I saw this at Barnes and Noble. Checked my library and promptly went to check it out. Right now I am on a stay-cation so I am binging books like there is no tomorrow. I also have already renewed this once so I went it's time.

This story is contemporary fiction bouncing between the perspectives of Núria (a cat loving barista), Collin (a best selling author), Omar (a very friendly mailman), Bong (a local bodega owner), Lily (a cashier at a grocery store), and Cat (a black cat that is the star of this book). The story follows how they orbit around each other due to the neighborhood they all live in. They are also all connected to Cat and care about the feline.

This is just a feel good story with a lot of cat hair. It felt sweet and gooey and I loved it. I ate it up and snuggled my cats in the process. I loved how all of the characters interacted. I adored seeing a huge city like New York broken down by the connections found locally. I adored every single character. Literally every one of them. I am unsure what more a person could want other than a sassy cat and messy but caring people. It was purrfect.

This was not a top tier scifi romance. Now to be crystal clear, my high shelf books are written by Ruby Dixon, Etta Pierce, Regine Abel, and Emily Antoinette. So that should give you an idea of my taste. This book intrigued me when I stumbled across it. It gave me a little bit of Farecape energy but less fugitives. I love me a sentient ship. I also love fugitives but that is beside the point. While this was just a solid 3 star read, I will read more by this author.

Personally I found the Sola to be the most intriguing part of the book. I wish we got chapters from her perspective but alas. This story basically begins with our geologist on a rock survey. Maya had a relationship fizzle out because she wanted to explore the universe. Her ex-fiance wanted her to get a desk job. So she broke up with the man and went to an entirely new planet.

Relatable.

On this planet, she ends up awakening a dormant ship that bonds to her. Except humans are not equipped to bond with these ships. They kind of break our fragile tiny minds okay? Enter Rykar, a Destran. He has been drowning in grief for ten years and is about to head on back to the lonely void to do more cargo runs. He sees the energy flair and reads a human life sign. So he goes to help. Cue him and Maya together getting linked to this ancient sentient ship. Great! In addition to that chaos, the Sola is broken. Her mind is frayed and the bond isn't right. So they are dealing with a being that is struggling and complicated. The story goes from there.

All of this set up was solid for me. I just think it packed too much for its page count. It moved too quickly. Blake tried to straddle a line between lust and fated mates that just didn't quite work for me. (Also not them discussing possibly having children after having sex repeatedly for a week plus.) Maybe the issue is I felt like they got rid of deep insecurities within a 50 pages time frame due to the power of love. I am a little bit cynical, alright? I wanted more character exploration instead of plot ironically. The space battles and fated mates all detracted from allowing the core connections to build authentically between Rykar, Maya, and the Sola.

It was a solid read. It had a lot of interesting ideas and I enjoyed myself. I just wished I'd seen more character development happen that felt real and nuanced. Either way, it was comforting and I will read more of Blake. She feels like a cup of hot chocolate. You kind of expect the richness of melted chocolate with creamy warmth. But you got packaged hot chocolate instead. Still, how can you be upset because it's hot chocolate? Just need a mild adjustment of expectations, I suppose.

I had a library I could walk to from my house. I would go after work or on weekends and browse the shelves. I discovered I could print things there which was great because I don't have a printer but need one like three times a year. They had movie nights, DND campaigns, puzzles, video games, any and all of it. They offered tax assistance and notary services. It was a less known branch to me but I fell in love with it. It made me feel less alone. Even if I just nodded at the librarian occasionally, I knew someone in the community was eternally nearby. When it permanently closed, I was devastated.

Don't worry.

This story doesn't have a sad ending.

My city instead remodeled a historic school building and made it into our new beautiful main branch. They added a museum and play area for children. It took over a decade for the funds to be raised so this could happen. They also opened two additional branches in recreation centers. One of them I can still technically walk too. It's just a rather long walk. But I went to the new branch with my husband within a week or so of it opening. I felt like a kid opening a gift when I excitedly stepped in there the first time. We had gotten down to only one branch being open while all this change was occurring. So it was entirely intoxicating to have my library returned to me. It felt like my world had expanded again and I wanted to spin in the room in celebration.

