Acclaimed author Jessie Mihalik returns with an exciting new novel about a rainbow-haired female bounty hunter tasked with preventing an interstellar war.
Kee Ildez has been many things: hacker, soldier, bounty hunter. She never expected to be a hero, but when a shadowy group of traitors starts trying to goad the galaxy's two superpowers into instigating an interstellar war, Kee throws herself into the search to find out who is responsible—and stop them.
Digging up hidden information is her job, so hunting traitors should be a piece of cake, but the primary suspect spent years in the military, and someone powerful is still covering his tracks. Disrupting their plans will require the help of her entire team, including Varro Runkow, a Valovian weapons expert who makes her pulse race.
Quiet, grumpy, and incredibly handsome, Varro watches her with hot eyes but ignores all of her flirting, so Kee silently vows to keep her feelings strictly platonic. But that vow will be put to the test when she and Varro are forced to leave the safety of their ship and venture into enemy territory alone.
Cut off from the rest of their team, they must figure out how to work together—and fast—because a single misstep will cost thousands of lives.
Acclaimed author Jessie Mihalik returns with an exciting new novel about a rainbow-haired female bounty hunter tasked with preventing an interstellar war.
Kee Ildez has been many things: hacker, soldier, bounty hunter. She never expected to be a hero, but when a shadowy group of traitors starts trying to goad the galaxy's two superpowers into instigating an interstellar war, Kee throws herself into the search to find out who is responsible—and stop them.
Digging up hidden information is her job, so hunting traitors should be a piece of cake, but the primary suspect spent years in the military, and someone powerful is still covering his tracks. Disrupting their plans will require the help of her entire team, including Varro Runkow, a Valovian weapons expert who makes her pulse race.
Quiet, grumpy, and incredibly handsome, Varro watches her with hot eyes but ignores all of her flirting, so Kee silently vows to keep her feelings strictly platonic. But that vow will be put to the test when she and Varro are forced to leave the safety of their ship and venture into enemy territory alone.
Cut off from the rest of their team, they must figure out how to work together—and fast—because a single misstep will cost thousands of lives.
Critiques-
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April 25, 2022
Crewmembers of the Starlight’s Shadow again race to prevent war between galactic superpowers in Mihalik’s thrilling sequel to Hunt the Stars. All bounty hunter Kee Ildez wants is three weeks leave on the Bastion space station to clear her head, away from the source of her muddled feelings: fellow crew member Varro Runkow. The Valovian weapons specialist has been unresponsive to her attempts at flirting, and it’s beginning to affect Kee’s ability to work. Meanwhile, her search for nefarious Commodore Frank Morten, of the Federation of Human Planets, or FHP, has proven fruitless, and she hopes Bastion will provide access to more information. It’s not long, however, before Kee discovers that Varro has followed her to the station. The tension between them is one more thing for Kee to worry about, on top of hacking the FHP servers and monitoring the tenuous collaboration between Valovian and human fashion designers. When disaster strikes the fashion show, with Kee and Varro attending, it thrusts them to the center of a larger plot that threatens the delicate peace. They’ll need to work together to save the day. Mihalik again does a fantastic job balancing space opera action and slow-burning romance. This keeps the series going strong. Agent: Sarah Younger, Nancy Yost Literary. -
June 1, 2022
Mihalik's follow-up to Hunt the Stars is a delightful science fiction romance filled with high stakes for hearts and lives. This installment stars Kee Ildez; if information is available, she can find it. However the search for a former military commander is turning up nothing, while the galaxy's two main powers seem poised to start another devastating war. Kee decides the best way to find secret information is to tap into the data at the space station Bastion, under the guise of taking a little break from her bounty hunter exploits. It is also a good chance to cool her feelings for Varro, the weapons expert who makes her feel on fire. When Kee's "vacation" begins to unravel thanks to a surprise fashion show, secret plots, and the unexpected arrival of Varro, the two will have to find a way to work together to save thousands of lives--and maybe figure out their relationship along the way. VERDICT A space opera setting, an antagonistic friends-to-lovers romance, and fast-paced action bring some new plot points and nicely set up the last of Mihalik's trilogy.--Kristi Chadwick
