The Queen's Gambit

Rogue Queen #1

by Jessie Mihalik

When the Quint Confederacy and the Kos Empire went to war—again—young Queen Samara wisely kept her Rogue Coalition out of the conflict. But staying neutral in a galactic war doesn’t pay the bills, not when both sides refuse to trade with neutral sectors.

With her people on the brink of starvation, Samara hatches a daring plan to snatch the kidnapped Kos Emperor from the Quint mercenaries holding him. The Kos Empire will pay a fortune for their emperor’s return, enough to feed the Coalition’s citizens while they wait for the return to a begrudging peace.

But when her plan goes sideways, Samara finds herself evading Quint mercenaries with the very man she intends to capture. And the more time she spends with Valentin Kos, the more she realizes that he’s not the coldly indifferent villain she imagined. Torn between duty and desire, Samara must decide if saving her people is worth giving up the one thing she’s always wanted.

The Queen’s Gambit is a science fiction novella set in its own universe. I’ll be posting it in a serial format, with new installments each week.

Genres: Science Fiction, Romance, Novella, Space Opera, Space, Fantasy, Science Fiction Romance

159 pages, ebook

First published November 20, 2017

About the author

Jessie Mihalik has a degree in Computer Science and a love of all things geeky. A software engineer by trade, Jessie now writes full time from her home in Texas. When she’s not writing, she can be found playing co-op video games with her husband, trying out new board games, or reading books pulled from her overflowing bookshelves.

Sample chapters of all of my books are available on my website!

The Consortium Rebellion trilogy: Polaris Rising, Aurora Blazing, Chaos Reigning.

The Rogue Queen novellas: The Queen's Gambit, The Queen's Advantage, The Queen's Triumph.

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Original rating (serial): 3.73896 stars.
New rating (book version): 2.96864 3 stars.

Okay. Until I read The Queen’s Gambit, my experience of online serials had been limited to the somewhat slightly awesome Innkeeper Chronicles. So when I read The Queen’s Gambit after its official release, I thought that one of these most unfortunate accidents must have happened:

a) I was drunk as a high-strung puffer fish when I read the online version.
b) I was drunk as a high-strung puffer fish when I read the final version.
c) I was drunk a high-strung puffer fish when I read both the online and final versions.
d) All of the above.

I mean, the main plot of the story was the same, but the serial read like SF with some romance thrown in, while the book read like Allergy-inducing Romance with SF thrown in.



My thoughts exactly.

My Wannabe Nefarious Daughter (WND™) Little One seems to be of the wrong opinion that this was indeed a case of flammable liquid-induced amnesia. Mostly because her beloved father didn’t experience Multitudinous Super Hot Body Descriptions-Related Anxiety Attacks (MSHBDRAA™) while we were reading the serial, as she expected him/her/they/it/whatever to. Anyway, as every barnacle knows, kids are always wrong and you can’t trust a single thing they say, so I promptly proceeded to disregard Little One’s erroneous hypothesis of the misguided judgement.

Still, I thought this deserved further investigation and went off to, um, you know, investigate and stuff. Meaning I compared some of the passages in the book to those in the serial. And the results of this far-reaching, in-depth analysis are:

a) There is indeed a lot more romantic crap stuff in the final version than in the serial.

b) Yes, there were a few seizure-inducing Hot Bods Descriptions in the serial. But they were a complete joke compared to the Multifariously Extreme Super Hot Bod Descriptions of Doom and Oblivion (MESHBDoDaO™) featured in the book: we’ve got golden skin! And hard muscles! And flat chests! And sculpted chests! And shirts that stretch nicely across muscled duh chests! And defined abs! And sexy v-shaped muscles! And muscled-this! And muscled-that! YAY!



c) The serial had more bite. A bloody shrimping lot more bite. There was more tension between the two main protagonists. Their feelings and attitudes were a lot more ambivalent. Everything was more kickass. And more exciting. And less conventional. And the story didn’t feel like a HEA of Complete and Total Annihilation of All Life on the Planet (HEAoCaTAoALotP™) waiting to happen *shudders dramatically*

d) I was drunk a high-strung puffer fish when I did the above-mentioned far-reaching, in-depth analysis.

