This one did!
In Heather Massey’s Once Upon a Time in Space Raquel Donovan is the renowned space pirate known as the Siren. She fits the picture with all the trimmings: a sexy black ship suit, eye patch, red ascot, and nasty disposition. Stoic Raquel also has a mysterious past and a powerful secret.
Nick Venture is one of the engineers working to create and stabilize the underground labyrinth that has become the refuge of Earth’s population. The Earth is dying and there are no habitable planets to be found, at least according to the elite military. Nick never thought beyond the task at hand, not until he is fired from his job and lands in jail. When the mysterious Consortium approach Nick to lead a mission to verify the existence of a planet called Eden, Nick sets out on a great adventure and a mission to save all of Earth’s people.
If you love classic space adventure and high seas style pirates you will probably love this book. Once Upon a Time in Space left me with visions of space going galleons, turbulent energy storms, and colorful characters dancing in my head.
What I liked about the heroine: Honestly, Raquel is a little hard to like in the beginning. She comes across hard to the point of cruel. While the author does humanize her and hint the she has a strong motivation, Raquel really had to prove herself loyal to Nick to win me over.
What I liked about the hero: Nick was easy to love from the beginning. He is thrown into a situation where he is out of his element and still manages to shine. He is openly optimistic and accepting of the strange situation and crew he falls in with. Aside from his love for Raquel, he is dedicated completely to his mission and the people who look to him for leadership.
Other cool stuff: I loved the high seas imagery from the space anchors to the Santa Maria’s modern equivalent of the old-fashioned ship’s wheel. And yes I said the Santa Maria, the tie in to Christopher Columbus was fun too. There was also a very modern Earth devastated by human action theme going on and what I liked about this was the authors vision of the underground life Earth’s citizens were forced to adopt.
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Primary format: e-book
Publication date: March 2011
Publisher: Red Sage Publishing
My copy of Once Upon a Time in Space was kindly provided by the author and her publisher. You can get your copy of the book at the publisher’s website or, beginning in March, at most online retailers.
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