Great ending to the series!

This series has been a wonderful blend of military and sci-fi/futuristic romance. I think this genre is really difficult to make believable. The balance between tech and romance is a hard one to nail down but this author makes it look effortless…

The war between the UEF and the CSS comes to a head in a conflict that sees Bren and Cam working out their feud as well. Forced to work hand in hand on a do-or-die mission, meant they had to work together, in sync, or people would die. Both stubborn and strong in their beliefs, it would take harrowing circumstances to get them on task and on the same page… And there was plenty of that!

“…her head was spinning from the fact she’d gone from loathing him to the complete, extreme opposite in a few short days.”

There were so many moments that brought home the need for love and family, no matter the year on the calendar! All the main characters were back to help with the final push and make sure Bren and Cam, as well as Seb, made it back safely. Camaraderie and love and an epilogue that had me smiling, made for a breathtaking and, at the end, unexpectedly sweet series ending. One of my favourite series of this genre!

This is a military/Sci Fi enemies to lovers romance that I have to say was pretty entertaining. Lt. Theresa Brenner is a fighter pilot who lost her brother 10 years prior. She gets stuck going on a rescue with the man she blames for her brother’s death. Colonel Cameron McAllister.
Cam doesn’t want to be around another Brenner after the first one almost cost him his career. Both Cam and Theresa have to learn to communicate if they want to get the job done.
This is actually the fourth book in the series, and though some of the acronyms got a bit confusing, there were pretty good explanations to make this able to stand on its own.
I enjoyed it well enough that I will probably go back and read the earlier books!

Bren has held him responsible for the death of her brother for the last ten years. Knowing the last moments she spent with her brother were driven by hate based on everything she heard about Cam. Now she is on a mission to save one of her own and finally getting a glimpse of the man. Is he everything she made him out to be or is he something more? Great story and loved reading this from an author I hadn’t had the opportunity to read before.

For those who know me I adore reading Space Opera. This is a great fast paced story though alas from my perspective most of it is on the ground and not in space.  However the two protagonists dislike each other intensely so the story of the enemies to reluctant admiration to lovers makes for a great read.

There's unwritten history between Bren and Cameron.  Her brother died because of Cameron's command and yet she sees Cameron continued success while she quietly grieves for her brother. However when he's the only option to the rescue of one of her downed pilots Bren takes the opportunity to set out with Cameron's team on the ground.  Cameron has as many mis-conceptions about Bren and is pleasantly surprised when she keeps up with his team.
Things go south pretty quickly and their mission is compromised because of some independent actions that Bren takes.  The team needs to split up to achieve multiple objectives. Since Cameron doesn't trust Bren he pairs up with her and dispatches the rest of the team.  This gives the two of them the opportunity to clear the air between them, indulge in the raging passion that exists between them, rescue an orphan child and plot a strategy with the rebel forces that could change the course of the war currently underway.
The story moves fast with a great outcome.  It's like the fable where both are willing to give up their passion for the other in order to secure each other's happiness.  I'm sorry to see the series end particularly since I just discovered it.  On the positive I do have a few books to read that I have not read before.

Bren is slowly getting used to being the CAFF - even if it is by default. However, she did not reckon on all the paperwork! But when one of her pilots has to eject behind enemy lines, she has to out aside her personal feelings for Cam and join his unit to search for her pilot.

Colonel Cam McAllister has made some assumptions of his own about Bren, after all her brother was a glory hound who couldn't follow orders, so she must be the same. But as their plan to rescue the pilot gets a bit more complicated he has to reassess his feelings for Bren. Can he really want Bren in his bed when she has so much baggage where her brother is concerned. Can Bren get through her strong bond with her late brother to see that Cam may not be the ogre he was painted?

I loved this concluding part of the Valiant Knox series. It was a great way to tie everything up and bring the war to a conclusion - one way or another. I admired Cam for his planning and the hidden soft centre he protects and Bren for her loyalty to her brother, even though some of the time she seemed a bit dense about his failures. There are no wimpy, damsel in distress in these books which I enjoy so much more. They may not be gun toting, warriors but they have their own skills and talents and the men usually realise just how valuable they are.

The Scottish poet Robbie Burns is mostly famous for that once-per-year favorite, Auld Lang Syne. He’s also known for that saying about “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley.” Of course that one is usually translated into something more like contemporary English.

