spin, adding interesting characters, adventure, heat and romance.

Susa Anghard is a former sex surrogate who is excited and nervous about leaving her world to visit her cousin and his family. It is both a family visit and the adventure of a lifetime to someone who has never left her homeworld. Because travel for young women, especially an unmarked Prime female, is exceedingly dangerous, Susa’s cousin Borac sends Damon Martin to intercept Susa and escort her to the jump station that Damon and Borac own and run. When Damon and Susa meet, there is some instant chemistry, but acting on it doesn’t happen for a while. In fact, when they realize the strong attraction, they verbally discuss a week with no sex (mentally, neither wants to wait).

In the meantime, Susa is being hunted by an egomaniac who will stop at nothing to kidnap her and take her to his home world. He really is an icky little man and you will want him to get what is coming to him early in the book. And often thereafter. Damon will do anything to protect her, though Susa has a few tricks up her sleeve to. Like a ragbag. I know, doesn’t sound like much of a defense, but trust me. It is. 🙂

There is a great dynamic between Damon and Susa. Like I said, he wants to protect her. She doesn’t like being ordered around. They get along just fine. Well, maybe it’s a little bumpy, but with all that attraction, you know they are going to come to an agreement.

Having read books 1 and 2 a couple years ago, I must say that I remember more adventure and less sex. Prime Target has many sensual passages, even while Susa and Damon are abstaining from sex. Plus they are on a pleasure cruise where the main pleasure is sex. Prime Target is: Scifi adventure – yes, romance – yes, erotica – pretty close.

Prime Target is #4 in the Prime Chronicles series. Each book can be read as a standalone. Since I have now read all the books, it is kind of nice to have the backgrounds of expanding cast of supporting characters.

I’m going to leave you with a few thought that may or may affect your curiosity about Prime Target:

• Borac and Damon, two men that seem to have so much respect for women, need to do something about the lawlessness of their jump station. Boys, you are the law on that station. Do something about it!
• Ragbags make excellent bodyguards.
• Who names themselves ‘Prime’ and doesn’t expect other people offer up a little scorn?

The author provided a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.

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