I liked this book. I didn’t like it quite as much as the first book in the series but it was an enjoyable enough listen. This book could be read as a stand-alone novel since it follows a different couple than the first book but I would recommend reading the series in order if at all possible since events from the first book are discussed in this one.

Kellen and Angela were an item when they were younger but they haven’t seen each other for years. Angela’s husband has been killed and she needs to convince the world that it was his clone and not him. Before she knows it she is in more danger and needs Kellen’s help. I liked the futuristic world that the story was set in and I really liked the fact that the characters had a lot of history with each other. Kellen and Angela obviously had a lot of feelings for each other still but there was also a lot of pain in their past. There was plenty of action to keep the story moving.

I thought that Johanna Parker did a great job with the narration. I liked the way that she was able to bring the characters to life. I thought that her narration added a lot of emotion and excitement to the story. I believe that her narration added to my overall enjoyment of the story.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that the futuristic setting was very well done and the story had plenty of excitement to keep things interesting.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Sourcebooks Casablanca via NetGalley.

This one was an interesting concept, but I was not in the mood for romance so can't adequately give a review at this time.

Entertaining and highly engaging. Perfect Gravity was a whirlwind adventure I couldn't put down.
As the second book in the Tether series, we see both some old and some new faces.
There was the perfect amount of romance for my tastes and I loved how unique the storyline was.
The relationship between Kellen and Angela had a lot of ups and downs and there were so many moments when I wondered how the author would pull everything together but she didn't disappoint.
If you're a fan of sci-fi romance, you'll love Perfect Gravity! It has action, adventure, some steam, and enough laugh out loud moments to keep you on your toes.

This book was good fun. I enjoyed the story and the characters and would definitely recommend it to others.

A interesting read, a cool enough heroine. But unfortunately not a story I couldn't put down. I won't be continuing with this series.

I was right. Book two was much better. There was more of a plot although it did seem a little rushed at times. Still was a good read.

Very enjoyable story. This was a darker instalment to the series involving political intrigue and escalation towards war and it kept me turning pages. I adored Kellen, though Angela was a more difficult character to feel empathy for. Hopefully Jackson will continue the series as there a other characters whose stories could be told. Recommended.
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher*

A big thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is the 2nd book in a series. I have not read the first book. I don't think it was to much of a hindrance. For me, this was just an okay book. If I love a book, I read it in a couple of hours. This book took months for me to finish.

I had not read the first book in the series and really struggled with the characters.
This is really forgettable with far better Science Fiction / Romance out there.

Reviewed with WANTED & WIRED -
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.

I requested this book based on the cover. It was gorgeous and intriguing and I haven't read a lot in the Sci-Fi Romance genre. I loved this book so much, I stopped reading and went to buy the first one in the series. Then I stayed up all night reading that before finishing this book the next day. Such an exciting, futuristic world the author has created. Kick-ass heroines, strong heroes, interesting villains, snarky dialogue, cyberpunk geekiness. I loved it all! So happy to find this author. I'm looking forward to reading more from her in the future. I'd love a return visit to this world.

Stevie‘s review of Perfect Gravity (Tether, Book 2) by Vivien Jackson
Science Fiction Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 07 Nov 17

I really enjoyed the first book in this near-future post-apocalyptic series, with its carefully crafted world-building and complex characters, be they all-human or modified to a greater or lesser extent. This time we get to know some of the other characters in greater depth and also learn a lot more about how this dystopian future works for its privileged and not-so-privileged inhabitants.


Senator Angela Neko is one of the elite. Previously a top-performing pupil at an exclusive boarding school for future leaders of the free world, she walked away from Kellen Hockley because she believed the breakup would benefit both their careers. Now, seventeen years later, Kellen is back in touch: as part of the team of renegades responsible for killing Angela’s estranged husband. The death of Daniel Neko comes as no great shock or loss to Angela: when she left him two years ago, she replaced him with an android copy, so no one outside her immediate circle became aware of her change in circumstances. Now freed once and for all from her husband’s abuse, Angela sees the way clear to further her political ambitions, beginning with a war against the seceded state of Texas. That is, until attempts are made on Angela’s own life and Kellen’s motley gang of outsiders step in to rescue her.

In the years since Angela dismissed him, Kellen has been working hard to save the planet, one species at a time. A genius at genetic engineering and technological modification, Kellen has upgraded a variety of critters and released them back into the wild, where they can better survive thanks to his upgrades, and are able to relay information back to him and the crew on what’s happening around the world. With help from Kellen’s friends and critters – including an upgraded clone of the cat the two cared for at school – Angela is able to track down those responsible for the attempts on her life, as well as the suspected architect of all the Texan raids that have been taking place along the border recently. She is also able to rekindle some of the feelings she and Kellen once had for each other, but both worry how this new relationship will fare once Angela is returned to the office she worked so hard to attain.