➽ And the moral of this This Book Ain’t Bad It’s Just Too Full of Lovey Dovey Crap for my Black Withered Heart Superiorly Crappy Crappy Non Review (TBABIJTFoLDCfmBWHSCCNR™) is: if you’re looking for a light, entertaining insta-lurve/attraction/whatever story set in space, then The Queen’s Gambit is for you. If you’re not, then it’s not.



P.S. Huge kudos to Jessie Mihalik for creating a homosexual couple that doesn’t feel like a bloody fishing gimmick. Move along no token gay characters to see and stuff. Most welcome and refreshing and commendable and praiseworthy indeed this is. And much grateful for it the murderous crustaceans are.

· Book 2: The Queen's Advantage - serial in progress



[Pre-review nonsense]

Ugh. Either I was high on top quality stuff when first read this story my ever-failing memory is failing me big time, or there is a lot more romantic crap stuff in the final version of this story than there was in the serial.



➽ Full Valentin Kos You're Super Hot and Super Muscled and Super Sexey and Super Bloody Shrimping Everything Yes Yes Yes We Get It Thank You Very Much Crappy Non Review (VKYSHaSMaSSaSBSEYYYWGITYVMCNR™) to come.



[ February 21, 2018]

Actual rating: 3.73896 stars. And a quarter. For now. I'll probably change it when I read the final version and stuff.

So this was pretty cool and fun and entertaining and stuff. Ergo, I kinda sorta liked it.

The temporary end. I shall return when the ebook is released and stuff.





➽ Free online SF serial available here (weekly instalments).

It's pretty entertaining and stuff. Also, it comes recommended by someone called Ilona Andrews. Not sure who that person is, but I hear she's written a good book or two and can be trusted. Ha.

💀 I'm going to bump the fish out of this review as new episodes are posted by the author. Don't say I didn't warn you 💀

➽ Feb. 19, 2018: the final chapter is up!!!



➽ Feb. 15, 2018: Chapter 13, part 3 is up!

➽ Feb. 12, 2018: Chapter 13, part 2 is up!

➽ Feb. 10, 2018: Chapter 13, part 1 is up!

➽ Feb. 9, 2018: Chapter 12, part 2 is up!

➽ Feb. 5, 2018: Chapter 12, part 1 is up!

➽ Feb. 1, 2018: Chapter 11, part 2 is up!

➽ Jan. 29, 2018: Chapter 11, part 1 is up! Ha! I knew something like this was going to happen! Woo hoo and stuff!




➽ Jan. 25, 2018: Chapter 10, part 2 is up!

➽ Jan. 22, 2018: Chapter 10, part 1 is up!

➽ Jan. 18, 2018: Chapter 9, part 2 is up!

➽ Jan. 15, 2018: Chapter 9, part 1 is up! I smell war, political scheming and delicious backstabbing. YUM.



➽ Previous chapters :
· Chapter 8, part 3
· Chapter 8, part 2
· Chapter 8, part 1
· Chapter 7, Part 2
· Chapter 7, Part 1
· Chapter 6
· Chapter 5, Part 2
· Chapter 5, Part 1
· Chapter 4, Part 2
· Chapter 4, Part 1
· Chapter 3, Part 2
· Chapter 3, Part 1
· Chapter 2, Part 2
· Chapter 2, Part 1
· Chapter 1

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

1st read - March 2018
2nd read - August 2018
3rd read - December 2020

I first read The Queen’s Gambit when it was available on Jessie Mihalik’s blog as a free online serial and I enjoyed it enough that I purchased the final, edited version when it went on sale. The story was officially edited and expanded upon before official publication and I enjoyed the story as much, if not more, the second time around.

Samara is a great character, she’s the queen of a ragtag group of refugees and rebels who are living in the outer reaches of the solar system and just trying to get by without drawing attention of two warring factions. The war has made food and other supplies scarce and her people are struggling just to survive on very low rations. Samara has done everything she can think of to get food for her people but desperation has made her a little reckless and now she’s decided to kidnap Valentin, the new Emperor of the Kos Federation hoping to use the ransom for food and supplies. After all Valentin’s war is the reason her people are suffering in the first place so the least he can do is provide the means to save them.

I don’t want to say much more about the story but things with Valentin aren’t all what they first seemed and Samara may have bitten off more than she can chew by abducting him. Now she just has to decide if she can work with him for the good of her people or whether he will stab her in the back at the first chance he gets.

