Zakota by Ruby Lionsdrake [Review]

Zakota (Star Guardians #5) by Ruby Lionsdrake
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: September 6, 2017

Star Guardians
1. Orion
2. Treyjon
3. Sagitta
4. Hierax
5. Zakota - Kindle
6. Ariston

Ruby Lionsdrake
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Synopsis (Goodreads):

Katie Saunders isn’t used to sitting on her butt, but she’s been stuck doing exactly that as the Star Guardians fly all over the galaxy, trying to get her and the other kidnapped women back home. Now it looks like they have to engage in a battle against evil aliens before making the final flight to Earth. Since they’ve captured an extra ship and are short on pilots, Katie wants to help.

She flew jets during her time in the Navy, and she’s been training on the spaceship’s flight simulator, so she knows she can be useful. Because the captain won’t listen to her, she turns her focus onto the ship’s helm officer, Zakota. He’s an odd man who apparently believes he’s a shaman, but maybe she can convince him she can fly.

Wheeling and dealing with Zakota reveals a couple of unexpected things. First off, he’s super hot under that uniform, and second, he’s not quite as kooky as she thought. As a fellow pilot, he gets her, far better than she expected anyone out here would, and he’s quick to see her worth in the cockpit.

The problem? There’s not time for them to get to know each other better or much of anything else. They’re headed into a battle against a superior foe with superior numbers, and the odds are against them making it out alive.

Thoughts on Zakota: I've been itching to find out how Sagitta's crew were going to extract themselves from the sticky situation they ended up in a couple books ago. Stuck on the far end of the galaxy with a defunct gate and a horde of man-eating aliens making tracks toward their home planets? NO PROBLEM, right? Honestly, things looked not so great for the Star Guardians and the Earth women they'd rescued. But Sagitta has a solid crew and they have MANY strengths. And once they start tapping into the strengths of the Earth women, too, everything gets even better.

Speaking of strengths, Katie holds her own against the more experienced pilots. She might be from a primitive planet (by Star Guardian standards), but she's quick and determined and she shows her resourcefulness time and again. It's that resourcefulness that intrigues Zakota. Well, that and she actually seems interested in him.

As for Zakota, his spiritualism has made him the butt of a few jokes amongst the crew. Actually, it might be more his penchant for pushing his lucky carvings on the other Guardians. Or maybe a bit of both. Turns out, he's a wee bit deeper than everyone gives him credit for. He might be a joker and enjoy some good verbal sparring, but he takes his job as navigator very seriously.

Closing out the arc that started with Orion's book, we get a satisfying conclusion to the abduction of the Earth women. I'm crossing my fingers we get more adventures set in this universe because I had a blast reading them.