But there’s another phrase of Burns’ that came to mind when reading War Games. It’s the one that goes, “O wad some Power the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us!” Because a lot of the tension in War Games is because Colonel Cameron McAllister and Lieutenant Theresa Brenner have never seen each other as they really are, not in ten years of extremely tense “acquaintance”.

Instead, they see each other through the intermediary of a third person who is no longer around, but still standing between them – the Lieutenant’s brother Jordie, dead these ten years in the war that seems never to end between the space-faring and fairly liberal Alliance and the fundamentalist wacko-crazies that have infested the planet Ilari.

Jordie’s death was suicide-by-enemy-fire, and Theresa is certain that it’s all Cam’s fault, based on everything that Jordie told her about his last mission with Cam. Cam, on the other hand, is equally certain that Theresa must be every bit as much of a selfish screw-up as her late brother. He just can’t figure out how someone who must be a terrible soldier somehow managed to become CAFF (Commander of the Flying Forces) on the Valiant Knox.

They’ve managed to mostly avoid each other for years, but circumstances have finally placed them into a close contact that neither of them wants, or trusts.

The long war may finally be reaching its end phase. After the events in Cover Fire, the Alliance has an in with the planetary resistance forces. If the Alliance can figure out just what support they need, and can manage to get it to them, the Resistance has a chance at defeating the CSS before they export their brand of crazy off-planet.

Cam is scheduled to lead an undercover mission just as one of Theresa’s fighter pilots is forced to eject over enemy territory. She attaches herself and another pilot to Cam’s mission so that she can rescue her pilot while he contacts the rebels.

No battle plan survives contact with the enemy. Or in this case, even survives contact with the ground. Of course it all goes pear-shaped. And when it does, Cam and Theresa are forced to work together, and to see the person the other really is, instead of seeing Jordie and his mess.

But old habits die hard, and old impressions die even harder. When the chips are all very much down, Cam screws up. He may be a hero, but it looks like he’s ended the war only to lose the peace.

Or at least his own.

Escape Rating A-: War Games is the final book in the Valiant Knox series. And it’s an absolutely marvelous ending. If you like science fiction space opera romance, this series is terrific from beginning to end. I’m not positive that you need to read it in strict order, but starting with this last book is definitely a no-go. As much as many of us like to skip to the end to see how things turn out, this book is much more fun if you know more about what it is that you want to find out the ending of!

The strength of this particular entry in the series rests on the two main characters, Theresa and Cam, and the chemistry between them as well as the mess that’s keeping them apart. They’ve worked at arm’s length (actually several arms’ lengths’) from each other for a long time. They are certain that they know all about each other, and definitely don’t like what they know.

Even though the reader can easily guess that Jordie Brenner was a less-than-reliable narrator of his own life, it makes sense that his kid sister would believe everything he said, especially in the wake of his death.

On the other hand, Cam McAllister is much too good of a soldier and commander to keep conflating Theresa with her brother, especially in light of the evidence of his own eyes and that of people he respects. It’s mostly his own guilt that keeps him from seeing the person in front of him instead of her dead brother, and he really should know better.

Their mission is a SNAFU from beginning to end, but it is not either of their faults. Murphy has clearly taken up residence on Ilari and everything that can go wrong absolutely does. But the things that go wrong fit right into the military parts of the scenario. The CSS may be run by fundamentalist whack-jobs, but that doesn’t mean that some of them are not effective soldiers, even if they are fighting in a bad cause.

So as the tension between Cam and Theresa shifts from dislike and mistrust to respect and possibly love, the circumstances they find themselves in go from bad, to worse, to downright awful. It takes a lot of mess to wrap the series up with the right amount of intense catharsis, but it does get there, and with an appropriately big and loud bang. Even though their relationship very nearly ends in a whimper.

One final note, as much as I enjoyed this series, I was also glad to see it end. While each romance has moved the overarching story forward, this war needed to come to its conclusion. If it had gone on forever and six books more, it ran the potential of getting stale. Instead, we end on a high note. The Valiant Knox series is a fun mixture of military SF, space opera and science fiction romance, and now that it’s finished it’s even easier to recommend to any reader looking for something good flying on any those vectors. Start with Escape Velocity for the very best ride.

