Mari adjusted her rifle. She had more rounds in a box but mari wouldn’t need them as she didn’t miss. Or she wasn’t used to missing. Mari was a gun for hire. Mari was also the daughter of one of the world’s most renowned scientist. She was steady, fearless and was a badass. She lay prone two stories up in a half finished building waiting for her target. She was feeling crazy. It must be the thing. The job- the mechethon N series. Indistinguishable from a human person. She had a remote partner . heron and Mari were working partners , sharing a contract but not much else. On this job she was a shooter ro hia operations planner. But he had other assets in play: drones. cameras , bots, you name it. More dependable assets and as she was the only one who had to be talked down from having the shakes. Heron might pull bigger, more high profile contracts but most of Mari’s work was small time property destruction and softkill intercepts. She could bring down a clone easily but most drones don’t look like people. Mari shouldn’t have taken this job. Everything about it stinks. Heron had been against it from the start. But the payoff she had been promised that made it worthwhile. Heron said he didn’t trust the Texas Proversional Authority, he said he didn’t trust them with her. Heron said mari was his mission priority. Mission. Job. That’s all Mari was to Heron, getting her in and out of jobs was the beginning and end of his care for her. Mari sometimes thought of Heron as her guardian when things got hairy. Her usual contracts: thieving, demolition, corporate data smuggling- paid well enough that she could take off a few weeks, blush her mind and abuse her body in all the best ways. Mari was attracted to Heron. Maybe talking to him had settled her down. The quiver in her knuckles had eased, gone was the overwhelming need tp twitch, to run, to scrub the burnt 4rain smell out of her senses. Mari was [pretty accurate . maybe the best human shooter around but she she trusted Heron to let her know when her angle was best, when she’d be clear of chrome interference. Now she would wait for his sign. Mari had a habit at not looking at death in the face even of machine death. Heron told her they got it. A jolt of wrongness went down her spine. But she needed to get herself together. She had twenty eight minutes to break down her weapon, toss some clothes over her muddy tank and leggings. And meet heron at the street level bodega for extraction. All these years looking out for Mari . protecting her, but this time he failed. The job was a disaster. Mari was now flagged as a enemy of the United North American Nation- UNAN . A texas rebel. A public danger. Shoot in sight. Not good. Texas had succeeded from the U S into another country and is battling for control against the UNAN. It was just a matter of time before the UNAN offered a bounty and a whole hoard of vigilante anti Texas contientatist would ce coming for Mari. His partner, his responsibility. He needed to order his thoughts. He needed to plan. He needed control. There was no way within normal parameters the authorities could have known her identity and location this quickly. Mari had been set up and he had a good idea who had done it. Heron had to go get Mari and get her out of here. Somewhere safe. Hide her. Interpol had her bios now but he suspected the UNAN agents would find her first. He knew what Mari thought about people with implanted tech, cyborgs. No better than machines. Mari could tell something was wrong. She just offed a whole organic . Murder of a organic was high stakes- Felony. Thirty to life. Murder had not been part of this contract. Doing something that wrong hurt. Hollowed her out, filled the new empty space with guilt, dark, amd yuck. And memories. She can’t wig out now, not in front of Heron. Heron exerted control over everything. His job, his environment, his drones. His body. His odd must of self possession and mystery Mari had a hard time resisting. He was doing everything he could to save her. Heron loved Mari but didn’t let her know as he believes Mari isn’t interested in him but on reality she feels the same as him., he kept everything professional until things change with they are on the run together. Heron and Mari were now in the most wanted list. Heron and Mari must figure out who betrayed them.
I had mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed most of the book. I loved the action.But would have ;ied more background on a lot of things. I liked when Heron finally let mari know he cares about and wants her. I didn’t like the use of sci-fi terms. I was confused at times and these terms didn’t help. I did enjoy the pace. I would have liked Mari and herons romance to be spread out a bit even though I know they were on the run for their lives. This dragged for me at times. I did like the twists in this. Soas you can see I did have mixed feelings.

It was not a horrible read but I was wishing for more plot. Seemed like the author focused a bit too much on the main characters wanting to have sex with each other but thinking the other person only sees them as a business partner. Yes, this is a sci fi romance but please give me more world building. When a good storyline started happening, I got the feeling I was missing some pieces. Maybe the next book will be better......

