Science fiction that has a hint of fantasy in it is awesome. While the fantasy might just be wishful thinking on my part, I would consider it to be a tiny bit that gets the story started. The fantasy propels the protagonist into the future—or some other part of space—and everything takes off from there.

Escort Mackenzie, known as Mac, is with a client when he discovers a silver brooch that catches his eye. Except when he touches it, it somehow transports him to an alien world. He has no idea when and where he is, just that he wants to go home. Not knowing anything about where he is, he flees and runs into Teevar, an alien also on the run. Mac ends up joining their crew, but he ends up in a world of trouble instead, with bounty hunters chasing him down because of who he’s with.

What I loved about this story was that it doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously. Mac is not the best protagonist out there. He’s self-centered and vain, but I think that’s what made me like him so much. He wasn’t perfect. And then there’s Teevar, who is much more the traditional protagonist you would see. He has a secret to hide, and he’s running from something as well, but he won’t really talk about it.

The book can be confusing, but that’s because we’re along for the ride with Mac. We don’t know anything until he does, so the exact reason for the pin isn’t made known to the readers until the very end of the book. I liked that. Most books I can figure out the ending within the first few pages, but for this one, I just held on and had a good time doing it.

As for the romance in this book, there is some, but it’s not right up front. Mac is a highly sexual being, and Teevar is not for understandable reasons. If you’re looking for explosive sex constantly, this book isn’t for you. But that shouldn’t deter you from checking it out if you don’t mind some sexual tension and fade to black scenes.

Were some parts ridiculous? Yup. But was it fun? Absolutely. Emma Jane wrote characters that felt realistic for all their antics, and I would enjoy reading more of their adventures. What happens next? Are there any other things Mac can solve just by being who he is? Do they get into more trouble with bounty hunters because they just can’t keep their hands to themselves?

If you’re a fan of sci-fi books or books with less than perfect heroes, this is just for you. It’s a pretty fast read but enjoyable nonetheless, as I’ve come to expect from books produced by NineStar Press.

Reviewed by Jennifer

Sorry but I couldn't get into the book at all. I tried though, I'm so sorry for my ADD brain.

I was extremely pumped to read “Space Mac” - it sounded like a queer love story in space, which is totally my jam. However, I was bitterly disappointed.

The writing is very jerky and lack expressiveness or detail. Meagre descriptions made the narration confusing. It felt as if the characters jumped from one place to another. The emotions portrayed by characters felt artificial and their actions very often were not believable. I struggled to understand why things were happening the way they were and very quickly I stopped to care. There seemed to be lots of running and fighting and conning (or trying to out-con) somebody with no real purpose to the story. The main protagonist, Mac, wanted to get back to Earth but he only ever bemoaned his lack of knowledge how to do it and didn’t really do anything until very end.

His relationship with Teevar, which seemed to be a focal point of the book description, didn’t develop as I expected it to, and felt a bit forced. It was, however, the most tolerable part of “Space Mac”, even though I did find Mac behaving like a spoiled child around Teevar. Overall, I didn’t find any of the characters likable at all.

It was a rather short book, more of a novella really, but I struggled to finish it. I could have dealt with jumpy plot if the writing had a better flow, which, sadly, was not the case. The only saving grace of “Space Mac” is its cover - it is stunning!

Nevertheless, I am grateful to the publisher for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.

I decided not to finish Space Mac not because of bad writing (I’d say it’s simply mediocre) but because the gay rep - the reason I wanted to pick it up in the first place - was questionable at best.

So basically the story is as follows: our protagonist is a sex worker & thanks to some mysterious pin he finds at a client’s place, he gets send to space. Now, that sounds great, right? I thought so too. But then we properly meet Mac and it turns out all he thinks about is either how hot he is or that he wants to have sex. Now, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with having a healthy sex drive but when I’m made to read about that on literally every second page? Something just isn’t right. Smells a lot like reducing gay men to just sex (or, in even simpler terms, fetishization)...

You may think I’m just a prude lesbian so let’s take a look at some quotes, shall we. Those are literally from the first half of the same chapter, barely a few pages apart. And for context, please remember that Mac is in SPACE surrounded by ALIENS with only a very vague plan on how he can possibly come back to Earth.

“I’m not religious. I fuck everything with a pulse—and I get paid for it—I drink; I used to smoke. I don’t pray, and I curse like a sailor. But all this—” He waved a hand at the stars. “—makes me think there might be something else out there after all. A god, I mean, looking down on Earth. I think I’ll pretty much believe anything now.”


