Hard Start: Mars Intrigue

by S.V. Farnsworth

When forces split them apart, how do they come together?

Space Division spy Cody Greene lies for a living. That's one of the reasons he looks at every woman he meets with skepticism. He's single because of his dysfunctional relationship with his pampered, politician mother and the fact he's still in love with his high school sweetheart, who died mysteriously years ago.

Cody's in a tight spot when he's ordered to marry a naive tech genius named Lisa Shim. She's part of the elite class and has invented everything that makes Mars amazing. Restricted by his oath, he can't tell her she's in danger.

Is Lisa like his mother? Or is she the perfect match he's been praying for?

Genres: Space Opera

242 pages, ebook

Published October 10, 2021

About the author

S.V. Farnsworth speaks four languages and has lived in South Korea. She teaches English as a second language at Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri.

Farnsworth writes immersive deep-shelf fiction with noble characters battling dark worlds.

When forces split them apart, how do they come together?

Modutan Empire series', Woman of the Stone and Monarch in the Flames are epic fantasy with an appeal to readers who connect with #MeToo concerns and admire strong female characters.

Hard Start: Mars Intrigue and Tidal Pulse: Mars Revolution are space opera for readers who love it as much as they enjoy their furry brown Chewbacca slippers.

A Rare Connection is contemporary romantic suspense and a clean read.

Tucked Away in a Discolored Scrapbook: Creative Nonfiction with Poetry is a collection that speaks to your soul with strong prose and uplifting imagery.

Farnsworth was the 2020 and 2021 secretary of the Ozarks Writers League. She served in 2018 and 2019 as president of the Joplin Writers’ Guild. She coordinated their conferences and edited the guild’s 2019 anthology, Seasons of the Four States.

Get a FREE ebook and see for yourself at svfarnsworthauthor.com/newsletter.

Reviews

[Rebekah Wanke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book!
Interesting space opera about a couple from mismatched cultures who find their way together. Earth had been in nuclear winter for 100 years and Mars had quite a few colonies . there had been a devastating pandemic some years ago and unusual laws were enacted thereafter making the choice to marry for love, not always possible. Meanwhile, there is a conspiracy to unravel and danger to navigate. I especially love the exploration of what it takes to decide to love and live your life in harmony with principle. For those that are not comfortable with religion, there is quite a lot of religion in the story, I found it easy to substitute the idea of principles, spirituality, and commitment to one’s principles for their particular religion. But the potential reader should know that it is there. It is an excellent story with interesting characters and i would love to read more about them!

[Larry Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly engrossing read with strong, believable characters. The author does a masterful job of maintaining the romantic suspense between the main character, Lisa, and her love interest, Cody. And the ending is a cliffhanger, priming the reader for the next installment in the series. Highly recommended for all readers of fantasy and romantic suspense.

[Laurie Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot different to what I was expecting, two confused personalities who each have an agenda but don't know how to resolve them. Multiple interferences from others and some questionable actions.
Unsure where it is all heading but it seems that power corrupts.
Looking forward to the next in series.

[Sentinelle23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤🌌🪐 EXCELLENT DYSTOPIA


Cody Greene had signed up to help the Mars colonies. But he now found himself imprisoned for failing to find a wife.

He had only eleven hours to live before his execution...

He was delivered alone with his thoughts...

---------------------

I was very pleasantly surprised by this captivating novel which cheerfully mixes the genres that I particularly like: romance, science fiction and dystopia.

I really liked the background plot and the two main characters of Lisa and Cody.
Mysteries, intrigues, misunderstandings and manipulations dot this novel as in any good dystopia.

Started last night, I read the novel in one go and just finished it this morning. I absolutely wanted to know the ending.

An end that finally left me on the hot coals: can't wait for volume 2!
I can't wait to read the rest of the dangerous adventures of Lisa and Cody!
❤🌌🪐

[S.V. Farnsworth]

Cody Green's undercover investigation leads him to Lisa Shim. Assigned to marry her, when they first meet, he's shocked to find that she's nothing like what he expected...in a good way. (Review Copy available at Story Origin)

[Gloria Bottom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marriage is a commitment we take seriously. I love the commitment these 2 made. But family and employer issues may be beyond what they can work out without Heavenly help. Waiting on next book to see how they get through those issues.

