Matt Spears is a captain of a small ship; with a crew of two. He takes jobs of questionable origin and legality, often transporting illegal goods through space. Of course, these jobs do not come without risk, but that’s the price he pays in order to make money. Then a job comes along that seems too good to be true...a job that he knows he shouldn’t take, but his crew needs the money...and it is a LOT of money. So, of course he takes it...especially when he discovers it comes with an experienced pilot who will be commandeering his ship. Enter Ryce. Not only an expert pilot but he's good looking, and intelligent...seemingly perfect. In spite of his attributes, Matt is not pleased to have this cocky hunk on his ship, but he doesn’t have a choice if he wants the money. Instead, he decides to do the best he can and just…well, sleep with him. What should be a quick, fairly easy job turns out to be something else entirely. Danger is around every corner, there's modern space pirates, ancient alien weaponry and who knows if they are even going to make it out alive...and to make matters even worse...Matt hasn't yet even had a chance to sleep with Ryce!!! Matt is such a great character. He seems completely sure of himself, but he does have a soft spot in his heart for his ship and his crew. He also has a fairly complicated past that he tries to ignore, but throughout the story it comes back to haunt and actually, sometimes to help him. Ryce is a fascinating character. His backstory is intriguing, and although he comes across as close to perfect, he makes some rather poor decisions, but in spite of that he does learn to care about the people around him. Danger is everywhere in this story, and that does make it exciting. Just when things seemed to calm down, there was always trouble again in a new form. Somehow everything that happened made sense in the context of the world the events the story is based on. In the end, there were very real consequences for the men that will make you worry about their safety. I understand that there is a second book in the series but even though I didn't dislike the story, I wasn't a raging fan either. I would like to see if Matt ever figures out a way to sleep with Ryce though...so maybe. Fans of sci-fi, space pirates, and aliens, should enjoy this. It's a lot of everything crammed into a short, quick read. ( )

I'm no romance fan. I don't object to there being a romance subplot in a book, so long as it doesn't get in the way of either the story or the character development.

In this case, I thought the romance story line tried to hard to take the place of genuine character development. I have to compare this to John Wilker's latest novel, Any Job Will Do – another space opera with a bi male main character and a male love interest. The difference, for me at least, was that AJWD put character development at the forefront and the romance took a back seat. I found this to be the reverse.

Romance lovers may love this one. Sadly, I didn't. But I do think that says more about me than it does about the book.

Adrift was a great read! In the first installment of the series, the Lady Lisa is heading towards a planet on which there is a secret location. Ryce Faine had taken control of the ship and won’t give them any details about their journey. Captain Spears finds himself becoming intrigued by his mysterious guest. As the two men get to know each other, it’s revealed that Ryce is half-Onorean. The Onoreans are a scientific species and control the conception and birth of their offspring. Sadly, Ryce’s mother was raped by an off-worlder and gave up her son because he represented everything she was ashamed of.

One of the things I loved about Adler when I read her first books was the detail she puts into the worlds and people in her stories. The first story I read of hers was much shorter and I loved the character development. This series is no disappointment in character development! Matt Spears is basically a good guy, he drinks too much, can’t survive without coffee and he likes to hook up with people when they swing past a bar. Things get interesting when a bit more of Matt’s past is revealed. He’s had some run-ins with space pirates and still suffers nightmares because of the brutal assault that happened. Estranged from his family, Matt is fiercely protective of his ship and his crew.

Ryce and Matt manage to chip away at each other’s walls as they continue along with the mission. They end up with their lives in each other’s hands and learn that they can, in fact, trust each other. Ryce’s secret mission is a bit morally ambiguous. I don’t want to reveal too much about it here in this review, because it was an absolute pleasure to read along as it was revealed in the book.

Suffice to say that by the end of the book there is a fledgling relationship between Matt and Ryce. ( )

Adrift was a great read! In the first installment of the series, the Lady Lisa is heading towards a planet on which there is a secret location. Ryce Faine had taken control of the ship and won’t give them any details about their journey. Captain Spears finds himself becoming intrigued by his mysterious guest. As the two men get to know each other, it’s revealed that Ryce is half-Onorean. The Onoreans are a scientific species and control the conception and birth of their offspring. Sadly, Ryce’s mother was raped by an off-worlder and gave up her son because he represented everything she was ashamed of.

One of the things I loved about Adler when I read her first books was the detail she puts into the worlds and people in her stories. The first story I read of hers was much shorter and I loved the character development. This series is no disappointment in character development! Matt Spears is basically a good guy, he drinks too much, can’t survive without coffee and he likes to hook up with people when they swing past a bar. Things get interesting when a bit more of Matt’s past is revealed. He’s had some run-ins with space pirates and still suffers nightmares because of the brutal assault that happened. Estranged from his family, Matt is fiercely protective of his ship and his crew.

Ryce and Matt manage to chip away at each other’s walls as they continue along with the mission. They end up with their lives in each other’s hands and learn that they can, in fact, trust each other. Ryce’s secret mission is a bit morally ambiguous. I don’t want to reveal too much about it here in this review, because it was an absolute pleasure to read along as it was revealed in the book.

Suffice to say that by the end of the book there is a fledgling relationship between Matt and Ryce. ( )

“When something sounds too good to be true…. it probably is.” This adage may be very right, and would save tons of people from disaster, but an adventurer at heart, like Matt in this story, or someone desperate for a well-paid job, again, like Matt, will not listen to this type of reasoning, no matter how helpful it is or how much trouble he could have avoided. And, in the end, I am grateful he didn’t listen – or I would have missed a great space adventure!

Matt hates authority, and being the captain of his own ship, even if he mostly skirts at the edge of the law when he accepts various types of cargo, suits him very well. So when a mysterious new client hires Matt’s ship and insists on providing his own pilot, Matt is initially annoyed at having to accept someone else’s authority, even if only temporarily. But he can’t resist the lure of excellent payment, so he ends up going for it. The result is an adventure of galactic proportions!

Ryce, the “pilot on loan” has more secrets than is healthy. As his background slowly emerges, it becomes clear he has a very interesting past. But since Matt is in dire need of qualified help as their mission to find an alien artifact becomes more and more dangerous, he can only be grateful for the help. This leads Matt to increasingly respect Ryce and that puts his initial interest, purely based on physical attraction and a need for a “diversion”, onto a different level. But the real trouble isn’t Matt’s budding relationship with Ryce – it’s what they discover the artifact to be and the moral dilemma Matt faces around what to do with it. The situation gives Matt a run for his money. It also provided me with suspense and some great entertainment.

If you like discovering details about mysterious aliens who may be long extinct but have left behind some dangerous items, if you want to find out how two men who seem to have very little in common learn to get along, and if you’re looking for a suspenseful science fiction story full of discoveries and unexpected obstacles, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by NineStar Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )