I discovered Zoe Archer last year when she did a book blog tour to promote her Blades of the Rose series (
Warrior (Blades of the Rose).) I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Archer's writing style and her ability to tell an amazing story. I even sought out her back list and was highly entertained by
Love in a Bottle. Even though COLLISION COURSE was in a totally different genre than what she's written in the past, I was sure she'd be able to pull it off. And she did.
In a galaxy far, far away...okay, so that's not how the story goes, but it does have a STAR WAYS vibe to it--in a very good way. Black-market dealer Mara Skiren is strong-armed into "helping" the 8th Wing recover a top-secret spaceship and its missing pilot. Because she's a scavenger and outlaw, she knows the other lowlifes who seek to profit from pirating and stealing. Part of this "helping" comes with a partner, something that irks Mara more than being blackmailed by the "good guys"--even if this partner is ace pilot Commander Kell Frayne who is sexy as hell. Soon, Mara and Kell are navigating the outer reaches of space, the outlaw planet and market places, infiltrating a black market auction, and pulling off the rescue of the century.
What I loved:
1. Mara--she is strong, smart, and lives on the wild side. She hasn't had an easy life and doesn't expect anything to be handed to her.
2. Kell--who doesn't love a man in uniform? Especially if he knows when to take it off and mix with the locals? His life hasn't been easy either, but he fights for a better life for himself and those around him.
3. The action--Wow! There were a lot of cool action scenes that played out nicely. It was easy to visualize what was happening, and I found myself completely caught up in it.
4. The romance--the chemistry between Kell and Mara was very palatable. You can sense the sparks flying. You can feel the changes between them. The progression of their relationship felt very organic and real.
There were a few drawbacks to this story, but they were small and very few.
1. I had a little difficulty getting into this book at first because of all the instant lust flying around. I was afraid it was going to be lust, lust, lust. But it wasn't. They quickly moved from the "you're hot" stage to an actual working relationship. There was a lot of detailed sex, so beware if that's not your thing.
2. Obstacles--Mara and Kell's main obstacle was the whole "he's law and I'm outlaw." It didn't seem all that hard for them to overcome, especially since they successfully burned all of Mara's bridges with her scavenger life just to pull off the mission.
Even though this was a "Sci-Fi" story with lots of weird space and alien terms, I never felt lost as to what was going on or what was being referenced. I couldn't help but draw some STAR WARS parallels to this story, which I think is inevitable for any space story. Think of Mara as the Han Solo and Kell as the Princess Leia and the outlaw planet as Tatooine. Kell is a pilot of the 8th Wing squadron (think Rebel Alliance) and Mara has her own ship (think The Millennium Falcon,) which she uses to smuggle black market items around the galaxy trying to keep out of the grasps of PRAXIS (think the Empire.) Thinking of STAR WARS helped me with all the futuristic terms being used.
I really enjoyed this story and wanted to reread it as soon as I was done. I've seen that other reviewers had said this is a start to a new series, but I can't find anything on her website indicating she has anything more planned for these characters or world. I would love to see more of Mara and Kell and what other adventures they have.
(137 page)
Contains: swear words, including the F variety, detailed sex scenes
***UPDATE 7/22/11***
Zoe Archer has announced that there WILL be a sequel titled
Chain Reaction due out 1/9/2012.
I'm very excited. We need more from this world.
