Review of Zoë Archer’s Chain Reaction

Title: Chain Reaction (8^th Wing #2)

Author: Zoë Archer

Publisher: Carina Press

Format: eBook

Source: NetGalley

Publication Date: January 9, 2012

Rating: 4 out of 5

I admit it. I’m a sucker for nerdy heroes. Just look at my husband! Pretty darn nerdy! So when I saw that Zoë Archer’s latest book, Chain Reaction, featured a hero who forms part of “NerdWorks,” I knew this was going to be a winner. At approximately 43,000 words Chain Reaction is fairly short, but there is a lot to love in this book. I’ve read all of Ms. Archer’s paranormal historical novels in the Blades of the Rose series, and highly recommend them, but the 8^th Wing series is firmly in the Sci-Fi camp, a departure from her earlier books.

In Chain Reaction, Lieutenant Celene “Stainless” Jur is the 8^th Wing’s ace pilot. She flies the stealthy Black Wraith ships, and only a few months ago was captured and nearly sold when an enemy used a disrupter to immobilize her ship. The creator of the disrupter has finally been discovered, and Celene wants to be the one bringing him in.

Engineer Nils Calder is proud of his role in the 8^th Wing’s “NerdWorks” (think GeekSquad in space), and he’s managed to find a way to locate the disrupter and lead them to its creator, a disgruntled former NerdWorks engineer. But Nils has had little field experience, and Celene doesn’t want anyone getting in her way on this mission. Unfortunately, her commanding officer insists that Nils is the best man for the job.

Nils has long had a crush on the stunning pilot, and when they’re forced to work on the recovery mission together, he decides to seize his chance and woo Celene, setting off sparks. In the past Celene has felt isolated as a woman among all the other pilots. Her reputation as a pilot is such that others speak of her with awe, and men are inevitably disappointed when they discover the real woman behind the legend. Nils seems to see past that to the real Celene, but can a hotshot pilot and a NerdWorks engineer find common ground when the mission ends?

This was a fast, action-packed read filled with steamy romance. I really enjoyed reading about a beta hero who trusts in his abilities and those of his female companion rather than trying to take over the entire mission. I was surprised that Nils and Celene didn’t set off any supernovas in space, their chemistry was so sizzling. It also helps that the “nerdy” Nils has a tone,d athletic bod and plenty of self-confidence.

Celene is an appealing character as well. It’s always fun to read about competent female characters who really don’t NEED someone to hold their hands but are looking for companionship. Celene is a believable mix of strength and vulnerability, and frankly I enjoyed her kick-ass status among the other pilots. My one criticism would be the choice of her nickname, “Stainless.” That had me cringing throughout the entire book. It just struck me as very awkward.

Chain Reaction is the second book in the 8^th Wing series, and the hero and heroine from the first book, Collision Course, appear in the second book, but you can easily read Chain Reaction as a stand alone novel. That said, Collision Course is currently on sale for only $1.99 at Amazon, so catching up on the series won’t break the bank.

I do wish Chain Reaction were a bit longer, because I would have liked to see more of Nils and Celene together and learn more about their enemy, the Praxis. However, given the  length, I felt the romance was well developed. I definitely recommend this one if you’re interested in space opera or sci-fi romance.

Review of Ilona Andrew's Silver Shark

Title: Silver Shark (Kinsmen #2)

Author: Ilona Andrews

Publisher: NYLA       

Formats: E-novella

Source: Won from Author

Publication Date: September 14, 2011

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The writing duo that is Ilona Andrews could publish their grocery list, and I’d probably buy it. Of course, the reason I feel that way is because everything they write is stellar, and their newest release, the novella Silver Shark, is no exception. Back when I first started reading their Kate Daniels series, I went online and purchased all of their books, including the novella Silent Blade, which is the first in the Kinsmen series. I loved it, but it’s set outside the Kate Daniels world, so I figured this was a one-off and that was it. I was thrilled to learn that they were writing a sequel novella, and when they sponsored a giveaway on their blog, I and about 500 of their closest friends (heh heh) signed up. When the deadline passed and I hadn’t heard from them, I went ahead and paid the $2.99 for the novella at Amazon and devoured it, only to check my email and learn I’d won a copy. Oops. I don’t feel too bad about the 3 dollars, though, as it’s a great novella, and I can’t recommend it enough!

