A fun full-length space opera with a few serious moments…
Only Cold Depths is the fourth in Jennifer Estep’s Galactic Bonds series, and it follows close on the heels of the previous novella, Only Hard Problems – both in “real time” (only a few months separate their publication dates) and in “book time”. And Cold Depths picks up the story pretty much where Hard Problems ended – which is good, because Hard Problems’ ending was quite abrupt, and thus a bit annoying. I’m now feeling better about things, though, because Only Cold Depths is a full-length book that returns to the form of the first two – having a space opera-ish storyline that gets satisfactorily wrapped up, within a larger story arc that clearly isn’t done yet.
And I’m glad the overall story isn’t over yet since I, myself, want to see more of the former villain, Zane Zimmer, who has turned out to be the heroine, Vesper Quill’s, half-brother. I know, I know, he’s not the lead man, but I’m finding him more interesting right now than the official hero, Kyrion Caldaren. And I am hoping that the next book, which sadly isn’t due out until a year from now 😒, will feature a lot more of Zane.
Aside, however, from the confusion about who I think the hero should be 😊, Only Cold Depths is, like the two previous full-length novels in the series (see here and here), just plain fun. And it also has some interesting character development. First, while Vesper and Kyrion explore their new truebond, trying to figure out how it works best, but also struggling with their individual challenges. Second, as Vesper tries to come to terms with her new-found family, the Zimmers. And, finally, of course, she still has to deal with the part of her family she already knew about – her nasty mother, Nerezza Blackwell.
All-in-all, though, Only Cold Depths is just what it purports to be – a lot of fun, with a bit of heat, which can be skipped over if preferred. I read it on a long airplane flight, and it made the time fly by. And finally, my thanks go to the author for the review copy!
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