For the record I think the Trilby on the new cover (green) looks more like the one described in the book. Rhis on the green cover however, doesn't have a mustache like he should. So you know whatever.

I remembered what I liked best about this book is that Trilby obviously had a learning curve to figuring out how to speak Rhis' native tongue, Zafharin. Some of the words could easily be understood, if not fully translated, in context, but after the second half of the book Trilby makes a dedicated effort to learn Zafharin and the reader, in turn, learns with her. Which was nice to see--even nicer was the stilted dialouge that some of the other Zafharin Imperials and Fleet members had in Standard (what Trilby speaks). Not just the normal faults of a foreigner speaking what amounts to English, but stylistic changes. Turns of phrases or flow of words.

Trilby is utterly charming and funny and tough. She is also the furthest sort I could imagine being a freight runner. Outside of some of her cant and cursing, she doesn't come off as being mercenary, which from what I gathered about her past and life, she should have been much harder. Sinclair though seems to purposely do that with her heroines--even Chaz (from Gabriel's Ghost, etc) is tough, but not hard and I would argue she's the toughest of Sinclair's heroines.

I thought it was amusing to watch Rhis go from this demanding jerk to barely constrained sweetheart back to jerk of the year (but secretly so in love he can't think straight) and finally a healthy mix of the two. Well still rather arrogant, but Trilby was there to help keep that in check. The assorted secondary characters were pretty well-rounded as well. Even Jagan, who I assumed to be nothing more a petty playboy womanizer was less shallow then I thought at first. We're still talking kiddie-pool depths here, but not ankle level at least.

A good way to start the week (even if its a little later then I anticipated)! Monday is Games of Command! ( )

I did not read this effing book. Goodreads, you have no way of taking back a mistake. ( )

I rarely read the summary of a book before I read the book because I do not want to know what it is about. This was true of this book as well, which is why I did not know it was a romance / scifi book. I am not a fan of romance novels which should really tell you how much I enjoyed this book despite that fact, since I gave it 5 stars. I enjoyed the characters very much. I enjoyed the story line. It had a well balanced mix of action, adventure, suspense and back story. ( )

1 Feisty Independent Short-Haul Freighter Captain (Called an "Air Sprite")
1 Borderline Despotic Moustachioed Imperial Senior Captain (Nicknamed Tivahr the Terrible)
1 Talkative Tarnished Droid (Not At All Modeled on C3-PO...)
1 Stuffed Toy
Several Sadly Underutilized Crew Members

1 Intergalactic Conpiracy
1 Ruthless Enemy Alien Group
1 Spoiled Rich Accoutant Man-Child Ex-Boyfriend
1 Set of Ancient Star-Charts
Several Hacker Programmes ( )

Second book by this author for me and equally satisfying as was the first. Snark between characters, plenty of action, interstellar bad guys and humor all blend to make this a very enjoyable read. ( )