Jessie Mihalik has created a fun futuristic world with lots of interesting technology but even though this is only a novella I never found myself lost or struggling to keep up. There was a nice amount of action, a good selection of side characters and I also enjoyed the developing romance. I’m already looking forward to reading the sequel and luckily I don’t have to wait long because the author has already started posting instalments of The Queen’s Advantage on her blog!

____________________________

UPDATE:
Now that this novella has been edited and published as an ebook it's no longer available as an online freebie (I believe you can read the first couple of chapters on the author's blog though if you just want to try a sample). I liked it enough to purchase a finished copy and I'm planning to reread it soon so I'll review it properly after that.

____________

This is a free online SF novella that was being published in weekly instalments and comes recommended by both Ilona Andrews and Sarah of the Murderous Crustaceans. You can read the whole story on Jessie Mihalik's website (http://www.jessiemihalik.com/blog/sto...) for a limited time while it is being edited and then it will go on sale as an ebook so try it now while you still can and if you love it you can always buy it later :o)

I really enjoyed this one, fun setting, great characters and a lot of potential for future books in the series. I'll definitely be buying the finished version for a reread when it's gone through editing and I'll write a proper review then but in the meantime it's still available as a free online read so you've got nothing to lose by giving it a try!

[Mimi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novella is fine for a short, self-published sci-fi romance that's light on the romance and heavy on the shooting; it's just not for me. A bit like a direct-to-video version of Star Wars, which could be fun when you're in the mood for it. The prose, however, is too clunky and awkward in too many places for me, and the ending felt too abrupt. Also, I don't get the whole kings and queens in outer space either.

But the biggest hurdle for me was the awkwardness. There were too many times during the read when the writing reminded me that it needed an editor's touch. But overall, this was a fast, jaunty read--a good way to kill an hour or two. Took me a whole month to finish because I was reading it in between a few other books, otherwise I would have been done weeks ago.

An example of the awkwardness

I wore a stretchy black stealth suit that would help me slip past any perimeter security that Jax missed. My braided black hair disappeared in the dark and most of my light brown skin was hidden by the stealth suit. My uncovered face would be visible in low light, but it was a liability I had learned to mitigate because I hated camouflage paint. Soft leather boots hugged my calves and protected my feet but kept my footsteps light. A belt around my waist secured a holstered electroshock pistol, an extra magazine of stun rounds, and a sheathed ceramic knife. I would’ve preferred more weapons, but tonight I traveled light in the name of stealth.

The rest of the novella gets a little better with each chapter, but there are moments like this passage sprinkled throughout.

I was looking forward to Jessie Mihalik's first traditionally published novel, another space opera romance adventure called Polaris Rising, but after reading this little story, my interest in the other one is waning.

* * * * *

Cross-posted at https://covers2covers.wordpress.com/2...

[Lover of Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance

The Queen's Gambit is the first book of this author's debut series. And as I fell in love with her Consortium Rebellion trilogy, I was super eager to try out this other series of hers and yep I fell in love with this book. I think even just a couple years her writing has improved vastly, but I quite had a blast with this book and it had so many laugh out loud moments. We have two strong protaganists that melted my heart in every way. You have our hero, who is the emperor and a new one at that. His father died and named him his replacement and he is the younger son, so had no clue why, and now dealing with all his advisors seeking his death including his brother. Then you have the heroine, Queen Samara. Her people are starving and she will do whatever it takes to see to their welfare including kidnapping Emperor Kos to get a ransom out of it. But the chemistry between these two is explosive and soon they join forces against their true enemies and build a peace between their two peoples, but their journey is just beginning.



Overall I couldn't seem to get enough of this book, at first, I wasn't quite a Samara fan to be honest. Kos had my heart from the get go, he just has such a solid foundation of goodness and honesty and a bit of craftiness and sometimes Samara wasn't the best to him. But she thoughout the story, did win my good will once again and I grew to admire her as the main focus of this trilogy and I am excited to see what becomes of her and Kos in this trilogy.

[Mogsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2019/06/02/...