I loved this book. Kellen’s critters seemed just another eccentricity in the first book, but really come into their own here. We also see more of the various forms of life: biological, technological, and a mix of the two, that are trying – not always very hard – to coexist in this brave new world. I really hope this series continues so we can meet more of the gang up close and learn more about the situations they find themselves in.

Grade: A

PERFECT GRAVITY picks up pretty much right after the events of its prequel WANTED AND WIRED. Characters from that book play significant roles in this one but its not really a necessity to have read WANTED AND WIRED to understand what is going on here. I loved the dystopian setting of this series where technology has advanced to the point where robots can pass as human, space stations are common, and animals and people can be altered with various sorts of technologies. The plot in PERFECT GRAVITY felt very much like a sci-fi political thriller with the addition of a very romantic second-chance romance.

I enjoyed the political aspect of PERFECT GRAVITY as it gave an excellent glimpse into how this world works and functions through the eyes of those who run the world. Angela is an amazingly intelligent and determined character and is so without having to be necessarily be an expert in physical weapons, that's what her friends are for. Her weapon is her mind and her connections in the political and military sphere. She is difficult to like but I kind of get it because of how she was brought up and her experiences. I didn't really understand Angela and Kellen's attraction to each other in the first place as they seemed to be such opposites personality-wise. The romance was fine and has some very sweet and sexy moments but I just felt like I was missing something in the reason they fell for each other. One thing I loved about their relationship though was their snarky banter and love for quoting bad poetry as a way of flirting with each other.

PERFECT GRAVITY is full of twists and turns, intense action, and complex political dealings all set on a backdrop of a futuristic dystopian world where technology rules but nature and humans pay the price for the actions of the powerful elite. While I wasn't super thrilled by the main couple, I am looking forward to seeing what is in-store for this world in future books.

The summary pulls you in with a great premise. For me there was just something I think about Angela that made me not as interested in how the story turned out. Kellen is a character that is very likable and you will definitely be rooting for him. I do think there will be tons of people who will really enjoy this book.

Perfect Gravity is the second in Vivian Jackson’s series that starts with Wanted and Wired. I’m not really sure what the series title is. Goodreads says it is Tether. Amazon says it is Wanted and Wired. It doesn’t really matter. Both books are set in the same world with the same set of characters. Both books are complete stories that stand alone.

Vivian Jackson can really write a nice sentence. A lot of nice sentences. And then string them together to make a story that is one of the best investments in time that I have made this year. I love her writing as much as her ability to tell a tale.

Jackson’s writing is kind of unprose-esque, where ‘prose’ is defined as ordinary, everyday way of speaking. While I might think it would be cool to think and to talk the way she writes, in truth, I do not, nor do I know anyone who does. Nevertheless, it is colorful, eye-catching, whoa-stop wordsmithing and frankly, I am jealous. Here are some of my favorites:

"He had a terrible voice, composed entirely of flats and sharps. But holy fuckturtle was he pretty."
"And the core Kellen was more compassionate than eleven-tenths of the human population."
"He was smitten. Incurably so. Probably had never gotten himself fully unsmut…"

Most of us say ‘sharps and flats’. Leave it to Ms. Jackson to turn things around to get my attention. That ‘flats and sharps’ line was in the prologue, so as soon as I started the book, I knew I was in for some fun stuff. Here are a few more phrases I appreciated:

“brain-screamingly”
“creepifying blue-bloodery”
“Schrödinger-esque uncertainty”

I’m not sure which I appreciated more – the writing or the story. If I am honest, sometimes I got so caught up in the writing that it got in the way of me just sitting back and enjoying the story. Not too much though.

Leaving behind my admiration of the writing, I’ll move on to the story and characters. Non-stop action comes to mind. Also, heat-fueled emotion. Very emotional. In a good way.

Angela is an alpha heroine. As a long time politician, she is accustomed to taking charge, making decisions and expecting others to follow. She is a strong, intelligent woman.

On the surface, Kellen may appear to be beta, supportive and taking his cues from Angela. But in his own animal-filled world, he is the supreme commander because of his utmost respect for the animals. With people, again, his respect for others enables him to intuit when to take charge and when to allow others to lead. I think I fell for Kellen, more than I have for any other heroes I’ve read about lately.

