Starbreaker (Nightchaser, #2)

by Amanda Bouchet

'Amanda Bouchet's talent is striking' Nalini Singh

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THEY NEVER WANTED TO BE HEROES

Captain Tess Bailey and Shade Ganavan are still the galaxy's Most Wanted, and with revolution in the wind and the universe on the brink of catastrophic war, the situation couldn't be more desperate. Despite the Dark Watch scouring the known sectors for them, rebel leaders have handed the crew of the Endeavor a delicate and dangerous mission: break into Starbase 12 and free renowned scientist Reena Ahern. She's the only one who stands a chance of tipping the odds in their favour for the first time in decades.

BUT PULLING OFF THE IMPOSSIBLE IS WHAT THEY DO BEST

The clock is ticking. But as their attraction builds and secrets are revealed, Tess and Shade must decide if they trust each other enough to execute this impossible prison break. They could change the course of history, but they'll be risking everything . . . They'll just have to tackle one crisis at a time.

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Everyone is raving about Amanda Bouchet:

'Breathtakingly hot' Booklist STARRED REVIEW

'Chock full of intrigue, heroism, conflict and sexual tension' Kirkus STARRED REVIEW

'Out-of-this-world' Jennifer Estep, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

'Believe me when I say you need to own this book and anything Amanda Bouchet writes forever' Kate LeBeau, Anderson's Bookshop

'Makes an early bid for one of the best titles of the year' Entertainment Weekly

• ISBN10: 0349420890
• ISBN13: 9780349420899
• Publish Date: 28 April 2020
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Piatkus Books
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

Starbreaker is the second installment to Amanda Bouchet’s Endeavor series. This is one book I’ve been waiting for since I read Nightchaser. Yes, I would say this is one of my ‘most-anticipated’ books to read in 2020. Amanda Bouchet is one author that I will change my reading schedule to make room for her books.

If you have not read the first book, Nightchaser, then I highly recommend you do before diving into Starbreaker. The reason why is the second book picks up where the first book left off in the end. I’m going to try not to spoil anything from this book, especially since this book has a lot in it that happens.

Things I enjoyed in the second book:

1. I loved learning more about Tess in this book. Readers will get more of her history, especially with what happened to her when she was younger. Secrets will be revealed to Tess. It’s going to be a shocker. I’m still shocked and can’t wait until the next book. I need more!

2. I loved Tess and Shade in this book. Shade is all about Tess in this book. Although, Tess still had trust issues with Shade after finding out about his betrayal. There’s a particular part in the book when Shade introduces Tess in his world before the Night Watch. They become connected. There were steamy scenes between the two characters too. Very steamy scenes! 

3. The dangerous, action-packed mission. The Endeavor crew has been tasked to free a renowned scientist Reena Ahern from Starbase 12. This is when all of them will be tested.

4. Secondary characters. I love how Amanda Bouchet not only has me adore her main characters but the secondary characters too. Although, I’m going to go through the book and knock some sense into Jax. He drove me crazy!

5. The bad guys. The Overseer is someone I despise and wish he would go away. The other bad guy in the story I hate too, but now I may have different feelings for also. The Overseer does something unthinkable in this story that makes it even harder for the Endeavor crew to do their jobs soon. The Overseer is pure evil!

I haven’t read much of the Sci-Fi Romance genre, but I love Sci-Fi thanks to the Star Wars franchise. This is why I love this series by Amanda Bouchet because it reminds me so much of Star Wars. I love how the characters have a mission to help other people and how these characters despise the Night Watch. They are trying to be two steps ahead of the bad guys. The bad guys, though, know everything. I can’t wait to find out what happens next with the Endeavor crew, especially after what happened to Tess and her team. Will Tess and Shade have a HEA? Will Tess be able to trust the one person who gave her away when she was younger? 

I only gave this book 4-stars, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t still love it. There was a lot of repetition in the book, but it didn’t stop me from reading the book. I highly recommend this book to readers that loved Amanda Bouchet’s Kingmaker Chronicles and readers that love Sci-Fi Romance. If you are a fan of Star Wars, then these books are for you. 

[kimbacaffeinate]

I love the crew of the Endeavor. After the events of Nightchaser, Captain Tess Bailey, Shade, and the remaining crew (Jaxon Boudreau, Fiona Winterly, and Merrick Maddox) of the Endeavor are still the galaxy’s Most Wanted. In fact, the bounty has tripled for some of them.

Together with Bonk, the cat, they take us along on a fast-paced adventure filled with heists, rescues, and break-ins before Tess has to face down family issues and deal with the Overseer.

The romance between Tess and Shade is heated and feels genuine. It is still developing as they work on trust issues. The two work together as a unit and feed off each other’s strengths, especially in combat situations. They face some obstacles and self-doubt, but we also witness growth and see their unity become stronger. I rooted for them and wanted to bat any perceived interference out of their way.

The Endeavor is scheduled to deliver vials of blood to Tess’s Uncle and accepts a dangerous rescue mission. In between they will execute a heist, spend time at a tropical resort and face people from their pasts. They will even bring some extra crew members on board. Like I said, buckle up…this is one heck of a ride!

Susan Bennett did a stellar job narrating and capturing the voices and emotions of the characters within. She brings their emotions, the conflict and the never ending action to life. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[llamareads]

I have to get this off my chest, but I have no idea what’s up with that cover, which I think is a definite step back from the first book. Other than that, though, essentially all of my criticisms from the first book were addressed, leaving a delightfully fun, fast-paced space romp. This is the second book in the series and I wouldn’t recommend reading this book without reading the first.

“Tess Bailey: pirate. Sailing the galactic seas, stealing shit, and pissing off the authorities.”