[Christina ❤️M❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars I really enjoyed Nessa and Cody. Both characters had personality. Nessa was a prodigy child and has created the life saving systems that provide atmosphere to Mars. Cody is a spy that is not even trying not to die. He is a highly sensitive man and we see a stereotype reversal which I found awesome. I thought the world building was good containing different classes to different sections. Here is where we lose half a star. In this world the government is in complete control, especially in a sexual way. They control marriage, sex, and minimum number of kids, with the penalty being DEATH. Then how is it that our super smart people are oblivious of the actual act. To sum it up. I enjoyed the story and will be wanting more Nessa and Cody. There should not be any naivete now..Wink, wink Thank you to the author and story origins for the free copy for an honest review.

[Reuben Farnsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting.

[S.V. Farnsworth]

I loved the characters and the suspense. Now that book two is out, I'm thrilled to reread the first book!

[James Frederick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. It had so many things that I like...well, I thought it did.

The subtitle of this is very puzzling because it is not at all clear what it refers to.

First, the good. It is written by a Christian author who is not afraid to at least mention God and prayer and trying to live by a moral code. There is a romance at the heart of the story and the characters and their interaction are almost entirely PG. Which is fine and good.

From there on, however...it is not clear in any way, shape or form what is going on. There is almost zero world-building.

You know the two main characters, one, the daughter of a ruling elite family; the other, the son whose mother is also in some kind of power. Vague? Yes. We don't know anything about anyone in this book. It takes place in space, but you do not know where. The "planets" or wherever people live go by numbers. Eight, nine or ten, seem to be where everyone lives. Apparently, no one lives on Earth, (or "three") and no one can go there. Not sure why, but it sounds like it has been rendered uninhabitable.

The first 90% of the story is about the aftermath of the wedding of the two main characters. The wedding itself is not really dealt with. The question is whether or not they will consummate the marriage within the first 30 days. If they don't, the whole deal is off and one or more of them gets whacked.

Oh, and in this universe, if you do not get married by the age of 30, you also get imprisoned and whacked. Not sure why. It is never explained. But it is apparently because the only thing people are good for in this world is breeding. If they are not interested in that, then the powers that be are not interested in them. Not sure why.

There is an undercurrent of "intrigue" in that someone is killing random people. Someone is stealing air and other random things. Sabotage. Spying. All of these things are mentioned. Nothing is clear. What motivates these people other than breeding? (And sex, but only for the sake of breeding...)

The other thing is that the two main characters are really not very likable. You never really get to know them or what they are about because they are too busy fighting with each other and suspecting each other of being horrible. Someone will say something and the other character thinks, "Wow...that is really nice. I must be completely wrong about them." Then in the next paragraph, something will happen or someone will say something else and they return to hatred and ice and wishing their spouse jailed or dead. But wait a page or two and they will be lusting after them and think, "Hey, they really ARE awesome." But don't hold your breath.

That can happen once or twice and it is fine. Conflict is not bad in a story. But when it is continual and done TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME...for 90% of the book...it gets exhausting, and not in a satisfying way.

I am not sure if the book takes place on Mars or not. If so, how anyone got to be there or how anyone can live there or anything like that...it's never explained. The "Fusion in a fission world" part is a complete mystery to me. That is never mentioned or dealt with in any way.

What we are left with is a couple of different factions (apparently), that do not like each other. People are dying and getting attacked and no one knows why. Sabotage is taking place, but no one knows why. The "will they or won't they" that permeates the first 90% of the book is dealt with in a page or two and then the main characters go their separate ways. There is a cliffhanger ending, (which I hate). But that is it. Nothing is ever explained. If you want ANY answers, you need to read book 2.

This could have been a lot better. The premise may have merit, if it could be fleshed out a little bit. The author needs to give us a little more reason to care about the characters and what they are fighting for...or against. Being in the dark in space is not really a choice. In a book, it is just plain frustrating.

[Charity Bradford · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I received this book in exchange for an honest review. And I have no idea where to start. This was the strangest story I've picked up in a long time. Maybe ever. The calling out of a specific religion felt weird. These people were supposed to be super religious but all they thought about was sex. In fact, since it didn't have anything to do with the plot of the story, naming a real modern-day religion in a futuristic story almost felt like the author was making a statement about it. I'm just not sure what it was.

