Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Bramble Books for providing me with an audio galley of this book to read and give my honest review. The oThank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Bramble Books for providing me with an audio galley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own. In this follow up to Calamity, we are reacquainted with Cyn Khaw: a bounty hunter who goes by many names disguising herself as a private investigator who has spent her life hunting her cousin's killer. When she gets a chance to hunt the killer down, she's paired with the crew of the Calamity. But she's given an ultimatum by one of the family's: save her family and herself by turning in Micah, the ship's medic, or lose everything. If you have not read the first book in this series, stop and go read it. Not only was it fabulous, but you will not understand many of the relationships in this book if you do not read that one first. This is definitely not a stand alone. This is the first book I have reviewed in the audio format. I will saw I was skeptical at first; worried the narrator would be computer generated and I would have a hard time getting into the story. I was pleasantly surprised to be hearing Paige Reisenfeld's voice. This is my first audio by this narrator and I thoroughly enjoyed her. Her tone was perfect and she helped me to love the female main character and all her quirks. Cynbaelline Khaw, aka Bella, aka Cyn goes by all the names trying to keep her true identity a secret. I remember her being introduced to us in the first book, though I didn't know it was her at the time. And once this was revealed, the story of her and Michah began to make much more sense. She's sassy and smart and is no stranger to being alone. She has spent her life in her own bubble, keeping her family at arms length and not allowing herself to be involved with anyone more than is necessary to her job. Cyn, to me, doesn't know her worth. And her character certainly develops around this in the book. She doesn't think she deserves to be loved or to have friends. She had to make some truly tough decisions in this book. And, while you initially believe she will only do what is good for herself, you find that's really not who she truly is. She has a big heart and that shines through as the book progresses. Michah Arora is a character I know well from the first book in this series. I loved his character. He's smart and has a great head on his shoulders. He cares a lot about his crew; they are his friends and his found family since his exile. He's super protective of those he loves. And he's got a sense of humor to him that shined for me in this book. He makes light of some more tense situations which helped to ease some of the more tense scenes in the book. I do wish I'd had more from him. Speaking of romance, it's in the book, but it was not the main thing that drove the book. What drives this book is the off planet wonder of a different world, the challenge of finding people in such a large area of space, and the fight that ensues to ensure people are safe. The universe of this series is so large, reminding me of Star Trek or even Star Wars and all the planets and places that are visited in those worlds. The shining point of this book is the action and adventure it brings. Did I like the romance, sure, but it was definitely a very slow burn. And if you are looking for closed door, this is not that. The intimacy scenes are definitely a bit descriptive. But I enjoy that in my romances! And the comedy aspect of this series is really what had me coming back and wanting to read this installment. Fay works it in so well to the story, just as she did with Calamity. Can I just say the ingenuity of creating a lizard that eats metal is genius! I absolutely adored that character and hope to see more of them in future books in this series. Now, the ending has me a little worried as I would love to see more of Cyn and Micah in future books and the ending has me thinking that may not be possible. Though with Cyn's background, I think she could weasel her way into the next book (if there is one). If you're looking for a sci-fi space chases with mystery, romance, fight scenes, and found family, pick up this series and watch is unfold. As my second foray into the space romance genre, I can see it as one of my new favorites. I hope Fay continues the series as I'd love to see more of these space relationships unfurl....more
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