Nightchaser

' "Evil is evil!” [... not] "a perspective".'

Ok I'm totally sold on Nightchaser! The characters are feisty, heroic, damaged and easily identified with. A fast paced romantic space opera with Bouchet's particular brand of panache. I can well see why she claims Robin Hood and Star Wars as her muses, referring to "these characters and their epic struggle" as strong influences. I'm also seeing shades of Elizabeth Moon's Vatta series.
Captain Tess Bailey and her crew, escapees from an horrendous prison are committed to righting wrongs against a harsh and intractable dictator, the conquering Overlord. With the opening sequence, Tess and crew find themselves in an unwinnable situation. And this is just the beginning!
Tess' soliloquies on the show more place of novels in this totalitarian world are a window into Bouchet's soul.
“Because novels stir feelings, wishes, and the heart,” [Tess] said. “Not all ideas and thoughts need to be proven, or even can be, and the Overseer is only interested in—no, only allows—what can be measured and quantified and put in a neat little box.”
And again Tess' (Bouchet's) magical thoughts on "kindred spirits".
"For some reason, it made [Tess] think of a huge web connecting everyone who fought the oppressive regime in whatever way they could, big or small. The image morphed into stars, bright spots of hope and courage winking all over the Dark—one giant constellation, spread out, but strong. Stronger than the Overseer thought."
I'm in love with the enticing Shade Ganavan (drool!) who manages to both complicate and simplify his and Tess' situation. Shade himself is pulled between his own long term plans and his unexpected feelings for Tess. The chemistry between them goes nova!
I'll also be fascinated to find out what the Big Guy's story is and where other characters will develop. Ahh! So many questions that only future parts of the series will reveal. I can hardly wait!

A NetGalley ARC show less

A space opera romance on the very light side. The worldbuilding is rudimentary and lacks internal coherence and logic.
The writing is strong in places, the interpersonal scenes the best parts, but overall the story does not ring true. It reads like a romance writers clever attempts to break into SFF, and unfortunately failing.
Tess is a rebel, fighting against the very, very evil Overlord of the known galaxy as a captain of a spaceship. She gets her hands on some extremely hot commodity, setting of a dramatic interstellar chase leading her to dock a very damaged ship planetside. Enlisting a morally ambiguous shopkeeper to repair the ship, she gets more than she bargained for, and romance ensues. Of course there are complications, renewed show more drama and denouements before a happy for now state is achieved, opening the way for the next book in the series.
I am not particularly interested in reading sex scenes, and long drawn out scenes with sexual tension tend to bore me, so I am probably not the ideal audience for this kind of book.
Also, it is really difficult to overcome the huge suspense of disbelief needed to make it work. The evil evil overlord is so sorely lacking in any substance that he seems a mere plot device. And no evil overlord worth his salt would have overseers in all the streets, but neglect to monitor space ship ports for arrivals and departures, particularly arrivals of heavily damaged ships. show less

I truly loved everything about NIGHTCHASER.

I love a badass female and Tess definitely fit the bill. She started out as a huge mystery, but I loved unraveling her story in NIGHTCHASER. Shade was also mysterious and a bit cocky, but in a sexy confident way. I really enjoyed Tess and Shade together. It took awhile for them to get past their dance of mistrust, but their personalities and chemistry really worked.

The other characters in NIGHTCHASER were just as strong as the main characters. Tess' crew all meshed well and brought a ton to the story. I enjoyed learning everything that was revealed about them.

The Endeavor world is complex, but what we have gotten so far has been well built. There was plenty of danger involved in NIGHTCHASER show more and their were plenty of times that I was left on the edge of my seat.

