Tracing The Stars

Oh my feels! I fell in love with this series when I came across In The Devil's Nebula on NetGalley. I've since snatched up all the books published so far in this series. So far, I have yet to read one I didn't love.

On A Rogue Planet had several of my favorite elements packed into the story of Xander and Malin. Cyborgs, robots, crazy mad scientist, archaeology, planetary civil war, tough but lovable and believable characters, and a fun adventure story. And the feels - Oh, the feels!

Xander, a cyborg, has had most of his emotions filtered out by his implants so that he can perform his duties as a CenSec security agent. Watching him develop through the story as those emotions begin to reappear was a great part of this space-adventure/romance story, and it was well done. Malin's been hurt before, and her vulnerable strength throughout the book made her a character you can relate to. All the side characters, including the Phoenix brothers, just added icing to the cake, as well as the introduction of three new Phoenix cousins who work out on the edge of charted space. Future books? Stars, I hope so!

The romance was hot; perhaps a bit heavy for my tastes, with more than a few intimacy scenes scattered throughout, including one or two that were done right in the middle of the action. I like sexiness in my books, but I have trouble believing two people fighting for their lives would have sex right in the middle of the fight.

The story itself is well crafted, with twists and turns and great adventure. A wild ride, for sure, that kept me reading into the late hours of the night. I had a horrible time putting the book down, and I'm already craving the start of the next book.