If you are a fan of the series like I am then this is a must read. Not only does it include the best of Sylvia and Shiro romance, it also has crucial plot points moving forward with the series. It makes me sooooo stoked for book 3. Aw! This was the perfect novella. It was short, but it felt complete bc i already knew most of the characters so well. I did love the two new characters introduced though! The Amara siblings have the funniest sibling dynamic. They squabble with each other, have purple hair and are tall. Love them. Turnip is still the cutest pink cat with six tails. Her drink spilling trick comes in clutch. This novella is the perfect blend of high intense action and slow conversation. I love the new planet the race takes place on! Crion is unique and beautiful with its snowy mountains and aurora borealis. I love that this was duel perspective from older adults with Shiro and Sylvia. I love team Belethea and the family unit they created! “You said it from the beginning, right, Syl? On this team, we take care of each other.”
SPOILERS and book notes:
Yeah! A new planet Crion! “Hulking mountains of ivory and glacial blue towered around the airstrip in Crion’s singular city of Lumik. Above their peaks, a translucent emerald sheen danced across the twilight sky, a continuous aurora courtesy of the terraforming efforts that had finally warmed the atmosphere enough for continuous habitation.” Bex and Simon Grady are a team and the Amara siblings Dean and Kit are another. The siblings are loud and obnoxious bc they bicker hehe. They have lavender hair and eyes and are super tall. I like them. Turnip the pink cat with six tails is with them too. Kit has a boyfriend named Jabari that handles the social media stuff like Micah does for the team! Makes the team look good. Micah and him are the best. awww! Sylvia and Shiro are so adorable together!!! ““You’re already on my calendar.” “I made the calendar?” Eyes wide, Shiro straightened his shoulders, exaggerating his swagger. “You must really love me.” Shiro is there as protection. Look what he tells Sylvia: “You just do your boss-babe-coach thing,” then kisses her. ““Okay, now you’re ready.” His eyes danced as he proffered his arm. “Can I escort the Coach Sylvia Long inside?” Sylvia rolled her eyes playfully, her stomach still flipping. “I don’t know why I put up with you.” “Because I love you madly with every inch of my soul,” he replied, the words almost teasing.” Ooo the teammate who died by Calderon’s hands in the first book (Genevieve Navarro) has a little sister who is at the race named Martina but goes by Ina. And she is TICKED at Ezren and Foster and the team! Look what she says to them! ““Congratulations, Belethea race royalers, reigning champs. I hope it was worth the blood.” She flashed a cold smile as the coach practically dragged her away. “Because you’re going to drown in it tomorrow.” Shiro you romantic! “Though many settlers in Casolla saw marriage as old-fashioned, his adoptive grandmother had instilled in him certain values that couldn’t be ignored. And one of them was if you met the person you couldn’t live without, you swore your life to them.” “Ever since he’d caught Sylvia dancing around Carmella’s empty kitchen, belting out a song off-key at three in the morning, he’d known he was going to marry her.” It’s cool to watch the race from the perspective of the viewers! Sylvia and Shiro! this is what my husband does for me: ““Then why are you so nervous?” Shiro folded her in a hug from behind, his ease totally at odds with the tension threatening to strangle her. “I’m always nervous, Shiro.” But even as she said it, she melted into him. Something about Shiro always made her feel safe.” AWW the siblings have disappeared in the race and so Shiro and Sylvia have to secretly go out and find them!!! Crow “the King of all the syndicates” left a message by killing York and disappearing Dean and Kit and saying he is excited to work with Sterling/Hart. AW!!! And they ran into his thugs! “Shiro: Sylvia! Shiro took her helmet in his hands, his dark eyes boring into hers. Shiro: Look at me, I’m going to get you out of here. You trust me, right? Sylvia took in another breath, forcing herself to calm as she stared into the dark swirl of his eyes, fierce and hard. Sylvia: I trust you completely. Shiro: Good. Now, I need you to know, in your bones, that you’re going to make it out of here. Sylvia did not miss the “you” where there should’ve been a “we,” and she’d be chaffed if she let these thugs not only take her royalers but Shiro as well.” They saved them but now are trapped in the mountain maze of ice tunnels and caves! Running! And she says this to him: “And as much as I love the team, they don’t come before you.” Aww team simon and Bex and kit and dean are the ones that came and rescued them! ““Chaffing royalers.” Shiro’s laugh bordered on manic. “I’m beginning to think you lot can survive anything.” Dean: ““You said it from the beginning, right, Syl? On this team, we take care of each other.” Awww and he proposed in the ship on the way to safety!! ““Sylvia, I love you more than all the stars combined.” He sucked in a long breath, his voice whisper-soft with palpable hope. “Will you marry me?” It’s an old world ring so it’s super precious and rare. ““My grandmother said these days, we don’t need a symbol to pledge our souls to the love of our life.” He gave a sheepish shrug. “But sometimes it helps. And when you are the most precious thing that’s ever happened to me, this… is just a ring.” And when they told the royalers also in the ship what happened: ““What’s the joke?” Kit asked, peering back at them from the front seat. “No joke.” Sylvia straightened, flashing the ring on her left hand. “We’re getting married.” And then the car erupted with four people screaming and cheering and talking at once.” Sylvia will take the general team manager position and hire help! Like a coach and social media person etc. I love Turnip and all her drink spilling glory. And this last quote that ties in the title and moving forward with the series: “And even though he couldn’t deny that something churned in the dark—waiting for them in the blackness between the stars—he could savor this perfection. This love. This joy. That belonged to them and them alone.”