The world of the Kinsmen is very much sci-fi, which is not my favorite genre, but I really enjoy both the storytelling and the romance of this novella. Claire Shannon is a psycher, someone who can use telepathy to attack others’ minds. She lives on a grim mining planet fought over by two mining conglomerates. When the conglomerate she fights for is defeated, she pretends to be a civilian and is deported to Rada, a merchant planet that is run by kinsmen, which are mafia-type family organizations with psychic abilities. Claire’s hired to work as an administrative assistant for Guardian, Inc., a bionet (think psychic internet) security firm run by the Escana family. She becomes the personal assistant to Venturo Escana, owner, CEO, and a very powerful psycher. The two are clearly attracted to one another, but Claire’s psycher abilities must remain secret, or she’ll be returned to her home planet, which means certain death. When she’s approached by fellow refugees for help, she has to infiltrate the bionet, placing her new future in danger.

This novella is outstanding, thanks in large part to the world building. Clare’s home planet of Uley is industrial and bleak, and her new home on Rada is overpowering in color and exuberance. She notices the people of the province of New Delphi constantly smiling, and the women are dressed in brilliant colors, which is completely foreign to her. In fact, a fellow refugee informs her that her new red hair color is too bright, in an attempt to warn Claire that she’ll attract attention, something she would need to avoid on their home planet.  The contrast with her stark experience on Uley is striking, and watching Claire try new foods and manners of dress will draw you in.

Claire’s ability to undergo overwhelming change and remain strong is highly appealing. She manages to hide her psycher powers against overwhelming odds, but when she’s asked by her fellow refugees to risk everything to save their children, she never hesitates to act on their behalf. Her loyalty to them and to Ven, whom she desires but believes she cannot have, is touching. Because of her past, she has no idea how to communicate her feelings for Ven and fears that doing so will jeopardize her new life. She’s an engaging character, because she’s both vulnerable and strong, and you really want everything to work out for her.

My only complaint is that the novella ends without our seeing the final showdown on the bionet. I would have loved to have seen the last battle, but the letter at the end from Ven’s aunt to his mother is a clever way to end the story and made me laugh.

If you’re looking for a short but satisfying read, you really can’t go wrong with this novella. I definitely recommend this one!

Review of Jamie Craig’s A Line in the Ice

After a great experience with Lois McMaster Bujold’s Cordelia’s Honor, I decided to broaden my horizons and give some sci-fi romance a chance. I’ve always loved Star Trek and Star Wars, and I usually limit my sci-fi enjoyment to the small screen, but when I saw Jamie Craig’s A Line in the Ice, I thought I’d check it out. I’m so glad I did, because it was action-packed and a sweet romance. Jamie Craig is actually writing team Vivien Dean and Pepper Espinoza, and, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I always have the utmost respect for authors who can write together without killing each other, since I can’t imagine that happening in my household without numerous calls to Emergency Services. However, the two ladies who write as Jamie Craig do so seamlessly, and the end result is a pleasure to read. If you look on their webpage you’ll see that they’ve published a number of erotic romances of many types, but A Line in the Ice is more mainstream. You can find this novel for purchase at Amazon and at the Carina Press webpage .

The novel takes place roughly 100 years after the end of the First World War in Antarctica, with a small band of soldiers from around the world battling mysterious creatures emerging from the ice. These strange animals first appeared during WWI around the world, killing soldiers and civilians and causing widespread panic. A small band of soldiers fought off the creatures at the time, but then was never heard from again. Captain Charlie Weller is part of the present day squad fighting the re-appearance of the creatures in Antarctica, and as the novel begins, she and her partner are fighting off one of the animals, only to see a man emerge from the ice. His name is Lysander Davies, and he tells Charlie and her companions that he’s a descendent of a member of that original band of men from WWI. He claims that the “monsters” they’ve been fighting are actually gentle creatures from a place called Illyria, another world under attack by a vicious group called the Aquorians. Lysander has made the dangerous journey through the rift between his world of Illyria and Charlie’s Earth to warn the humans that the Aquorians are on their way. But the more time he and Charlie spend together, the stronger their attraction, which makes the situation all the more difficult, since Lysander will have to return to Illyria in order to close the rift and save Earth.

What first attracted me to this novel was the author’s use of World War I as the time when the Leviathan (the large animals) began to come through the rift. Since the US had less involvement in WWI than many of our allies, it often receives little attention in history courses and as a result many Americans know little or nothing about the war. Choosing to have these creatures emerge at that time was intriguing to me, and the book didn’t disappoint. Lysander’s Great-Grandfather and the other men from WWI who drove off the Leviathan at the time became trapped in another world, Illyria. Lysander has only heard stories of Earth, including parts of Shakespearean plays that his Great-Grandfather had written down from memory. Unfortunately, Lysander has returned to Earth at Antarctica, one of the starkest spots on Earth, and it’s amusing to see his questions for Charlie about the other parts of the world, along with his introduction to technology his great-grandfather could never have imagined possible.

