Eclipse the Moon by Jessie Mihalik
Starlight’s Shadow #2
Science Fiction Romance
July 12, 2022, by Harper Voyager

Review by Angela

This author has quickly become one of my absolute favorites in the fantasy/sci-fi genre. When one of her new or upcoming releases hit my Kindle I drop everything and settle in for a rollicking good time. I’m never disappointed.

Eclipse the Moon is the second book in this series, which began with Hunt the Stars and the introduction of this world and the now expanded crew of Starlight’s Shadow. Having met these characters I immediately fell in love and started mentally pairing up characters for future installments. Kee and Varro jumped to the top of my couple radar with their early misunderstandings and obvious chemistry.

The overall series plot continues on with this found family crew on the lookout for Commodore Frank Morten, who they believe was involved in the kidnapping of Torren’s nephew and possibly a more sinister plan to restart the war between FHP and the Valovian Empire. Kee is the ship’s information guru and hacker, able to dive deep into secure systems and retrieve intelligence material. But her hunt for Morten’s whereabouts seems to be at a standstill. So she obtains permission from Tavi to stay behind on Bastion, a space station with an FHP base, on the next restocking run. If it gives her some space from Varro, all the better. Maybe she can get her infatuation under control and her head back in the friend zone.

But Varro has other plans, and his need to protect her leaves them separated from their team and on their own for what turns out to be a dangerous mission.

Yet another Jessie Mihalik book that rocked my world. I adored this grumpy/sunshine space adventure thoroughly. I have a thing for hackers and information gatherers in my romance and Kee and her big brain ticked all my pleasure boxes. Pairing her with a Valovian weapons expert who grunts and scowls and is determined to keep her safe no matter the cost was just icing on the science fiction cake for me. You know when the heroine thinks the hero doesn’t like her “like that” because he is standoffish, yet does all these little things for her that she mistakes for just simple kindness because he wants to be friends? This is Kee and Varro. So when they are stuck together in a room short on space there are lots of misunderstandings and finally an admission that Varro feels the same way. But can a man whose mental abilities are so vast that other Valovian’s are scared of him, let down his guard enough to take a chance on love?

The plot is very intricate with all kinds of threads that I don’t believe will be tied up until the very last book in the series. But there is movement toward a big showdown and what I think will be the discovery of a vast plan that encompasses more than one government. This is book two and I had to check the author’s website to see if there is any mention of just how many books there will be in this series because I see at least two more romances I want to see play out. One of them is the polyam quad that was teased about in book one and is mentioned just a little more in-depth here. I have my mind set on this happening so be prepared for tears if it doesn’t.

Eclipse the Moon is a fast-paced, thrilling space opera. I’m kind of mad at myself for reading it so fast because now I have a long wait for the next book in the series. If science fiction/fantasy is your genre of choice you won’t want to miss this one. This is the good stuff.

Final Grade- A

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