One of the hardest things for me in writing reviews is preparing one for a book, which received so many rave reviews. (I wonder what can I say what has not already been said.) What is even harder is writing a review for said book when it does not in your opinion live up to the hype.

I struggled with the story and I took a while to get to the end. For me it was the longest and slowest journey in a fictional world.

World building:  I enjoyed the world the author created from a fictional perspective.   Living in constant fear and oppression, no freedom of speech and risk going to jail for the simplest of things is are some of what the inhabitants of this world faced.

Tess:  Her loyalty, selflessness and inner strength were her most endearing qualities. Her experiences growing up shaped her into the person she is today. She has no wish for the orphans and her friends to experience the same horrors she did and so she would do anything to protect them.

Shade:  Exudes confidence, is observant and have an awesome sense of humour.

The secondary characters proved an interesting bunch. From Tess’s crew members to evil Overseer.

The Story:  It began on a high note and I had expectations of grandeur for this one. This however was shot to the ground after the first ten percent of the story. I believe there was a lot of unnecessary information and the story lost its engagement factor as a result

I could not fathom the lack of tension and fearful anticipation by Tessa and her crew. They are on the run, granted they knew nothing about the bounty on her head, but they acted as if all was well.

I expected there would be lots of action.  This was not the case. The action scenes appeared at around the seventy percent mark. At this point, the story felt rushed and the appeal this aspect was to emit was lost on me.

Romance: I understand her being attracted to Shade and yes, she has not been with a man for seven years. We all have wants, but how do you find time to be thinking about sexual gratification with the threat of recapture hanging over your head. She keeps putting herself out there and he rejects her every attempt at seduction. Her actions reeked of desperation.  Eventually, they got together, but I had a hard time accepting their relationship, especially knowing they were both deceiving each other.

Shade’s deception did not go down well with me.  He had ample time to make Tess aware of the situation, but he failed to warn her.

The ending, although not a cliffhanger indicated that the story will continue.  Despite my disappointment with how this installment developed, I am curious to know how upcoming events will unfold.

I know there many readers who raved about this installment, but for me it was just ok. Although it was not a favourite, I would recommend it because there are others who may enjoy it more than I did. Readers who enjoy sci-fi romance can pick up this latest offering by Amanda Bouchet