Ledani Moons

The Agitator's Code #2

by Octavia Atlas

Darion Navarr and Tolrek Marou have carved out a life together. They started on opposing sides but are now focused on having a solid relationship. It won’t be simple, as forces in and around them pose new challenges.

Tolrek becomes a mecha pilot again, but his machine reacts strangely when he activates it. More importantly, his health begins to suffer and learning why takes him on a life-changing journey.

As much as Darion wants to help Tolrek, he must answer a summons from the Tildari Empire. The expectations of Tildar’s Empress raise questions about Darion’s past and his future is in jeopardy.

With Tolrek’s health issues and the demands of their careers, how will Darion and Tolrek continue their relationship?

342 pages, Paperback

Published December 5, 2021

About the author

Octavia Atlas writes contemporary, fantasy, and science fiction romance. When she's not crafting stories, she plays video games, reads, travels, or watches TV/movies. Connect with her on Bluesky, @octaviaatlas.bsky.social, or through her website, https://www.octaviaatlas.com, for story news and trivia. She'd love to hear from you!

Reviews

[ka fi de · Rating 3 out of 5]

“D, how am I supposed to sleep? The pulses are going to my groin.”

i cannot with this book

i'm going to be very honest that it's a 2.5 but i'm bumping it to a 3 because i had a look at the 2 stars that i've given and this does not belong there at all.

i had to re-read my thoughts on the first book and i honestly can't give you much of a recap because judging from my reactions, all i really thought in a nutshell was "damn, there are so many sex scenes. is this really necessary?" it's a bit tragic because i read the first book 3 years ago and i don't remember anything.

from what i can gather this is the plot of this book. darion and tolrek are now living in domestic bliss after the happenings from the first book. then tolrek starts getting nosebleeds and they're concerned about his health. darion gets recruited back to his planet (?) to resume his duties in the military (?) so they have to do long-distance. they do that for a while and in the meantime, darion is reconnecting with his brother and his job. a while later, tolrek visits darion and somehow tolrek finds his long-lost grandmother. we learn that his condition is because he hadn't gone through this ceremony that his people have. he undergoes that and now everything is fine. sprinkle a lot of smut in between the plot points too.

that's it i think. i know that recap is just crap but that's what's stuck to my brain about this book. sorry.

i honestly will commend this book for what i think is better writing. i just think it is because i didn't get much of an impression from the first book. i said at the end of that review that i probably wouldn't read this but i had already downloaded and committed to the book before i realised that. so i just bit the bullet and read it anyway. i feel like with this book (although it doesn't come across that way), i actually got a lot more from this than the first one, hence "better writing". the smut scenes were a bit more toned down from what i can remember and i can definitely appreciate that because it does kind of take away from the story. there are some scenes in here that really caught me off guard and i think i react to that accordingly in my notes.

i don't really have a lot of opinions for this. i can see why it took me 3 weeks to finish this because it didn't super excite me. it's just just fine.

the spoiler-y section below are my notes, it's probably not worth putting it on here but i'll leave it here because my kindle sometimes does this funny little thing where it deletes all my notes after i read something



Chapter 1

welcome back.

i read this book close to 3 years ago. it's been a hot minute.

to preface this, i re-read my review of this book and my last note said that i wouldn't read the sequel and yet here we are. i downloaded it before i re-read the review so it's my fault.

but we're here and i'm excited.

Fei, an advanced AI, materialized and hovered above Tolrek. “I know you two heard that sound. You told me you couldn’t be late. I’m keeping you on schedule.”

fei is my alarm in the morning

“We can’t get clean by getting dirty.”

omg bahjahahahahahahahaha

“I’m in a melancholy mood.

i start using this as a declaration of my sadness.

"i'm in a melancholy mood"

i love that

He looked down at Najrina, who patiently waited for him.

i wish my dog was like. she would no sooner attempt to escape if given the opportunity

When they pulled apart, blood dripped from Tolrek’s nose, landing on the white sheets.

was the blood nose always a thing in the first book. i don't remember.
is he sick???

“No. Not after coughing up blood clots.”

i've seen this happen to one of my patients. it was so gross but i had keep together while i held this woman's nose.

“Good.” Tolrek smiled warmly at him. “I feel so loved. I’ll help.”

omg they're both so domestic now. it's so cute.

Tolrek picked up his tablet from the end table and began reading chapter ten of the Knights of Vadelion, Book 4.

they couldn't say kindle instead? lol

“What about a trip to the negotiation room?”

not the negotiation room!!! anything but the negotiation room!!!

