CBR18 Book 3: "Silver & Blood" by Jessie Mihalik

Page count: 448 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for this ARC. It has not affected my opinions or my review.

About a year ago, the small village where Riela lives alone after the death of her father was threatened by a flood. Riela unlocked magical powers and managed to divert the water and save the village. Now one of the villagers has been savaged by a monster in the woods, and the mostly hostile villagers insist that she go into the forest and dispatch the monster for them. Unfortunately, Riela doesn't really have much control over her magical powers, and when she encounters a scary creature seemingly made out of tangled vines, which then divides itself into two, she's pretty convinced this is how she's going to die.

It would be a fairly short book if Riela died in the opening scenes; however, instead, she is rescued by a handsome, yet grouchy, mage and wakes up in his strange castle, where she initially can't go anywhere but where the castle feels like letting her go. While she's happy to have escaped death, Riela is upset when Garrick reveals that she is now confined to the forest. There's a magical spell that traps anyone with magical powers inside its borders, so now Riela can't return home. While Garrick claims she can stay in his magical castle (with a gorgeous library) and that he'll help her try to get better at controlling her magic, he also seems deeply suspicious of her and her motives. 

Spending more time together, Riela discovers why Garrick is so suspicious of her. He is, in fact, one of the legendary Etheri sovereigns, and because of a curse, he has been kept away from his magical realm for the last century, and now it seems like Riela might be instrumental in helping him open the gate again. Was she sent there by his enemies with sinister motives, or is she what she appears to be, an orphaned village woman with no idea how to control her magic? 

There are strong Beauty and the Beast vibes in this first part of a fantasy duology. The orphaned village maiden. The strange, magical castle in the woods (although there is no talking furniture in this one). The grouchy resident of said castle, and the maiden's inability to go back home. There is also a shapeshifting wolf, but he's the sidekick, not our hero. While the mystical, magical beings of this fantasy are called the Etheri (there's a bunch of different courts, ruled by various sovereigns), they are very fay-coded, both in their grace and viciousness. 

When I received this ARC, I thought this was the first part in a trilogy. I am very happy to discover that it's a duology instead, and according to Ms. Mihalik's website, book 2 may be coming out towards the end of 2026. There was a lot to like in this book, although the stretch where Garrick's internal monologue seems to switch between how attractive he finds Riela and how convinced he is that she is some dangerous creature sent to entrap him somehow goes on for too long. 

It's going to come as no surprise to anyone who has read fantasy in the past that there is more to Riela's identity than meets the eye, and the plot of the story is trying to figure out both how Garrick can get the magically sealed portal in his castle garden open again, so he can go back to his magical court, and why Riela's magic is so strange and she seems to be the key to getting the portal open again. 

For the most part, I liked the banter between Riela and Garrick, and I especially enjoyed Riela's disastrous attempts to get the magical castle to conjure food for her. For the first half of the book, the entire story is just Garrick and Riela, but in the second half, more supporting cast are introduced, and I liked their interactions with both Garrick and Riela. This book ends in a good place, while still making me very excited to read the second part. 

Silver & Blood comes out on January 27th, 2026. 

Judging a book by its cover: Mostly, I really love this cover, drawn by the talented Luisa Preissler (although I'm not sure why Garrick appears to have forgotten to put on his shirt. The silver embroidery on Garrick's tunic is nice, as are the tiny white flowers in Riela's hair. The castle in the background and the red roses are also cool story elements to include.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR14 Book 7: "Hunt the Stars" by Jessie Mihalik

Page count: 428 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Hello, welcome back to Malin reviews things she read several months ago, in this case - FIVE whole months. Let's start off with the official book description:

Octavia Zarola would do anything to keep her tiny, close-knit bounty hunting crew together—even if it means accepting a job from Torran Fletcher, a ruthless former general and her sworn enemy. When Torran offers her enough credits to not only keep her crew afloat but also hire someone to fix her ship, Tavi knows that she can’t refuse—no matter how much she’d like to.

With so much money on the line, Torran and his crew insist on joining the hunt. Tavi reluctantly agrees because while the handsome, stoic leader pushes all of her buttons—for both anger and desire—she’s endured worse, and the massive bonus payment he’s promised for a completed job is reason enough to shut up and deal.

But when they uncover a deeper plot that threatens the delicate peace between humans and Valoffs, Tavi suspects that Torran has been using her as the impetus for a new war. With the fate of her crew balanced on a knife’s edge, 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 squad to die on the battlefield. And this time, she’s put her heart on the line.

I enjoyed the first two books in Mihalik's previous series, Consortium Rebellion. But Malin, if you liked those books so much, why didn't you read book 3? To which the answer is obviously that I was busy or distracted with something else when the book came out, I bought it when it appeared in an e-book sale so I'd have it when I wanted it, and then I completely forgot about it because it wasn't the newest and shiniest thing grabbing my attention. In other words, Chaos Reigning, I will get round to you at some point. 