Sometimes you just need a break with something fun. Earlier this year, I had a great time with Jessie Mihalik’s Polaris Rising, a sci-fi romance featuring fast-paced action and political intrigue with just the right amount of hot, sexy passion. Needless to say, when an opportunity came up to check out the audiobook of The Queen’s Gambit—a novella which began life as a free serialized project on the author’s website but is now available in a single collected volume—I leaped at the chance. After falling into a bit of a reading slump this past week, I was also in the mood for something lighter to pick me up, and this looked like it would do the trick.

It all began with a rescue mission. Or at least, that had been the original plan. Samara is a young queen who had until recently kept her Rogue Coalition out of the greater conflict in the war between the Quint Confederacy and the Kos Empire, preferring to stay out of the fight in order to protect her people. But with both sides refusing to trade with neutral sectors, the new conditions have forced Samara to consider more drastic action, or else the entire Coalition will starve.

Knowing that the Kos emperor is currently being held in Quint custody and that his people will pay handsomely to get him back, Samara devises a bold and dangerous plan to break him out. But infiltrating the Quint mercenary forces wouldn’t be easy. And as it turns out, the emperor, the handsome and charismatic Valentin Kos, isn’t anything she expected either. For one thing, he’s not the cold and callous tyrant he is purported to be, making it difficult for Samara to do what must be done to save her people.

Having now read both Polaris Rising and The Queen’s Gambit, I can definitely see similar elements of the author’s style in each story, and the books also feature many of the same themes and ideas. Samara is a headstrong, kick-ass heroine who isn’t afraid to risk her life for the causes and people she cares about. She also has a good heart, offering her Rogue Coalition as a haven for all the galaxy’s unwanted. Does this make her character a little too hokey and unrealistic, a bit of a “Mary Sue” sometimes? Sure. But for a light, jaunty read like this, I wasn’t going to be too picky. Likewise, Valentin Kos was an interesting and likeable romantic interest for Samara, if at times also just a tad too idealistic, but at least their romance didn’t overwhelm the rest of the plot, and I liked that it didn’t distract too much from the action.

Due to the short length of this story, I also wasn’t expecting too much depth from the plot. All I wanted was something light and entertaining, and in these areas, The Queen’s Gambit most certainly delivered. That said, there were moments that surprised me. World-building was more detailed and developed than expected, for instance. As well, I was impressed with the complexities of the political conflict at the center of the plot. Mihalik could have simply made this one a pure action novel, and done away with the rest. The fact that she didn’t says volumes about her passion for her writing, and I respected the hell out of her decision to flesh out her world with these extra details.

All in all, I found The Queen’s Gambit to be highly entertaining, perfect if you’re looking for a bite-sized adventure you can devour in a single afternoon. It’s pure action and intrigue with a good dose of romance, super-trimmed down for maximum pacing and readability. As a result, I wouldn’t expect anything too deep, but Jessie Mihalik has created a fun universe with compelling characters to hold your attention rapt. If a fluffy sci-fi tale is what you’re looking for, you won’t be disappointed.

Audiobook Comments: The narrator for the audiobook of The Queens Gambit, Rachel Dulude, is one of my favorites and I’ve enjoyed her work in the past, especially on Becky Chamber’s Wayfarers series. She has a great voice for sci-fi as well as strong, independent female characters, giving Samara a realistic and punchy personality!

[Anne - Books of My Heart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
 

Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
 
I really loved Mihalik's Polaris Rising so I had no hesitation in requesting The Queen's Gambit.  It is shorter but has the same feel I enjoyed in Polaris Rising.  The action is set in space and on planets involved in various disputes.  This novella was an online free serial on the author's site.

Samara leads a planet which tries to stay neutral when a war breaks out between two larger powers.  Without trade, the people are starving so she comes up with a plan to make some money to feed her people.  The thrilling action and fights which follow are the kind of thing I live to read.  She is smart and plans her strategies well. Samara is also not afraid to risk herself for others.

She slowly builds a friendship with Emporer Valentin Kos. It remains to be seen if it will be more.  I can't wait for more. I'll be reading and hopefully listening.    The next part of the Rogue Queen series, The Queen's Advantage looks like it will be published in one work in July.  I hope it will be available in audio as well.

Narration:
This narrator is new to me and I enjoyed her performance very much.  Her voices for all the characters, male or female felt right.  There were slight differences for each of the characters so I could tell who was speaking but there were mostly 2 characters doing most of the speaking. I listened to this one comfortably at 1.5x speed.