This book picks up where the first book left off. After delivering the serum, Tess and crew are immediately assigned a new mission – rescuing a scientist from the heart of the Overseer’s empire. It’s a big jump up from their usual Robin Hood-esque pilfering of food and other cargo, but luckily Tess has help from an unexpected – if not very forthcoming – source. Trust is a precious commodity, though, and Tess is still working through whether she can trust Shade, let alone the man who abandoned her as a child. Things are more dire than they seem, though, and the fate of the universe may hang on Tess and her crew.

“Tess had been my first choice, but I wasn’t hers—at least not yet.”

The Tess in this book is, essentially, the same Tess from the first book, if a little less naive. She’s still an interesting mix of strong and vulnerable, and still willing to throw herself into danger in hopes of making the universe a better place. Shade, on the other hand, is in a state of flux. Shade needs Tess more than she needs him – Tess has her spaceship, her crew, and her identity as a rebel, while Shade has given up everything in his life for her. His past as a bounty hunter – chasing down rebels just like Tess and her crew – casts a pall over their relationship, and while she may be willing to give him a second chance, he’s acutely aware that he needs to earn her trust back. Despite that, they still have the same great chemistry and hilarious banter from the first book.

“He’s a rebel space cat. Explosions will happen.”

I had several criticism about first book that I wrote off as a bad case of first-book-in-a-series-itis, and, for the most part, that seems to have been the case. My big pet peeve – the POV issue – was the item I was most relieved about, as Tess and Shade both have first-person POVs. There’s also a lot more action, and, in fact, besides a minor interlude at a resort, the book is jam-packed with heists (or planning them), firefights, and narrow escapes. There’s also a lot more time spent with the crew, both new and old characters, including my personal favorite, Bonk, the rebel space cat. There’s a good chunk of time spent on Tess and Jax’s relationship, as well as developing the relationship between Jax and Fiona, and introducing Merrick and Sanaa.

“Faith—throughout the eons—is believing without proof. I’d rather have certain beliefs to comfort me when things seem too dark than nothing at all to brighten the horizon.”

I was a bit bemused at the last book’s entry into philosophy – the Overseer is extremely against the arts, in case you’ve forgotten – and this book provided a new discussion point courtesy of a trip to the main temple of the Sky Mother, the dominant religion of the galaxy. Tess is agnostic, while Shade is a believer, and of course they end up discussing his faith and Tess’s lack of it. It’s not terrible, but I do find these sections odd and a bit out of place. The ending, also, was a bit of a firecracker, and while I felt like the rest of the book’s twists were foreshadowed well, the one at the end had me scratching my head.

Overall, though, I enjoyed the book and I’m very interested to know what happens next for Tess and Shade!

I received this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[EBookObsessed]

My big complaint in Book 1 was that I had been looking for a scifi adventure and most of book 1 took place on one planet focusing on the romance between Tess and Shade. Well, Book 2 takes off into the galaxy with all thrusters on full.

You would think that stealing the Galantic Overseer’s entire laboratory filled with his super soldier serum and giving it to the rebellion should have earned them a parade, or a medal or at least a day off, but Tess Bailey, Shade Ganavan and the crew of the Endeavor have been tasked by the rebellion to break a scientist out of one of the Galactic Overseer’s most guarded prisons. This scientist was trying to clean the toxic air of her homeworld after the Overseer poisoned it killing most of the population and leaving the survivors scattered on the nearly barren moons surrounding it. Tess can’t imagine why the rebellion would toss her and her crew into such a dangerous situation with little to no plan or even information, but when she finds out that one of her lost friends is also being held in the same prison, she no longer cares about the why and wants to figure out how quickly they can get there.

Before they can work out the details for that near impossible task, Tess and Shade need to fulfill the deal they made with Tess’s uncle. General Nathaniel Bridgebane, the Overseerer’s second in command, and hope that he hasn’t led them into a trap. Tess becomes more and more confused about her Uncle the more their paths cross, first because every time their paths cross, he seems more willing to help her rather than capture her and turn her over to the Overseerer, and each time she begins to see the Uncle Nate who cared for her as a child. And when he begins orchestrating things to help Tess and the rebels, Tess begins to wonder if she has misunderstood her Uncle all these years. She was so angry that he abandoned her as a child after her mother died but was leaving at the orphanage, somewhere she was safe and loved, his way of giving her a chance at a better life, especially since he didn’t kill her outright like he was ordered to do?

Just when Tess thinks things might be working out for her and her crew, it seems that stealing the Overseer’s serum has started a chain reaction that she couldn’t see coming especially since the Overseer has crazier plans than even Bridgebane knew about. His idea is…let’s face it bat-shit crazy, but if he succeeds, he would destroy the galaxy as they know it.

While book 1 lacked the galantic excitement I was looking for from a scifi novel, this one more than makes up for it when Tess, Shade and the gang go from one rebel task to the next. We especially get to see this from Shade’s point of view where he learns just how shaky life is now that he is on this side of the rebel line. Now he is part of an outlaw crew, instead of a bounty hunter for the Overseer, and every job they do could get them killed or thrown into one of the Overseer’s horrific prisons. Seeing it described from Shade’s perspective gives us a real feeling for the danger rather than just enjoying the excitement of being a rebel.

This story really kicked up the excitement and danger especially since we see a little more about how sly and crazy the Overseer is, and there is hope that Bridgebane might be more of a secret ally, but how close can he toe the line between the Overseer’s right hand man and rebel helper before he loses his balance? It is getting very interesting.

We are also introduced to new characters and whether or not they can truly be trusted, we will have to wait and hope.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See more at EBookObsessed