Hunt the Stars

A Novel (Starlight’s Shadow, Book 1)

By: Jessie Mihalik

Narrated by: Frankie Corzo

Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

The critically acclaimed author of Polaris Rising takes readers on an exciting journey with the start of her brand-new series about a female bounty hunter and the man who is her sworn enemy.

“Jessie Mihalik is an author to watch.” — Ilona Andrews, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Octavia Zarola would do anything to keep her tiny, close-knit bounty hunting crew together—even if it means accepting a job from Torran Fletcher, a ruthless former general and her sworn enemy. When Torran offers her enough credits to not only keep her crew afloat but also hire someone to fix her ship, Tavi knows that she can’t refuse—no matter how much she’d like to.

With so much money on the line, Torran and his crew insist on joining the hunt. Tavi reluctantly agrees because while the handsome, stoic leader pushes all of her buttons—for both anger and desire—she’s endured worse, and the massive bonus payment he’s promised for a completed job is reason enough to shut up and deal.

But when they uncover a deeper plot that threatens the delicate peace between humans and Valoffs, Tavi suspects that Torran has been using her as the impetus for a new war. With the fate of her crew balanced on a knife’s edge, Tavi must decide where her loyalties lie—with the quiet Valoff who’s been lying to her, or with the human leaders who left her squad to die on the battlefield. And this time, she’s put her heart on the line.

©2022 Jessie Mihalik (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

A Mostly Cozy Sci-fi

There was a cozy feel to this book. I really enjoyed it! I was interested in the story and invested in the characters. I'll definitely be getting the next book.
Slow burn romance. I'd only give it 1 🌶️ for smexiness.

I don't regret the credit...

...but it could have been so much more.

I discovered Jessie Mihalik during my perpetual quest to find more Ilona Andrews. She's closer than most but falls just short in almost every way. I started with her Consortium books and enjoyed them to varying degrees but this review is for this book.

This world definitely has more firefly/Star wars vibes than the last set that felt a bit more Star Trek in level of technology. Though in both cases I would have preferred a greater degree of exposition and world building.

There were a couple of issues I had with this one that just kept creeping up and niggling the back of my mind lessening my personal investment slash enjoyment:

Much like her previous collection, this book skips straight past steamy to land firmly in the "adult video" territory. It's not to my personal taste but that's subjective.

The level of suspension of disbelief for this one is way up there. without spoilers, there are some pretty egregious holes in the plot and history of the world; some real "why didn't they just do this?" moments.
Also, there is no way in the universe that humanity posed any kind of threat against the major alien race in here and somehow we fought them to a standstill? they have more advanced tech, nearly invulnerable space armor, can communicate instantly and read minds with telepathy... and have super powers.

My last gripe is that the author misuses common phrases... like a lot. Each time it happened it was like nails against a chalkboard. I'm not sure if she needs another proofreader or to listen to the ones she already has, but it's bad.
For example: She says that's that his shorts "leave nothing to the imagination," and then immediately follows it up with "and I had a good imagination." It'd have been appropriate if they left "everything to imagination," or "just enough to the imagination." but she just told us they left nothing so the quality of her imagination had no baring on the situation.

On the whole, this was only okay. I love stories about ships, crews, and chosen family and was expecting to like this one quite a bit more than the last set but, sadly, I don't think I'll be continuing with this collection.

Fun Story

The mispronounced words from the narrator was distracting. Liked it a lot. I'm ordering the next book in the series.

Great start to another aeries

Love this start to a new series, if you are a fan of Mihalik's other series you will enjoy the characters here too!

Enjoyed the book and narrator

I wasn't sure if I would like this book at first but it sucked me in. I thought it was a good story and I really liked the narrator. Looking forward to the next book.

New Best Friend - Well Audio BFF for sure

Here’s hoping that this debut novel provides a precedent for a series. I thoroughly enjoy a bowl read. Or listen in my case. Lots of good characters andEnough adventure for most readers. Looking forward to a follow up story so standby all of those who enjoy a good series.

Frankie sounds bored.

the reader seems bored and it makes me less interested. there's a lot of tedious description. I may not have minded but it was read like a phone book. no fluctuations, no interest.

Loved it!

Really enjoyed this space opera/romance! A few unexpected surprises with the story. Loved the cute pet and the narrator is GREAT!

Duped again.

I've read this author before. Her work is so far from real sci fi that it doesn't deserve the title. Even calling it space opera is pushing it. I'm so sad I used a credit up on this. The author relies on tawdry plot holes for her weak plots. In this story, one abused plot hole is the alien societies oaths of silence. Overused big time. And we have a supposedly adult and veteran earth captain who takes a mission from her career long military enemy with almost no information. Then we have to watch her get made about having no information even though its what she signed up for. The reader can pick out the future couplings for the future books in this boring romance series. That's just another distraction. Our supposed adult lead male and female main characters start making out during a high risk reconnaissance. No. Just no. Ugh. Couldn't finish.

Loved it

I loved this story from beginning to end. It's not only a white-knuckle exciting story, but a convincing romance. The sci-fi elements are well described and plausible with an enemies-to-lovers theme. I look forward to more from this author.