Science Fiction Romance
From Goodreads:
On this
frontier, love could get you killed. And that’s part of the rush.
Space
Rustlers, Book 1
Like all
miracles, a rip in space has its dark side. Through it, adventurers explore new
worlds, smugglers make their fortunes, and wranglers like Rick Gage pit their
skills against hordes of magnificent robots. The downside? Five percent of
those who enter “the sinkhole” are never seen again.
Alexia
Montoya isn’t looking for thrills. She just wants to find her brother, who
disappeared in the sinkhole five years ago. Conventional wisdom says he
disintegrated within seconds, and the powers-that-be want her to stop looking.
Stop agitating. Stop ruining business.
When
desperation drives her to transit the rip herself, the official reception is
armed and hostile. Luckily, someone steps in to protect her: a handsome,
gun-toting wrangler—who believes her quest is futile.
Rick has
one piece of advice for Alexia. Go home. But the pesky woman persists until the
authorities come up with a more permanent solution. Reunite her with her
brother—permanently—by throwing her into the sinkhole. After all, no one would
dare challenge their absolute authority.
No one,
that is, except Rick.
Warning:
This book glorifies outlaws, encourages lawlessness, condones unprotected space
contact, and could lead to the rise of the kind of machines that don’t require
batteries.
With a title like Space Wrangler I
did not have great hopes for the story.
Thankfully I was wrong.
Space Wrangler is a really good Science Fiction Romance.
I loved both of the main
characters. Alexia Montoya has a
mission. She knows that her
brother is still alive and is determined to prove it no matter what it takes. She is strong and focused.
Rick Gage is the space wrangler. He does not wrangler cattle but machines left from the
previous race who lived on the alien planet. He came to be alone but he and Alexia have a lot of
chemistry. Like Alexia he is very
strong and focused. It is not a surprise they are drawn to each other.
There is great cast of secondary characters
to round the story line out.
The world building and back story
are revealed as Alexia starts her search on the Platform over the alien
planet. Each bit of information is
revealed as part of the plot. I
liked how each of the elements needed fit the plot and story line.
The plot seems simple. Alexia wants to find her brother but
the way to do it is far from easy.
There are more obstacles than she expected and each one ramps up the
tension and danger.
This is book one in a new series so
while some of the problems facing Alexia are solved the main problem is still
out there. There are several hints
about where and what happened to the brother. Book two looks to be as exciting as book one.
This is the third SFR I have read
recently. This is the only one of
the three that hit on everything I love.
The story was well written, the plot moved smoothly, the romance builds,
and there were characters who I liked.
There was sex but not in excess.
I did not have to skim pages and pages. I am looking forward to the next book in the series and
seeing more of Rick, Alexia and the other characters in the series.
Samhain published Space Wrangler by
Kate Donovan in 2015.
I received a ARC of Space Wrangler
from Netgalley in return for an honest review.