He busied himself with trying on his clothes and then styling his hair and preening himself. When he grew bored with that, he picked up his gun and admired it. It was made of a sleek, black metal, and Mac realised it looked more like a sex toy than a gun. Will I ever have sex again? He’d have to find himself a sexy alien, and it’d have to be kovan if he wanted it to look human. He didn’t fancy Lenara or Ral’s species much. He thought about Teevar.


Maybe there are fans of writing like this out there but it’s just really not for me, thanks.

Book – Space Mac
Author – Emma Jane
Star rating - ★★☆☆☆
No. of Pages – 182
Cover – Nice!
POV – 3rd person, one character
Would I read it again – No
Genre – LGBT, Science Fiction, MM


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **


To be honest, I'm disappointed with this one. I started it thinking it was a redemption story, of the narcissistic main character finally finding a soul and a heart that didn't make everything about him. Unfortunately, he was even more of a selfish ass by the time the story ended as he was when it started.

Maybe if the story had been in dual POV, with Teevar, who I actually liked, I could have liked it more. But the bare truth is that I hated Mac from page one and never found anything redeemable in him, throughout the story.

The story itself was told in an online-serial style, rather than coming together as a cohesive novel. There seemed to be one huge drama after another, almost one to each chapter, and the constant chaos of the plot actually gave me a physical headache, trying to keep up with the who, the why, and the hows of it all.

The writing started off choppy. The first page made it very confusing, because it gave no context to the events we were experiencing, until about three pages in, when we found out that Mac was a paid escort, which explained the pseudonym of Ethan and the arrogance and rudeness he showed towards his 'client'. To be quite honest, Mac is the most judgy, ignorant, bitchy, rude main character I've read in a long time, and I seriously considered DNF'ing the book after just a few pages. The only reason I kept going was because it was a review book. If I'd bought this or it was a free book, I would have stopped after the first few pages and moved onto something else.

The plot moved immediately into one-two pages of Mac's life as an escort, to being nosy enough that he pricked his finger on a pin and was whisked off to an alien planet, for a full alien abduction, probing incident. By this point, it was all so sudden and unbelievable that I completely had to suspend any believability in the plot from that moment forth or I wasn't going to be able to finish it. Which was just as well, because human concepts such as slavery, bank robberies, blood transfusions, dinosaurs, gladiator arenas, and alien probes are all mixed into one 'on-the-run', bounty hunting plot.

Mac, as a main character, was never likable or relatable. He started out vain, narcissistic, rude and arrogant, and finished off by adding on selfish, lying all the time, being rude to everyone for no reason, having an ego the size of a planet, and adding in thief, egoist, and stupid to his personality CV. The whole plot would never have happened if he hadn't made the idiotic, selfish choice of trying to steal from his client, but then he proceded to make the most ridiculous and stupid decisions throughout the book, never once listening to anyone and showing not an ounce of common sense.

To sum up how much the plot tries to fit into less than 200 pages, this quote happens at 10%: “So he'd been beamed up to another world, had been assaulted, arrested, run from the police, and now was soon to be sold into slavery.” The story literally ends with Mac, Teevar, and Lenara, in the exact same position they were in when they first boarded the Veena vessel together. If it wasn't for Teevar, who I actually wanted to know more about and who barely had his story told, I would have dnf'd before the 10% mark.

Overall, it just became too much for me. Too much drama, too many spoofy sci-fi cliches, an unlikeable bisexual character with no redeeming qualities who basically thinks with his dick, and a seriously unsatisfying ending that leaves the entire plot back where it started. Sorry, but it's not for me.

What you need to know about Space Mac is that it is one hundred percent a space adventure. You get thrust into a universe, just as lost and confused as Mac is BUT when it all starts to unfold, that’s when it gets good. I almost gave up on this in the beginning because I couldn’t get into the first few pages (yes, I’m that reader when it comes to sci-fi) but as soon as Mac met up with the crew? That action drew me in.

So before the good, here’s the bad. I felt that there was something missing. I needed more explanation to why Mac had been taken. More than what was given. I needed to know more about Ral and Leanara other than they committed a crime (nothing specified or I completely missed it which is possible) and they were a ragtag group running for their lives.

Teevar, I loved. I felt kinship with him. He was very much an outsider on his planet. Even when he was planets away, he still had that fear that someone was going to see him and they were going to treat him like he was on his home planet. Mac challenged him and pushed Teevar out of his comfort zone.

