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<p>I was in the mood for a Space Opera and this one is in Kindle Unlimited, so I snatched it up! Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I have it already, courtesy of Netgalley. </p>
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<p>This story opens with Captain Tess Bailey and her ragtag crew hiding from a really intense military general whose goal is to bring her in. But Tess has stolen a small laboratory (and a man inside the lab as well), and she makes the decision to fly through a black hole and kill herself (giving her crew the option for escape) rather than be taken in again. But they all made it through to the other side and it flabbergasts them. But even bigger than surviving the black hole...Tess had let her true identity slip.</p>
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<p>She's really the daughter of the Overseer, and the general coming after her is her uncle (this is not a spoiler as it's all in the first chapter). </p>
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<p>The Overseer is not a great dude. He runs the whole galaxy and he wants anything that instills any kind of strong emotion. Books are censored, media is carefully curated, etc. So she and her crew are now heavily damaged, in possession of a secret lab, and need somewhere to hide. They make it to a planet and hire someone to help repair the ship. Enter Shade.</p>
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<p>Shade isn't what he seems, but in this story, nobody is. He's got some...connections, so to speak. And he finds out that there is an enormous bounty on Tessa's head, and that kind of money could help him buy back his parents' legacy. But he's gotten to know Tessa and her crew, and he isn't so sure he wants to turn her over, but that's when he realizes that just because he isn't going to turn in Tess, doesn't mean others won't.</p>
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<p>He and Tess have the beginnings of a relationship, but with each of them holding secrets, they aren't sure how far it can go.</p>
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<p>I liked this book, it definitely scratched my Space Opera itch, but the shifting points of view drove me nuts! Tess is the main narrator, and she speaks in first person point of view. But Shade gets a turn or two and his is in third person. I don't enjoy books with first person point of view between more than one character, but to switch off every now and then, not even that often, just kind of sporadically, and have the other narrator use third was annoying. I realize this is a "me thing" and may not bother anyone else, so I'm not saying this to turn you off. But in case this is something that bugs you too, you can go in aware. In the meantime, the book is good, it sets up the world really well, and isn't super bogged down with First Book In The Series Syndrome. I think if you want a good Space Opera/Sci Fi then you'll enjoy this one.</p>
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<p>***ARC received from Sourcebooks via Netgalley</p>
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I tried really hard to get into this book and it's completely possible it was just my mindset at the time. I really enjoyed the previous book. I can see myself enjoying Nightchaser at a later date but right now, it just wasn't for me.

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. The word building was phenomenal in this book. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

AUTHOR FEATURED ON FRESH FICTION
What is your favorite characteristic in Tess? What about Shade?

It’s always so hard to pick just one of anything, but I’ll do my best! Hopefully, having trouble deciding is evidence of well-rounded characters with several admirable traits ;-) Tess Bailey is our captain, rebel heroine…and a thief. She steals from those who have too much in order to provide for those who don’t have enough, but her primary goal is to accumulate vaccinations for populations, especially children, that don’t have access to the galaxy’s undersupplied “cure-all” inoculations, which are hoarded by the oppressive ruling regime and distributed only to soldiers and the wealthy elite. Tess is loyal, capable, compassionate, and determined, but I think the trait I like most about her is her selflessness. Here’s a little snippet from Nightchaser to illustrate that...

3,5 STARS

The story starts off in the middle of the action., it started well but I find myself a little bit confused in the beginning.Tess Bailey is the captain of the spaceship Endeavour, a ship she stole with the help of her entire crew when they all managed to break out of prison in the middle of a riot.This reminds a little bit a show I watched for space.I really liked Tess and her whole crew.I would like to see more of them and learn more!

⭐️4 stars⭐️

Great story and characters I just wanted a tiny bit more more space craziness and i'd be happy.

Ms Bouchet has proven she can write in different genres. Nighchaser reminded me of the TV program Serenity in its theme of sci fi sauce opera.
Its a book of secrets, mysteries and swashbuckling.
Its a really page turner, it one where you can not plan to for anything else for the rest of the day.
The chemistry between Tess and Shade is on fire but the dance of the two of them that the fire is a slow burn.
Its the first in a series and I can't what for the rest of the books.