This was not a cheesy book. It wasn't a Star Wars wanna be, it was a Wanted and Wired best seller. I felt like I had truly delved into another world. I felt very comfortable there. There were descriptions of this world's objects and processes that could be overwhelming but the author wrote it all in such a way that it all fell together and I could imagine exactly what she was describing. And the best part? The inner Mari dialogue was incredibly authentic. Mari is a rough and tumble woman, she swears like a sailor and she's a Texan so you can really hear her accented voice when reading. It just clicked. Another best part? When Mari finds out that she is very smart even though she didn't think so. She is the only one that can save her partner from losing himself in the internet which is, in the future, named the "Cloud". Appropriate, right?

Dr. Farad doesn't go by Dr. Farad when he works with Mari. To Mari Dr. Farad is only Heron, her operations planner that talks her through every job with details of who, what, where and how to get out in a hurry. What Mari doesn't know is that Dr. Farad is enamored with her and wants to be more than partners in work. He's not military super god but he is very well equipped in the brain department. He can decipher odds, monitor the law enforcement channel and run multiple scenarios all at once. Useful, that.

This tale was a page turning ride. I enjoyed the "wild west" feel in a post apocalyptic world that is laced with robots who are clones, humans that are tech enhanced and also those humans that are whole-organic, meaning like you and me.

The Tether Series (also referred to as the Wanted & Wired Series), by Vivien Jackson, is my first foray into sci-fi romance, and I am totally sold on it. So far, there are two books out - Wanted & Wired and Perfect Gravity. These books tell the stories of a diverse cast of characters fighting to keep their post-apocalyptic homes and the ones they love safe. In the near future, the North American government has coalesced around a new capital in Denver. Man-made weather disasters have destroyed major cities in the rogue state of Texas.

The series kicks off when Mari Vallejo, the heroine of Wanted & Wired, is contracted to destroy the mech-clone of Daniel Neko. The first book follows Mari (a mercenary) and her partner in crime (and sexy-times) Heron Farad, as they flee after discovering they’d completed their hit on the real Daniel Neko, not the fake one. The second book, Perfect Gravity, follows Daniel’s widow and sitting Senator, Angela Neko, as she attempts to reunite with Heron’s crewmate, Kellen Hockley (genius, former veterinarian, and shipboard medic). In Perfect Gravity, all four work (and various side characters) work to avert a war of epic proportions.

As a white guy, I’m curious to know how well these characters were or weren’t handled - the only indicators are their names, and very occasionally a reference to a physical characteristic. It’s not so far into the future that cultural differences feel like they’d have been erased, but I'm not the right person to speak to that.

perfect-gravity.jpgThe setting truly is a kind of science fiction I was hoping for (though I never read much of it growing up), with robots, space travel, lightning-fast computers, fancy guns, underwater technology, and the like. It is fast-paced like so many great science-fiction TV shows, and, like the best, the problems aren’t best solved through violence (even if it is Mari Vallejo’s preferred solution).

There are even, yes, robot (cyborg) sexy times in the first book, which I must admit, I’d been crossing my fingers for (as would anyone who’s read Chester 5000 XYV). Heron has heightened senses, which makes for a particularly delightful scene in a car. Did I mention that, when he is hooked into a vehicle, he can feel everything the car would feel? Mari certainly has fun with one distracted driver...

Author Vivien Jackson has written a wonderful cast of characters, not just the heroes and heroines. Mari and Angela (the heroines of books 1 and 2, respectively) are extremely different people, and not just in their upbringing and accents. They approach problems and relationships in completely different ways. Their partners, Heron and Kellen, are just as different, and so the second relationship feels completely novel and fresh compared to the first. Heron and Kellen, as crewmates, do share some characteristics (both are caring, determined men), which makes sense, but they still have different fears and hobbies.

Overall, the storyline kept me completely hooked from the first pages of Wanted & Wired, wondering how Mari and Heron were going to survive the chaos. Perfect Gravity was slower by comparison, but I’d been hooked into so many pieces of the mystery - trying to piece together what had happened and who was really in charge of UNAN and Texas - that I had to keep reading to find out how the plot resolved. Angela, in particular, goes through some of the most fantastic character growth in the series, and it was a joy to see how someone can change, so much for the better.


I’d recommend this book to anyone who has read more traditional sci-fi, but also to anyone who’s read a lot of paranormal and is uncomfortable with the common consent issues to that particular subgenre.



Two content warnings: Perfect Gravity refers to emotional abuse from a past relationship and to a miscarriage.

Stevie‘s review of Wanted and Wired (Tether, Book 1) by Vivien Jackson
Science Fiction Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 04 Apr 17

I love a good post-apocalyptic story with well-thought-out world building behind it, especially one that’s set in a future not too far ahead of our own present and that deals with issues that are close to home. It helps too if the world feels normal – or normal enough – to the characters, and the author has the confidence to drop hints as to what’s happened in the recent past and how things are in this present, rather than foisting big info-dumps onto unsuspecting readers. Of course, there’s still the potential for readers to get confused or for authors in these cases to use common tropes that then feel rather tired, but there are always fresh twists to be found in even the most common themes of the genre.


