FTC disclaimer: I was not sent this product. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned. All opinions are my own.
My Plot Introduction:
Tess Bailey and her crew are constantly being hunted for... well... basically being the good guys when an evil dictatorship runs the show. And they're doing it in space. In a space ship.
All is going (mostly) well until Tess' ship gets so badly damaged that the whole crew have to stop at the closest planet possible to get it repaired. Conveniently a gorgeous repair-man called Shade is willing to help the crew, but can Tess and Shade learn to trust one another before it's too late?
Rating: 3 / 5
You might have noticed I'm on a bit of a Bouchet roll - yay! Currently my Holy Trinity of female fantasy authors involves Armentrout, J. Maas and Bouchet. All incredible. Moving onto the review.
As I did with 'House of Earth and Blood', this review is getting split in half between what went well and some of Bouchet's missed opportunities, as there was just a lot to say.
What I loved:
I turned to 'Nightchaser' looking for a book to unwind with, and it definitely allowed me to do this!
It was a fun first sci-fi novel read for me.
Our couple has some hilarious banter; Shade calls her "princess" which we all know I'm a sucker for. And he rescues a cat. Legendary behaviour.
We got the 'fake relationship' trope with a pretend kiss, allowing me to give it a mental chef's kiss!
Shade offers to help teach Tess to fight. Love this trope (although I wish it had been explored more extensively.)
Bouchet was seriously imaginative with her action sequences. One of them reminded me of that scene in 'Stowaway' where Anna Kendrick is reeling herself up the ship attached to a cord...
Aspects I just couldn't get behind:
Our protagonists full name is Quintessa Novalight. Enough said there. Oh, and she names a cat Bonk. Also abominable.
Similarly to Bouchet's 'Promise of Fire' series, I felt that this novel started in an odd place. The references to Tess' past were so interesting and I felt like this should have been the second novel of the series!
The fashion choices were just not the vibe. Tess, don't ever show off about wearing "fitted black pants, ankle boots, and pale-yellow tank top".
There were a couple of gender stereotypes I didn't love, and at one point Bouchet forgot that gay women existed.
Sometimes the romance was funny, but sometimes it was cringey. Never again do I want to un-ironically imagine what constitutes a "sex-on-a-stick smile".
We are sort of given Shade's POV throughout which crushed any element of unpredictability in the plot.
A few of the side characters were just chucked in with little to no development.
Conclusion: A fun read with a few too many loose strings!
Author Website: https://amandabouchet.com/
Novel on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43412851-nightchaser
Review written 28/02/2022