That's how I feel about most of the story. The characters thoughts, actions, and emotions were all over the place. No one was consistent. Cody agrees to marry Lisa so he can investigate her for treason, and yet we never see any evidence that he's trying to solve the case. And he cries a lot for a tough military man/space agent. It was just weird. I'm all for a guy being sensitive, but he would be a complete jerk one moment and then be crying because he didn't deserve her the next. He almost rapes her on orders even though she's been trying to consummate their marriage for a month.

And Lisa? She comes across more like she has Aspergers or high-functioning autism than her naivety being due to her culture. She doesn't have a clue about anything. She's supposed to be this genius, but she doesn't question anything going on around her.

The entire story was frustrating because there was a good concept behind it. I managed to read to the end. This looks like the first book in a series but nothing is answered in this book. All we did was go back and forth between will they or won't they. I won't be waiting for book 2.

I give it a 2.5 on my scale (rounded to a 3) with a PG-13/14 rating.

1-5 scale and what it means:
1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad
2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing
3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive
3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love
4: Solid mind candy / worth reading
4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read
5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure

Movie Ratings in relation to my review:
Clean--Hallmark movies, some kissing, no nudity, no sex on or off "screen"
PG--Some innuendo but nothing kids don't hear every day, sex is all closed door
PG-13--some language (swear words not related to sex), more talk about sex, heavy petting, removal of clothing on screen, but sex is closed door.
PG-14—somewhere between PG-13 and R. Not erotica, but at least a paragraph of on-screen sex
R--swearing (F-bomb, on “screen” sex, sometimes feels like the whole story is about the sex and not the relationship or some other plot, but not always

[Ayezu Tamarapreye Okoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOOK:-HARD START:MARS INTRIGUE-FUSSION IN FISSION WORLD,VOLUME 1 BY S.V FARNSWORTH.
BOOK REVIEWER -OKOKO AYEZU TAMARAPREYE

The book is a poetic prose fiction that discusses several topics amongst ,marriage ,marriage(mar-ri-age) mandate,forced marriage that casts burden on one's children; Technology (Tech-no-law-ji for "tech presence and law holds") based establishment management hierarchy and staffing;lawful(law fool) marriage (mar-ri-age/mar-ri-age) and marriage on pity grounds as well as undercover investigation ground;death or depth and timing out or becoming timeless as a staff of government establishment; redemption for one timed out and who pays the fine;amongst others.

The book through its character plot looks at the death of the law officer or "Leesa pronounced Lisa" in a government employee contract and the keeping of TEN's(T-Earn for "perfect earn" secrets or continuations.

It raises questions on when to use a bandage and a cotton wool on a patient after an injection;whether forced marriage is rape and whether rape was permissible on staff(star-fee/fun with Fu for death or depth) under division of technology and whether the directors of such division where exempted from such rape and whether staff in such rape prone organization never rose to directorship or did rise; whether government employment contracts were marriage(mar-ri-age/mar-ri-age) contracts;whether those in technology establishment staff list must be able to fix a marriage(mar-ri-age or marry-age ) or theirs by not being criminal (key-ri-me-na-al) as a praise or a verdict; raises questions on the job of the one who held or supported the nee family or name using Lisa dating Jinhee(Ji-nee for "hold nee") and being a member of the church of Jesus Christ and latter day saint as well as being accused of being a low life thief(t-e-fee ) and whether ones partner or church played a role and how;raises questions on whether a waif (wa-e-fee) or wife saves the life of an employer or husband; amongst others

[Jean-Charles Garaud · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard Start: Mars Intrigue by S. V. Farnsworth.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It was my first attempt at a novel by S. V. Farnsworth.

This is the supposedly a Science Fiction story, perhaps since it takes place on Mars, unfortunately being a fan of Sci-fi I was disappointed because I felt that there was not much of Science Fiction in it…

It takes place in an authoritarian society where citizens arriving at the age limit of 30 years of age, get to chose between forced marriage or death….

