Chaos Reigning by Jessie MihalikChaos Reigning on May 19, 2020
Pages: 416
Format: eBook
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four-stars

Interplanetary intrigue and romance combine in this electrifying finale to the Consortium Rebellion series.

As the youngest member of her High House, Catarina von Hasenberg is used to being underestimated, but her youth and flighty, bubbly personality mask a clever mind and stubborn determination. Her enemies, blind to her true strength, do not suspect that Cat is a spy—which makes her the perfect candidate to go undercover at a rival House’s summer retreat to gather intelligence on their recent treachery.

Cat’s overprotective older sister reluctantly agrees, but on one condition: Cat cannot go alone. Alexander Sterling, a quiet, gorgeous bodyguard, will accompany her, posing as her lover. After Cat tries, and fails, to ditch Alex, she grudgingly agrees, confident in her ability to manage him. After all, she’s never found a person she can’t manipulate.

But Alex proves more difficult—and more desirable—than Cat anticipated. When she’s attacked and nearly killed, she and Alex are forced to work together to figure out how deep the treason goes. With rumors of widespread assaults on Serenity raging, communications down, and the rest of her family trapped off-planet, Catarina must persuade Alex to return to Earth to expose the truth and finish this deadly battle once and for all.

But Cat can’t explain why she’s the perfect person to infiltrate hostile territory without revealing secrets she’d rather keep buried. . . . (

I had no idea this was the last book in the series! You guys, I am so bummed! This is the best Science Fiction Romance I’ve read in forever. I really love this author’s voice and style.

This is the third and final book in the Consortium Trilogy, and it’s the youngest sister Catalina’s story. Catalina is the baby of the family, and she was very ill as a young child, so her brothers and sisters tend to be over-protective of her. She comes off as a flighty and silly heiress more concerned with fashion than anything else. It’s an act she’s carefully cultivated for her entire life. But she has a secret she’s kept and never told anyone, not even her sisters.

Cat’s been plotting something for a while. It involves getting an exclusive invitation to an event that reminds me of an 18th century house party, but you know…in the future, and on another planet. But her sister Bianca has a plan as well. She plans on sending two bodyguards with Cat, but only one will act as a guard, the other will be her boy toy for the duration of the party. Cat is dead-set against it since she’s been plotting her own thing for a very long time and they will just get in the way. What Cat doesn’t know is that these two are the same kind of super soldiers as her sisters’ husbands…but she doesn’t know about them either. But she does learn some new things about her own abilities, courtesy of Alex.

Cat and her new team head off-planet to the house party of the year, and while there, even though Cat is easily one of the highest ranking members of any House, it’s obvious she’s being targeted by the “Mean Girls” at the party. Cat has spent her whole life wading through the waters of the Consortium and this is nothing to her, but she needs to be able to snoop, so she can’t exactly tell the other ladies off. But that is before her life is threatened. And when the attempt is made on her life, she and Alex realize they need to get to her ship and get back to Earth as fast as possible. But they won’t leave without her best friend…but is her best friend betraying her too?

She and Alex may be faking the relationship, but the chemistry is there. They make a good fake couple, and they make a good real couple. I really enjoyed these two together. I like how Alex saw through Cat’s flighty socialite persona to the real Cat, and I like how he let her take the lead. When Alex pushed Cat to realizes that she’s not less-than her siblings, that was when I really loved him. That was a great scene and I want more heroes who show their heroine that she’s pretty amazing.

There’s a lot packed into this story, and I kind of felt like the ending had to wrap a lot up for the sake of ending the triology. I wish there had been another book, but I’m really hoping for a spin-off series that shows the fall-out and continues on in the universe this author has created. I feel like there’s a lot left unfinished. The ending was more of a beginning for the younger generation of consortium leaders. In a good way, but it’s definitely got the potential for a spin-off series. This series has made me love Sci Fi Romance.

***Advanced Reader copy courtesy of Harper Collins via Edelweiss

four-stars