NIGHTCHASER introduces the Endeavor series with a bang and I hope that STARBREAKER lives up to it. Unfortunately we have to wait until April 2020 to find out.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. show less

I was SUPER excited to start this book because I really enjoyed Amanda Bouchet's Kingmaker Chronicles. Nightchaser was not what I had originally expected, though I really should have known better. It was a sexy, fun, exciting, high octane space romp with kick ass females and strong character development. The characters were fleshed out beautifully. They were tangible, relateable, likeable and detestable (when need be... helllooooo daddy issues). The world building was great and there was even some blushworthy Sexy Time... a la Amanda Bouchet's norm. Her ability to write characters and situations that you can't help but love is praiseworthy. She has even mastered the art of making the secondary and tertiary characters as show more loveable/loatheable as the MCs, an enviable talent. If you're a fan of Mrs. Bouchet then this is a must have (unless you're not into scifi... then you probably aren't even reading this review :-). If you're new to her work and are a fan of female characters that inspire you to take on the world(s) in fun and sexy ways then you should definitely give this a go.

I will be sitting here anxiously awaiting the rest of the series.

~Enjoy

*** I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review *** show less

I liked the science fiction and the cats, but I'm not 100% on board with Tess's mysterious backstory/ ability to miraculously heal/ chosen one schtick. The romance is amusing -- I love a hero who you'd rather kick than kiss, and the crew and the worlds are pretty sweet.

I read book 2 before book 1 and this did remove some of the will they won't they suspense of the story. Tess Bailey is a wanted criminal and she's on the run with her band of friends. They get help from Shade Ganavan and things get complicated from there, there are space battles, politics and lots of yearning and sex. The two of them have a complicated life and none is more complicated than Tess and the reasons the leader of the galaxy wants her in custody.
I'm enjoying this series, but the big bad is very big and very bad and things are very very complicated.

One of the hardest things for me in writing reviews is preparing one for a book, which received so many rave reviews. (I wonder what can I say what has not already been said.) What is even harder is writing a review for said book when it does not in your opinion live up to the hype.
I struggled with the story and I took a while to get to the end. For me it was the longest and slowest journey in a fictional world.

What I liked
World building: I enjoyed the world the author created from a fictional perspective. Living in constant fear and oppression, no freedom of speech and risk going to jail for the simplest of things is are some of what the inhabitants of this world faced.

Characters
Tess: Her loyalty, selflessness and inner strength were show more her most endearing qualities. Her experiences growing up shaped her into the person she is today. She has no wish for the orphans and her friends to experience the same horrors she did and so she would do anything to protect them.

Shade: Exudes confidence, is observant and have an awesome sense of humour.

The secondary characters proved an interesting bunch. From Tess’s crew members to evil Overseer.

The Not So Much
The Story: It began on a high note and I had expectations of grandeur for this one. This however was shot to the ground after the first ten percent of the story. I believe there was a lot of unnecessary information and the story lost its engagement factor as a result

I could not fathom the lack of tension and fearful anticipation by Tessa and her crew. They are on the run, granted they knew nothing about the bounty on her head, but they acted as if all was well.

I expected there would be lots of action. This was not the case. The action scenes appeared at around the seventy percent mark. At this point, the story felt rushed and the appeal this aspect was to emit was lost on me.

Romance: I understand her being attracted to Shade and yes, she has not been with a man for seven years. We all have wants, but how do you find time to be thinking about sexual gratification with the threat of recapture hanging over your head. She keeps putting herself out there and he rejects her every attempt at seduction. Her actions reeked of desperation. Eventually, they got together, but I had a hard time accepting their relationship, especially knowing they were both deceiving each other.

Shade’s deception did not go down well with me. He had ample time to make Tess aware of the situation, but he failed to warn her.

The ending, although not a cliffhanger indicated that the story will continue. Despite my disappointment with how this installment developed, I am curious to know how upcoming events will unfold.

Conclusion/Recommendations
I know there many readers who raved about this installment, but for me it was just ok. Although it was not a favourite, I would recommend it because there are others who may enjoy it more than I did. Readers who enjoy sci-fi romance can pick up this latest offering by Amanda Bouchet show less