Review: Been There, Done That (April Series Book 10) by Mackey Chandler

Been There, Done That by Mackey Chandler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Problems With The Martians and The French

This is the 10th book in a continuing series and the preceding books really need to be read in order to understand this story. The narrative ends at a natural break, but the story definitely continues in future books. There is another series, Family Law, that is set in the future and shares some characters in common. A list of the current reading order is available on this post.

Now they have been to another star April, Jeff and Heather have decided to keep their endeavours secret. They know if they let the world know about their scientific advances it will just lead to being attacked by Earth. They plan to slowly advance their technology as they search the galaxy for planets and other bodies of interest, for inhabitation, raw materials or profit. Their technology makes them even less dependent on Earth for resources, especially with how Central is mining the surface of the Moon and growing edibles in the tunnels they have created, kilometres below the surface.

The problem is that the Martians are hiding something to the point of killing people on their base to keep their secret. On the other hand, the French are determined to find out what that secret is. The French seem to be keeping secrets of their own and whilst The Three want to know what’s going on to keep themselves safe, they don’t really care what anyone else thinks of them anymore. Earthies are going to blame them for everything anyway!

I felt like this book moved the story forward in leaps and bounds. Going to the stars is a massive part of any narrative and the way The Three handle it is sensible and matter of fact. For such young people, they are getting a turbocharged political education. I like how they admit they don’t have decades of experience of dealing with foreign powers but they refuse to be told how to do it in any way other than the way they want to do it. They refuse to bend to ‘Earth Think’.

As well as the political giants, we follow the life of a young woman in the area that crumbled in the USNA after April bombed a military base in California. Eileen is young, bright and determined. She won’t bow to the expectations of others and is determined to get into space one day, in particular to Home or Central. This all gives us an insight into the realities of life in the USNA after the political systems start to crumble.

We also follow the activities of people on Home and their personal problems instead of the political enormities that April and Jeff are having to face there. Some of those problems brush up against people April is invested in and she is learning to be more understanding and compassionate as a result. April has always been the voice of compassion and at the same time, she exhibits a fierce protectiveness to those she claims, hence the bombing of California. Understanding people more doesn’t make her any less likely to act in their defence or against them, it just makes her understand their actions more.

Jeff is also learning to be more socially aware through his relationship with Heather and April, particularly April with whom he spends more time, as they both live on Home. He may be very cerebral and focuses his attention on his ideas rather than people, but he is aware of this shortfall and does try to be aware of others.

Now they’ve reached the stars I can’t wait to see what happens next!

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Review: Protecting What's Mine (Benevolence Series Book 3) by Lucy Score

Protecting What's Mine by Lucy Score
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Linc Meets His Match

This is the third book in a series of connected standalone books. You don’t need to read the first two books, but doing so will give you a better understanding of the characters, their history and the world in which they live.

Linc is well-loved despite his dating activities. His ex-girlfriends nearly all universally speak his praises. He never makes promises he doesn’t intend to keep, is gorgeous, charming, thoughtful and a very fun date. As a result, he’s never taken seriously romantically by any of the inhabitants of Benevolence despite being very well-liked and his position of Fire Chief being very well respected. His nephews and nieces adore him, and he’s great with other people’s kids. Despite covering up his fear of being hurt by his flirty banter, he sees his friends and family leading the life he wants to, but doesn’t know how to get.

Mack, aka Doc Dreamy, first appeared in Aldo’s book, Finally Mine. She was the medic who saved him in Afghanistan on the evac helicopter flight, five years earlier. They stayed in touch and when she decided that she was on the verge of burnout and got out of the National Guard she took a 6-month contract in Benevolence at his suggestion. Mack is mainly in town to work 4 days a week at the local practice, doing family medicine, but one day a week she’ll carry on working on helicopter medical rescues. On her first flight she meets Linc, who others label ‘Chief Sexy Pants’ and they recognise a kindred spirit in each other. However, Mack is determined to stop her casual attitude to relationships and shies away from getting involved with Linc. Linc, however, finds that he wants more from Mack than he’s wanted for a very long time.

Mack and Linc are a very likeable pair. Both are heroic in nature, wanting to help others and are willing to risk themselves to do so. Both are wary about getting too deeply into a romantic relationship, though Linc is capable of connecting with people easily on a friendship level. Mack is less able to trust others and connect with them socially due to her past. Mack is determined to get better at the social connections a small town GP needs in order to do their job properly and works hard at improving herself, and at the same finds herself accidentally learning how to connect with people away from work.

The town of Benevolence is very appealing. Everyone knows each other’s business but are kind and generous in their support. Its filled with interesting characters who all know each other and their history. Mack is as seduced by the town’s inhabitants as she is by Linc.

This book is filled with clever observances about the nature of people and the damage that they can sustain that can continue inflicting pain long after the initial injury is supposed to be healed over. The author peels back layer after layer of the main characters’ histories and personalities as their story progresses. With each layer you become more involved with the characters and invested in their happiness.

I’m going to miss this little town, but I’m definitely going to read some more books by this author.

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Review: A Sudden Departure (April Series Book 9) by Mackey Chandler

A Sudden Departure by Mackey Chandler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Star Travel May Be Possible

This is the 9th book in a continuing series and you need to read the previous books in order to understand this one. The book ends at a natural break in the narrative but the story continues in future books. There is also a series that is set in the future of these characters, Family Law. The reading order of these two series are outlined in this post.

Earth is a mess and the spacers are just doing their best to ignore the planet, except for the trading they can do away from their biggest detractors. After April destroyed California, the book follows one family and their endeavours, as they try to survive the lack of government, infrastructure and safety. It’s almost back to frontier living in the west.