The setting of the book, Antarctica, was particularly effective, reminding me of sci-fi movies such as Aliens, since the space in which the characters move and interact is so confined and the terrain so unforgiving. The harsh cold and limited access to the outside world creates the feel of being cut off from everyone, which increases the tension between the soldiers and facilitates the growing romance between Charlie and Lysander. At times you forget that they aren’t alone, as they soon only have eyes for each other. There are only six soldiers in this forgotten defense against a growing threat, and Lysander’s frustration over Earth’s growing complaisance concerning the rift and the Aquorian threat is palpable.

My only complaint about the novel would be that we see very little of the Aquorians themselves, only learning of them through Lysander until the action-packed end of the novel. We learn about the threat that they present through his accounts of Illyria and what the other humans learned from their experience there, but I didn’t fully understand their motives in attacking Earth. This seems like a very minor complaint, however, since this was precisely the situation the soldiers in Antarctica faced.

I enjoyed the romance between Charlie and Lysander and thought this was an intriguing world. I’d love to see more about Illyria in the future, especially since it was quite the contrast to the stark setting of the majority of the book. When I asked the authors on Twitter if they had any plans for sequels, they replied that there isn’t anything in the works but not to rule it out either, so for now, I’ll have to settle for reading books from their backlist. I definitely recommend this one if you’re a Sci-fi fan.

I received a copy of this novel for review from the Publisher through NetGalley.

May Roundup of Books

Yesterday was so much fun that the rest of this week can’t possibly compete. First, two of my favorite authors, Ilona Andrews and Nalini Singh, released new books yesterday and they were both fantastic. It’s so rare to have your expectations met and exceeded, isn’t it? Both Magic Slays and Kiss of Snow were great books, and I highly recommend them. I also joined the 21^st century yesterday with the arrival of my new smart phone. I was pleasantly surprised by how tech savvy I am, considering my last phone was just a phone. We’ll have to see how pleased I am once I receive my first bill.

After basking in the glow of downloading the Kindle app to my phone and re-reading sections of the two aforementioned books, I was surfing the blogosphere and found one of my favorite bloggers had done a short post of some of her favorite reads from this month. Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I thought I’d do the same! She highlighted books that were new releases this month, but I’m going to list favorite books I read this month that were new to me. Some of these books were released as long ago as (gasp!) 1986. These are not all the books I read in May, but they’re some of my favorites.

Lois McMaster Bujold Cordelia’s Honor

This is an omnibus of two novels, Shards of Honor (1986) and Barrayar, published together in 1999. Even if you’re not familiar with Bujold’s Vorkosigan series or even a sci-fi fan, these two novels are outstanding. The hero and heroine are older than your typical lovers in a romance – she’s in her 30s and he’s 40 – and the development of their romance is a pleasure to read, particularly since they begin as adversaries, if not quite the out and out enemies their societies would like them to be. Cordelia’s Honor is considered more sci-fi than romance, but it has enough elements of both to satisfy any reader of either genre.

Stacey Jay Dead on the Delta

I really enjoy novels that take place in the South, and this one doesn’t disappoint. The action takes place in Louisiana after fairies have mutated because of a chemical spill, and Annabelle Lee is one of the few humans immune to the deadly fairy bites. Because of her immunity, Annabelle is forced to work with an antagonistic ex-lover to help find a possible serial killer. She isn’t a very sympathetic character at the beginning, but by the end you’re rooting for her. This novel reminded me of Diana Rowland’s Blood of the Demon in its setting and use of forensic science and the arcane, which is always a good thing.

Karen Hawkins Scandal in Scotland

Karen Hawkins’ novels are always a lot of fun, and the only thing disappointing about Scandal in Scotland is that it ends too quickly. This is the second book in her Hurst Amulet series, and if you’ve read any of her other novels, some old favorites make appearances to help Marcail Beauchamp and William Hurst get together. Captain William Hurst needs to sail to Egypt with the infamous Hurst Amulet to free his brother Michael, who’s being held for ransom for the object. Unfortunately, his ex-lover Marcail is being blackmailed and her blackmailer demands that she steal the Amulet from William. There’s an exciting race towards Scotland after the amulet is stolen from Marcail, and the two are forced to work together to recover it and free Marcail of her blackmailer. It’s a great read for summer, but I would have liked it to be a bit longer, and I’m still not sure exactly what the amulet is for, although we do get a hint at its purpose towards the end of the novel.