I found this book there that day. And I will be honest. This book is one of those books that belongs at a local library. It needs to live and settle there. It deserves that. It should sit among its bookish friends waiting to be passed around a community. Its spine needs to be broken. The pages should have weird marks, maybe even heaven forbid, be crumpled or ripped a little in some places. This book demands to shared. So in a few days, I will return it back there. I wil run my fingers over the front of its cover and hold it tightly, selfishly, for a few long moments. Then I will let go and it will tumble happily into someone else's hands.

If you have ever wanted to fall into a book, this is for you. If you have ever felt backed into a corner (financial, physical, mental, emotional, relationship, any and all), this is for you. If you have ever felt like a second choice, this is for you. If you have ever dealt resentfully and angrily with bad bureaucracy, this is for you. This book is a love letter to readers and a defense of libraries. Alix represents all of us. She is the disenfranchised, the abandoned, and the marginalized. She is the common person surviving. And the library is her armor and her power. It equals the playing field. If Alix can fight for her library, so can we.

Let us never forget libraries remain one of our kindest best examples of true humanity from community events to shared knowledge offered freely to people. They are one of the few third space existing still in a world intent on profit. So stop buying books from greedy soulless corporations. Go do a library haul if you can. Use Hoopla. Download Libby. Go donate time, money, books, whatever you have and can.

Also, this was the last book a coworker saw me with when we were physically in office still. He said this book sounded exactly like me when I described it. I remain delighted and honored by the offhand comment.

To libraries!

I offer a spell, prayer, manifestation that all of us remain near one and go often.

Well, if it's between certain death of suffocation or transforming into a mermaid, I suppose the answer is pretty clear about which option is more desirable. The main issue? Neera is broke. Traveling across space to another planet is not exactly an affordable or feasible option.....except by marriage. Can we hear a round of applause at the return of Kayog and the Prime Mating Agency?

I actually skipped this book to go to the Minotaur one. I am not super into mermaids. Blasphemy I know. But I finished that book and went hmm okay I'll bite. Pun intended. 💅 And this book yet again proved Abel can do no wrong in my bookish life. I loved the conflict of not knowing where Neera's evolution would stop. I obsessed over all the little details of the water world. I adored the intricacies of what the change would look like. I feel like Abel really sat down and went huh. How would this work? And I am here for it. The romance between Echo and Neera was pretty different yet again from the other books. They are both reserved. There is a lot of pressure and uncertainty around the situation. It is just a lot to handle with a stranger. But it felt like they were on the same side trying to figure it out. That dynamic gets me every time.

This book feels like it should be read on the beach with the sun bright overhead. You should definitely be about to dive into some type of water. Sand should be between your toes and an umbrella overhead. I am filing it away for my next future trip. Anyway, just a girl overly enthused about this entire series. Don't mind me continuing to binge read it over the next few weeks. I am living my best life.

What's a girl to do when faced with a choice between a prison sentence of 20 years or an arranged marriage on a primitive planet for a year? Yeah your girl for sure is getting hitched. Put that ring on her finger stat.

Rhianna ends up on Cibbos married to Zatruk Abbas. He is Yurus. Think orc / Minotaur combination. He is trying to convince his people to eat the Praxilla leaf to quell their blood lust and figure out how to give them a future. Oh wait my bad. Let me explain. Yurus men are biologically drive to fight. It increases their hormones and bulks them up. However they also eventually get to a place where one on one fighting doesn't help. Think of it like nicotine. The more you use, the less it hits.

So they kind of eventually go off the rails. This happens regularly to the point where they keep descending into massive battles and murdering each other. Obviously it is hard to advance a society that keeps losing half its population and having to rebuild and keeps repeating the pattern. Eventually Zatruk Abbas knows they will wipe themselves out. Thus the dreaded Praxilla leaf. Turns out a soceity built and revolving around fighting fears losing their edge more than destroying their entire society. The leaf helps mute the flat out blood rage but they do still need to fight for their biology and sanity. It is a helpful tool but not a solution. And thus Rhianna comes in.

With her connections and history, she offers them insight into the human society and a far stronger negotiation position. They offer her a chance to not be trapped in a shitty prison for two decades for crimes she didn't commit. So win win. This story follows the similar pattern of the other two with a different species and cultural element. I loved the banter and relationship developing. The chemistry was delightful. I am consistently intrigued by how Abel comes up with such a range of cultures and people. I remain impressed as hell by it. Onward to the next book. 🥰