Mac had that arrogant, I’m human and that makes me important vibe. But Lenara and the crew put him back to rights. I think that is what saved him was the way he interacted with Teevar towards the middle/end. In the beginning, he was a dick. Running for your life in space can change things though.

There were a few sex scenes but there were more cut to black scenes. So if hardcore sex is your thing, you won’t find that here. I thought everything was appropriate and sometimes I’m in the mood for less descriptive sex scenes so I read this book at the perfect time.

There were space shenanigans, con-man tactics and a huge universe that I hope Emma Jane goes on to the explore. It was left open so she could. Definitely one I would give a read!

I'm a fan of space adventure books, and Space Mac had some good ideas, but I think there was just something missing for me.

I'm classifying this as a romance but it isn't a romance-y romance. It's more of a sci-fi book with romance as a side element. In fact, I think it would work just as well without the romance part.

I really was interested in the universe that Emma Jane created, but I think she could have fleshed out the elements a bit more. There were some cool lifeforms and creatures and politics that could have used about 100 more pages to explore.

All in all, this is a light and fun sci-fi story without a heavy emphasis on the romance side. If you want something a little different and an easy read, I'd recommend this one.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

3.5 stars

Synopsis: Mac is an escort/grifter on Earth, and one night at one of his customer's place, he picks up an unusual looking pin, thinking that maybe he can hock it. When he accidentally pricks his thumb with it, he is transported to a different galaxy. The beings there look human, but until they put a translator chip in him, Mac can't understand them. Then they take a sample, and, rather than have them continue experiments on him, Mac runs away. He gets caught by the law for public indecency and is sitting there with no hope of getting out because he doesn't know anyone, or have money, when a being next to him makes her own escape and takes Mac with her.
Lenara takes him to her ship, which has one other occupant: Teevar. Both Teevar and Lenara are on the run from bounty hunters, and take Mac with them. Along the way, Teevar frees another species, and Ral joins their rag tag band of runners as well. Mac really wants to go home, but no one seems to know where Earth is, so they face alien life forms on other planets and bounty hunters in order to live freely.

What I liked: The world building. This was a very fun and light story. Mac had his good and his bad moments, making him seem more realistic. When Mac and Teevar had disagreements, they did talk things out, but nothing was forgiven right away, as is often the case. They didn't let their feelings for each other blind them to the fact that they were wronged, but they also didn't hold grudges for long periods of time, either. The friendships that developed between the four characters felt true to all of them, and I liked that they didn't leave anyone behind. Everyone had their own strengths, and they worked well together.

What I didn't like: There wasn't a lot of attention put on building the romantic relationship between Mac and Teevar, as most of the story was focused on the adventures that the crew members were having, and how they all got out of the situations that they found themselves in.

Overall impression: Third person POV from Mac's POV. This was an amusing, adventurous romp, with romantic elements. I was really impressed with the development of the friendships, and with the story telling.

*I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This is a story that you will like if you enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy. It doesn't have talking animals or trees, but a lot of the comradely feels the same, as well as the moral grey areas some of the characters choose to operate in. The main character Mac is a cocky escort who somehow finds himself abducted by aliens, and then goes on a series of wacky adventures to try and get home again. I'm not really sure how the pin that transports him works, and neither does he. A lot of the plot moves very quickly, and events are sometimes described in mere sentences and then quickly rushed to get to the next plot point. The sex scenes in the book are also touched upon quickly, and not very in depth. The main focus of the story is not on the romance between Mac and Teevar, but on the adventure as a whole, which I liked. The group is willing to commit crimes like a bank heist in order to get home, and make sure that all of the crew involved is not left behind. The story would make a decent sci-fi movie, just for the typical set-up/ payoff of the medical problems, and the many adventurous schemes and battles depicted.
But the main reason I rated this as high as I did is for the sexuality of Mac. He is openly bisexual and no one tells him he is wrong, confused, or promiscuous. I mean his job is as an escort, but he isn't shamed for it. Teevar never judges him for his sexuality, or confesses that he can't trust him, and we see Mac show interest in both sexes equally. It's great representation, and even more fun that Mac is a cocky, charmer like Starlord or Han Solo. If this book was four pages long double spaced and filled with typos, I would still rate it highly because Mac is just a normal guy with a normal sexuality, which is all too rare. That he is also a charming rogue is just icing on the cake.
It does end with a bit of an open ended cliffhanger, which was disappointing, but I suppose means that there is room for a sequel.