I've enjoyed this series that takes us away to the futuristic ship known as the Valiant Knox were we get to know it's crew. Previously I've read about Alpha stepping down due to personal conflicts which meant Bren had to step up as Captain and show her mettle. I say show because honestly she really has nothing to prove and yet tries so hard to just hunker down and convince herself that she really does deserve her promotion.
Still Bren has to make tough choices and when one means a pilot ejects behind enemy lines of course they will mount a rescue won't they? Oops looks like there's opposition from the stiff and annoying Colonal Cam McAllister but there's a connection between the two of them that goes way back and it's never been discussed. Ok then Bren can overcome her antagonism if it means rescuing her pilot but Cam isn't exactly what she was expecting and on the ground the gloves well and truly come off !
I'm kind of sad as this seems to be the end of this series that has introduced fabulous characters in such an interesting setting. If you enjoy romance but seek something a little out of the ordinary then I definitely recommend these books
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

Having thoroughly enjoyed Jess Anastasi’s Atrophy (book one in her Atrophy series), I’m keen to read more of her work, so while I wait for the next Atrophy book to appear, I decided to pick up War Games, which is the fourth and final novel centring around the UEF battleship Valiant Knox. I haven’t read the previous books, and the author includes enough information here for newbies to be able to work out who is who and how they relate to each other; although I suspect I’ve probably missed some of the explanations and backstory to the war going on between the UEF and the CSS – and I admit, I wouldn’t have minded a glossary of the acronyms!

CAFF (and this one is in the book! – Captain of the Fighter Force) Theresa Brenner is discovering that her recent promotion is not all it’s cracked up to be, as she is spending more time behind a desk shovelling paperwork or on the deck of the Valiant Knox giving orders than she is actually flying with her fighter squadrons. But her wish to be out in the field is granted in the worst possible way; one of her pilots, Sub-Officer Shen, is shot down during a skirmish with the enemy, and ejects from her fighter, leaving her stranded on the nearest planet, Ilari. Knowing that if Shen is captured, she’ll be tortured in a CSS rededication camp, Bren (as she prefers to be called) immediately applies for permission to mount a rescue.

Commander Yang (hero of Escape Velocity, book one in the series) is reluctant to give the order; he’s just received information that the situation on Ilari is being further complicated by the newly emerging rebel forces, and that operating behind enemy lines is more dangerous than ever. But Bren is adamant – even going so far as to say she’ll go to look for Shen herself – when help comes from a most unexpected (and unwelcome) quarter.

Colonel Cameron MacAllister is one of the men in charge of UEF’s base on Ilari. A consummate soldier, he’s a born leader and is widely liked and respected by all – except Bren, who blames him for her brother’s death a decade earlier. He has been charged with a covert mission; accompanied by a small team, he is to head behind enemy lines and meet with one of the rebel leaders – and he offers to bring in Shen if he comes across her. But this isn’t good enough for Bren, who promptly announces her intention of going along. Cam, who has never forgotten the almighty screw-up Bren’s brother caused ten years ago, doesn’t like it one bit, but when Yang approves, he realises he’s stuck with her whether he likes it or not.

So, we’ve got an enemies-to-lovers story wherein said enemies have both made judgements of each other based on incorrect perceptions. Bren believes MacAllister’s poor leadership and judgement got her brother killed (needless to say, that wasn’t the case) while he worries that she may be as reckless and heedless of orders as her brother was. Their earliest interactions are full of seething resentment which rides atop an undercurrent of unwanted attraction, until gradually, Bren begins to see a different side of Cam and wonders if she could possibly have been wrong about him all these years, while Cam is surprised to discover that Bren is quick, gusty, clever and capable; in short, completely unlike her brother!

Their relationship is a fairly slow burn, which works given their situation – they can’t just pop off for a quick make-out session in the bushes! – and the author builds the sexual tension between them pretty well, gradually revealing more of them to each other and strengthening their emotional connection as the story progresses. There’s a last-minute attempt to wring every drop of tension out of the romance when Cam jumps to a conclusion about Bren that seems rather at odds with his renewed opinion of her, but the main reason I couldn’t grade the book more highly is that the storyline – and the action scenes in particular – were just… flat. I don’t have anything against predictable storylines, provided there’s something else about the book that compels me to read it, and I know this author can write tense, exciting action scenes; but here, I found myself waiting for those heart-pounding moments of anxiety for our heroes – that never came.