Mari is a gun for hire, who specialises in retrieving lost and stolen technology, working mainly in a North America with rather different country boundaries to those with which readers are familiar. Texas has seceded from the United States (something I’ve seen before in the genre), while Canada appears to have joined to form a mega-nation. We don’t learn much about what caused these political upheavals, nor about the status of the nations on other continents, but there have obviously been great technological advancements as well as major societal catastrophes. When her latest job goes wrong, with fatal consequences for the spouse of an influential politician, Mari is forced to go on the run with her current handler, Heron, a man she has lusted after for months but has kept at arms-length following the disastrous breakdown of her previous professional and personal partnership.

Heron has feelings for Mari too, but he has his own reasons for being cautious about a more intimate relationship; severely injured in a past mission that ended badly, he was rebuilt by a powerful rogue AI and now feels himself to be as much machine as human – and Mari seems to be greatly to prefer less enhanced humans for her casual hook-ups. With the pair trying to both keep one step ahead of their pursuers and to discover who set them up – and why – as well as doing what they can to prevent war breaking out in the diplomatic fallout from the murder, Mari and Heron find themselves flung ever closer together. Enemies are all around, however, and include Mari’s ex – in every sense of the word – amongst them.

Fortunately, Heron has a wide range of allies he can call upon from all levels of society, and it was a lot of fun watching Mari interact with a diverse range of new-found friends. At times, the sex and romance in this story threatened to overwhelm the plot, but I’d still like to see more of these characters and their world – not to mention see them come closer to solving the mystery of just what deep political intrigues are lurking behind the deeds of their various adversaries.

Grade: B

This book came along at a time this year when I needed something fun to read, something romantic, but still something decidedly science fiction. I loved the pacing of the story and fell in love with the characters. While the story was slow to start and clunky in places, there was plenty to keep me going.

I really wanted Heron and Mari to succeed in sorting out what had gone so wrong with their mission. I empathised with Mari’s desire to do the right thing by her father, even though that turned out to be a huge problem. I loved the technology and world-building, I loved Heron’s post-human and enhanced character and I loved the way that was discussed subtly throughout in relation to humanity and morals and choices and so on. I found Heron especially compelling as a character – but that’s not surprising as I have a big soft spot for characters that create found-family. I did love that Mari was included even if she didn’t know about it.

I love that Mari was complicated, she had issues with her history and memory, but also just with coping day-to-day, I appreciated that realism to her character – she’s great at what she does, but not infallible. I love how much she realises that she’s come to rely on Heron. I love the unfolding of their relationship and Mari being confronted with her own biases and the need to reevaluate them. The sexual tension between these two was excellent and I have a soft spot for sex scenes where the author has remembered that one party has extra tech to bring to the equation – I’m all for the misuse of science and technology for better sex. This was excellent in that regard.

Overall this was a really enjoyable book, I’m interested in the story ongoing and am hoping that future books will trend more toward science-fiction romance and less romance driven with a couple per book, I love the urban fantasy feel of this book, it’s clearly science fiction but it has a lot of the elements that draw me to urban fantasy and I’m solidly hooked.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the review copy!

I think the hardest part for me to get into Wanted and Wired was the world and plot. I hate to admit it, but I was actually pretty confused with the intricacies of the extremely technologically-inclined world that the author builds. There's equal parts plot and romance, but what parts of the plot I read, I kind of sped by to get to more of the romance. The biggest part lay in the details, which Jackson expounds on to write an intricate setting. While as a reader, I really appreciated this writing, I also personally found it cumbersome at times just because a lot of new concepts, terminology, and technology made it a slower read than what I first set out to have it as.

From the beginning, readers are thrown into a convoluted plot where the two main characters are caught up in. Suddenly, a job has gone wrong and Mari finds herself on the run with Heron, who is her partner in crime and who she's been lusting for for a while now. This fugitive plot makes for a great development in romantic relationships, as well as character introspection as well as Mari and Heron both come to accept themselves, as much as they do the other. Heron, despite his rather meh name, was a pretty cool male lead. He seemed actually quite passive, put side by side with the Alpha males out there in the Urban Fantasy genre. However, he's still super skilled and tough - especially dealing with the people he loves. There's a push-and-pull element to the two characters as Heron doesn't think he deserves Mari, being a technologically enhanced man, and Mari doesn't think that Heron is into her. It gets pretty heated up, but it was hard to really get into the book because of the cumbersome world the author set up.

