Rating: 4 stars

I received an advance review copy from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I found Nightchaser a really addictive and engaging read. I read the lion's share in a single sunny afternoon, but I definitely felt more like I was racing through space rather than laying out at home. The setting was interesting, and I'm pleased that it wasn't over-explained as some fantasy novels can tend to be.

Tess was a great main character, her motives were easy to understand but also felt very human. I particularly adored her relationship with Bonk, as a cat-obsessed woman myself. But most of all, I want to scream praise for the portrayal of Jax and Tess's relationship. Best friends, life partners, who don't! have! to! be! romantic! More of this, please, I'm severely lacking in the platonic soul mates representation. The relationships between the characters are the highlight of this novel, and I can't wait for the rest of this series to find out exactly what's going to happen in these space adventures.

Tess is on a mission to survive, and save the orphanage she grew up in from a space tyrant

Spoiler

who happens to be her dad

. She's Robin Hood, but in space, and I love that. She ends up meeting Shade, a space pirate with his eye on every high bounty he can get. They fall in love, but there's also a lot more to this world than just their relationship. There's a universe to save, after all.

My main, and pretty much my only, complaint about this book was the sex scenes. In the middle of the book, there was a full chapter and a half of awkwardly written smut, and then another tucked in later in the book. I don't mind sex scenes in my books by any means, but these ones felt kind of weird and uncomfortable with awkward dialogue and weird descriptions. Maybe that's just my perspective, but I hope the second book in the series has more subtle sex scenes, or less awkward ones.