Format: ebook
Source: purchased
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Date read: January 17, 2016
The Mandrake Company
1. Mercenary Instinct
2. Trial and Temptation - Kindle
3. The Assassin's Salvation
4. The Ruins of Karzelek
5. Mercenary Courage
5.5. The Pirate Captain's Daughter
Ruby Lionsdrake
| Website | Amazon |
Synopsis (Goodreads):
After ten years of flying freighter ships from planet to planet, Val Calendula never thought she would apply for a job as a combat pilot in a mercenary outfit. But her brother has gotten himself into financial trouble, and he’s heading to a mining prison if Val can’t pay off his debts. Mercenaries don’t always live long... but they make good money while they’re alive. A few combat bonuses, and Val could earn what she needs. The problem? She might have graduated from the military flight academy, but she hasn’t fought anything more dangerous than dust bunnies on the bridge lately. To make matters worse, the man in charge of hiring pilots was her instructor back at the academy. Commander Thatcher was almost as brilliant as he was arrogant and condescending, and he never seemed to think Val was smart enough to be there. She has no idea if she’ll be able to convince him otherwise now... or if she’ll be able to stand working with him.Thoughts on Trial and Temptation: I'm digging this series. Not just because it's about mercenaries in space (although that's a big part of the draw), but because these characters are so nicely flawed. Gregor has zero social skills and comes across as hard, arrogant, and overly obsessed with the rules. In reality, he simply can't relate to others with ease and has to rely on his flawed understanding of social cues when he interacts with them.
When Gregor Thatcher left the military, he never expected to run into any of his former acquaintances, much less the one he admired and mooned over during his two years teaching at the academy. Back then, he never told Val Calendula he cared for her, partially because officers weren’t supposed to have relations with cadets, but mostly because he didn’t know how to speak of his feelings. He might not have any trouble grasping navigational mathematics and astrodynamics, but people are more problematic. Gregor is elated that Val has entered his life again, but he’s fairly certain she hates him. Worse, he’s responsible for deciding whether she’s qualified to be a combat pilot. How can he judge fairly when his tongue tangles and idiotic words come out of his mouth whenever she’s around?
When the captain sends Val and Gregor on a mission to pick up a military advisor and deliver him to a planet at war, Val hopes she’ll have an opportunity to prove herself capable of the piloting position. Gregor hopes he’ll have the opportunity to improve Val’s opinion of him. But when the military advisor goes missing, and they’re forced to divert to a dangerous moon base, the mission turns into a fight for survival. Val may learn too late that there’s more to Gregor than that aloof exterior… and that inside is a man she could love.
Man, I felt for the guy. For all he acts like a robot, he's well aware that his responses are something that get made fun of. And yet, he can't help it. He's responding the only way he knows how. I loved loved loved that moment of clarity Val had when she saw he wasn't trying to demean her or act arrogant, it was just the way he was.
Honestly, it isn't arrogance so much as Gregor has a very logical mind. He's extremely literal and he doesn't quite grasp how people don't say what they mean. To be fair, he holds himself to the same high standard he sets for those under him. Which means his attraction to Val throws his life into disarray because she doesn't fit into a neat box. She's sassy and makes sex jokes at inappropriate moments.
I kinda liked that about her.
I have a couple more books to go with this series and I'm loving on the crude, rude, yet honorable mercs making their living in space.
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