This is the latest Sci Fi romantic thriller by this Author of the Kingmaker Chronicles .

Since breaking out of jail and stealing her ship , 'oh 'and the crew , Tess Bailey makes her living as a Nightchaser -
rebels who run supplies to the needy all the while trying not to catch the attention of Overlord's Dark Watch .
She has secrets that would find her in a laboratory or dead .
As Captain of the Endeavour her crews lives are in her hands , they have become family and with that in mind when danger comes calling they must all pull together to survive ,
Into her life appears Shade Ganavan, a tall, dark and arrogant stranger with dubious motivations, he has his own secrets - will they , wont they runs in the background throughout the story , can she trust him foremost in her mind . When danger surrounds them there is only one escape - a black hole , where will they end up ?

This is the start of a new series , which if it follows the great writing of the previous books looks to be a winner .
The characters are engaging , the pace fast with plenty of twists and turns , the plot all encompassing .
A thoroughly enjoyable read with more to come in the future I hope .

I was given an arc of the book by NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Star Wars meets Robin Hood in this high octane story with a sizzling romance this is a fantastic start to a new series.

I loved Amanda Bouchet’s previous series, so I was extremely excited to see her next book was a scifi romance! While it’s pretty fun overall, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

“There was nothing on my ship that wasn’t stolen. Hell, even the ship was stolen. Even the crew was stolen because, well, jailbreak.”


There’s some similarities with the Kingmaker Chronicles, specifically that Tess, like Cat, is the long-lost heir to a despotic ruler and was born “different.” Unlike those books, Tess basically announces who she is within the first chapter and she’s far more trusting than Cat. Tess has spent the past five years after breaking out of jail with her crew of Jax, Fiona, Miko and ship grandma Shiori. They’re Nightchasers, rebels who run supplies around to the needy (including an orphanage) and avoid catching the notice of the Dark Watch, the Overlord’s minions. A good chunk of the story is spent with the ship practically in pieces and docked on Albion 5, Shade’s home. Shade runs a parts store, but that’s not how he makes most of his money…. and those secrets set him at odds with his attraction to Tess. Both will need to decide what secrets to share and how far to trust, because more than just their lives are at stake.

“I was a Novalight. I wouldn’t go out like a sigh in the Dark. I’d go out like a fucking bomb.”


Tess was an interesting mix of confident rebel and socially awkward woman. There were several times during the book that I wanted to shake her for being too naive and trusting, but I liked her overall, and respected her for her convictions. It took a lot longer for me to warm up to Shade, mostly because of his continuous waffling over his feelings for her. I loved Tess’s crew and her interactions with them, especially Jax, and I honestly wanted more, especially the hint of a romance between two of the crew members. A lot of pages were spent on building up the relationship between Tess and Shade, to the detriment of the rest of the plot.

“[T]he whole galaxy was a freaking jail. Not everyone needed bars to be locked up, and what I saw around me was evidence of entire populations falling into complacency for the sake of personal peace.”


And that’s where my main criticism comes in. I wanted more action. What’s there is excellent, but most of the middle of the book is spent waiting for the ship to be repaired and building the will they/won’t they relationship between Tessa and Shade. I mean, the most interesting thing that happens in the middle is that Tess visits a bookshop and gets a cat. I’m hoping it’s just first-book-in-a-series syndrome, because the last quarter of the book really picked up. I also found the writing a bit clunky at times, especially the philosophical discussions about the Overseer’s banning of art and focus on conformity and routine. The clunkiness was worsened by the POV. It’s told from both Tess and Shade’s POVs, but Tess’s is first person while Shade’s is third. It was incredibly jarring for me to switch back and forth between them, sometimes mid-chapter.

Overall, this wasn’t quite what I was expecting, and I’d give it 3.5 stars. I’m interested enough in Tess and her crew to keep reading, and I’ll definitely be hoping the next book has more action!

I received this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

It feels so good to finish a full length novel.  Since this whole stay home thing started, I have had a hard time focusing on anything longer or more complex than graphic novels.  Amanda's writing has been a favorite since I finished her first series, The Kingmaker Chronicles, but I hadn't picked up this sci-fi series yet.  I am so glad that I have the sequel waiting for me on my Kindle from the lovely publisher via NetGalley.

