Hunt the Stars audiobook

ive been craving a fun and easy going sci-fi read and this totally hit the spot.it reminded me a lot of ‘aurora rising,’ just with adult characters instead of teens - theres a mission in space and a crew forced to work together that becomes a found family. my only critique is the first half of the book is pretty slow paced and primarily exposition. the actual plot itself doesnt pick up until after the 50% mark. but the characters are enjoyable to read about and i liked the world-building/set up.and even though i did have fun with this, everything ends so nicely that i dont feel an immediate desire to pick up the next book in the series. maybe i will when im craving a sci-fi book again. ↠ 4 stars

5 stars! After the war, Octavia Zarola (Tavi) and her fellow soldiers banded together to run a bounty hunting business. And times can be rough, until a job from General Torran Fletcher of the former enemy offers Tavi a job that can keep her crew comfortable, more so than they’ve ever been. Tavi accepts the job and what comes with it is Torran and his crew on her ship, mixing with her own crew. While it’s awkward for everyone, the two crews start to blend together into an agreeable group. Until they uncover a deeper plot that threatens the peace between their two races.I was not expecting to love this much as much as I did, space opera is not my usual genre choice. But I would describe this as a mix between the tv series Firefly and the Grace Draven romance novel Radiance and it was wonderful. I listened to the audiobook and was riveted while listening, I was hooked on the story, the characters, the world building. All of it was so beautifully written and I loved getting lost in this world.And the romantic tension between Tavi and Torran. It was *chefs kiss* perfection! The whole book was a delicious enemies to friends to lovers story and I ate up every single bit of it. All the character dynamics in general between the two crews, I loved all of them and would gladly read more books just to spend more time with them all. Luckily the second book is already out but I need to wait for my library hold to come in. But I am really excited for it and cannot wait to spend more time in this universe. If you love romance I highly recommend this book. Take it from someone who was skeptical about reading it, it was excellent.

I received an ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.Octavia Zarola is a bounty hunter who's fallen on hard times and is forced to accept a job from Torran Fletcher, her sworn enemy. Because the stakes are high, Torran and his team insist on joining the hunt with Tavi and her team. Tension is high between the two teams as they are forced into close proximity on Tavi's ship. Tavi and Torran hate each other, but they are forced to tolerate each other's presence for the sake of the mission. OMG. This is how I like my enemies to lovers romance. Tavi and Torran are enemies because their people are enemies. There's a lot of history and world-building that explain why they are enemies. The plot, the world building, and the romance are all so well-written. Because Tavi and Torran have always been pitted against each other, it takes time for them to move from enemies to allies to lovers. That transition is not smooth and there are several bumps along the way that Tavi and Torran have to overcome in order to build and maintain trust. And let me tell ya, the sloooooow burn is absolutely delicious 🥵 I honestly lived for the romantic tension between Tavi and Torran. The better they got to know each other, the hotter the tension 🥵 Me at Tavi and TorranThe plot is intricately written, with twists and turns that made me gasp and a climax that kept me at the edge of my seat. Jessie Mihalik is so good at writing space operas. Not only do we get an excellent enemies to lovers romance, but we also get the most deliciously tropetastic scenes, like the following: "Oh no, we must press our bodies together to hide from the guards." 😏 Torran also has telekinesis powers that he definitely puts to use during sexy times 😏 Could I have used more steam? Always. But I am still 💯 satisfied with everything that we got in this book! I also loved the supporting characters. This book is found family perfection—if you love this trope, then you are going to love this book. The author does a fantastic job setting up the Starlight's Shadow series and I can already see where the next two books are heading (I am pretty sure it is a trilogy). There is an overarching plot that will continue in the rest of the series and OMG I need the next book like I need air. I am absolutely dying for Kee and Varro and their sunshine-and-grump romance!!To summarize: A++ plot, world building, transition from enemies to allies to lovers, groveling, everything!!Tropes:- Ex-military hero and heroine- Enemies to lovers- Stoic and controlled hero- Forced proximity on a spaceship - Competence porn- Slow burn - Telekinesis sexy times- Found family- Cooking is my love language- Oh no, we must press our bodies together to hide from the guards