When James Weir comes to Home in order to build something at Dave’s workshop, Jeff’s curiosity is piqued. After reading an old academic paper James wrote, Jeff’s own intellect is stimulated and ideas fly out of his brain thick and fast. It could be possible for mankind to reach the stars if all the science works out. But what would happen if humanity reached the stars, would they behave any better than on Earth?

One of the things I like about this series is that it is set at the beginning of humanity’s journey into space. Man has reached the Moon and Mars but hasn’t left the solar system. A lot of Sci-Fi is set in a much more distant future when all the hard work of starting inter-stellar travel has already been sorted out, along with the ethical implications of arriving on a different planet. This series deals with the probable reality of humanity making a mess of the planet and greed takes them into space. It’s an interesting time to look at and raises all sorts of ideas.

I like the way the author takes lots of different strands and weaves them together. All the characters are taking different journeys and at times they bump into each other for short times that produce interesting ideas and movement in the story. This book has quite a lot of interesting ideas and great leaps forward in the story.

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Review: Edge Of Reality (Arrow's Edge MC Series Book 5) by Freya Barker

Edge Of Reality by Freya Barker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mature MC Romance

This is the fifth book in a series of connected standalone novels. Each book can be read independently of the others, but reading the preceding stories gives background and insights into the characters and the world in which they live. Both main characters make appearances in previous books in this series.

Mel is the family lawyer for Arrow’s Edge MC. She deals with the fostering and any other issues around the boys and young men that the MC provide a home, support and education for. She is 48 years old and raised her 27 year old daughter pretty much single-handed after her husband left very early on in the marriage. She’s close to Lindsey, her daughter, who works as her assistant and lives in the downstairs apartment in her house. They behave more like friends than mother and daughter.

Mel is kind of quirky, in that she wears her chucks to court, doesn’t dye her grey hair and rarely wears make up. She’s abrasive, argumentative, loyal and kind. She always does the best for her clients and her best is pretty good. She and Paco have been attracted to each other for quite a while but he put his foot it in a few times too many.

Paco has been with the club since he was 14-years-old, when he was found scavenging on the streets for food. He was one of the first young men to be taken in by the club. He’s good with tech gear and does the security systems for the club, and most of the computer work. He also spends time with the kids and does some of the home school teaching. He’s finally moved out of the club in the last year into a house he built near some other club members. He’s finally grown out of the club ‘lifestyle’ of getting drunk, partying and sleeping around. He’s 50-years-old and definitely feels it. He’s had his eye on Mel for a while and is prepared to wait for her until she finally forgives him for his terminal foot-in-mouth syndrome. When Mel and Lindsey get into trouble he sweeps into action to protect them both with help from the club.

This is a really good book. I love that it deals with mature people who know themselves and what they want. It deals with things like having night sweats and mammograms at the same time as working out sharing the chores and also having hot sex. I like that these two have been dancing around each other for a while when the book starts as it makes sense when they jump into full gear straight away.

The suspense part of the plot is definitely twisty and interesting and keeps you guessing until very close to the end. The little 6-year-old boy who comes as part of that suspense plot is very sweet and Mel and Paco’s response to his need is lovely. They do not hesitate to support him and provide him a stable and safe place when he needs it.

I love how Freya Barker writes about mature people and their love lives. She makes romance very real and down to earth but never diminishes the emotions involved or devalues the relationships involved. The characters she creates feel as real as can be, and they almost walk off the page into your local bar where you can join them for a beer or two. I always connect with her characters and feel real sense of homecoming when I read her books, despite never being a part of an MC, or living in the USA. It just feels like the worlds she creates, are somewhere you’d love to live.

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Review: It's Always Something (April Series Book 8) by Mackey Chandler

It's Always Something by Mackey Chandler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Why Can’t They All Just Get Along?

This is the eighth book in a continuing series and the previous books need to be read in order to understand this one. The narrative ends at a natural break but the story continues in future books. There is a linked series, Family Law, that is set in the future and has some characters in common. A post that outlines the reading order of the two series is available here.

After the ‘flu, Earth seems to be determined to keep itself in the dirt. Both China and USNA have massive internal problems and the people in power don’t seem to care how badly their decisions are affecting their own citizens. There are hundreds of thousands of migrants in USNA all heading south because of lack of power in the north and they can’t face a winter without fuel. There is so much infighting it’s a miracle anything gets done.

Despite these ‘superpowers’ cutting off Home and the Moon, there are other countries in the world who still wish to do business with them. There are things that can only be made in zero-g that those countries still want access to. These smaller countries may be open to negotiation, especially when they have things of value to trade.

This book shows more about life on Earth and how difficult it can be. Kurt used to be a beam dog on Home and returned back to Earth to be with his family. Through his eyes, we are shown what it’s like on the ground for ordinary people. It’s an interesting change of tack and I really enjoyed it. I also like Kurt as a character and we follow him loosely throughout the book. He eventually moves to Central on the Moon and again we get to see what life is like there through his eyes.

There is much trading and politicking done in this book to make Home and the Moon much safer and stable in terms of being able to access all they need from Earth. It’s vital work but needed less and less. If only they had more room on Home to give everyone a proper bed when they arrive. Looks like another job for Jeff and his Ladies.

As always this book was interesting and entertaining. It continues to be fun for this author to show different political systems set in the future from the outside and in doing so pointing at current systems and their potential pitfalls. I really enjoy reading about these characters and the strange environment in which they live, it’s alien and at the same time comforting.

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