By Mira Maxwell
The Blurb: Elena, an Earth woman on a diplomatic mission to Kosmora, stumbles upon an explosive secret that threatens to derail the historic treaty. She’s determined to expose the truth, but her dedication is attracting the wrong attention.
The Kosmorans are desperate to silence her, and they have the perfect man for the job. Bane, a lethal Kosmoran bounty hunter, hasn’t seen daylight in years. Convicted of an unspeakable crime, he’s confined to a high-security prison for with no hope of release. Until now.
His task is simple. Silence the Earthling and receive his freedom. It’s not a problem – until he meets her. Unexpected passion blossoms between Elena and Bane. How can he finish the job when all he wants is to keep her for himself?
In this novel, we're jetted forward to a time where Earth's natural resources are almost depleted and the only hope of survival is to create a mutually beneficial trade agreement with another planet. Kosmora, being so similar to Earth, is the perfect choice.
When our heroine, Elena, is sent as a journalist to document this diplomatic mission, she uncovers a horrific detail about what exactly is being "traded" and is determined to expose it to the world. Once the enemy gets wind of this, Bane, a Suthune bounty hunter is sent to silence her for good.
This story starts off with a good dose of intrigue as we witness Elena almost being caught stealing the treaty files. We learn a lot about how determined she is to not only uncover any secrets but to also prove that she is good at her job.
When we meet Bane, he is in a hellish prison. After a decade of basically being in solitary confinement, he is given a chance of freedom. Surprisingly, this gift is coming from the man who stabbed him in the back and put him in prison in the first place.
As soon as Bane and Elena meet, sparks fly and Bane knows that there is no way he'll fulfill the task he is hired for. He not only has a visceral reaction to her but he is a good man who lives by a certain code. Even after years in prison and freedom at his fingertips, he refuses to sell his soul and break this code. He's determined to help Elena, and himself, get out of the situation alive and reveal the treachery being orchestrated by their two governments.
I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about this book in the beginning. I did enjoy getting both Elena's and Bane's point of of view but a lot of it is in a tidy, succinct writing style that almost feels like stream of consciousness, but not quite so literal. The writing is good but not flowery and after a short while I started to really appreciate it. I thought the short, choppy rhythm paralleled well with the urgency of the situations our characters find themselves in.
So now, let's talk about the sex. The knock your socks off and melt your insides, SEX. This book is passion with a capital "P". And there's a lot of it. The love scenes are scorching and pair well with the intensity of the overall dilemma at hand and dangerous task to deliver the truth of what's really going on around the couple.
I genuinely enjoyed this book. I thought the story was unique and well executed and the plot wasn't entirely obvious. The twists and turns were engaging and it was hard to put the book down once I got started. I cared about the characters, I was engrossed in the drama, and I was motivated to keep reading to the very last page.
This was my first Mira Maxwell novel and I'm glad I gave it a chance. I can definitely see another of her books crossing my path in the very near future.
What did you think?