I've really enjoyed a different series by the author and this looked like it was going to be more of the same so I signed right up for more! And it totally is more of the same. It's a bit hard to pin down in genre terms because while the setting is space fantasy the story is very much romance. So there's an action/adventure plot, but the primary story revolves around two characters coming to trust and love one another. It's my catnip, but there aren't a lot of books in this completely made up sub-genre so it's hard to compare.Anyway, this delivers all the right beats. Octavia is our single PoV character and she's smart and determined and runs a crew of bounty hunters with a bit of a Firefly flavor—i.e. they're scraping by as best they can, avoiding the more questionable jobs and staying true to the crew. Octavia's crew served with her in a war not many years in the past and they have trust and scars and loyalty and shared pain as a result. But they are a bit down on their luck so when a huge job lands in her lap she finds herself making deals with the devil.Because of the romance aspect, you know that there is more to Torran than there appears at first. After all, we're going to have to buy him as a match and partner with Tavi so you can see his own strength and determination and sense of honor despite them often being at odds. I loved seeing them come to terms with one another and taking on obstacles that get thrown in their way (sometimes finding those obstacles in each other). He has some serious conflicts of interest pulling at him and you can see that he's doing his best to navigate some tough choices. And Tavi doesn't let up on him even a little bit when he's in a hard place that puts them at odds. I loved that she does this and that he has to acknowledge the justice of her accusations even as he tries to mitigate as much damage as he can.There are a bunch of side characters along the way as both Tavi and Torran have long-standing crew with them, each with their own issues and reasons for their loyalty. So at least half the story is trying to intermesh the crews so that they'll work together to solve the very large problems they'll face. Mihalik does a great job juggling all the different personalities and without letting any of them take center stage away from the main couple. This is amazing in retrospect because it felt natural while reading so kudos to her for making it look easy. And if Tavi's pet, Luna, doesn't steal your heart I can't vouch that you have one.Anyway, I really liked this. The pace was outstanding. The main couple were everything I love in a romance. And I can't wait to spend some time with the other crew members as they get the spotlight in upcoming stories in the series. I'm calling it five stars, but bear in mind that it's a specific taste and/or tone that carries a lot of the payload so your mileage could certainly vary.A note about Steamy: There are two explicit sex scenes with some extra fiddling about to add flavor putting this on the low end of my steam tolerance. Some of that may be that I mostly skimmed the last, biggest one because it was completely gratuitous by that point in the story. By that point of the story, they were already as intimately committed as you'd like so I felt no need to go there.

