I finished Amanda Bouchet’s galactic romance Nightchaser several nights ago, and I continue marveling at it, at the worlds Bouchet dreamed up and how badass her characters are as they almost die/laugh in the face of danger/otherwise survive. If spaceships, space renegades, and sex are your cup of tea then you’re in luck, because Nightchaser has them all, packed into a wildly inventive story that offers a whip-fast thrill akin to taking off in a really fast roller coaster. The book opens pretty dramatically: Captain Tess Bailey and the rest of her Endeavor crew are hiding out from the Dark Watch—the galactic “police force” which operates under the orders of the dictatorial Overlord—because they’ve just stolen something big. It’s a laboratory, which they’ve attached to the side of the ship. The Dark Watch isn’t happy about that, and it’s up to Bailey and her crew to see if they can survive the Dark Watch’s efforts to get it back. This tense episode is over pretty quickly, but it sets up the questions that drive the rest of the book: what’s in the lab and why is the Dark Watch going to such lengths to get it back? And who is the real Tess “Bailey”? How did she come to be Captain and what are her ultimate aims? With Nightchaser, Bouchet offers us an escape that feels cinematic: the detail is brilliant, the story is action-packed, the characters, particularly Tess, have a messwithmeatyourownrisk vibe that I love. These aren’t shrinking violets; I just know that there’s going to be a lot of setting the world(s) on fire in future books of this trilogy, and I’m. here. for. it. But make no mistake about it: Tess and company are up against a formidable set of opponents, and the coming confrontations promise to be difficult (and enthralling). Though there were a few moments when I felt like the book had almost a bit too much going on—lots of strands were introduced here, and will, no doubt, be picked back up in later books—I can’t wait to see where the series is going next and what the pay-off will be. Nightchaser is another explosive read from Amanda Bouchet. “So say we all.”* *This phrase is from Battlestar Galactica and not Nightchaser, but it seemed fitting. (Or maybe BG is just the only other space thing I've really enjoyed, so it was just a convenient comparison.) **I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley but all opinions provided are my own.
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It’s 2019, and if there’s one historical romance writer who could take us into the future, it’s Scarlett Peckham.
Peckham writes marvelously, and I would like to laze in her books, where everything is sumptuous and luxurious—including the words themselves. She writes romance that thrills, that clutches your heart, and that’s also composed of the kind of wry, beautifully written sentences I could see adorning the stationary of my dreams. The darkly sumptuous The Earl I Ruined is her latest offering. There are some things that can’t be forgiven. Is finding out that the person that you love has written and distributed a poem with salacious rumors about your sexual proclivities one of them (particularly if it has the potential to kill a political deal you’ve been working on for years, ruin you, and result in your family’s downfall as well)? That’s the question of the hour in The Earl I Ruined. We first met Lady Constance Stonewell, sister of the Duke of Westmead, in The Duke I Tempted. Though her brother chastised her roundly for playing fast and loose with words in that book, she hasn’t quite learned her lesson, and it leads to the stuffy Julian, the Earl of Apthorp’s, ruin in this book. But she has a plan: she’ll propose, they’ll resuscitate his reputation and save his bill, and everything will be okay. Only he doesn’t want to marry her—this, despite (or perhaps because) he was in love with her for eight years. Also complicating the matter: for the first time in a very long time, people are laughing at her again. Can she save Julian, and make up for this decision she made, before her brother finds out? And can Julian recognize the part he’s played in this, too? If you’re looking for crazy-sexy historical romance, try this book. And if you’re looking for a book that’s remarkably astute about its characters and human psychology, try this book again. I love how Peckham proves that sparkling and shallow are not the same thing; how there’s a strength to Constance (and the fiercely female domain she rules) that can’t and shouldn’t be ignored. Andddddd, I love how Constance and Julian offer us a reminder that people make mistakes. Sometimes we do shitty things; sometimes for the wrong reasons and sometimes for the right. Though I did want a more direct acknowledgement from Julian of the deeper motivations behind what Constance did, I thought that overall Peckham handled what happened, why, and its deeper repercussions, stunningly. The Earl I Ruined gave me that beautiful redemption story that I was looking for, wrapped up in a rich scandal, and enhanced by a killer sexual attraction between two characters who deserve a second chance (or maybe third or fourth). |
About me.Give me that HEA, please.
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