Publisher: Red Sage Publishing
Publish Date: Out Now!
How I got this book: eARC from author
Captain Michael Drake desperately needs an army to save Earth after a crushing defeat by alien invaders. When his damaged starship docks at a remote prison colony, he discovers Earth’s last best hope—an army to replace the one he lost.
But, Queenie, the feral goddess ruling the prison, has other plans for the rugged star ship captain. After imprisoning Drake and seizing his ship, she prepares to lead her blood-thirsty band to freedom before the invaders track them down.
Despite her intentions, Queenie secretly falls for the sexy, hotshot captain. Drake makes it plain he wants to win back Earth with her by his side. But is following her heart worth betraying her people?
* Blurb from Goodreads*
One of the main reasons I decided to review this book by Massey was because of her email request, noting that I had read and enjoyed previous space-opera style romances. While I’ll admit this wasn’t my favorite, I did enjoy it.
Drake hates to run away, but when he looks to be the last thing that could possibly revenge earth, he and his crew must do just that. While on the run he takes his chance going to a prison planet to find resources and fix his ship. The last thing Drake expected to find was that the prisoners had taken over the planet, and that their Queen would bring him to his knees.
Queenie has been raised to unite her people and get them off the prison planet. When a ship lands she finally gets that chance. She doesn’t know what to think about Drake and his wild story about the hostile takeover of Earth, but she does know that he makes her giddy. When an attack comes to her planet, Queenie and Drake will have to join forces to do anything and everything to save the human race.
There were parts of this book I really enjoyed, despite the fact that I felt like it really dragged in parts. The books starts out with a epilogue of when Drake was a child and witnessed something awful happen to his sister, while I understand that one event had a huge impact on him, I also felt like it didn’t really add that much to the story. Plus, being that so much in the beginning was dedicated to that, and that it was mentioned so many times throughout the story, I just figured something more would come of it, but nothing ever did.
I enjoyed the characters a lot. Drake was broody and tortured, and yet he was also kind and sweet. It was obvious how protective he was of his crew, and just how desperately he wanted to add Queenie to the list of people he wanted to be “his.” I adored Drake, despite his somewhat frequent feelings of inadequacy.
On the other hand Queenie ran hot and cold for me. She was one of the heroines that I loved one moment, and couldn’t stand the next. I felt for her past and the way she was raised, but at times I just thought she was too cold, too hard, too detached to be a believable heroine. Her desire and passion for Drake never really came across and sincere and believable for me. I would have liked a little more emotion from her, instead of the few glimpses we saw.
I loved the overall plot and feel of the book. In many ways it reminded me of one of my all time favorite science fiction television shows: Battlestar Gallactica. Only a few humans left on earth, being hunted down to extension by a fellow alien race. The constant cheering for the underdog, it was fabulous in that aspect.
All in all I enjoyed this book. Yes, there were some very slow parts in the middle, some scenes that I didn’t connect with. But overall the story and plot were fun and enjoyable to read. Any fans of the BSG TV show should pick this one up!
I give Queenie’s Brigade a C+
