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postvelcro's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
cranberrytarts's review
4.0
i enjoyed both main characters and the world building. i was honestly a little sad to see it end. i hope Archer has plans to continue the series.
lobo1tomia's review
4.0
I have not read anything from Zoe Archer yet, but her name intrigued me for a while as I heard great things about her writing. Also I was new to the sci-fi love story genre. I didn’t know what I can expect but I was pleasantly surprised.
Mara Skiren is a loner, a scavenger living the life of an outcast but she feels content. Until she is blackmailed into an operation by the 8th Wing who are fighting against the PRAXIS Group that exploit and abandon planets just for the profit. An elite pilot and her ship is lost and the military needs to find it before the Top Secret weapon falls in to the hands of the enemy. With Mara’s knowledge of the smugglers and outlaw territories the 8th Wing feels they have a good chance of getting back what belongs to them. To make sure the mission is a success the scavenger gets a partner in the form of a Black Wraith pilot, Commander Kell Frayne. They have to work together, dodge the PRAXIS Group and the different outlaws smugglers, mercenaries to get the pilot and her ship to safety. But there is also the attraction between them from the moment they meet to get over it before they can work as a team.
Both Mara and Kell have relationship issues and seems from the beginning that they can never work as an item as one of them is a true warrior fighting for a good cause while the other is just trying to stay alive and do what she does best: being a scavenger and an ace pilot. They are both believable especially as we learn about their past and what made them what they are today. They are consenting adults and let their desire for each other take over when time allows it and there are quite a few hot scenes.
I really liked the setting for this novel and the fact that the romance did not overshadowed the adventure, the setting and the space battles. It was like Star Wars with a heart.
Plus I got a kick out of finding words that seemed to be inspired by the Hungarian Language.
Overall I really liked the story and style and it was a great introduction for me to both the space opera genre and to Ms. Archer’s writing.
Mara Skiren is a loner, a scavenger living the life of an outcast but she feels content. Until she is blackmailed into an operation by the 8th Wing who are fighting against the PRAXIS Group that exploit and abandon planets just for the profit. An elite pilot and her ship is lost and the military needs to find it before the Top Secret weapon falls in to the hands of the enemy. With Mara’s knowledge of the smugglers and outlaw territories the 8th Wing feels they have a good chance of getting back what belongs to them. To make sure the mission is a success the scavenger gets a partner in the form of a Black Wraith pilot, Commander Kell Frayne. They have to work together, dodge the PRAXIS Group and the different outlaws smugglers, mercenaries to get the pilot and her ship to safety. But there is also the attraction between them from the moment they meet to get over it before they can work as a team.
Both Mara and Kell have relationship issues and seems from the beginning that they can never work as an item as one of them is a true warrior fighting for a good cause while the other is just trying to stay alive and do what she does best: being a scavenger and an ace pilot. They are both believable especially as we learn about their past and what made them what they are today. They are consenting adults and let their desire for each other take over when time allows it and there are quite a few hot scenes.
I really liked the setting for this novel and the fact that the romance did not overshadowed the adventure, the setting and the space battles. It was like Star Wars with a heart.
Plus I got a kick out of finding words that seemed to be inspired by the Hungarian Language.
Overall I really liked the story and style and it was a great introduction for me to both the space opera genre and to Ms. Archer’s writing.
prgchrqltma's review
4.0
I read the second one first, but I enjoyed this one just as much. I'd love to see Archer continue this world.
sandywilliams03's review
4.0
I bought this book on a whim last week. I wanted to read something with a strong romance, and this is certainly that. I'd say it breaks down to about 90% romance and 10% kickbutt sci-fi plot. I liked the SF plot. Mara, a smuggler, is forced to help Kell, an 8th Wing pilot, find another pilot and her ship after they go missing in a dangerous area of the galaxy that only smugglers have experience going through. I wanted more of this plot, which isn't surprising since I usually like my breakdown of romance and plot to be about 50/50. Even though I was wanting to read a romance, I got a little tired of that part of the book towards the end.
As for the romance, it was insta-love. If you don't mind that and need to read a good, quick romance, this is the book for you. I enjoyed it, and am interested in reading Zoe Archer's BLADE OF THE ROSE SERIES.
Oh, and this was my first Carina Press purchase. I don't buy many e-pub'd books because they usually have too much romance for me (see my above 50/50 preference), but if I'm ever in the mood for a strong romance again, I'd definitely look for something at Carina Press.
(Also, I read most of this on my iPhone. I finally broke down and bought the Kindle app. Surprisingly, it didn't bother me reading it on such a tiny screen.)
:-)
Sandy
As for the romance, it was insta-love. If you don't mind that and need to read a good, quick romance, this is the book for you. I enjoyed it, and am interested in reading Zoe Archer's BLADE OF THE ROSE SERIES.
Oh, and this was my first Carina Press purchase. I don't buy many e-pub'd books because they usually have too much romance for me (see my above 50/50 preference), but if I'm ever in the mood for a strong romance again, I'd definitely look for something at Carina Press.
(Also, I read most of this on my iPhone. I finally broke down and bought the Kindle app. Surprisingly, it didn't bother me reading it on such a tiny screen.)
