Ha! This story wasn’t quite what I was expecting but I still had a lot of fun with it. Jane is all woman, reveling in her sexuality as much as she revels in being a bounty hunter. Set in a far future where Earth no longer exists and pure humans are a thing of history books, Jane travels around the galaxy sweeping up criminals and getting paid handsomely to do it.

Her latest bounty comes with specific instructions. Jane likes the idea of the challenge and she takes off after Ash, a Phoenix. He’s got special powers that make it hard to keep him in custody. And Jane would love to have him in custody all right. He’s a handsome attractive man with muscles in all the right places. Sex is never far from Jane’s mind and while I found this amusing most of the time, sometimes I did role my eyes. I could have used a little more plot and little less innuendo.

Then there’s Jane’s skimpy steampunk outfit. We don’t get much description so it’s mostly left up to the reader’s imagination. Jane does use her curves and legs and other feminine attributes like a weapon… or a snare. While I’m all for using whatever you have to hand to get the job done or get yourself out of trouble, I do wish we could have seen some of her other skills in action.

Zula was a fun sidekick. She’s Jane’s second in command on the Pittsburgh and she’s a bit snarky with that high IQ of hers. There’s 2 other crew members (Masha and Tamzea) but we don’t get to know much about them. Perhaps that will change as the series moves forward.

The baddies for this book are the Denards. They have a thing for annihilating whole planets and whipping naked captives for personal satisfaction. I also hope the series expands on this alien species and their motives (as individuals or as a whole culture).

All told, it was a fun, fast paced action-packed scifi flick. While I would have liked a bit more on plot and character development, it was still entertaining. 4/5 stars.

The Narration: Ashley Holt has a unique cadence. Initially, I thought this was just a unique voice for Jane but Holt uses the same cadence for all her characters for the entire book. It reminded me a little of William Shatner’s unique cadence. Mostly she had unique voices for each character but sometimes the voices got a bit muddied and the clarity of who was saying or doing what was muddled. Her male voices were masculine. I did find the narration a bit slow as some syllables are stretched out for emphasis. So I did something I rarely do – I sped up the narration to 1.25X. The narration was much smoother at this speed and increased my enjoyment of the book. 3.5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Ashley Holt. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Note: While this is Book 2 in the series, this works fine as a stand alone novel.

It was fun getting to know Tamzea in this novel. In Book 1, Starblind, she was a rather minor character. Here, she is center stage. Even as memories from her past haunt her dreams, her future lies rooted in that past. The Pittsburgh has bumped into an unexpected spacepod with an even more unexpected cargo. This cargo drags Tamzea back into a hell hole she once escaped.

Eron, Tamzea’s other half, has been trapped in that hell hole all these years. The two must figure out their escape together even as they decide on their new relationship. There’s plenty of sexy scenes in this book, as there was in Book 1. They are delightfully steamy even if some of them are rather brief.

This space opera is quick and breezy fun. Jane still has a role as captain. She’s got a whiny side when her mate, Ash, is off doing something, leaving her alone. Zula and Masha also put in appearances but their roles are small. I liked the new addition of Eron though I felt that most of the focus was on his most masculine attributes (especially during the sex scenes).

The pace is fast and well spaced between action scenes, sexy bits, and a little bit of character reflection or growth. The Denards continue to be the baddies in this series with little depth but I can live with that. While I did like Book 1 a little more, this was a good addition to the series. 3.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Ashley Holt continues to have a distinctive cadence in her narration. It’s not bad but it is an acquired taste. Since I was already familiar with her work from Starblind, I found her narration a good continuation for the series. Mostly, her character voices were distinct but sometimes they were muddied. Her male voices were masculine. Once again, I did speed up the narration just a touch (1.25X) as so many of the syllables are really drawn out. Increasing the speed made the narration sound more natural. 3.5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. This tour is being sponsored by Spectrum Audiobooks. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Hidden Gates - D T Dyllin

Pj’s best friend is Bryn who is a guardian and PJ is a seer. PJ and Bryn have grown up together and eventually Bryn will be PJ’s guardian. One thing is PJ loves Bryn and that is forbidden in her society and also Bryn loves her. She can only be with a gatekeeper or a Seer. Seer’s have premonitions of the future.  Then PJ and Bryn are caught together and Bryn is sent away. PJ has a premonition of aliens taking over the earth but no one believes her. Then Khol enters the picture and claims he is her mate.

This is a great story and plot. There is : action, revelations, danger, surprises, underage drinking, and even romance. The characters are awesome especially PJ and all the twists and turns she goes through. I highly recommend.

I received an ARC of this story for an honest review.

Full review can be found HERE

Full review can be found on InD'tale Magazine's Goodreads profile. Reviewed Holiday 2014.