Black Ice Heart by Ella Drake [Review]

Black Ice Heart (Space Grit #1) by Ella Drake
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: June 7, 2016

Space Grit
1. Black Ice Heart - Kindle
2. Kilt in Space
3. Freeker
4. Willing Skin
5. Killer Mate
6. Wellington's Surprise
7. Breaking the Admiral

Ella Drake
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Synopsis (Goodreads):

Condemned and in transit to an asteroid prison, he found what he'd never had before--a chance to love.

***

Ensign Joan Holly has one last mission before transferring to a secretive, elite unit, the Nex. It's what she's wanted since joining the military as a child. All she has to do is escort the most reviled prisoner on Geonate to meet his fate. Simple, since he's immobilized and nobody has ever escaped the Asteroid Pit.

Cenak Bronson never had it easy. He's never been free and never had a future. He accepts his doomed fate until he's rescued by a band of half-aliens, the Scoriah. After the chaos of his breakout, Cenak finds himself reluctantly bound to the only other survivor, his jailer Joan.

But they aren't the sole survivors by coincidence and they weren't captured by the Scoriah randomly. To survive, they join forces, uncovering secrets and lies that change everything. Including the future of Geonate itself.

Thoughts on Black Ice Heart: I read this series out of order, so I wasn't entirely certain if I'd enjoy Cenak and Joan's book as much as the others because the Scoriah weren't the main characters. NO WORRIES, Y'ALL! Cenak is all types of screwed up and I liked him JUST FINE. (He has some very Scoriah-like mannerisms--mostly the way he likes to spontaneously brawl with people. THAT AMUSES ME!)

Frankly, Joan and Cenak are an unlikely pair. She's gunning to join her planet's version of special ops and he's a convicted murderer. Except, Joan doesn't know the half of what the Nex are capable of and Cenak is at the center of all of it. Which makes them having to rely on one another fun in a cutting sort of way.

For all I knew (and liked) the Scoriah from previous books (again, read out of order), it took a while for me to warm up to these guys. I blame that on their "Mother" and the things she made them do. She was a nasty sort, that one.

To make a long story short, I liked this one. It was dark and sometimes bloody and it gave me aliens and danger and an unlikely romance all rolled into one. YES!