Morgan Hawke: Fallen Star

Morgan Hawke ~ Fallen Star (Interstellar Service and Discipline 2)
From: Loose Id

Break the window
By the town hall
Listen the siren screams
There in the distance
Like a roll call
Of all the suburban dreams

Let’s take a ride
And run with the dogs tonight
In Suburbia
You can’t hide
Run with the dogs tonight
In Suburbia
Pet Shop Boys ~ Suburbia

Thank god they finally updated that cover. But blond? Really?

You all have probably read the review of Fallen Star with my good blog buddy LBea over at Nose In A Book. I love reviewing with LBea because for me it’s like taking a tour of the book and being able to share the high and low points with someone else around to pick out the parts you may have missed. LBea is also funny and insightful which makes it so effortless.

Now I think we hit a lot of things in the old review that people who go to read the book should be aware of. Fallen Star does have some parts to it that might cause issue. It has a heroine being captured and some non-consensual things going on through what turns into a Ménage Romance. Unlike all the double dicked surface resemblances to such (What I like to call) Shock Romances such as Elizabeth Amber’s The Lords of Satyr this works. That Nicholas ewwwww I cringed through that whole dang book!

Morgan Hawke gets away with it by being a smart cookie. She might write a shocking scene but she always makes sure you can relate to the royally pissed off heroine going like “You did WHAT to me?” “I’m gonna kick your ass!” And it works! The reader never loses the fun of the read or loses wanting to know what happened next. It’s that smarts of making sure the reader continues to relate to the story that makes me come away from the book thinking I might not like everything but that Morgan Hawke is one smart writer. She could sell ice in the Arctic. The first book Victorious Star did not work as well as this one did but Morgan fixed all the issues I had.

