Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion #1) by Jessie Mihalik Series: Consortium Rebellion #1
Published by Harper Voyager on February 5, 2019
Genres: SciFi
Pages: 448
Format: eBook
I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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A space princess on the run and a notorious outlaw soldier become unlikely allies in this imaginative, sexy space opera adventure—the first in an exciting science fiction trilogy.
In the far distant future, the universe is officially ruled by the Royal Consortium, but the High Councillors, the heads of the three High Houses, wield the true power. As the fifth of six children, Ada von Hasenberg has no authority; her only value to her High House is as a pawn in a political marriage. When her father arranges for her to wed a noble from House Rockhurst, a man she neither wants nor loves, Ada seizes control of her own destiny. The spirited princess flees before the betrothal ceremony and disappears among the stars.Ada eluded her father’s forces for two years, but now her luck has run out. To ensure she cannot escape again, the fiery princess is thrown into a prison cell with Marcus Loch. Known as the Devil of Fornax Zero, Loch is rumored to have killed his entire chain of command during the Fornax Rebellion, and the Consortium wants his head.
When the ship returning them to Earth is attacked by a battle cruiser from rival House Rockhurst, Ada realizes that if her jilted fiancé captures her, she’ll become a political prisoner and a liability to her House. Her only hope is to strike a deal with the dangerous fugitive: a fortune if he helps her escape.
But when you make a deal with an irresistibly attractive Devil, you may lose more than you bargained for . . .
I was looking for a space adventure and Polaris Rising has everything I wanted.
There are three High Houses that run the Galaxy, House von Hassenberg, House Rockhurst and House Yamado. Ada von Hassenberg is a princess on the run. As the fifth of six children, she knew that her place in life would be to eventually marry into a rival house in order to spy for House von Hassenberg. Yet she has spent the last two years hiding to avoid a wedding to Richard Rockhurst. As a teen, Ada might have seriously admired Richard’s charm and good looks but he has hardened over the last few years. Ada isn’t willing to tie her future to his, especially since House marriages don’t end in divorce.
But it seems that her father has had enough of her running, especially since he hasn’t been able to capture her himself, and has put a rather large bounty on her head and even Ada’s luck eventually runs out. She is captured by mercs and she knows she only has a short window to escape before they turn her over to her father. Just for giggles, the mercs toss her into a cell with their other high profile bounty, Marcus Loch, a murder also known as the Devil of Fornax Zero. If Loch doesn’t try to kill her right away, he might just be what Ada needs to escape before she is handed over, except time runs out when her “fiance” intercepts the message to her father, and runs to intercept his wayward bride.
Ada warns the mercs that handing her over to a rival House is not in their best interest but they are too interested in getting their reward up front from Richard and run to let in his boarding crew. Now Ada has minutes rather than days to come up with a plan and currently her only option is the one emergency shuttle. She just needs to get back to her cell to free Loch first.
They end up crash landing on a plant abandoned by House Yamado and they are pretty much sitting ducks while Richard and his men search the city closest to the crash. And it seems the only way off this rock is on the shuttle Richard landed in. Ada and Loch take a big risk making a grab for that shuttle, but it is when they take off that Ada finally understands why Richard is so desperate to marry her, or more particularly, why he is so desperate to get his hands on her dowry.
With no other choice, Ada needs to get this ship to her father and his scientists because House Rochhurst is ready to declare war on House von Hassenberg and if they have the technology that Ada believes they have created, House von Hassenberg doesn’t have a chance against House Rockhurst and neither will the galaxy.
I read this book when it came out last year but for whatever reason, never wrote my review. This is surprising since I remembered that I really enjoy it. With the recent release of Chaos Reigning (Book 3), Aurora Blazing *(Book 2) was put on sale so I grabbed a copy and decided I needed a quick re-read on Polaris Rising. I enjoyed it just as much with the second reading, and maybe more since I knew what was going to happen. You like both Ada and Loch from the start. While they don’t trust each other much at the beginning, each waiting to be betrayed at the first opportunity, but even with that lack of trust, they quickly become a solid team. We also have a few others join Ada and Loch to help them escape and they become part of the team.
This has everything you want from a SciFi adventure: space ships, foreign worlds, laser battles, prison escapes, cool technology, add in great humor and a really great romance, and you have the beginning of an amazing series.
While Ada hates her father, she loves her siblings. I am looking forward to big sister, Bianca’s story as we are on the brink of war of House Rockhurst. Very exciting, and I hope we see Ada and Loch and their team pop up to help her out.
Favorite Scene:
I slid down the ladder to the bottom deck. My arm stung just enough to remind me to take it easy. I heard the rattle of weights before I entered the exercise room. Either I’d found Loch or the ship was haunted.
Loch was doing deadlifts with some ridiculous amount of weight. He wore a pair of low-slung athletic shorts and no shirt. Watching the muscles play across his body as he lifted the weight was thing a beauty.
“Hey,” I said once he was done with the set, “I sent my message and need a distraction. Care to spar?”
“You going to run away?” he asked.
I grinned at him. “Probably.”
“What do I get if a catch you?”
“I’ll give you a pat on the back and permission to feel smug for a whole thirty seconds.”
He chuckled. “With an offer like that, how can I refuse?” He turned serious. “How’s your arm?”
“Mostly fine, but still a little tender. Try not to directly hit it if possible.” I moved to the sparring mats and dropped into an alternate stance with my right side forward. It was my weaker stance, but it kept my left arm farther out of harm’s way.
Loch mirrored my stance. It didn’t surprise me that he could fight reversed. He threw a slow right jab at me. I danced back, out of range of the left cross I knew would follow.
Unfortunately, I’d forgotten how quick he was when he wasn’t purposefully slowing down.
Instead of the left cross I expected, he closed the distance between us, changing his stance, and threw a right cross at me. I deflected it–barely–but it cost me. His left hand connected with stinging force to my right side. If he’d been hitting me at full strength, he would’ve broken ribs.
“Do I get my pat on the back yet?” he asked. He retreated to let me regroup.
“Sure,” I said with a grimace. “Come closer and I’ll give it to you.”
A flash of a grin was all the warning I got before Loch tackled me to the mats. He held his upper body so that his chest just barely brushed my breasts, but his hips were wedged firmly between my thighs, pinning me in place. “Is this close enough?” he asked. His deep voice was huskier than usual. I shivered as lust blazed hot and fast.
I patted him on the back before his growing erection destroyed my ability to think “There you go. Shall I count for you?”
“I have a better idea,” he murmured against my jaw.
