I was gifted a ARC copy of this book by the author, thank you so much!
This book’s dedication says it all: if you watched the newer Star Trek for Chris Pine, you would like this book. It’s a sci-fi romance in the contemporary style but the sci-fi would not be satisfying for someone who enjoys sci-fi regularly. The sci-fi was unoriginal, simplistic, and lacked a lot of depth that you find in most sci-fi stories. For example, no ethical concerns were raised about interacting with an alien species on a new moon, and their overall 5 year mission was very vague. As a sci-fi lover, this book didn’t satisfy. This book started off pretty strong as I got to know the FMC and her hopes and dreams in starting her first commission. However, the romance in general felt insta-lovey and the characters didn’t have any kind of emotional chemistry. I think part of that was the lack of depth in the characters’ personalities. Even though they both had some trauma/personal struggles I didn’t see as much of it as I wanted in the story. I also didn’t like the bedroom talk, there was some cringey stuff that wasn’t to my taste. The high drama space challenges (like equipment failure, asteroid shower, etc.) resolved really quickly and lost some weight, and the main conflict in the relationship (captain and subordinate) ended up not being a big deal, which wasn’t a satisfying resolution. Lots of people really enjoyed this book, but I think the mediocre sci-fi elements combined with the shallow romance and cringey bedroom talk made this not a favorite for me. I would love more contemporary romances in the sci-fi genre though!