Color me impressed. This author's plots keep getting twistier and more delightful and I LOVE IT. Plus, all the found family feels and a fun romance.Full review to come once I've calmed down.----I have basically two responses to a book I absolutely, ridiculously love. I either make tons of highlights because I just love every single line of prose, or I highlight almost nothing because I’m too caught up in the story. This book is definitely of the second variety. It also hits all of the right notes for me, with a focus on found family, a twisty plot, and just enough romance to keep my HEA-loving heart interested.“I’m a bounty hunter. I hunt criminals and murderers; I don’t work for them.”In the few years since the decades-spanning war between the Valovians and the Federated Human Planets ended, Tavi and the remainder of her squad have made a life as bounty hunters. Considering they’re not willing to take the morally grey missions, it keeps them fed – barely – so when a Valovian general offers a ridiculous amount of money for them to recover a missing item, they agree, despite having to enter Valovian space to find it. And while things get off to a rocky start, Torran and his crew seem like generally good people. But Tavi isn’t a fool, and she knows that Torran isn’t telling them the whole story. When the reality turns out to be even worse than they anticipated, will the consequences of their actions lead to a new war?Hunting down the item is the focus of much of the twisty plot, but it takes about half of the book before Tavi and crew are able to start the job they’re hired for in earnest. Those pages aren’t wasted, though. They’re used to build the relationship between Tavi’s crew and the Volvians, to show us what kind of people Tavi and Torran are and all the rough edges the war has left on all of them. And while this book is full of enough action to warm my scifi-battle-loving heart, where it really excels is these character relationships. Through chores, binge-watching shows and communal meals, the two crews bond and figure out that while cultural differences can still trip them up, they’re a lot more similar than they thought. I especially loved the focus on food as a source of community, on how cooking is a form of care and how that care can form the basis of trust and (just maybe) love.“If I needed help burying a body, Eli would silently grab a shovel and start digging while Kee erased all evidence of the crime.I would do the same for them.”As for the individual characters, I especially loved Tavi’s crew. Kee and Eli are polar opposites, with Kee being a rainbow-haired ray of sunshine while Eli’s the smoldering pessimist, but there’s no doubt they care deeply for each other even if they disagree. As for Luna, the fourth member of the crew? Well, Kee beat her out as my favorite, but just barely. Torran’s crew also had some interesting characters, but as the story is told solely from Tavi’s first person POV, we don’t get the same depth of familiarity with them as with her crew.As for the romance, like the recovery plot, it’s extremely slow burn. After all, at the start of the book, they’re essentially mortal enemies, as both are considered heroes by their people and war criminals (at best) by the other’s. It takes a lot of work to build up the level of trust necessary to turn that into a believable HEA, and the author did that phenomenally well. Valovian culture has an interesting take on apologies, one that forces Tavi to confront some of her own issues, and there’s also a focus on consent that was seamless and quite sweet.Overall, I adored this book, and I am beyond glad that the next in the series is coming out this year. This author gets better with every book and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!Content notes: (view spoiler)[violence and death (mostly of a scifi type), PTSD, kidnapping, child in danger, discussion of war crimes (including civilian deaths) (hide spoiler)]

I hate myself so freaking much, y’all have no idea.The second book comes out next year.July.Of next year.MY BRAIN?! NOWHERE TO BE BLOODY FOUND.AND THE SECOND BOOK IS ABOUT A HACKER AND A WEAPONS EXPERT.OMGJEHJSJSKSKDKDAND THE GIRL IS ALL SUNSHINE WHILE THE DUDE IS ALL GRUMPY.STAHHHHHPPPPP

This sci-fi space opera was delightful and I had no choice but to devour it in one sitting. The characters were fun and likable and the whole book took me by surprise by how much I enjoyed it. I just about squeed out loud when I realized book two (and a prequel novella) were already out. Captain Octavia Zarola is a bounty hunter who tries to stay on the right side of her moral compass. But she takes keeping her small crew safe seriously and this leads to her reluctantly accepting a lucrative job with General Torran Fletcher who was an enemy to humankind in the not very distant war. Much adventure and sparkage follows as the two small crews work together to complete the dangerous and maybe not even possible mission. Octavia is my perfect heroine full of humor and spice and with an adorable fluffy sidekick.

This review can also be found at https://carolesrandomlife.com/I had such a good time with this book! I have heard so many great things about Jessie Mihalik’s books so I jumped at the opportunity to read this book which is the start of a new series. This book grabbed my attention right away and never let go. I was completely entertained by this well-done story.After some intense negotiations, Tavi and the rest of the Starlight crew agree to take a job from Torran Fletcher, a Valoff General. It hasn’t been all that long since humans were at war with the Valoffs so tensions are high from the start. Torran and his team join Tavi and hers aboard the Starlight as they make their way to the planet Valovia. I really enjoyed getting to watch these two groups of people learn to get along and eventually become part of a team. Once they land on Valovia, the book does shift gears as they work to fulfill their mission.I really liked the characters in this book. Tavi and Torran were both very highly principled leaders. It wasn’t long before the spark between them flared to life. I liked that they didn’t act on anything right away but really got to know each other first. The rest of the team were equally well done and each added an important element to the story. Luna was a great addition to the story and I loved that she was such a big part of the story.I would highly recommend this book to others. I found this to be a really exciting book filled with great characters and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next installment in this wonderful series.I received a review copy of this book from Harper Voyager.