Courtney Milan Unlocked (novella)

I learned about this novella from several romance blogs, and I’m so glad I did! It’s only 99₵ at Amazon and was worth much more. Courtney Milan self-published the novella, and it is so clear that she is an experience, published author, because the quality of the story is infinitely better than the other self-published work I’ve read. In this novella, Evan Carlton, Earl of Westfield, is returning to London after nearly 10 years away. Before he left, he’d singled out Lady Elaine Warren and made her an object of ridicule and misery at the hands of the ton. He hopes for her forgiveness and to rectify past wrongs, but when you read the story, you’ll realize just how difficult that task will be. He made her absolutely miserable, and she’s suffered ever since. This is a sweet love story, and it has encouraged me to try other Courtney Milan books.

Carrie Vaughn Kitty and the Silver Bullet

This is the fourth novel in Carrie Vaughn’s series about werewolf talk radio host Kitty Norville, and so far it’s my favorite. I did an earlier blog post about the public library’s odd collection of this series: they have books one through three, then seven, so I had to purchase this book for my kindle, but it was well worth it. Kitty and her packmate Ben are forced to return to Denver and find themselves in a turf war between vampires and Kitty’s old pack leaders. The pacing of this book was just right; there was plenty of action and tension between the warring factions, plus some sexual tension between Kitty and Ben. I believe you could pick up the series at this point and still follow along, but I highly suggest you read all three prior novels as you’ll enjoy the characters more.

Jacqueline Winspear Maisie Dobbs

Maisie Dobbs is the first in Winspear’s series of mysteries set in post-WWI London. Maisie Dobbs is a young women working as a private investigator in London ten years after the First World War ends. She was at Cambridge when war broke out and left school to serve as a nurse, witnessing innumerable horrors and experiencing personal loss. The novel is fascinating in its depiction of class differences and the opportunities available to women at the time. I highly recommend it but feel I should warn you that because of the setting and the mystery dealing with injured WWI veterans, it’ll leave you feeling wrung out. I suggest you read it on a sunny day, because it’s fairly grim in places, even though any violence is implicit and there’s no sex or inappropriate language.

Ilona Andrews Magic Slays

This is the long-awaited fifth installment of Andrews’ Kate Daniels series, set in Atlanta. As I mentioned earlier, I love books set in the South, and this is one of my favorites, because I’m an Atlanta native. It cracks me up to see how the different Atlanta neighborhoods have changed after the tech fails and magic makes its unpredictable return. I adore the characters of Kate Daniels and Curran, the Alpha of all the shapeshifters in Atlanta, and this novel picks up where the fourth, Magic Bleeds, ends, with the two mated and living in the Pack’s Keep. Seeing their relationship develop is a delight, and Kate’s snarky comments and dry wit make an appearance at just the right moments to help alleviate any tension. When Kate is hired to investigate a kidnapping, she learns that the man kidnapped was creating a deadly machine that is now in the hands of an anti-magic terrorist group. As Curran’s consort and alpha to the thousands of pack members, she has to find and disarm the weapon. In her race to do so, she learns some shocking and uncomfortable truths about her mother and step-father that lead her to question her relationship with Curran. This is an outstanding addition to the series, and I loved it. I think you could follow along without having read the previous novels, but it’s a lot more fun to read the others first.

Nalini Singh Kiss of Snow

Kiss of Snow is the tenth installment of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series, and readers have been waiting for this book for a long time. Singh has been building the tension between wolf alpha Hawke and Psy Sienna Lauren for a long time. I wasn’t sure how this novel would turn out, because Sienna is only 19 while Hawke is in his early thirties. I’ve never been a big fan of large age differences between characters, even in Regency romances when it would be historically accurate. But Singh definitely convinced me with this one! Sienna is one of the most powerful Psy (psychic) characters we’ve seen to date, and she’s very capable of calling Hawke on his behavior and making him pay attention to her without acting immature. There’s also a secondary romance between Lara, the pack healer, and Walker, Sienna’s Psy uncle, that’s really touching. The tension between the pack and the Pure Psy factions that are threatened by the Psy-Changeling alliances has grown steadily throughout the series, and it reaches a critical point in this novel. It will be interesting to see where Singh goes next with the series, because the situations between the Psy and the Changelings and even among the Psy themselves have become chaotic. This is one of my favorites of the series, and I’ll be re-reading it many times!