Review: Opposites Attract Sci-Fi Adventure Romance was Entertaining and Engaging
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 3, 2014
This is the third book in the Gallactic Alliance series and brings back one of the secondary characters from an earlier book to give him his own story.  My first acquaintance with Gideon Arcturus was when he was the fleet captain opposing Darian and trying to capture him.  I was intrigued at the thought of the author giving him a background and personality that would make me sympathetic and like him.  Amazingly, I did end up liking Gideon in this one.  He had his flaws and his issues, but he really grew while all along he was a good guy underneath his cold rule following exterior.  His love interest was a fascinating opposite too and I loved the return of Sven who was always a fun secondary character.I suppose this story could be read as a standalone, but there is a certain expectation that the reader read the previous books first since references to past characters and situations make better sense that way.  It was also neat to have an outside perspective of Gideon from before to now having his thoughts revealed to give a new slant to his words and actions.The story opens with Gideon discovering that he's taking the fall for the events leading up to the capture of an alien ambassador's mate and what transpired after that.  His punishment is to have his command now monitored by a fellow captain and being put on mandatory leave for a few days.  He still keeps his rank and his responsibilities, but he just knows that his father, the General, back home on Janus, will be disappointed in him yet again.  Gideon has no idea what to do with time off because his life is all about his work in his efforts to please his father and get reinstated with a prestigious command back on Janus at Headquarters.  He wanders into a club called Voodoo for a drink and encounters the fire dancer for the first time.  He is entranced even though he doesn't want to be.Tai usually does his dance and avoids the customers as well as the offers to augment his income by becoming an escort.  After escaping a past of slavery, he will never again let another man dictate to him where, when and how even if they pay for it.  He also has a big secret that he needs to keep to prevent anyone from taking him into custody and sending him back to his home world which is why he keeps to himself generally with the exception being his roommate and friend, Del, a fellow employee.One night after his dance routine, he enters the bar area to wait for Del and comes upon a customer who seems interested, but is terribly skittish.  Kai is attracted to the man and finds it a nice change to have to be the one pursuing another.  He grows more attracted as he spends time with Gideon and considers Gideon a safe bet since he made it clear that his time here in the pleasure district is temporary while he's on leave.  Kai thinks he's good with the arrangement until Gideon is in fact gone, Del gets severely abused during one of his escort jobs, and Kai is soon forced to take his place.  Now he can only hope that Gideon will care enough to save him even with the vast amount of difference in their situations.I enjoyed this opposites attract romance and the side adventure that goes with it.  It was fun exploring the tentative connecting these two do that blossoms into something bigger and I enjoyed the slow reveal on Kai's secrets with the slow process of change in Gideon as his desires and priorities changed.  The relationship, plot and characters was so nicely done.  The passion was 'hot' (and yes that's a pun which will make sense when you've read the story) between these two even while they are still sorting stuff out.  Meeting up with previous characters was nice and I really hope that Sven gets his story soon.All in all, I had a good time with this latest installment in the series.  I would recommend it to those who enjoy m/m Sci-Fi Romance promising a lot of spicy passion and an adventure.My thanks to Net Galley for the opportunity to read the book in exchange for my honest review.