Eclipse the Moon by Jessie MihalikMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars.
Second in a series about two sets of former soldiers from opposite sides of the interstellar war who have reluctantly (at first) banded together to prevent factions from both sides trying to start another war.
Kee Ildez may be ex-military but if it wasn't for her leader, Octavia Zarola, she wouldn't have made it five minutes. Kee's skills lie more in intelligence and hacking than in fighting, despite what her teammates try to teach her. In the last book Commodore Frank Morten kidnapped the Valorian Empress' grandson and Kee is trying to discover where he has hidden and who he is working for. She is drawing a blank so suggests she gets off the ship at Bastion, the last space station in Federation territory in order to access (illegally) the military's servers. Kee is also suspicious about a fashion show which is due to be held on Bastion featuring a human and a Valovian designer, she thinks this might be a cover for something more sinister. As a bonus, Kee can also get away from Varro Runkow, a Valovian weapons expert onboard who makes her heart pound - she is beginning to embarrass herself so a few days offship should give her a chance to get her head straight.
Once on Bastion, Kee and Varro get embroiled in a kidnapping of the two fashion designers and a member of the Valovian royal family - the Feds have been quick to blame Kee so she must not only rescue the hostages but also clear her name!
I enjoyed this but I have to say, standing back, I'm not sure what Morten intended to achieve by setting off the bomb or kidnapping the designers. Also, I didn't really understand the role played by the Valovian Empress' elite assassin. Also, at the end there was one of those shootout situations where everyone is pinned down against overwhelming forces and yet they still manage to escape which felt a bit unrealistic.
Enjoyable space opera, I see another review referred to this as cosy sci-fi or soft sci-fi and I would totally agree.
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