Kellen and Angela have a past. They met, fell in love, and moved on when they got older and personal goals got in the way of their relationship. That is the short version. It is, of course, much more complex and you will see the story told through flashbacks and remembrances. When they reunite in the present time-line of the story, the past will be both a blessing and a hindrance. I could tell, they were still in love. But they also had the same personal goals that would get in the way. Kellen and Angela will need to figure each other out for the relationship to grow into something sustainable, and to achieve perfect gravity.

Perfect Gravity has politics, war, ethics, social change, romance, animal rescue, people rescue, good cyborgs, bad cyborgs, and lots and lots of tech. And a cat. I must not forget to mention Zoink. Zoink is a cat, cybernetically altered to be a sort of communications officer, translating between humans and animals. Zoink’s speech is a bit formal, but she gets her point across. “Lucky cat says sum of luck is proportional to number of belly rubs sustained,……More rubbing is urgently required.” Despite Zoink’s high-tech-edness, Zoink is still a cat that purrs, rubs against people and has her favorite humans. Zoink is one cool cat!

Ms. Jackson must be a scifi/fantasy geek. I felt the influence of Firefly and The Princess Bride, and there was at least one direct Dune reference. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more classics, directly or indirectly referenced, that I did not notice.

At the end of Perfect Gravity, it is hard to tell where things will head next in this series. But there are other characters whose stories might yet be told. For one thing, the space station that played a role in Wanted and Wired has gone dark. What happened to it and the queen that ran it? Then there is fae-light Marie, quirky, cheerful, and yet, with the ability to be ruthless when needed. And finally, Garrett with his alien conspiracy theories. I kind of like the idea of introducing aliens to this world, just when they don’t need any more complications.

Five stars for Perfect Gravity – I love this series!

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Rachael – ☆☆☆☆
I absolutely loved the first book in this series, so I was more than happy to jump on the second installment. However, I must say that while I still enjoyed the book, it wasn't as good as the first. The plot was twisted in unexpected ways, but I just didn't feel the same chemistry between the main characters, perhaps because their bond started years and years before the book takes place.

I will say that the world building was still awesome, but once again not as much fun as the first book because of how Heron was involved with the technology.

The secondary characters were super awesome – gotta love Chloe and Yoink.

I can't wait to see where this series goes, even if this wasn't my favorite story, it was unique and fun to read.

Ms. Jackson is a new to me author who transports her readers into a future which appears to be a mixture of Star Trek and Hunger Games.  Angela Nemo has always been ruled by her strong sense of justice. Does she still stand on the side of the just? or has that line become blurred?
Angelo Nemo is a cold emotional genius who walked away from love for power and knowledge.  Does she ever question the choices she once made? Hearing Kellen's voice after so many years asking her for a favor brings a rush of memories and perhaps some hidden regrets but no change of heart. It's only when she barely escapes death with no clear sense of where the next bullet will come from that she turns to Kellen for help.
Robotics and artificial intelligence are still the stuff of the future. Kudos to the author for her world building and imagination as readers are transported into a world where human brains are integrated with sophisticated computers and robots seem to have emotions and human like decision making abilities. Kellen whom Angela had walked away from for his lack of intelligence and excessive emotionalism has proved to be an excellent scientist who has perfected the art of cloning animals and embedding superior intelligence in his clones. One of the first blasts from the past is his cloned version of Angela's pet cat who has the sophisticated computronics to communicate with a host of electronics and living creatures.
I am definitely intrigued by the world and some of the characters but am definitely not a fan of the story telling style which takes a reader back and forth between the past and the present.

In a world made up of electronically enhanced humans, cyborgs who look and act human, and a populace of people who live in fear of their government, one hopes that a group such as Vivien Jackson created will exist.

Perfect Gravity is the second novel of the triad series "Tether" with our main characters being Senator Angela Neko and Kellen Hockly whom readers first met in the prior book, Wanted and Wired.  Senator Neko plays hardball with dignataries, cool disdain against her husband Daniel, toys with the public's emotions to win campaigns, and generally isn't a very nice person if you were to get to know her. Yet, far from being Cruella, Jackson writes some of the best traits for this heroine whom I couldn't end up liking by the end. Now, to be fair, some of this thinking was due to her previous introduction in book one. Yet, in Perfect Gravity it takes one man, and one cat, whom Angela had never forgotten, for me to see her redeeming side.