One gathers through some details that earth has been destroyed more than a century ago, humanity having suffered a drastic loss of population which led the government, with the help of religion, to enforce a minimum of 4 children per couple rule….

90% of the novel revolves about the difficulty of newly (more or less forced) wed Lisa and Cody to trust and how to come to know each other in a biblical way i.e. have sex.

I could not imagine it would take so long to the author to get her story going, although it certainly needed time since communications between Neia and Cody were muddled by their past, their cultural differences and their motives when marrying, nevertheless to me the whole romantic side of the novel story took far too much space in the book and took far too long to materialize.

I found the plot(s), as well as the characters not convincing and this did not make the story easier to enjoy, I could not get caught by it.

It is plagued by a rather simple if not simplistic conception, a caricature, of a developing relation within a religious young couple in a repressive society.

Furthermore the novel ended with a “Cliff Hanger”.

To me this novel should be addressing YA or perhaps even more should target teen-agers.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky experience…

I was attracted to this book because of the imminent reveal of actual life on Mars. Many may still disagree and be shocked by this statement but, although the story-line takes place in our future, I feel that it opens a window into the possible “dark side”, controlling overseers of society existing there today.

The story focuses on the “matched”/arranged marriage of two very different individuals who must overcome their hesitancy towards intimacy in order to survive. I admit that my curiosity is what drove me to finish this book. It had so much potential to be greater than it was…and yet, it never made a profound impression that I could take away from it.

This is an easy read at a rather slow pace – could use more angst. If there was any point to be made, I’d say that it demonstrates the importance of trust and communication – which was definitely lacking. I found it interesting but not to the point of liking it a whole lot and would give it 3.5 stars if I could.

[Annie Lisenby]

The world of this book is a rich sci-fi world on Mars. Farnsworth put great effort into building this world where humans struggle to survive after abandoning Earth. For anyone who likes details of systems to keep humans alive, governmental systems that aren't so helpful to the humans, and the rich details needed to bring a futuristic story based on Mars to life, this is your book. But you must also like romantic turmoil too! The main characters are thrown together, forced to marry (because of governmental regulations), and have a lot to learn not only about each other but also about themselves. And Farnsworth doesn't hold back on the romantic turmoil, nor the situational turmoil either! At every turn the characters are learning about marriage while trying to survive the elements and the people working against them.

[TaniaRina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are you tired of the stereotypically clichéd and over-dramatized use of sexual tension in relationships? Then this book’s for you. I am a very avid reader, but I have yet to come across the interesting twist that the author uses to paint the background of this romance. Perhaps it’s the Martian air or maybe there’s something in the water…

I won’t spoil your reading with details of how our couple met. I will say, though, that my first thought took me back to the night when my father let me stay up late with him to watch Logan’s Run on TV. Yeah, there’s a little bit of darkness to Cody and Lisa’s marriage situation.

And don’t get me started on politics…

[Willard · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should have a warning on the cover or at least in the promotional text that it is religious. I had to put the book away after five chapters because it was all about god is great and prayer this prayer that. If it had been a good book, maybe, maybe, I could have stuck around, but it wasn’t even that. It would have a character saying something followed by two paragraphs explaining why that character said it. At other points, the book assumed knowledge that hadn’t been introduced, making it very confusing to read. All in all a waste of money.

[Sally Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fell in love with main characters Cody and Lisa. They both have issues that make a success of an arranged marriage a challenge. There is constant drama from inside and outside problems that stress the relationship. The book leaves you hanging yearning for Book 2. This is the best Sci Fi/Space Opera I've read in a long time.

[Robert Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly good story. The intrigue is that the rulers on Mars are manipulating the populace and few suspect it. Cody, a security forces spy, is forced to marry Lisa, a suspected air thief. He slowly learns that he and his wife are being manipulated by his mother, a member of the ruling council, and others of the council.

A sequel will hopefully explain the rest of the story.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t often abandon books, but I did with this one. I had a lot of difficulty getting into the characters and the world, and after a few chapters, I couldn’t go on. I thought it jumped right into the story without any worldbuilding or character development, and I found myself distracted with trying to figure out the foundation for the story. Two of five stars on Goodreads.

[Megan Mclellan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a good suspenseful sci-fi!