Fight Or Flight follows fighter pilot Tirzah Simonian as she flees an abusive husband and is then brought up on charges when he’s killed. Prosecutor Zeke Lucassen is suspicious when the times don’t add up and, when he digs a little further, discovers that certain information has been held back. He then chooses to fight for Tirzah instead of pursuing the case against her.

When I was given the book to review, I was told that it was a “science fiction courtroom drama romance” and that much is true… to a point. Fight Or Flight reads like two novellas tacked together, the first half following the case while the second is more about Tirzah and Zeke’s relationship. There isn’t much of a courtroom scene and the case is solved pretty easily, which came as something of a disappointment to me, as I was hoping for more conflict.

Character-wise, the story does better. Tirzah is a strong heroine who’s been through hell and carries the scars. It’s easy to sympathise with and root for her. Zeke is okay, but I question his reaction to Tirzah, especially as he kisses her when he’s still supposes to be on prosecuting team. Would a man of his reputation really risk his career in such an unprofessional manner?

Overall though, Vanessa North writes a nice sci fi romance with a good amount of spice.

Genre: space opera romance
Length: novel
Primary Book Format: e-book
Publisher/Imprint: Liquid Silver Books
Blush Quotient: pink
Smart Girls Rating: 3 stars

Given a choice between fight or flight, Tirzah Simonian has always been a fighter, but when she turns to flight to escape her disastrous marriage, her life comes crashing around her in a stolen transport. Now she’s to be tried by court-martial, and an acquittal is her only chance to save her career and get her life back on track.

Advocate-Commander Zeke Lucassen has no love for women who abandon their spouses. He’s under pressure from the Fleet to close the case hard and imprison Tirzah in the work camps, but the evidence he’s been given doesn’t add up. He has to choose between believing the evidence provided by the investigator, or the growing conviction the pilot may have been acting in self-defense.

Given the horrors in their pasts, neither one has any reason to trust the other, but both their futures depend on finding common ground.