“‘No, it is real. And you are. You’re the realest thing in my whole world. And the best.’”

I think the romance itself was pretty well-done, I just thought perhaps the world could have been either dimmed down a bit in terms of detail and terminology, or presented a bigger part of the plot if the author made it that big of a deal. That part really dragged for me when reading, and the whole time I was really just looking towards the parts with the main characters and their relationship development. That sucks, mostly because I usually adore scifi settings and plot! This one just didn't stick with me, however. I'm not sure if I'll continue the series, but it was overall rather fun and entertaining, if not a bit forgettable with all the cumbersome details.

Take a dystopian future, mix in some Gibson (enhanced humans), add in a huge dash of contemporary romance and you get Wanted and Wired! Heron Farad is a "mad" scientist in love with an assassin. But he is competing with another even "madder" scientist for the same girl. What to do? And how to keep her safe while he deals with a technological infection in his own body. Also add in the fact that the girl is a Texan gal who is used to doing the manhandling herself. The book lays the groundwork for what may be an interesting series. Only time will tell.

I read an ARC copy.

This is not my normal beat, but oh is it fun! There needs to be more scifi romance please! Parts of this book were slow to get through, but I ultimately enjoyed the ride.

This had a very interesting world building, its like present day meets sci fi dystopian future. Where men are literally part machine part organic being. The action starts early and our two main protagonist has had the hots for each other since they started becoming partners but circumstances of one kind or the other always gets in the way. This time Mari and Heron are running from the law, fugitives from the very same people that hired them to do their dirty work. Running to stay alive has also given them the opportunity to explore their personal relationship. So its definitely hot, action filled and engaging. And it appears to be the first in a series set in this world, so looking forward to that.

Unfortunately I only read about 25% in before deciding to dnf. I enjoy sci Fi and I enjoy romance, yet this was book didn't seem to mix the two well enough. The romance felt too heavy too early on, telling me about it instead of showing me and making me feel it. That seemed to drown out the clever sci Fi aspects. Had I felt the romance, I think that would have made for a different story and been much more relatable.

I spotted this one and was gung-ho ready to go when I saw it was a dystopian-futuristic-sci-fi romance by a new to me author. It looked exciting with the two main characters on the run after they are set up while out on a job. She’s a paid assassin and he’s her handler. She’s fully human and he’s enhanced. The future is not a bright world, but one holding on by a fingernail. Yes, I was very excited for this one.

I ended up DNF-ing at 26%.

The bottom line is that it was not grabbing me. This may seem odd to say since the opening scene was a hit job. But yes, I distractedly read through six chapters barely noticing that Mari and Heron were on the run. There was a distance from the action and the intensity of the chase was absent even between the pair of main characters. They could have been out for a drive in the park the way they responded to the situation. And beyond that, there was all the futuristic tech language saturating the story, her not so believable tough gal-ness, and the pair of main characters doing a significant amount of internal monologuing and unrequited lusting for each other.

I also started having early issues with the heroine. Full disclosure here, I’m on a bit of a short fuse with heroines lying and keeping secrets particularly in dangerous situations that also happen to involve others because I have seriously had a string of these lately. So in chapter one when she keeps a secret from her handler and lies about it also ignoring when he said something was really wrong about this job and they should abort and her disregarding this thus putting them on the run, I was not impressed with said heroine.

On the flip side, I will say that there was some pretty cool futuristic elements and setting here. And the conspiracy- set up issue does have me curious. I love the idea of the partners on the run situation.

But, in the end, I didn’t feel like skimming or skipping to see if there is a point where the story jumps off and roars into vivid life. I’m also not sure a more exciting and intense fast-action plot would be enough to change my mind about Mari. So, do consult a few more reviews to see if maybe it’s just a slow starter and builds to some great future-dystopian romance action.

My thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really expected to love this book, in theory it contains everything I look for in a fun sci-fi romance and I should have enjoyed every minute of it but unfortunately it just fell flat for me. Vivien Jackson has some really interesting ideas and I'm sure there could be a great world in here somewhere but we never quite got to see it in all it's glory. This book managed a rare combination of giving you both too much information and also too little, the story is bogged down by lots of new technologies and different terminology but most of it is never explained in enough depth for readers to understand it. We know there has been some kind of environmental disaster but not what caused it, we know that Texas is now considered a country completely separate from the rest of the United States but we don't know why. I never really got a good picture in my head about what life is like now and I had so many questions that never seemed to be answered.