Listen to a clip:  HERE
 
COYER: Celebrate 2019. Read a book that's number in the series contains only 2, 1, 0 or 9. #1 PTS: 3

[Veronique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having enjoyed Mihalik’s latest trilogy, I checked what else she’d written and found this, which turned out to be a light and fun read, full of action, and a tiny speck of potential romance.

This novella throws you straight into the middle of it, and doesn’t really relent. The main character reminded me a lot of the first heroine in the Consortium Trilogy, and was probably the base for it. Still, here we have a very capable ‘one-army’ woman on a mission, and it is not for the reasons you may think. The Queen of the title may have been a rebel in her past but right now she is fighting to help and indeed feed (!) her people. Puts a different perspective on the whole thing.

Due to its shortness, there is not much ‘time’ to flesh out this world and yet it felt complex and believable. Having already read the next one, I can see that this is in fact one big story divided into three volumes. Yep, I’m enjoying this a lot, especially since my brain is being a pain and not accepting the other titles I want to read. Oh well :0)

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the serial format available online - will do a more full review when I read it again.

All in all, this was a fun sci-fi space romp. I love Samara. And I'm intrigued by Valentin. I can't wait to see where this goes from here! There's definitely some shady stuff going on, and I'm excited to see Samara get in the middle of it.

I especially loved how easy it was to visualize the advanced tech, world, and societies, how the problems and advantages of those advances were thought out, and how it wasn't simply used as a deus ex machina to fix all the problems.

[Karen ⚜Mess⚜ · Rating 3 out of 5]

MacHalo Buddy Read

Not too bad of a novella. There isn't a solid story line. Seems like Jessie Mihalik jumped right into a story and told just the parts she wanted to write about, which is cool. I mean, it is a novella. A little heavy on the feminist side. I'd go for the next book, but it looks like only Loriidae and I are doing the buddy read.

[Blodeuedd Finland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sci.fi novella so things had to happen fast.

Samara is a queen (of course why no one just crushed her world in a day I do not know, it would be so easy). There are those who do not want to fight for the two other empires, and those who just want to escape.

Samara is tough as nails, dubious past, and was elected queen. And now she will save the emperor to get some money out of it, her people need food.

Valentin was, oh I liked him, I am sure he will be a good emperor if he can just get rid of the snakes around him.

Get him out, get him safe, get money. Baddies after them. Friendship blossoming (I hope for more one day too).

It was short and fully fleshed out it would have been even better. But it does work as a novella and there are more to come.

I did have to up the speed of the narrator to 2.0 cos I felt she was speaking too slowly. I did like her voice, but yes higher speed was needed for me. It might have to do with that this was built as a serial. So there are many moments in it for action and danger.

[TJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

My goodness, this one’s fun! It is the first of three serialized novella’s and I am amazed at how complete it is and how much is packed within that short novel form! It really is an edge-of-your-seat ride that is intelligent and even holds a budding romance. On to the next one fast!

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars for The Queens Gambit: Rogue Queen Series, Book 1 (audiobook) by Jessie Mihalik read by Rachel Dulude. This was a fun sci-fi story. I like the characters. I think I’ll try the next one in the series.

[Christa Schönmann Abbühl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This came before the Consortium Rebellion, which I read first. There are some similarities in the world building, and I could not help myself comparing the series to each other. The Rogue Queen came out second. It also might be that Mihalik has matured as a writer.
Anyhow, I did enjoy the story, and want to know what happens next. Especially since the romance did not go anywhere yet. Sadly the second book is not available at my ebook library.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy* · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Fun stars!

Cute little novella with a Queen who seems to like getting herself shot and a romance bubbling around the edges.

I'd recommend this for Ilona Andrews fans - with the understanding that this is a bit closer to the Innkeeper Chronicles that Kate Daniels. Which, when I think about it, makes sense. This, too, started (and will continue) as a free online serial that is pulled for later publish as a complete work.

[Leticia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a romance that doesn't dominate the action part but it's quite cute. An entertaining quick read.

[Saly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this novella. The heroine is a kick-ass & the story continues in the next novella.

[Bry · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars? Yeah, 5 stars. Dare I say even a new favorite.

