#aurora blazing

[lastseenleaving]

(minimalist book covers)

[shirewalker]

           “Anyone lucky enough to be entrusted with your heart                          would be a fool to treat it carelessly.”

                                                       ― Jessie Mihalik, Aurora Blazing

[thereismusicinmysoul]

What’s an acceptable amount of time before rereading a book? Because I found a trilogy I loved and read within a month (only that long because I had to wait for the third book to come out) and it’s been a month now and all I want to do is read them all again... they were just Really Good Books and I haven’t been able to find others quite like them yet

[bettybiddle]

September 2023 Playlist

Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik

Welcome to Wrexam: The Quiet Zone

Slow Dancing, V

game cafes

Bloodhounds

IU concert: The Golden Hour

[wearethekat]

July Book Reviews: Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik

I thought Mihalik’s Hunt the Stars was good, so I went through her backlist. Unfortunately, her earlier books lack the delicate application of consent that I liked. In fact, the first book she published had a love interest who was enough of a grabby jerk that I dnf’d. This is book 2 in the same series. Still not as good as her latest, but it did rather read like someone had written a dubious Alys Vorpatril/Simon Ilyan real-people-fic. Lady Bianca von Hasenberg (spy, data analyst extraordinaire, and possessor of secret psy powers) is launched into trouble when her brother is kidnapped by due to sinister space nobility plotting. In hot pursuit is her father’s chief of security, who is determined to retrieve her and her brother. Romance ensues etc etc. 

Solid but middling. Considerably better when pictured as Very Dubious in-universe Vorkosigan saga real people fiction.

[accidentalspaceexplorer]

Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik

Bianca von Hasenberg did her duty for High House von Hasenberg and ended up trapped in a terrible marriage. When her husband dies unexpectedly and leaves her a happy widow, she vows never to marry again. Instead, she uses her connections to save other young women.

After an attack, Bianca’s oldest brother, the House von Hasenberg heir, disappears from Earth without a trace. Determined to find him, Bianca leaves against orders. When she refuses to return, her father sends Ian Bishop, the director of House von Hasenberg security, to haul her home like a recalcitrant child.

Bianca leads Ian on a merry chase across the universe, but when their paths finally collide, she persuades him that they would be far more successful at finding her brother if they worked together. As clues lead them deep into rival House Rockhurst territory, Bianca must decide if she can trust Ian with the one piece of information that could destroy her completely. . . (adapted from goodreads)

I read Polaris Rising in 2019 and really enjoyed it, so I was really looking forward to Aurora Blazing! Unfortunately, I didn't feel like it lived up to its predecessor. The plot was interesting enough, although I don't think the tension was really there. The romance was really where it fell down for me, which is partially because I wasn't enjoying being inside Bianca's head and partially because I really didn't like Ian. In the previous book, Loch as a grumpy hero really worked for me, in this one Ian didn't, which I think may have been because of the situation. Loch is introduced in a very bad situation as a very dangerous man, so it makes sense for Ada to be wary of him and for him to be very guarded. On the other hand, Ian and Bianca have known each other a long time, which makes his grumpiness and pettiness feel much more deliberate. That is a total guess, but regardless, Ian didn't work for me, and I didn't like Bianca's perspective, so I really didn't care about the romance, which is the point of the book. I did push through because it was quick and I wanted to see the plot after the set-up of the first one, and I will be reading the conclusion of the trilogy, but I'm definitely going to temper my hopes after being disappointed by this one.

My Rating: 3/5

[catmint1]

This world belonged to me and others were merely allowed to live in it.

Jessie Mihalik, Aurora Blazing

[catmint1]

Anyone lucky enough to be entrusted with your heart would be a fool to treat it carelessly.

Jessie Mihalik, Aurora Blazing