Trial and Temptation

Mandrake Company, Book 2

By: Ruby Lionsdrake

Narrated by: Jill Redfield

Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

After 10 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.

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.

Trial and Temptation is a full-length science-fiction romance novel. It is recommended for listeners who enjoy space-based adventure (such as Firefly) and steamy love stories (in the style of Linnea Sinclair).

©2014 Ruby Lionsdrake (P)2016 Podium Publishing

Fun, Fast, with furious-bits

A space-opera with a little bit of adult fun.
Soft, but not totally off stage.
easy little side Adventure

awesome

This was an awesome story.. well written and very well read.. would recommend this book to anyone who likes space travel, action and adventure and a great love story..

Temptation

Excellent to listen to while I clean house. it makes cleaning go faster. Excellent read.

Great Book

I love this series. The cute quirky build of if emotions between the characters in all the books are really well done but this book is my favorite. The only downside is not being able to repurchase book three yet. ( I own the whole set in regular book form. Yah, that's how good they are. I bought them twice.)

Awesome!!

Gone through all the star guardian books and most of mandrake company, this has been my favorite so far! Awesome as always, Ruby does not disappoint! Jill is also a wonderful and talented narrator!

Great!

I really enjoyed this one. Perhaps because this book reminded me a bit of one of my favorite HRs: *The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie.*

Here, the hero, Thatcher, also has a blunted affect and difficulty with social interaction and intimacy. Because he is unable to easily recognize the emotions of others, he comes across as humorless robot, and earns the ire of the woman he loves.

But Thatcher has layers, and unplumbed depths, and WE get a very sexy story!

This one has a lovely slow burn romance that feels real, and I especially appreciated that the author managed to negotiate a tightly executed, action-packed plot, while keeping the hero character *in character* throughout. Nice job!

The romance is believable and the bad guys are bad. There are lots of actions scenes at which the author excels. Love those air battles!

All in all, exactly what I've come to expect and love about a Lindsey Buroker/Ruby Lionsdrake book!


Highly Recommended!

Good read

Kept my attention, good story . Narration was good . Going back to read first book in series. Glad I didn’t let the reviews stop me from reading this book

Wonderful!

There isn't anything I didn't like about Trial and Temptation: Mandrake Company, Book 2. It is packed full of action, adventure, romance, and humor with excellent characters. The performance by Jill Redfield is first rate, and I enjoyed it tremendously. I recommend this book very highly.

Heady stuff!

The narration was rock solid. She used the same accents and tones assigned to the different characters.
The storyline is well written. The dialog is snappy.
I highly recommend this series.

nerd boy gets his girl!

I adore Gregor! he's so socially awkward and so in love with Val. Can he convince the sarcastic beauty from his past, he's worth the second chance?