This was a great distraction from everyday life!  The amount of wit and cat shenanigans that the author included in this novel was the perfect scenario to help me shake the anxiety of real life.  That being said, this story was great because it included personal trauma, death, and betrayal in addition to love, friendship, and sex.  My favorite books tend to be the ones that are well rounded in their inclusion of the bad with the good, and Amanda knows how to write characters and situations that are realistic.  I can't wait to share my thoughts on the sequel!  I need more Bonk specifically :)

I am a huge huge fan of Amanda Bouchet, her Kingmaker series hit my favourites shelf straight away. I was so excited to hear she was writing a new series and wow did she deliver.

Non stop action and adventure with Bouchet's signature romance. I devoured this book in just two days and I can't wait to see where the series goes.

I didn't have time to read this book before release so I will not be leaving a review. If I choose to read this book at some point I will grab a finished copy from my public library and post a review to my Goodreads account.

I will read anything Amanda Bouchet writes because she is a fabulous author. I was very excited to read this new series by her and it did not disappoint. I found the characters to be fabulous and the story to be even better. I love her writing so very much. I eagerly await the next book in this series.

Bottom Line Up Front
NIGHTCHASER was a fun romance with a strong action/rebellion plot line running in the background, although I was quite disappointed with the treatment of the SA victim. NIGHTCHASER follows the story of Tess, captain of a smuggler ship, who has accidentally stolen a super-soldier formula that she thought was regular medicine. With her ship injured while on the run from the oppressive government, she stops at a backwater planet for repairs. But whoops, turns out her choice of mechanic just happens to be a bounty hunter, who now has to decide between turning in his new crush or helping her escape.

Villain Cartoon Levels: 13/10 Dude shows up for like two pages to be outlandishly evil and then bounces again.
Heat: 5/10 Didn't get bedroom fun until the very end, but the build up was fun
Snark: 10/10 Got to love a pair that enjoys their snarking and does it on purpose
Found Family: 2/5 I mean, they kept talking about being family, but three of those starship crew members barely got any page time. The other two were great, though.

Dystopian Future In Space

So there's space, right? And space has an Evil Overlord, right? And he manages to control this vast area through...okay, look, just take our word for it, there's an Evil Overlord with maniacal control over the universe.
But that PRINCESS, y'all. She's the Evil Overlord's kid, presumed missing but actually just spirited away from him when he got all murdery at her. And also she might have magical powers, that part's unclear.
I actually liked the world in this one, despite some glaring holes, it had a sense of recent history to it and while the universe-level stuff was kind of MWAHAHA, the on-the-ground level depictions of everyday life under the regime was nicely nuanced.

Them Villains

Obviously I didn't like the main baddie, who just shows up to do some murder and drop some truth bombs and there's an implied cackle the whole time.
Baddie #2 is great though. Dude kept me guessing the whole time. Still definite baddie, even if he Has Reasons, but that's exactly what makes for a good bit of villainy!

But We're All Here for the Romance, Right?

I mean, I know I am.
They're adorable. I love them. I can't wait to read more from this series because I want to see them fight Evil Overlord Minions together.
The like each other right from the start and most of the drama is from: SHADE - "Oh shit, why did that bounty notice come in after I started to admire her" and TESS - "Oh shit, I'm on the run and definitely should not trust the hot...sweaty...mechanic...working shirtless...on my ship... Okay, but sex isn't trust, right?"
The story is like book-ended with action and the whole middle is just romance and ship fixing and I am here for it although it certainly won't appeal to everyone. That's okay. Y'all do y'all, but I picked this up out of the romance category and that's exactly the mix I'm here for.

Now the Bad Stuff

There's a character who's a victim of sexual assault and rape in this story. She's also one of the only two characters of color. She barely has any page time and then gets callously murdered. I had tentative hopes for her at the start, for the character she could develop into and the things that her arc could say, and to have her used only has a prop to prove bad guy is bad...pretty shitty.


Will I read this author again? Probably. She has a previous series that got a lot of praise, but I didn't like the concept.
Will I continue this series? Yeah, I want to know what happens with that super-soldier serum.

