Review for Starline by Imogene Nix

One man, one woman, one psychotic alien. Now the race is on to save humanity. Past. Present. Future.

Mellissa Davis is your average bookstore owner and aspiring romance author until one day an electronic book pad slides through the mail slot of her little bookstore. Now all she has to worry about is a sexy time travelling stealthship captain, staying out of the way of the bad guy and saving the universe, past and present. Not much to ask…

Duvall McCord, an up and coming stealthship captain travels to the past to stop the Ru’Edan leader, Crick Sur Banden, destroying the Earth Empire of the future. His mission? Retrieve the handbook for the Elector. He doesn’t count on love, or saving the woman of his dreams. But time is running out. This warrior must do everything he can to stop the plot…

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As a big fan of the sci-fi genre and it's mix of action, suspense, and intriguing views of the future I found myself drawn to this story and the groundwork that was laid for a trilogy set in the future with occasional visits to the past.  With its likable characters, action packed scenes, and some super sexy interludes I found a rather enjoyable read that has me intrigued for what comes next.

Mellissa grew up in an orphanage with no family and now runs a bookstore writing a book about other lovers living a life of excitement.  Through a sci-fi twist of fate she ends up traveling through space and time with a no-nonsense overachieving Captain.  I liked Mellissa and felt sympathy for her as her whole world was turned upside down.  She accepted the changes to her life fairly quickly and wasn't one of those annoying heroines who didn't do what she was told in a crisis.  She had a backbone but used her smarts more.

Duvall stayed away from long-term relationships wanting to focus on his career.  That's why it was so surprising how quickly he fell for Mellissa.  The sexual tension between them didn't slowly build, it just suddenly exploded.  The sexual interludes between them were hot and frequently occurring, almost too many which I don't say often.  I'd like to have seen more character development of them as well as the secondary characters, and most particularly the villain and his motives.

We're told how horrible Crick Sur Banden is but we barely see him and his motives aren't really clear.  He uses underlings to enact his plans and therefore he never really seems that dangerous.  Not only do we not get a good understanding of the villain, one of the more intriguing couples, Elara and Grayson, have an intriguing backstory merely alluded to but one I wish would've been told in its entirety.  The traumas Elara went through and Grayson's acceptance of her physical scars would make an amazing love story that should've been told wholeheartedly.

Between the rollercoaster actions scenes, intriguing views of the future, and likable characters I became immersed in this story and was sad to see it end.  There's more characters I long to revisit and look forward to the next story in this proposed series.  I do hope that the agenda of the villains is made more clear in the next release as this would add more excitement to the story.  Fans of sci-fi romance rejoice that there's a new voice in town and take a chance on this newly released story.

My rating for this is a C+/B-

*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.