“Isabeau?” The sweet and eerily familiar voice whispered poisonously from the corridor behind them. “Izzie Fallon?”
Fallon’s head came up in alarm. Every hair on her body stood at attention. There was no way in bleeding fury her boss’s pet assassin could be on this ship. She turned around to look back up the corridor. They couldn’t have let that nightmare of a cyborg onboard!
Metal struck hammer-blows against metal.
Sobehk jerked at her side. “What in bloody Chaos …?” He turned around to head up the corridor.
“No! Don’t!” Fallon grabbed Sobehk’s arm. “If it’s who I think it is, you’ll only make him attack you. You don’t stand a chance against him unarmed.”
The shriek of tearing metal followed. Shouts echoed down the corridor. Then wet crunches and choked screams.
Sobehk tensed. “What the fuck is going on?”
Fallon’s fingers tightened around Sobehk’s arm. “If we’re lucky, it’s nothing you guys can’t handle. If we’re not lucky, it’s a friend of mine.”
“Isabeau, that doesn’t make sense.”
A smallish, gangling, and completely naked human male came timidly down the hall. His face was plain, with ordinary brown eyes and a mop of bland blondish-brownish hair. He was one of those people you never looked twice at. He lifted his chin and moved his head from side to side. He appeared to be looking for something, or listening for something. A band of silver gleamed around his throat, and blood painted his bare arms almost to the shoulders.
Sobehk frowned and set his hand on Fallon’s shoulder. “Where in bloody Chaos are his handlers?”
Fallon stared at the blood-soaked arms and fought off a shiver. “They’re probably dead.”
“The collar is for controlling killing aggression …” Sobehk glanced down at her. “Is that your friend?”
Fallon swallowed and nodded. And she had thought her luck couldn’t possibly get any worse. “He’s a nano-based mimetic cyborg. I doubt your collar has any effect on him.”
“The collar has some effect; he’s obviously sightless.” Sobehk glanced down at Fallon. “Wait a minute — he’s mimetic?”
Fallon nodded slowly. “He shape-changes.”
“Who is this guy?”
Fallon winced. “Tusk is my company’s assassin.”
“A mimetic cyborg assassin.” Sobehk rolled his eyes. “Great.”
“And he’s good. He’s single-minded, single-purposed, and has never failed a mission.” Well, he had failed once. That was how she found out how to take him out if she ever needed it. The following week, she’d had her augmentation upgraded for dexterity and speed.
The young man’s head came up. He stared straight at Fallon with unfocused eyes. “There you are, Izzie!”
“Oh, hi, Tusk.” She pasted a smile on her lips. “What’s going on?”
The young man smiled. “Oh, the boss wanted to see you.”
“He did?” Fallon kept her hands open and loose at her sides while slowly moving in front of Sobehk. “Why didn’t anybody tell me?”
Tusk shrugged. “Couldn’t find you.”
“Oh, that’s right …” Fallon rolled her eyes and glanced up at Sobehk. “Some guy was chasing me all over the station.”
Tusk shuffled gracelessly toward her, smiling absently. “Rudi said you’d be here, so I waited for you.”
Fallon frowned. “He did?” How in bleeding fury had Rudi known that she would end up here? “How long were you waiting?”
Tusk pursed his lips. “Three days or so.”
Three days? Fallon felt her temper surge. Rudi had set her up. That back-stabbing son of a bitch …
Sobehk glanced down at Fallon. “Who’s Rudi?”
Fallon scowled. “This guy I made my last delivery to. New guy, stinks of the Imperium. He tipped me for the delivery and gave me a pass to the club where I met you — three days ago.”
Sobehk frowned. “That sounds like a setup.”
“Yep, it sure does.” Fallon glanced at him. “The question here is, why?”
Tusk tilted his head. “Rudi told the boss you didn’t make the delivery.”
“He … what?” Impending doom dried her mouth. You did not ever miss a delivery. “Tusk, he lied.”
“Oh … That’s too bad.” Tusk’s brows lifted then fell. “Because I gotta bring you back to talk to him, or kill you.” He sucked on his bottom lip. “But we’re in space already, and I don’t know how to fly the ship, so we can’t go back.”
An icy sweat soaked her back. “Tusk, I’m sure something can be arranged …”
Tusk shook his head and eased closer. “No, I don’t think so.”
Sobehk stiffened and grabbed Fallon by the shoulder. “He’s not terrifically bright, is he?” He pulled her behind him.
“No, but he is terrifically deadly.” Fallon shoved back in front of him. “Do not get in front of his target.”
Tusk sighed and smeared a hand across his cheek, staining his face with blood. “I’m gonna miss you, Isabeau.”
Sobehk frowned. “Is he actually crying?”
Fallon winced. “Yes. He does that, right before he attacks.”
Tusk shuddered violently.
Fallon licked her lips. “Now’s a good time to get your knife out, and if you have a spare, I’d love to have it.”
“I don’t have a spare.” Sobehk drew his long dagger from his boot and moved to Fallon’s side.
Fallon dropped her voice to barely a whisper. “His only weak spot is at the base of his skull in the back just below the data jack. Nothing else will have any real effect on him.”
“Got it.” Sobehk flipped the dagger in his palm. “Just stay out of the way.” ~ Page 46

Anyway, let’s get back to looking at this book from the angle of a Ménage Romance.

Balance: Wow, how hard is this? Morgan does not even introduce Kahn, the ménage, at the beginning of the book. She waits and lets you the reader get attached to the developing romance between Sobehk and Isabeau and only after you start to buy it then she springs Khan on you. Not only that she ends up making him the focus for how they all interrelate to each other. He’s more powerful and manipulative than either party and wins by raising the stakes. Pretty tricky there if you ask me.

Clarity: Again, since the story does not start out with all three characters on stage Morgan has to slowly introduce how they will mold together in the end. She plays a slight of hand and what you think you see at the beginning is not what actually ends up being there at the end. I never had to backtrack to figure how this person relates to that person etc it all remained clear from point A to point B and that is not easy to pull off.