:-)
Sandy
cleocleveland's review
4.0
This was a fun sci-fi romance novella. It's really more 3.5 stars since it's hard to develop too much of the world or characters in this short a story. However, Zoe Archer does a pretty good job with the time she has to set up the world and get us Mara and Kell's backstory. It never feels like an infodump and I did come to care for both characters. I'm hoping that Zoe Archer has a full novel size book planned for this world as I would definitely read it.
prationality's review
4.0
Futuristic/Scifi romance is a hard sell for me because often the author will either make it way too complicated and forget to focus on the romance angle, or focus too much on the romance and make the future sound just like the present just with funky names. Archer, who's historical novels I already adore, made me a happy girl with COLLISION COURSE.
First, and this is a purely superficial thing I love the name Mara and the fact she has white hair. I would have read this book for no other reason. Mara is a tough answers to no one smuggler/scavenger who is not afraid to speak her mind. She hates that the 8th Wing (a military group) pretty much forced her hand in helping them and is plenty vocal on it. I don't blame her, I'd be pretty pissed off too. It was underhanded, sneaky and questionably moral. Mara does however have a sense of right and wrong, her life is just full of profit and coerced pro-bono missions for the 8th are not profitable at all.
Sparks flew between Mara and Kell from the very first time their eyes set on each other. Those sparks didn't diminish once she found out he'd be riding shotgun on her mission and smoldered as the two of them tried (in vain mostly) to avoid their attraction to each other. They were both fiercely independent people, learning the hard way that to get any measure of peace of freedom you had to work hard for it. As their backstories are developed the vast differences in their childhoods matter less then the fact they survived them and overcame the difficulties therein.
Archer's future time is as detailed as time and opportunity allows. We get a vague sense of the battle between 8th Wing and PRAXIS (they're rivals militarily and politically), as well as some of the practical day to day in the universe for most people. Through context we get an idea of who's what and who's known for what. By necessity we learn more about the shadier side of universe, but all things being equal Archer was careful to associate Mara only with the 'cleaner' outlaws. Mara knew the other type, but didn't spend time with them. She was also careful to emphasize that Mara didn't trade in slaves or maliciously attack others to get her goods.
This was good in that later on when Mara is wrestling with her choices, her decision is a fairly logical step for her to take given her circumstances, but it then made me wonder how she survived and became such a great smuggler when being such a girl scout.
Some of the plot points made it simple for Archer to follow up with another story at some point. Follow up on some dangling plot threads and characters. Then again I got the happy ending I was looking for, with enough heat to scorch the earth. Once Kell and Mara give in, they give in. There's no halfway for these two. Before their thoughts were consumed by 'What if...' after they're thoughts are consumed with 'How fast and where at?'.
First, and this is a purely superficial thing I love the name Mara and the fact she has white hair. I would have read this book for no other reason. Mara is a tough answers to no one smuggler/scavenger who is not afraid to speak her mind. She hates that the 8th Wing (a military group) pretty much forced her hand in helping them and is plenty vocal on it. I don't blame her, I'd be pretty pissed off too. It was underhanded, sneaky and questionably moral. Mara does however have a sense of right and wrong, her life is just full of profit and coerced pro-bono missions for the 8th are not profitable at all.
Sparks flew between Mara and Kell from the very first time their eyes set on each other. Those sparks didn't diminish once she found out he'd be riding shotgun on her mission and smoldered as the two of them tried (in vain mostly) to avoid their attraction to each other. They were both fiercely independent people, learning the hard way that to get any measure of peace of freedom you had to work hard for it. As their backstories are developed the vast differences in their childhoods matter less then the fact they survived them and overcame the difficulties therein.
Archer's future time is as detailed as time and opportunity allows. We get a vague sense of the battle between 8th Wing and PRAXIS (they're rivals militarily and politically), as well as some of the practical day to day in the universe for most people. Through context we get an idea of who's what and who's known for what. By necessity we learn more about the shadier side of universe, but all things being equal Archer was careful to associate Mara only with the 'cleaner' outlaws. Mara knew the other type, but didn't spend time with them. She was also careful to emphasize that Mara didn't trade in slaves or maliciously attack others to get her goods.
This was good in that later on when Mara is wrestling with her choices, her decision is a fairly logical step for her to take given her circumstances, but it then made me wonder how she survived and became such a great smuggler when being such a girl scout.
Some of the plot points made it simple for Archer to follow up with another story at some point. Follow up on some dangling plot threads and characters. Then again I got the happy ending I was looking for, with enough heat to scorch the earth. Once Kell and Mara give in, they give in. There's no halfway for these two. Before their thoughts were consumed by 'What if...' after they're thoughts are consumed with 'How fast and where at?'.
elizabeth_reads_'s review
4.0
3.5 stars
A sexy space romp, this novel was action-packed and fun to read. However, the fast pace means the romance builds at an unbelievable speed. I'd still read other books in this series, though. Recommended for fans of Jessie Mihalik's The Consortium Rebellion trilogy.
A sexy space romp, this novel was action-packed and fun to read. However, the fast pace means the romance builds at an unbelievable speed. I'd still read other books in this series, though. Recommended for fans of Jessie Mihalik's The Consortium Rebellion trilogy.
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