I could probably have looked past all of that if I'd loved the main characters but unfortunately I struggled there too. Mari is a mercenary who is willing to take any job as long as the price is right, she works alongside Heron who is her handler. It's Heron's job to get her any background information she needs, make sure she has all the equipment required and to get her safely into position and back out safely after the job is completed. Everything goes to hell for the two of them when they are hired to destroy an android version of a well known politician, they believe that the real man is safe and they're targeting an imposter but the job was a complete failure and they're now on the run for murder.

The story had lots of action and that's probably the main reason I kept reading. Mari and Heron were both okay characters but neither of them were particularly memorable and getting both of their points of view was like being stuck inside the heads of a pair of horny teenagers. Practically every other thought either of them has is how hot their partner is and how desperate they are for sex and I was constantly rolling my eyes and wishing they'd just get on with it already. The chemistry between them felt forced and there wasn't much in the way of actual romance between them.

I am kind of curious to see whether the world building improves as the series continues but none of the side characters introduced particularly caught my attention and I'm not sure if I'm interested enough to try reading future books. I think it's probably a case of this series just not being a good fit for me.

Source: Received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Rachael – ☆☆☆☆☆
What can I say, I absolutely loved this book. I really enjoyed the realistic way the author portrayed the characters, even though one is quite enhanced and not so human anymore.

It's action, adventure with love mixed in. It was so interesting watching as Mari learned more about Heron and just what he was capable and this whole world outside of the one she knew.

The plot was incredibly interesting as well. I couldn't put it down as soon as we find that Mari and Heron's mission was a complete mess up (and that's right at the beginning). The secondary characters are fun and help move the story along, not slow it down or taking away from the hero or heroine.

I can't wait for the next book in this series!

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I couldn't get into the story.

This review covers the first 59% of WANTED AND WIRED, as I ultimately decided to DNF the book.

WANTED AND WIRED is a sci-fi romance set in 2059 in the wake of a conflict that devastated and restricted North America. Arts and culture have taken a backseat to science and technology, with the wealthy and powerful using mech-clones – human-looking robots – to complete all manner of tasks. But when mech-clones can’t get the job done, people like Mari and Heron are called in. A mercenary and her technologically altered handler, this duo is completing a by the books hit when things go sideways. Forced on the run, they’ll have to unravel a conspiracy and confront their feelings for one another.

By all accounts I should’ve loved this one, with its sci-fi meets romance premise and the Latinx heroine, but it left me cold. I couldn’t buy into the relationship between Mari and Heron, largely because their characterization felt forced. Jackson takes a tell not show approach to developing their respective characters, and both of them had the exaggerated “brokenness” that I associate with a poorly executed and overly dramatic romance. Add to that the fact that these two were constantly thinking about sex and I found myself rolling my eyes one too many times. Whether they’re escaping from government agents or literally assassinating someone, you can bet that Mari and Heron have sex on the brain. The sci-fi world building was also quite bare bones.

While this didn’t work for me, I think people who action-packed, steamy reads and those who enjoy romances about “broken” people might enjoy WANTED AND WIRED.

I enjoyed this book, but I guessed several of the "big reveals". However, I am interested in the next book.

I love a book with really interesting world building and WANTED AND WIRED has a really fun semi-dystopian future world with augmented humans existing alongside non augmented humans and even clones. There is definitely a cyber-punk vibe going on with various sorts of implants humans can get to give themselves abilities like night vision, GPS, and even temporarily connect themselves with machinery. I would have been fine with more pages about just how the world worked.

World building aside, the plot was thrilling with Mari being on the run, double crosses, mysterious pasts, and surprising revelations that keep coming. There is also a fun romance at the center which was interesting as it involves an augmented human. The way in which Mari and Heron connect on physically and mentally was pretty cool and unique. Both Mari and Heron have really fun backstories that were unraveled slowly through the hyper fast paced story.

WANTED AND WIRED is more science fiction futuristic romance than anything paranormal. The characters are well developed and compelling. It's a highly imaginative, hyper sci-fi story filled with danger, cool tech, and a unique romance. I am looking forward to seeing more of this world in the future books in this series.

Wanted and Wired by Vivien Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first in a new paranormal series Wanted and Wired spends its time developing the world and the characters. It starts with a job gone bad and moves on to developing the two main characters. Heron is a post human which means he is wired and part machine. Mari is his partner and is different from what she seems. While the job gone bad puts both in the crosshairs of some very bad people Jackson uses that to build and develop the world Heron and Mari live in. At the same time we get to know more and more about Heron and Mari and how they react to the danger they are in. This is book one and a lot is left up in the air. I did enjoy seeing the world through Heron and Mari eyes and look forward to the next book in the series.