Both the heroine and hero are smart, cunning, strong, kind, and responsible. The world is pretty fleshed out given the fact that this is a novella. The action scenes were on point. The political intrigue was totally believable.

All in all, I am pretty surprised and pretty happy! Granted I take any recommendation from Ilona Andrews pretty seriously, but I was still concerned given this and Polaris Rising are the author's first published works. Gotta say though, Jessie Mihalik is now an auto-buy for me!

I can't wait to read more about the Rouge Queen Samara Rani!

[Lola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have heard great things about Jessie Mihalik's books and had her books on my wishlist for a while. I am glad I finally got around to reading one of her books. After seeing a review for the audio version for The Queen's Gambit on a blogger's blog I decided to give this one a try in audio. I am glad I did as my ebook to-read list is much longer and who knows how long it would've taken me to finally pick it up.

The Queen's Gambit follows the story of queen Samara. She's the queen of the rogue coalition and she plans to keep her people out of the intergalactic war between the Quint Confederacy and the Kos Empire. When both sides refuse to trade with her people, things turn dire. Her people are starving and Samara hatches a desperate plan to get some money in their coffers. That's where this book starts with Samara entering a Quint building and planning to steal the emperor from the Kos Empire who they hold captive, so she can get the ransom money for him.

The story starts off quickly, but as we're thrown in the middle of it all it took me a bit to get a grip on the characters and the galaxy. The fast pace did work and there's plenty of action. There's not a dull moment as Samara keeps landing in trouble and has to make difficult decisions. There's also a strong romance side plot, which I liked.

I thought Samara was a likable character, she clearly cares for her people and will do anything to improve their situation. She has to make some tough decisions and while at times I wished she would think of herself as well, it was realistic and clear why she made these choices. She also isn't afraid to put herself in the line of fire. She's not a queen who stays back and let others do the work, instead she's right at the front of the action putting her own life on the line for her people.

I liked reading about the characters, the main focus is on Samara and emperor Valentin, but there are some nice side characters too. And some antagonists whom I am sure we'll see more of in future books. I also liked Ari and Stella, who play a role when they land on the Rogue Coalitions home planet.

Then there was a bit of romance between Samara and Valentin, but their goals might not align always, so it's interesting to see how things progress between them. I thought it felt realistic how things progressed and I liked how things ended at the end of this book. I thought they made for a good couple. They're both capable and smart and their mutual attraction was clear from the start.

There is a bit of a political plot line with these three different factions, two of whom are at war with each other. Although I don't think we find out why they're actually at war and I would like to see a bit more of the world. But as this is only the first book in the series and a novella at that I think the author did a good job providing the reader with the most relevant information while not bogging things down with too many details. I liked what i saw of the world and am looking forward to see more.

I also liked how the author fit in enough technological advancements to make it feel like a science fiction novel. They had neural links, stealth technology, advanced weapons and more. I liked reading about it.

This is the first time I am listening to Rachel Dulude's narration and I thought she did a great job with this book. Her voice was pleasant to listen to and I thought her voice fit especially Samara well, but the other characters all sounded good too and I liked how every character had their own voice, although a few of the male characters sounded a tad alike. I definitely would be happy to listen to her work again.

To summarize: This was a fast paced science fiction novella with plenty of action and a strong romance plot line. I had fun reading this one. Samara is a great character to read about, she really cares for her people and isn't afraid to put herself into danger. There are some fun side characters too and I liked seeing how Samara's romance with Valentin developed. I liked the world building with the three different factions and interesting technological gadgets. I am looking forward to see more of this world in future books. The narration was well done and I thought the narrator's voice fit the story and especially queen Samara well. All in all a solid listen and I plan to listen to to the rest of the series too.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty fun book, and I enjoyed listening to it read by Rachel Dulude.
However, I was a little frustrated by the use of too much "telling" and not "showing" the action. But as it was a short book, and brief enough that it did not get boring. There was an ok balance between the action and talking, and I liked the supporting characters.
However the main characters were a little flat. We kept hearing how Queen Samara was a former street kid and world-wise, but she was almost overwhelmingly nice. And the Emperor was a golden retriever personality. It was kind of... a let down. I don't know. I was hoping for more intrigue, danger, adventure and excitement. I realize that this is a novella, but I'm hoping the next installment is a little more riveting.