“Researching you was my favorite assignment. Negotiating with you was sublime. Fortunately for both of us, I’ve been able to test my theories. Often.”

why is that just giving me the ick bahahahaha

The whole situation raised more questions about his background.

is it me but is everything going quite slow???
like i'm a quarter way into the book and i still honestly don't know what's going on.
granted i don't remember uch from the first book because all i could really gather from my notes was there was a lot sex scenes and it's been pretty tame so far but now i guess we have to have a story and i'm mainly just lost.
hopefully it picks up

“And I’ll be yours.”

yashku and soanura
that's pretty cute

“Chat with us for a bit. Then, we’ll eat. I made your favorites for dinner.”

imagine if they poison him for revenge

he picked up one of his favorite works by the author and poet, Arcadia Kolya.

why did i glance-read the name and read alicia keys

The box held a sex toy

BAHAHAHAHAH when i read that darion gave him a gift i thought "wow that's so sweet. it's a gift to remember him by while they're away" and it's this. that's so funny.

I’m granting you access to the TRA.

i love how darion literally just came back and his seniors are like... okay free rein to whatever as long as you stay. we'll even bring your boyfriend here and have at it with the top secret files. whatever you want.
i just imagine the tra as the vatican's secret archive and darion can just browse there.

“Hey, D, do you think it’s strange I take Naj with me so much?”

if i could i would take my dog everywhere with me
but she thinks all small dogs are her snacks

“Hey, D, do you think it’s strange I take Naj with me so much?”

i just choked on my water

“Is this a kissing booth?”

maybe this is just me but everything feels a little contemporary than i'm used to to especially with the understanding or the idea that this is the future??? i know this doesn't make any sense but like... aren't we like years into society right and this world still has an idea of kissing booths and they still use streaming services to watch tv shows??? i don't remember the first book being so "with the current times". i don't know. with the idea that this is a sci-fi-sh kind of vibe i'd expect something more tech-y??? idk. just an odd observation.

The shot had penetrated it and lodged in Alesi’s head. Life quickly faded from the kidnapper’s eyes.

i don't know but that's just so funny
the only person they have to interrogate is dead.

“Rijlan.” Darion gritted his teeth.

who the fuck is this? have we met this person?

“You are a tobayesh.”

dude what if this grandmother's the true antagonist.

“At any rate, if I’m correct about your true abilities, they could clash with Darion’s unless you learn how to handle them.”

omg they're going to break up by the end of this book, become sworn enemies and then then they have this huge battle, when the battle nears the end and darion or tolrek has one or the other by the neck, they realise their undying love for each other but someone else kills the other person and that's the end of the series. d or t grieve the loss of their love.

“I’ll probably die if I don’t do that ceremony.” Tolrek’s chuckle was dark. “And I might die if I do.

isn't he leaving in a few days??? do we have time???

Darion trailed a finger around Tolrek’s right nipple and squeezed, making Tolrek squirm.

for fucks sake. it's such a sweet moment right before this too. bahahahahahaha



if you really enjoyed the first book then i probably can recommend this mostly because if i was reading a book that had such a good ending and i really want to know what the characters are up to after the final chapter then this will definitely satisfy your curiosity about darion and tolrek.

i personally wouldn't read the next one but knowing what i've done i'll probably forget and go ahead and read the next one anyway.

that's really all my notes. there's not much to say. sorry. lol

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

[Taya:) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been waiting for this one for over a year. I love the first book. The world-building and all the characters. I'm an absolute sucker for the enemies-to-lovers trope. A surprise hit debut book read for me.

Unfortunately, the sequel was an okay read. It really felt like a stopgap to the next book. The highlights were when we dive a bit into Tolrek's family history and Darion's past. A lot of time was devoted to the mundane daily life of Tolrek. Repeatedly asking oneself Why are machines reacting to Tolrek like that? What is causing Tolrek's nose to bleed? and no real investigation to figure out the answer. It must have happened off-page. Ultimately the answer to Tolrek's issue sort plops into their lap.

As for the couple, Most of the tension is gone, and a lot more lovey-dovey moments. There are only brief comments about Darion's questionable actions when Tolrek was Darion's pet. I became almost indifferent to it.

Overall, it ends on a good note. I hope the romance and mystery are more balanced in the next book.

** I received this story for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Bryan Spellman · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading Vaironian Tales, I had to grab a copy of Ledani Moons. The story of Tolrek and Darion was so compelling, I wanted to know more. These are men I would like to have in my life, and watching their relationship grow and deal with the many challenges they face grabbed my attention and kept me reading. I especially like the travel to Tolrek's ancestral home and learning about the culture he never knew. I look forward to anything more Octavia Atlas cares to share about these fascinating men and their life together.

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