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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June 1, 2022
A hacker is determined to stop a person trying to incite war between two galactic empires. Kee Ildez is a legendary hacker and an integral part of the crew of the spaceship Starlight's Shadow. The crew's human ex-soldiers served together in the war against the Valoffs and now work across the galaxy as bounty hunters. Kee has one goal: Find Commodore Frank Morten, the man who betrayed them during the war, and bring him to justice. She suspects Morten is trying to rekindle war between the Federated Human Planets and the Valovian Empire by staging an incident on Bastion, a remote space station. Kee arranges to leave the Starlight's Shadow crew behind for a few weeks to run a solo investigation on Bastion--which will also give her a much-needed break from Varro Runkow, a Valovian munitions expert and telekinetic who recently joined the group. Kee is wildly attracted to Varro, but he has made it clear there can be no future between them. When Varro discovers she's alone on Bastion, he leaves the ship, determined to protect her. As Kee and Varro hack into Bastion's systems, they conclude that Morten might cause trouble at a high-profile fashion exhibition featuring human and Valovian designers. Kee and Varro's adventures on the space station are full of action and intrigue. They make a good team, but their romance is underdeveloped and more of an afterthought than a well-integrated part of the plot. Of note: Kee's staunch defense of why she continues to fight evil, even against what seems like impossible odds, is clearly meant to bolster readers who might feel overwhelmed in the face of Earth's many problems. It's a cogent reminder of why readers are drawn to speculative fiction in the first place. A romance-light space adventure that still has plenty to please readers.COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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June 1, 2022
Someone wants to reignite the war between the Valovians and the Federated Human Planets (FHP), and powers on both sides are involved. At the end of Hunt the Stars (2022), Shadow's crew succeeded in rescuing the grandson of the Valovian empress but missed capturing Commodore Frank Morten, the human responsible for the kidnapping scheme. Possessing a skill vital to her bounty-hunting crew-family, petite, delicate-looking Kee Ildez is not the best soldier, but she is a superb hacker. Since leaving Valovia, she has been searching without luck for data to track the traitor. Her solution is to spend some time on Bastion, the last space station in Federated territory. There she can tap the encrypted communication links of the onsite FHP military base for more information. Kee can also get away from one particular Valovian--the weapons expert for whom she has been pining. But best-laid plans do not always succeed. Book two of Mihalik's Hunt the Stars trilogy sets the stage for an intense and exciting conclusion to her romantic interstellar adventure.COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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New York Times Bestselling Author Kit Rocha
"Book two of Mihalik's trilogy sets the stage for an intense and exciting conclusion to her romantic interstellar adventure." — Booklist
"Fans of Nalini Singh will swoon for this stoic psychic space warrior hero, and fall in love with a badass mercenary captain heroine who will go to any lengths to protect her wounded-squad-turned-found-family. Compelling, steamy, and impossible to put down—Mihalik has created a world I want to visit again and again for years to come. Give me more sexy hot psychic space aliens!" — New York Times Bestselling Author Kit Rocha
"An intoxicating journey through the galaxy." — Entertainment Weekly on Polaris Rising
"Polaris Rising is space opera at its best, intense and addictive, a story of honor, courage, betrayal, and love. Jessie Mihalik is an author to watch." — Ilona Andrews, #1 New York Times bestelling author
"Heart-pounding futuristic action and scorching chemistry make Polaris Rising a thrilling ride. A gripping and sexy space adventure!" — Amanda Bouchet, USA Today bestselling author of The Kingmaker Chronicles
“I loved everything about this story...when I finished and the story left me craving more of this world and characters. Highly recommend!”
— Jeffe Kennedy, RITA Award winning author, on Polaris Rising