[Jai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Downloaded this after reading The Kinsmen Universe by Ilona Andrews and saw the authors had recommended Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik for fans of Kinsmen. Well Polaris Rising isn't out yet but this novella is.

Glad I gave it a go, really liked the characters and fast pace in this, and the romance is rather sweet. The Insta-lust from the heroines pov made me worry I was going to read a story where things get physical really fast, but this didn't jump the gun like I feared. Will definitely be preordering Polaris Rising...I'm excited to find a new SFR author to follow!

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions)]

Fast-paced and fun, if a little light on character development. But hey, it's a novella. There's not a lot of romance yet, though the foundations have been laid. And there's queer rep in secondary cast which is nice.

[Dana aka ♥Belladonna♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

[Maria Angelica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Achei a premissa da história muito legal, mas a escrita da autora muito juvenil.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review posted on Got Fiction?

After I read the Sci Fi Romance Polaris Rising, I dove right back in and read it again. I wanted more! Not just of that world, but of that author's writing. Luckily Jessie Mihalik has another book out. It's a novella that she serialized on her website, but is now complete. I really like this author's voice and style. I expect great things from her.

It starts out with a wild rescue mission that quickly turns to an escape mission. However the man she rescues is the emperor of a very rich people. Her people are the refugees of the war going on, and they are starving. Her idea is that she can ransom him back to his people and use that money to feed her people. But things don't go that easily. And the emperor is no easy target.

But the two of them build up a fragile trust, and during this, a mutual enemy attacks. They each get to see what the other is made of, and I feel it helps cement their relationship. She's a fighter, and she's protecting him for a good portion of it! But he's no slouch either, oh no. This guy can take care of business. And when they work together, you can see how good they'll be.

I loved that they got to know each other over a longer period of time than just the escape/rescue/ransom part. They may be attracted to each other from the first, but this is no insta-lust story. They spent weeks speaking daily and it's adorable. They become friends and I loved it.

I also loved that ending, but hate that I have to wait for more. That's the problem with a debut author, you know? No extensive backlist! Even if you don't typically read Sci Fi Romance, or Space Opera, I think you'll enjoy this author. If she's good enough that even I want more? Then you know she's good!

[Chachic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted on bookstagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BtYxDK_ndCa/

I've been curious about Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik ever since I saw it recommended over at Ilona Andrews' blog, but it hasn't been released yet and I'm not sure if I want to pre-order it at a 9.99usd price point. So I decided to try The Queen's Gambit instead, since it's already available. My friend Janice enjoyed reading it so I was hoping I would as well.⁣
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I found The Queen's Gambit to be an overall fun sci-fi read, with interesting worldbuilding peppered with some political intrigue. It starts off with the main characters in a sticky situation and the fast pace doesn't let up until the end. I liked the two main characters and enjoyed reading about them. This would have qualified as a good read except for the fact that I felt that it ends abruptly, not quite a cliffhanger but it still feels incomplete with several plot threads left hanging. I realize that this must be the first in the series but I would have liked to have been warned that the story is not quite finished prior to diving into this. I liked the writing but still not sure whether I'd be willing to purchase Polaris Rising or wait for either a Kindle deal or more reviews from trusted friends to turn up.⁣

[Linzi Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK I marked up a little but this novella was a FREE weekly serial on the author’s blog and it was a lot of fun. It had solid world-building, is well written, with a lot more of a plot than most novellas and has a kick-ass heroine and some nice secondary characters just for icing on the cake. In my book that’s a solid 4.5.

The novella is still free on the website at the time of this review and will shortly be available to buy on Amazon. Her first published work (Harper Voyager) comes out later this year

[Laz the Sailor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid story, but lacks anything special. The challenge of being a leader when all you want to do is jump in bed with the other leader is well explored - as is the jumping in bed part. The intrigue is somewhat obvious, but still well executed.

[Leather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Romance Sci-fi: it's decent entertainment but a little too simplistic. The background is very light and very caricatural. The series " consortium rebellion", by the same author is better. But it's well written and fun to read.

[Tandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent sci-fi space novella. The writing was impressive! Definitely checking out some of this author’s other books. Lots of action with a side of romance.

[Lorena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predates the more polished Polaris series. A lot of similar elements, and still a lot of fun, although it ends rather abruptly.