A great sequel in the Galactic Bonds series…
I’ve enjoyed many of Jennifer Estep’s books (see here and here), including Only Bad Options, which is the first book in her current Galactic Bonds series. So I was happy to receive an advance review copy of the second book in the series, Only Good Enemies, and it’s just as much of a treat as the first book.
As Only Good Enemies opens, Vesper Quill, who was the heroine of the first book, is now finding that it’s not so easy to keep being a heroine. Even though she’s now been given a title, and owns the company the baddies from the last book used to own, she’s still happiest in her lab, dreaming up ways to make Quill Corporation products better. (I could use a decent food fabricator myself…) On the other hand, she’s not so happy trying to pretend that her supposedly broken – but somehow still functioning – truebond with elite Arrow captain, Kyrion Caldaren, is actually broken, and that she really truly doesn’t care if it is. And if there are a few contradictions in there, well, her feelings are pretty confused too.
But before she can do anything about Kyrion or the bond, she manages to get herself kidnapped by the Techwave and some of their allies, who are plotting against the Imperium – which itself doesn’t exactly have clean hands either. And then things take off in their usual space-opera-ish and page-turning way.
Only Good Enemies is clearly a “middle book”. In between all the fun, the major storyline moves forward: Vesper and Kyrion find a couple of unexpected allies themselves, learn more about their truebond, and figure out more about who’s plotting with/against whom. But although some of the high-level baddies get their comeuppance at the end, wrapping up the immediate storyline, the major baddie still makes it through. And there’s another intriguing little hook right at the end too. So there’s still some story left to tell – which is a good thing! But even though it’s a middle book, Only Good Enemies still reads just fine as its own complete story, even if I am now impatient for the next book in the series. (That book, Only Hard Problems, which actually seems to be a novella, is due out in February of 2024, and already up for pre-order. I’ll be looking forward to that for sure.) And finally, my thanks to the author for the review copy!
Buy Only Good Enemies at Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Kobo US | Kobo UK | Kobo Canada
Pre-order Only Hard Problems at Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Kobo US | Kobo UK | Kobo Canada