Starblind

Starblind, Book 1

By: D. T. Dyllin

Narrated by: Ashley Holt

Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Owner of the Chimay grade starship dubbed The Pittsburgh, Captain Jane Sevis is one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. Except for the occasional problematic hunt, her life is pretty uncomplicated. When a particularly slippery target reveals the real reason for being in her database, her world is turned upside down in more ways than one. Will she follow her gut and look the other way for the man she may be falling for? Or will their love fall prey to her mercenary heart before it gets a real chance to ignite?

©2015 Dara Teresa Dyllin (P)2017 Dara Dyllin

Critic reviews

"Dyllin hits all the right notes in this light SF romance, building a universe full of politics and battle while fanning the flames of passion. Fans of both paranormal romance and space opera will find this a refreshing mix of the two." ( Publishers Weekly)

Loved the main characters sass!

Would you consider the audio edition of Starblind to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version of Starblind, so I can't really say which would be better, though I enjoyed Ashley Holt's narration. It fit Captain Jane's personality so well.

What other book might you compare Starblind to and why?

I'd have to honestly say that I can't think of another book that I would compare to Starblind. It's a little bit Spaceballs in regards to the humor, and a little bit Killjoys (on SyFy) because of the bounty hunting and romance. It's just a fun Sci-fi novel.

Which scene was your favorite?

I don't know that I had a particularly favorite scene, but I really enjoyed the banter between Captain Jane and Ash. Ashley Holt's narration, IMO, added to the fun easygoing relationship that they had with each other.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This was a good, fun book, but it wasn't one that I wanted to listen to in all one sitting. The pace moved along well, but I ended up listening to it in roughly hour long chunks. Much of it was Captain Jane's thoughts or a lead character monologue, which I tired of every so often and had to take a break from.

Any additional comments?

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher for an honest review.

Sex in space

I was given this audiobook for free in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is more romance than sci-fi, but does have an interesting light space opera story behind it. Like most sci-fi there are some strange plot holes that aren't explained...but this isn't what you read to get your hard sci-fi fix. l

The romance is not a delicate slow burn, the sex scenes start early and in full detail. There are many strong beefcake men with smirks and "hard ropey muscles" and all of them think they know more than the sexy, quirky, brash protagonist. They are often right, but she is no quitter.

The narrator had a soothing voice and good pacing. Easy to listen to, but sometimes it was difficult to tell the difference between characters and sometimes seemed to have a tone of amused disdain when it didn't really fit with the words.

Elusive Ash and more about Jane

I find that I am introduced to a universe without Earth. Earth had long since been destroyed. Chimay/The Pittsburgh was a starship with a crew full of interesting characters. This time around we get an up close and personal of Jane, the captain of the Pittsburgh. She finds that she has a problem on her hands. One that eludes her most times and intrigues her other times. Ash, the elusive, becomes a target of Jane and her crew. He was so much more than he appeared to be. Ash was the best part of the whole story. I loved him immediately. I loved a lot of the secondary characters. I took me a bit to warm up to Jane.


Narrator Review of . . . Ashley Holt’s performance. It was good. I got the various tones and dictions changes, but was disappointed by thw main male character. He sounded more feminine. I enjoyed the lull of the cadence to the audio recording all tjis was enjoyed on an enhanced speed. There were some odd pauses during the audio.

Love and a rebellion from the embers of fire!

This was so much more than a story about Jane and Ash and their journey beyond the stars to find love. You are transported into space with Jane has a crew on her ship. I instantly loved Jane's character. She is funny, snarky and a bad-ass. Even though she is half-human (she had her DNA spliced with some other being), she is a real woman of today. I love how funny she is with her obsession of all things from Earth (which no longer exists so she has no idea if what she wears or talks about....another quality of her character that is great!).

But as I said this was about so much more then a steamy sci-fi romance between Jane and Ash, it is suspenseful, and full of intrigue, deception, trust, friendships and races uniting.

I was given this free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
This is really worth the credit! I will be looking for the next book in the series!

Starblind

What did you love best about Starblind?

Starblind presents us a universe where humans are not the only species on it. Jane Sevis, a bounty hunter, is looking for a place to belong. Missing an Earth she never knew, she surrounds herself with old antics from a no longer existing planet.

Fun space adventure

What made the experience of listening to Starblind the most enjoyable?

The narrator's performance and the main character's sass.

Any additional comments?

Great audio. Perfect for fans of Guardians of the Galaxy and packed with action and humor. I requested a copy of this audio from the author in exchange for an honest review via Audiobook Boom.

Good space romance

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yeah, I would if I found somebody with a similar interests. I don't know many people who enjoy scifi unfortunately.

What about Ashley Holt’s performance did you like?

She had a very soothing voice, that made the characters interesting and easy to listen to. Some narators are over the top, my favorites are ones that make me get engulfed in the story, and that's exactly what happened here.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not that I can remember, but I've never cried listening to a book.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the book, I love scifi books and it was something different to have romance in one. It wasn't a super in depth novel, but it was a fun romp.

Cute!

I laughed so hard. Jane is a human from New Earth. At some point humans learned they weren't alone and even worse less superior to beings from other planets. Earth became New Earth and they started splicing human DNA with various DNA from other beings. I loved how the author did that, very clever. I'm a biology geek so the sciency stuff hit my chord and was fun because it was sound enough to be probable.

Jane is the captain of the Pittsburg, a space ship and she's a bounty hunter. She has a small crew, loves steampunk and is very independent. She also has a nasty attitude at times. Anyways, she on the hunt for a large bounty placed on the head of a man who is also quit a hunk and turns out something more than human.

It's a romance but also has an excellent plot and depth of characters. I loved this one even more than book 3. I blame that on the main character. She is too funny and stubborn. I can't give anything away. You have to read it!

Romantic science fiction

3.5 stars

In a world where humans as we know them no longer exist, everyone is a hybrid of some sort but Jane still exhibits all the traits we see today so humanity isn’t totally forgotten. Jane is a bounty hunter in space, always an adventurous setting for a science fiction story. While I like her, she’s a little on the rough side and, sometimes, I had the impression she had sex on the mind 24/7. Still, her sort of devil-may-care attitude suited her bounty hunting life and I enjoyed her interactions with others, particularly her three-woman crew. When she’s confronted with the possibility of actually liking her latest target, a Phoenix named Ash, Jane will have to re-think a few things.

This book has quite a bit of the aforementioned sex, in thought and deed, and the language is frequently saltier than I like but the really good worldbuilding and lively plot kept me engaged despite those things I could do without. As for the narration, I’m of two minds. Ms. Holt speaks clearly, which I certainly appreciate, but her cadence is a little odd and its slowness made me want to yell out “spit it out for heaven’s sake”. I finally hit the speed up function on my iPod and that helped. On the other hand, her voice seems just right for Jane. Moving on now to Book #2, Parallax, and I’m looking forward to it.

Great romance in space

The author has a wonderful imagination and I enjoyed the book very much however at first I didn't like the narrator. She does an OK job with the story however the distinguishing differences between the characters are kind of hard to interpret. All in all I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to just about anybody who likes her space adventure with romance