Deal with the Devil

Super fun sci-fi romance with a found family trope, characters with traumatic pasts, and great tension. I loved the take on the futuristic world in this book. The possibility of big corporations taking over the political landscape and being the source of all the basic needs of humanity as a way of controlling them is scary in its potential in the real world. Really well executed!

Too much romance stalling out the storyline for my taste. If that doesn't bother you, the characters, the plot and world-building is really good.

DNF at 13%. Just not my jam.

The mercenary librarians is real heavy on the mercenary but every sexy thriller needs some window dressing and this future dystopic Atlanta is pretty good if you like found family, altered super humans, badass women, and HEAFNs

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC on #NetGalley for an honest review.

MAN OH MAN!
This book blew me away,

The dystopian setting of the book allowed for some unique explorations of science, capitalism and the military, food security and the preservation of knowledge.
Interspersed in between chapters were observations from scientists about each character and their abilities and their perceived flaws and I thought that was brilliant as it helped to show how the evil overlords thinks of them.

When you look at how Nina and Knox interact with their respective teams and the environment around them, you can tell from the start that they are meant to lead together. The story just brings them closer and closer together until it is impossible to truly imagine them separately.
Their backstories, which involve both of them having lost loved ones, just helps you to understand the pressures they put on themselves to be the ones in charge and who stand strong for the people they care for, no matter what.

The richness of the characters and their relationships with each other and the community at large was also amazing. Watching the almost sibling like play between Nina, Dani & Maya vs the best friends yet almost chain of command dynamic of Knox, Gray, Conall & Rafe just emphasises how they all compliment each other and it's easy to see the characters who might be especially compatible romantically.

Did i mention that the pacing of the story was fan-freaking-tastic?
There is also the fact that every character in this story serves a purpose and every scene helps to propel the story forward and set things up for the rest of the series.

All in all, it was a wonderful book and I cannot wait to read the follow up to this.

“It got quiet. Are you guys dead or making out?”

This was a fun, easy, guilty pleasure (ha) read. Romance isn't normally my jam, but I really liked the mercenary librarian aspect. Being a kickass information broker in a dystopian sci-fi America setting is super appealing, I'm not gonna lie. The setting was compelling, and the dialogue was snappy and fitting. The book does a good job being what it is.

The romance aspect isn't very organic, but when is it ever in romance books? The author goes to great lengths describing how hot all the main characters are, and then they hook up because, well, they're hot and that's just what hot people do, right? The relationships feel stilted and forced, but that's probably a personal opinion from someone outside the target genre lovers.

Did I read a post apocalyptic sci fi romance in the middle of a real life pandemic? Yes I did and I REGRET NOTHING. When I first raffled for this book on Bookish First I was excited and hoped to win it and not long after, Covid hit hard here in the States and life went sideways for everyone. So after I received the book I wasn't sure if it would help my anxiety or make it worse. I had so much fun reading this that I had no problem separating real life from the book. It was exactly what I needed.
I'm a sucker for a bad ass female MC and Nina is exactly that. She's a mercenary librarian. It's like my dream job that I never knew I wanted. Knox is a super serious soldier that went AWOL and now he and his team need Nina's and her crews help. There are some twists in the story so I won't say much more because it's hard without giving anything away. But I will say there are clones, action and romance.
I'm definitely ready for book 2 and this was an ARC so now I have to wait even longer (cue sad violins). Kit Rocha is a writing team that I hadn't heard of before but now they are definitely on my radar and I need to see what else they have to keep me busy until the next book in this series.