Aurora Blazing by Jessie MihalikAurora Blazing on October 1, 2019
Pages: 400
Format: eBook
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five-stars

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. Information is power and Bianca has a network that would be the envy of the ’verse—if anyone knew about it.

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. She will do anything to save her sibling, even if it means spending time alone on a small ship with the handsome, infuriating man who once broke her heart.

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. . .

This is a book that I was really excited to get my hands on. Unlike Polaris Rising, Aurora Blazing begins with a little less action. But a lot more intrigue. Bianca is a socialite who has been widowed recently. Rumors abound like wildfire, many about how she killed her husband, and instead of putting them out, she lets them spread.

Allowing Society to think what they want gives her the freedom to gather information, and she becomes one of the best spies out there (she’s not actually a spy for anyone but herself).

Ian is the chief of security at her father’s house, and now that she’s back home, they see each other all the time. The sparks have been flying since Polaris Rising. While this is a bodyguard/princess trope, I think it was better since Bianca was constantly one step ahead of Ian. She can’t resist knowing she beat him to a piece of information, even if he never knows.

Her late husband was awful. He was a scientist who experimented on her without her consent. So basically she’s got some amazing superpowers that no one else knows about because she also has some amazing vulnerabilities that come with them. She can pick up internet transmissions and decode them in seconds. But going out in public is hell since she has no way of keeping those transmissions out. But while out for a nice night, she hears one coded message. GO.

This one word kicks off the book. Even with the slow start, a lot is happening. There’s an assassination attempt against her brother, the heir. She knows he isn’t dead. She just can’t prove it…yet.

She needs to get off the planet and fast. She ditches Ian and jets. He catches up to her sooner than she expected, and they work together to find and save her brother. But it isn’t that simple. Along the way, her father puts a bounty on her head (to bring her home alive), so not only is whoever attempted the assassination after her, so is every bounty hunter in the universe! The hardest part is yet to come. They still don’t have proof her brother is alive, and Bianca and Ian need to learn to trust each other.

This author’s Sci Fi Romance is some of my favorite. I really loved the way she used the heroine’s weaknesses and turned them into strengths. Ian was the perfect foil to Bianca, and there’s something brewing in the Consortium.

Jessie Mihalik has hit another home run with Aurora Blazing, and I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next!

***ARC courtesy of Harper Collins

five-stars