I received this book free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach
Series: Paradox #1
Published by Orbit on November 5th 2013
Pages: 352
Genres: Romance, Sci-fi
Format: Paperback
Source: the Publisher
Amazon
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Also by this author: Honor's Knight, Heaven's Queen

Devi Morris isn't your average mercenary. She has plans. Big ones. And a ton of ambition. It's a combination that's going to get her killed one day - but not just yet.

That is, until she just gets a job on a tiny trade ship with a nasty reputation for surprises. The Glorious Fool isn't misnamed: it likes to get into trouble, so much so that one year of security work under its captain is equal to five years everywhere else. With odds like that, Devi knows she's found the perfect way to get the jump on the next part of her Plan. But the Fool doesn't give up its secrets without a fight, and one year on this ship might be more than even Devi can handle.
If Sigouney Weaver in Alien met Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica, you'd get Deviana Morris -- a hot new mercenary earning her stripes to join an elite fighting force. Until one alien bite throws her whole future into jeopardy.

So my reading sci-fi is completely out of character and if it wasn’t for the recommendations of trusted individuals I never would have picked this up. Regardless of this being set completely in space, this is definitely what I would consider sci-fi-lite. The world building is sufficient enough without boggling my mind with excessive detailing which I appreciated. Fortune’s Pawn was absolutely fantastic though. I can’t remember the last book I read that was so freaking exciting, and I don’t say that lightly. It was so thrilling my mouth was hanging open in several scenes, I was flipping pages at lightning speed and I made sure to limit my blinking so as to not miss out on precious reading time. You know that moment in a relationship where you can look back and remember when you fell in love? I remember the exact moment I fell in love with this book and how I got so damn excited I put the book down and yelled:

I wish I was exaggerating. My fiance looked at me like I was a complete nutter.

The battle scenes were thoroughly exhilarating and the absolute best part of this book but this book would be nothing without Devi Morris. She’s a mercenary and a total badass but she’s far from perfect. She makes silly decisions because of love but they’re all credible and realistic decisions. At no point did she turn into some weak-willed chick just because she had a crush and I’m so very thankful that the romance didn’t completely overpower the story. It was the perfect balance. And speaking of Rupert…

I don’t care if his name is funny, Rupert is fabulous. He’s a total badass just like Devi but he’s much more subtle about it; less flashy. Their romance is blended well with the story and mystery so it didn’t fell like yet another unnecessary romance showing up when it never should have been invited. When I think back, they fell for each other pretty quick it seemed but the feelings of insta-love weren’t there for me (*phew*). There was some major relationship drama going on though, a constant push and pull between them. “I love you! But I can’t, I’m dangerous. Oh, but I love you! I have no self control!” If I hadn’t been so completely enthralled I would’ve been raising my eyebrow at this. It’s not revealed the details as to why he’s so dangerous so I’m hoping his secrets and “danger” better be really freaking dangerous to justify this dramatic time wasting nonsense because those two are pretty fabulous together.

One more lovely thing about this story that’s worth mentioning is the fabulous secondary characters. Hyrek is the ships doctor who is also a xith’cal, an alien race, and he’s got a super snarky sense of humor I immediately loved. There is Devi’s partner Cotter who was a big meathead that was always good for a laugh, Caldswell is the mysterious captain with a bucketful of secrets and Devi’s roommate Nova who totally reminded me of Luna Lovegood. It was a wonderful cast of characters.

There have been comparisons to Firefly, Alien and even Battlestar Gallactica. Well, I suck and haven’t seen a single one of those (I TOLD YOU I don’t do sci-fi) but the one thing I can compare it to is Ann Aguirre’s ‘Sirantha Jax’ series. Devi reminded me a lot of Sirantha (but Devi quite a bit more of a badass) and the storyline was much more thrilling, so if you enjoyed that series you’ll absolutely love this. Suffice to say, this is going on my best of 2013 list and I’m immediately starting book two. Boy am I so very fortunate to have it available. Upon completion I felt like running around flailing my arms like a crazy person so I hope my thoughts came out in a sensible manner. Read this book, people.