I said in the introduction that I was confused by some of the acronyms – and that’s probably my fault because I haven’t read the other books. But with that said, if you’re writing and marketing a book as essentially a standalone (which is very common with series in the romance genre), then things like that should be made clear. So I looked at some reviews of the other books in the series to confirm that UEF stands for United Earth Forces and to discover that CSS stands for Christ’s Sunday Soldiers. And as I read, I realised I’d missed a big chunk of plot; the reasons behind the war are not discussed in War Games, and as I read other reviews to find out about the acronyms, I learned that the CSS is a fanatical group of fundamentalists who want to wipe out the use of modern technology. Which made no sense; how they could espouse that cause while fighting a war against an army that had so much technology at its disposal – after all, they couldn’t just chuck a wooden spear at a spaceship and hope to do damage! They had to fight fire with fire, which meant the use of the very technology they so hated.

Admittedly those are things I found out after I had finished the book, and my grade does not take them into account. But I believed them worth mentioning as it’s now clear to me that anyone thinking of reading War Games might want to consider backtracking to book one, as it appears that readers will get the most out of the individual stores by reading the whole series in order.

In terms of this book however, I can’t deny that I came away from it somewhat disappointed overall. It’s most certainly not a bad book by any means; it just didn’t grab my attention and keep me glued to it the way I’d hoped it would.

Grade - C+/3.5 stars

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

While I really enjoyed the book, I really did not understand a lot of what was going on at first and it took me a couple of chapters to realize that when they said "ship" that it was a spaceship! As this was book 4 in the series, I am guessing that many of my questions would be answered in the previous books. Even a small prologue with a few basic facts and explanation of what UEF, CS, CSS stood for would have been great!

The story line was great as we watch Cam and Bren along with others as they go behind enemy lines to rescue a fallen pilot and try to contact the rebels. The conflict between the two has been icy for 10 years and when they must work together, everything changes.

Bren was under the impression that Cam was responsible for her brother's death and Cam always felt that Bren was like her brother - whose error in judgment was responsible for many deaths. They had some tough misconceptions to work through and there were times I was wondering if they could ever work out their differences.

I loved the addition of the orphan girl, Neve and how both Bren and Cam felt like taking care of her. It showed their depth of caring during a war that had sapped most of their emotions from them.

After reading this book, I would like to read more about the other couples in this series but start at the beginning! I enjoy sci-fi and this was a great sci-fi romance.

Be prepared to be kept on the edge with adrenaline pumping action, suspense, and a heated romance when you pick up this book as readers get a ringside seat to the final battle in the war to overthrow the bloodthirsty dictator.

Cam and Theresa are vivid characters with sizzling chemistry that must overcome their past history and personal issues in order to even think about having a relationship but that doesn’t stop the burning attraction from distracting them from their mission and heating up the pages for the readers to enjoy. The rocky romance keeps emotions at an all-time high for the couple as well as readers with some heated confrontations and red-hot passion and while the turbulent emotional battle rivals the action on the battlefield, the danger the characters face throughout their mission builds the suspense and thrills throughout the story, ensuring that readers can’t stop turning the pages.

I have loved joining the Valiant Knox throughout the war as Jess Anastasi brought each and every book to brilliant life with well written words, an inspired world, electrifying characters that I enjoyed getting to know and thrilling action and suspense that has readers biting their nails, so I am definitely sorry to see the series end. But what a way to go, the author did a fantastic job with the tension building final mission, the action filled and remarkable battle and the splendid epilogue that gives readers a glimpse of what is instore for the characters in the future, which I just want to say makes the parting with this series a little less painful for me.

Fantastic!

Action packed, emotional and suspenseful all leading to a beautiful HEA! Ms. Anastasi is a wonderful storyteller.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.