This, on the other hand, was new and shiny and caught my attention immediately upon release, especially because my friend Emmalita gave a positive review of the ARC. She has excellent taste and if she says a book is good, I'm likely to really enjoy it too. So never mind me not having finished Mihalik's previous series (the books are stand-alones, anyway), my brain wanted this brand of romantic space adventure escapism instead. 

I really have not done myself any favours by waiting five months before reviewing the book. Hence this is all going to be what I remember now, with my swiss-cheese depression brain. Tavi and her crew mates (think found family) are veterans of some sort of space war.  Now they basically work as bounty hunters of sorts. One of the generals from the enemy side of said war comes to Tavi with an offer she basically can't afford to refuse, because of course her spaceship is badly in need of repairs (these spaceships are so rarely new and state of the art). If I remember correctly, Tavi and her crew are humans, while the enemies are humanoid and could pass for humans, but have woobly psychic powers of some kind. Possibly only some of them have the woobly psychic powers, the general certainly does. But Tavi has trained herself to shield her thoughts, and she's taught her crew as well. Hence the general can't mess with them.

Anyways, they take the job, even though they're not exactly happy about it. Tavi charges the general a truly exorbitant rate, and figures that the mission has to be both very dangerous and very personal to him since he's willing to pay without hardly any haggling at all. The mission will take them to the general's home world. Is it all a trap? How long will it take, with both of them forced together on a small ship, before Tavi and the honorable and quietly dignified, but also dangerous enemy general fall prey to their pants feelings for one another? How many secondary romances are going to be set up as sequel bait? 

You'll have to read the book because by now, I really don't remember. As well as the ragtag bunch of found family members on a space hulk, we also have an adorable pet thrown in the mix. Tavi has a pet fox-like creature that she rescued during the war. Apparently, these creatures are seen as almost sacred on the woobly psychic alien world, so the fact that she's had one since it was a poor orphaned baby is also something that earns her the respect of the former enemies. 

As enemies to lovers romances go, I seem to recall that it doesn't take that long for the enemy part to fade away to mutual respect, and Mihalik seems to like sci-fi romances where each couple gets their own book. So in this one, it's Tavi and general Torran (I almost called him General Woobly, which I like better) who fall crazy in love and there will be at least two more books, I think, with a new couple in each one. There's a bunch of action both on and off the spaceship. There are quiet moments of getting to know one another, there are thrilling moments, and the occasional tense (oh noes we're in danger) moments. Even now, five months later, I remember the book fondly enough to give it four stars. It's not one of those reads that's likely to change your life, but it's entertaining and I liked spending time with the characters, and look forward to what comes next in future installments. 

Judging a book by its cover: There are some covers that do pretty much exactly what you need them to. This book features romantic science fiction, and the cover promises you exactly that. You've got your spaceship, your impressive space vistas, your heroic protagonists in silhouette, both facing away from each other and clearly together. The colour choices are pleasant, but I've seen a lot more interesting covers in the past. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR11 Book 82: "Aurora Blazing" by Jessie Mihalik

Page count: 400 pages
Rating: 4 stars

This is the second book in a series. While this book can be read independently, there are details to the world building and continuity that's better explained in book 1, Polaris Rising, so you may want to begin with that one.

Official book description:
Bianca von Hasenberg did her duty for High House von Hasenberg and ended up trapped in a terrible marriage. When her husband dies unexpectedly and leaves her a happy widow, she vows never to marry again. Instead, she uses her connections to save other young women. Information is power and Bianca has a network that would be the envy of the ’verse—if anyone knew about it.

After an attack, Bianca’s oldest brother, the House von Hasenberg heir, disappears from Earth without a trace. Determined to find him, Bianca leaves against orders. When she refuses to return, her father sends Ian Bishop, the director of House von Hasenberg security, to haul her home like a recalcitrant child.

Bianca leads Ian on a merry chase across the universe, but when their paths finally collide, she persuades him that they would be far more successful at finding her brother if they worked together. She will do anything to save her sibling, even if it means spending time alone on a small ship with the handsome, infuriating man who once broke her heart.

As clues lead them deep into rival House Rockhurst territory, Bianca must decide if she can trust Ian with the one piece of information that could destroy her completely. . .

I read the first book in the series back in March, but didn't get round to reviewing it until June. I read this book in October, and am forcing myself to catch up on reviews now, two months later, otherwise I won't actually manage to complete my double Cannonball this year. There was a time when I could write ten to fifteen reviews in the last days of December, but that was before I had a nearly two-year-old child. Hence taking time I should probably spend grading (but all work etc.) to do some book blogging.

This book had a slow start, but managed to hold my attention and even when I wasn't reading, I kept wanting to pick it up. That's not as common as I'd like these days, so kudos to Ms. Mihalik for managing it. Both the heroine and hero appear as minor supporting characters in the previous book, and had undeniable chemistry in the few scenes they shared there too. I think my main complaint with this book may be that it's just a little bit TOO slow burn. It would have been nice to have some indications earlier in the story that Bianca's attraction to Ian wasn't a one-sided thing. Ian keeps his emotions bottled up just that little bit too much.

Also, in slight spoiler territory, I would have liked it if Ian's deep dark secret hadn't pretty much turned out to be more or less exactly the same as Marcus' in the first book. It seemed a little bit too convenient, but didn't exactly ruin my enjoyment much, so I'll let it pass.

