Chasing Howe is the start of a Science fiction duet filled with action and intrigue. Can Aiden find closure by questioning and murdering his fiancee's killer, or will the rabbit hole he's gone down turn everything he believed upside down?
From the blurb:
Aiden had everything—his dream career, a comfortable life and a fiancée he loved. But when she is murdered during a business trip to Mars, his perfect world shatters.
An investigation and a trial soon follow, and the space smuggler, Darren Howe, is quickly convicted. However, when no motive is supplied and Howe is given a life sentence instead of the death penalty, things don't add up. No matter how hard Aiden tries, the authorities refuse to explain their decision, leaving him with no choice but to seek the answers elsewhere.
Two years later, Aiden secures a job as the warden at Jupiter’s Horizons Space Prison. The plan is simple—find out the truth and kill Howe. But things get complicated when he approaches the charismatic man who awakens in him urges he hasn’t felt in years.
The truths Aiden uncovers as he fights the attraction between them will reveal secrets he might not be ready for and make him question everything he knows about the life he’s lived so far.
Chasing Howe is an enemies-to-lovers MM sci-fi romance mystery about an ex-architect who will stop at nothing until he avenges the death of his fiancée and the prisoner who will turn his world upside-down. It serves as an easy introduction to the low sci-fi genre and features hidden identities, a generous dose of mystery, high stakes, slow burn, pining, obsession and an intriguing plot. It is Book 1 in the Forging the Stars duet.
SNik's review:
First in duet (Forging the Stars). Science fiction suspense. Enemies to allies. Very slow burn. Dual POV. Cliffhanger.
Aiden wants the truth about his fiancee’s death, and forging a new identity as a prison warden is one step closer to getting his answers and killing the man that murdered his fiancee. However, Darren is no psychopath, and even though he lusts after the new warden and they seem drawn to each other, they are both keeping deadly secrets.
This story is a slowly unfolding mystery that turns into a large scale political intrigue, and an interesting world build that was good but could have been a little more descriptive. Aiden is admirable in his drive for the truth and once he is sucked into Darren Howe’s orbit the danger increases and they must eventually work together to survive. Definitely want to read the resolution to this overarching plot, the romance is secondary to the story, but there is a good amount of UST that underpins Aiden and Darren’s adventure.
- science fiction
- slow burn
- enemies to lovers
J.F. Miev is a new to me author, but on the strength of reading this duet I'd definitely look out for more. This is quite a long book, and like with a lot of sci-fi there's a lot of world building but it never felt like too much. There was just enough to get a good sense of how this world is set up without too many details taking away from the story. It was hard to get to know Darren at all, until towards the end of the book (and without giving anything away), but I felt we got to know Aiden, or at least how he ended up where he was at the start of the book.
This is a very slow burn in terms of their relationship, this felt more like setting up the world and story and getting into how both ended up in the prison in the first place. There is somewhat of a relationship growing there albeit not grounded in anything real, but I liked the interplay between the two. I was drawn in by the story and really wanted to see how it all played out - and it wasn't at all how I expected.
I liked the side characters too, like Nyle and Bea and once the story got moving, I didn't want to put it down near the end there and couldn't wait to dive into the second as it was a real cliffhanger ending. This is best read just before the Valrais Legacy, there's a lot to take in and they work so well reading one after the other right away.
Chasing Howe is currently available as an e-book and paperback and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
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