Lieutenant Theresa Brenner is the Captain of the Fighter Force (CAFF) on board the battleship Valiant Knox, that is in orbit over the war torn planet Ilari.
One of her pilots has gone down behind enemy lines, so it's rescue time.
Colonel Cameron McAllister is one of the leaders of the UEF working on the planet to help the locals try and throw off the yoke of their oppressors the CSS. He has an important meeting to get to in enemy territory. The last thing he needs is to take along the baby sister of a troublesome solider he lost years ago.
There is a lot of bad feeling, and misunderstanding between our characters that will effect everything they do. They have a very dangerous mission ahead of them. Lots of emotional moments.
This is (I think) the final book in the series. While you could enjoy this on it's own, it's far better to read the series in order. All the books are very exciting and action packed. Once you pick one up you will not want to put it down until the end.

War Games by Jess Anastasi is the fourth book in the Valiant Knox series. My hands have been extra grabby for this one, sensing the unmistakable tension between Cameron and Theresa (Bren) in the previous book. They hate one another with a passion, and can't be in the same room without them going at it.

But now they are working together behind enemy lines, and the lines between love and hate come into play. After Bren's brothers reckless behavior that resulted in the entire squad killed under Cameron's command. He believes she will have the same impulse as her brother. He thinks she will screw up on the field, and that cant happen.

When these two finally give into the undeniable attraction, its steamy, hot, and was beautiful to read.

This is a perfect action packed thriller.
A must read!

With the ghost of Bren’s brother between them, there’s some hard feelings between Cam and Bren and lines have been drawn between the two for a decade. However, forced proximity, obvious chemistry, and knowing everything could be gone tomorrow has a way of changing the battle lines into something softer, attainable, and possibly permanent.

Enemies to lovers is always a fun trope especially if written correctly, and Anastasi nails it with Cameron McAllister and Theresa Brenner (Bren)! I enjoyed the dichotomy of their working lives versus their personal lives-ie, Cam being so strict and diligent in the field when in fact he had more layers than an onion emotionally speaking. I also loved how the chemistry between the two was built up all nice and quiet-like before bursting across the pages in a wave of pheromones even a blind person could sense! That also made the transition from enemies to lovers more believable and kept me infinitely invested until the end of the book.

Smoothly intergrating romance and science fiction, Anastasi’s writing flows from scene to scene in such a way that I tend to forget I’m reading a book and not watching a movie. I tend to compare the Valiant Knox to the tv show Firefly. I know there is a spaceship, but I can’t tell you a thing about any world visited. What I can lament about are the super memorable characters and the highs and lows of their friendships and romances.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

War Games was an exceptional book with lots of action. Good!!!!

‘War Games’ closes Jess Anastasi’s ‘Valiant Knox’ series and I’ve obviously been waiting a while to get my paws on it, ever since I sniffed out the tension between Cameron McAllister and Theresa Brennan in the last book. In a nutshell, mutual dislike best characterises Bren’s and Cam’s relationship for the past decade, for mistaken reasons that have them mostly avoiding each other when they can.

With a strong element of pride and prejudice working here means that they start off cool, distant and rocky, until a downed pilot pushes them into close confines and forces them to reevaluate their grudges. But Bren and Cam are likeable characters who don’t generally play games—hard to do so during war when more important things matter—; both have a core of compassion and integrity that I’ve come to associate with the standout protagonists of syfy-romance, so it isn’t hard to get into their developing relationship even as the pace amps up towards the end.

The enemies-to-lovers (with frenemies being the state in between) is one of my favourite tropes, but apart from that, ‘War Games’, like every other book that Anastasi writes, is akin watching an action-packed, hour-long episode of a tv series merrily chugging its way through the season, as a primary conflict specific to the episode plays out and is by and large, resolved by the time the end credits roll. That said, ‘War Games’ isn’t quite suitable as a standalone read, considering there’s a whole universe and a bit of history behind the warring factions, so it could be a hard book to follow if you’re starting straight here.

What I’ve always loved about the Valiant Knox’s series is that the books are very easy to read, or maybe it’s because I’ve been following this from the get-go, when I was still high off my syfy addiction. Anastasi’s books are typically pitched at a level I can enjoy and follow without getting too confused, which I can’t always say of the detail-suffused and complex worlds of several syfy or fantasy epics that I’ve tried to sink my teeth into.

Still, it’s always bittersweet to say goodbye to a series that I like very much, even when the curtain finally falls on every couple’s HEA several years later.

Great read, I loved Cam and Bren. Bren was the type of heroine I love to read about she could hold her own in a mans world. I was actually half way through before I realized this was a science fiction story it didn’t seem like one everything seemed so realistic.