I was really excited by the prospect of a new Amanda Bouchet series but I was torn. I read this a long while ago but am only now just writing a review after a re-read. Unfortunately, I just didn't find the characters as compelling as the ones in her Kingmaker Chronicles and the same can be said for the world-building. It was good, but not great. It has the makings of a great series but I didn't really feel that I connected to Tessa and Shade or to the secondary characters. Maybe if I had not read the Kingmaker Chronicles I would have been more enthusiastic. Or maybe it's because its a Space Opera? I love a good space opera but I read them less frequently so maybe I expect more when I do. I would read the sequel but it would not go straight to the top of my to-read list.

I love Amanda’s style of writing. It’s vividly descriptive and engrossing. However, the story set up is very slow and I found myself putting down the book way too many times. The kick butt heroine and mysterious male protagonist added an extra layer of adventure to the story which held my attention. Definitely a good first book in the series.

Nightchaser is the first book in Amanda Bouchet’s new Sci-Fi series and if you haven’t added this one to your TBR shelf yet, I recommend you do. I loved Bouchet’s Kingmaker Chronicles series so I was excited to get my hands on this book and right from the start I was pulled into an action-packed story that had a number of twists and turns.

Tess Bailey is the main character in this story and she has plenty of secrets, most of which would either get her killed or put into a laboratory. Tess has not had an easy life and everything that has happened to her so far has made her stronger and more willing to do whatever she needs to in order to protect the people she loves. As captain of the Endeavor, her crew’s lives are in her hands, but they have become the family she needed and right from page one, it’s clear that this group is there for each other but also, willing to stick together no matter what danger they are in.

From the first page of this book, the action pulled me right into the story. It’s clear Tess is running from something, and I mean more than just the fact that she stole a floating lab from the government. With the Dark Watch surrounding her, Tess still keeps a level head and gives her crew the option of following her or escaping on a pod. Of course, no one was willing to abandon her and as they make a jump through a questionable black hole, they end up somewhere they never expected, another sector.

There are a number of secondary characters in this book that help move the story along, most of which make up the crew of the Endeavor. Jax is probably my favorite out of the entire group. He has so much history with Tess and their relationship is one where they love each other like family because of everything they have been through together.

The other character I will mention is one Tess meets when looking for someone to repair her ship after the face off with the Dark Watch. His name is Shade Ganavan and he is something else. I loved his arrogance and the banter he and Tess had throughout the story. As with Tess, Shade is hiding something and while we know what it is (no…I’m not telling), Tess has no clue and is completely unaware of the internal battle he is having as he is drawn to Tess more and more.

The attraction Shade and Tess have to each other is clear to everyone and as they find themselves both acting on it and then in Shade’s case, trying to back off, I couldn’t help but want them to just get together. Bouchet did a great job of showing the conflict that Shade had throughout his interactions with Tess and the rest of the crew. The romance and way the relationship evolved was well done even though it felt quick.

The one thing I wish there was more of in this book was a better explanation of the sectors and how the Overseer came to power. I am hoping that in the future books, there is a better explanation around all the different sectors (at least those that are important) and how everything evolved into this world.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and will definitely be checking out the next in the series when it is available. It has plenty of action, a developing romance, and the secrets that are revealed along the way are keeping things interesting. I will be curious to see where the rest of this story goes with Tess and her family as well as the other pieces that are unresolved. If you’re looking for an adult Sci-Fi with a bit of romance, consider checking this one out!

The Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet had me turning the pages so fast I got lost within the pages. If you haven't picked this book up yet go out and get it now a must read!!

Captain Tess Bailey and her crew of Robin Hood-like thieves are desperate and on the run. Pursued by a vicious military general who wants them dead or alive, Tess has to decide if she can trust Shade Ganavan, a tall, dark and arrogant stranger with ambiguous motivations. What Tess and Shade don't know about each other might get them killed...unless they can set aside their differences and learn to trust each other—while ignoring their off-the-charts chemistry.

Quite honestly, I just wish there had been more space shenanigans and less bookstores and cats. The characters were great but deserved more exciting things to do!