This is a thrilling space adventure featuring two damaged individuals who are both extremely good at what they do, and much in the same way as Marcus and Ada keep ending up in scrapes and then rescuing the other, Bianca and Ian get each other out of trouble while trying to outsmart House von Hasenberg's enemies. To be entirely honest, if you asked me for detailed specifics of the plot now that two months have passed, I'd be hard-pressed to remember much, but Mihalik writes a really entertaining blend of sci-fi, romance and action adventures, and I'm already looking forward to the concluding volume, out in May of next year.

Judging a book by its cover: I like this cover better than the previous book in the series, but that may be entirely because it's dominated by shades of red and purple, which are both favourite colours of mine. I like the choice to not show the whole of the cover model's face, making it easier for the reader to project their own idea of what the heroine looks like.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR11 Book 24: "Polaris Rising" by Jessie Mihalik

Page count: 448 pages
Audio book length: 12hrs 41 mins
Rating: 3.5 stars

From Goodreads:
As the seventh of nine children, Ada von Hasenberg knows that her only value to House von Hasenberg is as a political pawn in an arranged marriage. But after watching two of her older sisters get auctioned off to horrible men, Ada refuses to play her part. She flees off-planet and disappears for two years.

Ada’s father, fed up with her rebellion, offers a bounty for her safe return. The universe is a big place, but mercs are everywhere, and Ada is caught. With the merc ship full, she’s forced to share a cell with Marcus Loch, the Devil of Fornax Zero. Rumor has it he murdered every commanding officer who issued orders during the Fornax Rebellion. All anyone knows for sure is that the Royal Consortium wants his head.

Ada has no trouble believing the muscled man chained in the back of her cell is a killer. But when their ship is attacked by forces from rival House Rockhurst, Ada must decide whether to trust him—because once you release the devil, you can’t put him back. And when the attack heralds the opening salvo of a much bigger war, Ada must determine where her loyalties truly lie.

As if some of the reviews I did earlier this year weren't a bit sub par, when I was trying to remember things I read one or even two months ago, my massive work load and other priorities have now resulted in there now being a nearly three month long gap between the books at the bottom of my review backlog and me actually writing about them - and as a consequence, I should probably apologise in advance for what is likely to be a thoroughly middling review.

This is by no means a bad book, there's romance, there's action, there's all manner of fanciful technology. The hero and heroine keep getting into dangerous situations, and there's a nice balance of Marcus rescuing Ada and vice versa. Ada certainly isn't a damsel in distress, but she relies more on cunning and connections than brawn to get her out of a sticky situation. Marcus is obviously not the terrible villain that the blurb makes him out to be, there's moral and understandable reasons for his insubordination and since the series, of which this is the first book, is called The Consortium Rebellion, it's safe to assume that the Consortium that controls things is something worth rebelling against. There's some perfectly enjoyable supporting characters, but I can't really say I remember much more than Ada has a friend, Marcus has some friends, there's a plot moppet and maybe his grandma? They don't feature heavily in the main plot.

Ada may be a space princess, but she's sick of her father's expectations. While she's quite happy to go off and do her own thing, she's not exactly willing to give up on her family's wealth, having squirrelled away as much as she can of her substantial personal funds and whatever else she can lay her hands on in private accounts. That comes in handy when she goes on the run.

I really do only remember snippets of the plot by now. The book starts with Ada and Marcus being thrown in the same cell on a space ship. Since the people after Ada are worse than even the big threatening looking lug she's locked up with, Ada decides she has no choice but to trust him to help her get away. As she quickly discovers, he's not at all as bad as his reputation suggests, they find one another extremely attractive (and he's totally OK waiting until she's ready to act on that mutual attraction, which takes quite a while, in fact). At some point, they steal a space ship. There's a fair amount of space travel and planet hopping.

At one point, Ada goes back home and sees her older sister, now widowed after an unhappy marriage. The sister is going to be the heroine of the next book in the series, and I'm looking forward to the book, as I liked her (and the family security chief and the mutual secret pining that has clearly been going on between them approximately forever).

I also seem to remember that Ada's father and her arranged to be married to intended are both odious to a moustache-twirling degree. Some nuance would have been nice here. As I said, it's a perfectly fine book, but I will say that I have adjusted my initial rating of this book down from 4 stars to 3.5, because I feel that if the book was really good, I would remember more than a faint outline even this long afterwards.

I can't remember anything that stood out, either positively or negatively with the audio narration, so that was probably fine too. Fine seems to be the main adjective in this review. I am happy to be able to add another sci-fi book to the "Liked" pile - it doesn't happen too often.

Judging a book by its cover: The book has a perfectly fine cover. There's not exactly any doubt that this is science fiction, with our heroine wearing a figure-hugging futuristic spacesuit, holding up a blaster and looking ready for action. Just in case you still needed convincing, there's a spaceship in the background. I like the various shades of blue, actually. It's not the most eye-catching or exciting cover, but it also doesn't make your eyes bleed.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.