Benefit: That is apparent from the beginning. The heroine is not this sobbing pristine victim of circumstance. She’s a wickedly strong ass thief that ends up bettering her position with her smarts and her talents despite getting busted. The heroes all have their motives both underhanded and upfront for why they are doing what they do. Khan ends up in the end getting everything he wants because he is the most underhanded of them all and tricks both Sobehk and Isabeau into doing exactly what he wants. But… That all makes sense in this book and it is damn fun watching him do it.

Khan used his free hand to lift the small blue cup. “Sobehk, she may have caused my blood pressure to spike, but my blood pressure has been high since I first saw you on the Vortex.”
“No.” Sobehk growled.
Khan growled right back. “Yes, damn you. I know you feel it. I can smell it on your skin!”
Sobehk curled his lips back from his teeth, but his chin lifted to bare his throat. “I denied recognition when I left the academy; I deny it now!” He made a visible effort to drop his chin.
Khan sneered, his head low and his long teeth flashing. “You can deny it all you like. That doesn’t change the biological fact that it’s there!”
“Khan, I will not submit!” Sobehk snarled openly, baring the full length of his teeth, but his eyes were wide. “Not then, not now!”
“Sobehk …” Khan sighed, the snarl fading from his expression and from his voice. He took a deep breath and released it. “You already gave me your submission years ago.” He set the cup down. “All that’s left are the legal formalities.”
“No. I don’t want to … serve.” He turned away.
“Why is this so difficult for you? Your father was Dhe’syah to mine; it’s only right that you are Dhe’syah to me. Why do you think your father put you with me?”
“I said no.” Sobehk shook his head then turned to glare at him. “If you push this, I will return to my original quarters.”
Khan’s brow lifted and a very nasty smile curled his lip. “Sobehk, this is my ship, and my crew. You go nowhere that I do not approve of.”
Sobehk jerked back. “What?”
Khan’s eyes narrowed, but his smile remained. “I prefer to have your voluntary admission, but I have no difficulty waiting for your body to make that decision for you. And don’t think I won’t make you kneel for it.”
Sobehk glared, but his chin began to lift. “You wouldn’t …”
Khan’s brows rose and his smile broadened to show teeth. “I told you before, the only constant is change. The Academy was a long time ago.” He sighed and his smile disappeared. “I need you. I need you with me, Sobehk.”
Sobehk dropped his gaze to the table. “Please, don’t force this on me.”
Khan picked up the small blue cup. “I’d rather not, but I am … tired of being alone. Of having no one I can … trust.”
“Trust.” Sobehk groaned. “That was a foul shot.”
Khan snorted. “You’ve always been a pain in my ass, but you have never been untrustworthy.” He sipped.
Sobehk rolled his eyes. “You had to have at least one …?”
“No.” Khan set the cup on the table very carefully. “This … occupation is not conducive to anything but ambition.”
Sobehk looked up and smiled just a little. “And greed?”
Khan groaned. “Go ahead and say it.”
Sobehk assumed a completely innocent expression. “Say what?”
Khan glared at him.
Sobehk’s smile broadened. “Well, if it will make you feel better.”
Khan rolled his eyes.
Sobehk set his chin on his hand and smiled, just a little sadly. “I told you so.”
“Ah …” Khan snarled. “I hate it when you’re right.”
“Oh, come on!” Sobehk snorted. “You hate it when anyone is right — but you.”
Khan stared hard at Sobehk, his mouth tight. “Sobehk, I need my Dhe’syah.”
Sobehk turned his head sharply, as though he’d been slapped. “Khan, please …”
Khan glared at him and spoke through clenched teeth. “I have waited long enough. We have both waited long enough!”
“Don’t!” Sobehk turned completely away, presenting his shoulder. “Khan, I’m asking you … please don’t push this, at least not now.”
Khan sighed. “Very well. Not now.” ~ Page 176

Grade A for creating both a smart and complex but also shockingly good Sci-fi Ménage Romance there Morgan Hawke. YOU SO ROCK!

Tags: Gay Romance, Grade A, Interstellar Service and Discipline, Loose Id, Ménage Romance, Morgan Hawke, SciFi