I really enjoyed this one. Sci-fi romance with a fun plot, great characters, and a great narrator.I haven't read Polaris Rising yet but I hear great things. If it is anything like this one I will be in for a treat!Octavia is the captain of a starship and she is approached by her wartime enemy Torran, to find something that had been stolen from his family. If she accepts she will have to put up with him for weeks, but it is more money than they had seen in years. So reluctantly she brings his team on board and so starts their adventures. I loved the slow burn between the characters. There is much more than insta-love. They grow to respect and appreciate each other before anything sexy happens. And when it does, BAM!It had a good plot, some interesting twists and turns and I loved the narrator of the audio version. I found myself wanting to listen all the time. Great book!

*** 3.55 *** This is a romance novel in a Sci-Fi setting. As the author's previous series, she has found a niche in that sub-genre and is doing a great job, as far as I am concerned. I am never completely convinced of how well she does on both fronts, the romantic and the sci-fi, but the combination, even with its flaws, is usually compelling enough for me to keep coming back for more. In the tradition of most recent (and by recent I mean in the last 25 years) romances, there is too much insta-love, too vague sci-fi tech, and just enough political or military intrigue to keep things interesting. Perfect book for a lighter read and with likable characters. I am definitely going to read the next one, when it comes out:) 😎

4.5 stars The first in Jessie Mihalik’s brand new series Starlight’s Shadow, Hunt The Stars is a fun, compelling and thoroughly exciting Sci-fi Space Opera with an utterly steamy, enemies to lovers romance you won’t be able to put down. Captain Octavia ‘Tavi’ Zarola will do just about anything to keep her bounty hunting crew together, even if it means accepting a job from Torran Fletcher a ruthless General and sworn enemy. His offer will keep them afloat and pay for the ships much needed maintenance, and Tavi knows she cannot refuse—no matter how much she’d like to. But with soo much money on the line Torran and his crew insist of joining the hunt. She reluctantly agrees despite the handsome leader’s talent for pushing her buttons (for both anger and desire), but the money is worth shutting up and learning to deal with it. But when Tavi’s crew uncovers a deeper plot that threatens the very peace between their two people (Human and Valoffs), Tavi suspects Torran of using her to instigate a new war. With the fate of her crew at stake Tavi must decide where her loyalties lie—with the quiet Valoff who’s been lying to her, or with the human leaders who left her crew to die on the battlefield…I found this a really well written and entertaining read that I honestly didn’t want to put down, I don’t often venture into Sci-fi fiction as I usually don’t find it enjoyable, filled with convoluted plot lines or characters I just don’t find enjoyable. Hunt The Stars and it’s incredible blend of romance, action and endearingly badass heroines may just have converted me (or at least convinced me to check out more sci-fi romance.)The writing was really easy to follow and the technology we encounter was rather self explanatory and easy to grasp (so, thankfully no need to stop and Google any science-y, tech related stuff .) One of my favourite aspects was how each and every female character we encounter is strong, smart, capable and utterly fierce—even Kee, Tavi’s rainbow haired systems engineer, who at first appearance seems utterly harmless is not someone who’s badside you want to end up on— and I absolutely loved that! We also get some really great insight into Tavi (and her military career fighting against Tarron’s people) so watching how she navigates (and overcomes) this complex situation—the difficult history and cultural barriers—was absolutely fascinating. Especially when Tavi starts to develop feelings for the handsomely stoic Valoff and her conflicting emotions surrounding her former enemy. And it’s not just Tavi catching feelings either, as the crew members begin to grow friendlier as the book progresses too and honestly, I was all for it! I also fell in love with the ships’ adorable telepathic mascot, Luna (a Burbu described as looking like a cross between an arctic fox, a cat and a ferret) who’s cheeky antics and constant demand for food or attention was a definitely a one of my favourite highlights of the entire novel. So, if you love Sci-fi romance, enemies to lovers or the found families trope then I 100% urge to go buy a copy now because it’s satisfyingly superb. Also, I just wanted to say huge thank you to Harper360YA for the incredible proof.