Kellen, also introduced in the prior book, is your all-round soft-hearted, loveable character. He's the cute puppy who is not afraid to bite those who threaten him, yet knows which people are good and who is not to be trusted. Along with Kellen is an adorable, fluffy kitty named Yoink, who in my opinion steals the book away from Angela and Kellen. I could go on and on about Yoink, but I know there's only so many cat lovers out there who would understand "Yoink blurred into the room, a comet of wild fur, screeching. She hooked her claws on Kellen’s jeans leg and literally climbed him.", "“Lucky cat says sum of luck is proportional to number of belly rubs sustained,” Yoink communicated.", and one last one "“My human. I want you to pet me. I also want to bite you.”

To be honest, it took a while to get entranced in this book due to all the back story back flashes. I have it on the DL Author Jackson was a bit concerned about this aspect, but 'The Powers That Be' asked her to keep it in. For me, this slowed down the first portion of the book, but then some people love to know all. I personally felt it would have been better to cut some of it out and spread it out a bit more. Once the background was fully fleshed out, the story took off at warp speed on a wild ride of espionage, intrigue, and war-- which I was hooked on with super-glue and wouldn't let go until the wee hours of the morning.

Overall, I loved this book! The symbiosis of the triad-characters along with the updates of formerly introduced characters made for a well-balanced, entertaining, movie-for-the-mind type novel.  Get your copy today and enjoy the ride Jackson is know for.

The world has undergone an environmental disaster, humanity is becoming more technologically dependent, and TX is its own separate entity. Two young lovers are separated by lies and end up on the opposite sides of a war (I think). Angela is a continental senator and the war minister. Her goal is to help re-elect her mentor as the president-no matter what it takes. His control over her life from childhood has warped her to some degree. Kellon has loved Angela all his life but she sent him away and he never forgave her for that. Years later, a series of circumstances bring them back together to save the world.

I’m not even sure how to describe this book. It somehow managed to overwhelm and underwhelm at the same time. We are buried in technologic terms with a world too weak to support it. Our two leads are polar opposites and while that should guarantee a nice tension-filled reconnection romance, I felt almost no chemistry between them. Angela goes from cold and methodical to sex-starved and clingy while Kellen’s “good old boy” persona grew tedious. We are told he is an outlaw but I don’t see much rebellion in this story. Clunky dialogue and random scene/character placement left me trying to hurry towards the end. It’s only once I figure out exactly what was going on was my interest snagged, but by then, it was too late. I was at the end and relieved to be done.

Senator Angela Neko gave up nearly everything to get into the position she inhabits today. A position that opposes the Texas Provisional Authority (TPA) and all it stands for. This power also makes Angela, and everyone in her orbit, walking targets. So, when Angela hears that her husband has been killed, she’s not really surprised (plus they really didn’t have the best/happiest of unions); what does give her a shock, however, is who delivers this message. None other than her childhood sweetheart Kellen Hockley. After Angela herself becomes a target, Kellen is the only person she can turn to for help. In order to keep the world from burning, they’ll have to work together and figure out who wants Angela out of the picture and why.

The last thing Kellen wants to do is confront the woman who broke his heart ten years ago. But since it was his new friend Mari who pulled the trigger on Angela’s husband (and we all know from the first book how the job was a major disaster), Kellen agrees to step in, hoping to save Mari from being hunted and executed. But after Angela comes to him for help, he knows they cannot avoid the past forever.

Perfect Gravity’s beginning overlaps with the near-ending of Wanted and Wired. I loved that Vivien Jackson chose to start the book out this way because it fills in the blanks on some things from the first book. As someone who struggled a little with getting used to the new terminology and setting in Jackson’s imagined world, I appreciated that Perfect Gravity really reiterates what we’ve already learned, yet successfully expands the world further.

Of course, this series is first and foremost (in my mind) a romance. Angela and Kellen’s relationship utilizes my most favorite trope of the second-chance romance. Being lovers in their teenage years, Angela makes the decision to end things when she believes her career should be the most important thing. Being thrown back together ten years later, the former sweethearts don’t deny that they still have feelings for one another which makes every interaction these two have absolutely delicious. The only thing I wish was that there was more buildup for the connection between them from when they were younger. I wanted to feel more of the heartache in order to make their reunion feel that much more satisfying.

There is so much of the past that has bearings on things in the present, especially when it comes to Angela’s character. Her motives and the way she’s lived her life are not readily apparent, and I enjoyed filling in the pieces. However, with the majority of the focus placed on Kellen and Angela figuring out what they are to one another, I felt the issue of who was targeting Angela unsurprising. I would have liked the motives to be a little tougher to spot.

However, Perfect Gravity is a very fine completion to the story started in the first book. In fact, I’d almost say it poses a fine overall ending if I wasn’t looking forward so much to Garrett and Chloe being featured in the third book. As is stands, with the state of technology what it is in this series, I think those two will prove to be a pretty interesting couple.