Simone has hunted and slain psychotic vampires night after night for hundreds of years and desperately needs a change. When the leader of the Immortal Guardians offers her an opportunity to guard ten mortal women who are venturing to another planet, she dives right in and finds traveling into space and meeting amazing alien races just as exciting as she'd hoped… until an enemy attacks. Simone saves everyone she can before she's thrust into an escape pod and the ship explodes. Alone, fearing some—if not all—of her friends have been killed, she vows to seek vengeance. Despite his fierce reputation and propensity for violating the law, Janwar has formed a friendship with strait-laced Prince Taelon of Lasara. When the prince's ship is destroyed, Janwar joins the massive Aldebarian Alliance-wide search and rescue mission and soon locates the Gathendien ship that launched the attack. An odd thing happens, however, as he and his crew stealthily approach it. The lifeforms inside begin to perish, two or three at a time in quick succession. Much to his surprise, someone else has reached the ship first: one of the very Earth women he hoped to rescue. Fascinatingly fierce, Simone bands together with Janwar and his crew to search for her missing friends and wreak havoc upon those who wish to harm them. She also widens eyes, drops jaws, and sparks laughter and mischief as she banishes the warriors' world-weariness and makes each day seem like a new adventure. The friendship that grows between Janwar and Simone swiftly deepens into love. But the enemy warriors they face are tenacious and boast more weapons in their arsenal than the alliance knows. Can Janwar, Simone, and such a small crew vanquish them?

MY THOUGHTS

What a fun book! It’s like Firefly/Serenity starring Jack Sparrow. The story is compelling as are the characters and the world building is top notch. The visuals that Dianne Duvall paints of the environments are so vivid you can see it all so clearly in your mind. The characters, as always, are what make the book and they are so very endearing here.

Audiobook Note:

Kirsten Potter is an amazing narrator. I love how she can bring the characters to life, and make each of them as distinctive in voice as they are on the page.

About the Characters

Simone is capable, driven, and fierce. She truly lives for the moment and sees the good in every situation. Janwar is surprisingly sweet and unashamed, though still keeps his intimidating piratical reputation in tact. There are too many others to describe, but I loved each and every one and hope they all get stories.

Things I Liked

I love Simone and Janwar, both together, and as individual characters. You just can’t help but adore them. I love all the crossovers from previous books. Eliana in particular pops up several times. I LOVE T. I could describe T in the characters, but he defies description and I wouldn’t want to ruin meeting and getting to know him for anyone. He’s so fun and truly became a favorite character.

Things I Didn’t Like

I get that we’re in sci-fi territory, but every once in a while, the “advanced tech” thing almost makes things too easy. There’s nearly always an answer as simple as “there’s a tech for that”. That being said, there really are some cool things and ideas. I also feel that as much as this series is supposed to stand on its own, it makes me a tiny bit sad to see it actually begin to forge some distance from the Immortal Guardians series and grow into its own.

More Thoughts

Because the various characters began in the same place, we see different perspectives of the same incident that happened toward the end of book one. It keeps things cohesive and all the more immersive. We follow the different paths and find new people every time. I’m excited by all the new characters introduced (either new or seen briefly before). I thought I knew who the next book would feature, but now I’m not sure. There are a few options and I would be held rapt by any of them.

Does it stand alone?

Dianne Duvall does a good job writing all her books to stand alone yet flow seamlessly with the series. This book could stand alone quite well, though as always would best be read in order.

Bottom Line

Yes, there are some harrowing moments, but overall this was a fun read. Loveable characters abound and new adventures happen all the time. I definitely recommend reading all about Simone the Conquorer and her teddy bear , “Jack”.