A big thank you to the publishers and netgalley for an eARC of this in exchange of an honest review.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this but I really loved the flip on this trope.
We have a forced marriage between a prince and a diplomat from a foreign planet, but the difference is that the diplomat just lost their husband in an accident. He was the cousin of the prince he is now about to marry. I wasn’t expecting that and it brought so much extra weight to the relationship and the uncomfortable situation.

Our diplomat is already used to married life and being with someone for five years and now they’ve lost them and been forced into a marriage with a known playboy. Our prince is clearly very attracted to him but is certain that he hates him and is forcing himself which is kind of adorable.

The plot focuses on the renewal of a treaty for which the marriage is needed to show the link between the two planets. Since they’ve been forced into it it’s also kind of hard to be believable. As they go around trying to have a real relationship or at least some level of real relationship they stumble onto a bunch of secrets and realise someone is deliberately sabotaging the treaty so they will go to war.

The novel does have some trigger warnings for abuse, ptsd, torture and mind control.

Overall it felt perfectly executed and didn’t feel lacking or in need of more content. I throughly enjoyed it and the romance and how same sex relationship were just the norm.

I went into this with completely wrong expectations, so I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as if I'd known nothing about this book at all. It was sold to me as Red, White, and Royal Blue in space with a conspiracy. Other than the two main characters being from different worlds (literally) and forced together, this is nothing like Red, White, and Royal Blue. This is government conspiracies and secrets in space that happen to have two guys forced to marry that have titles.

The romance aspect is very, very slight. For most of the book, Kiem and Jainen completely misunderstand each other and therefore avoid interaction, thinking the other person hates him. It gets frustrating when you want to shake them both and yell, "OMG, TALK TO EACH OTHER!"

The conspiracy bit is interesting, and if that had been what I'd come here for, I would have been very pleased. Unfortunately it wasn't, and I finished feeling dissatisfied. I can see why it's getting great reviews though as a debut scifi book. The world building is satisfying, the complexity of the government interactions are interesting, and there is some weird science-y oddness. Kiem's aid Bel is awesome, and the whole rescue sequence is quite fun. I was just looking for something else.

In this world, royalty marries to continue trade agreements and made political alliances. How will an unexpected alliance change the lives of the two people involved, when they unexpectedly find themselves falling for each other? Throw in some attempted assassinations and government corruption and you've got this book.

The cover was great but couldn’t get into the story. I do think others might connect to this one more. Three stars.

I feel like I’ve been reading this book for ages but I’m so happy I got to read it fully because it was a delight.

While the plot didn’t interest me that much and I didn’t really care about the political side of the novel, the world Everina Maxwell constructed plus the characters and their relationship really did it for me. The novel focuses a lot on the damage a toxic relationship can do to a person and how hard the healing process can be. That is definitely my favourite part of the book.

Seeing Kiem and Jainan misunderstand each other constantly because they have different views of what a relationship/a partner should be like was extremely jarring but also accurate. I loved seeing their relationship develop and them grow into better versions of themselves. I would’ve honestly liked more focus on the relationship – a lot of the story focused on the politics.

I also loved the world building. I was able to see the problems within the empire and the different cultures of the vassal planets. And, oh my god, the animals on Iskat! Such a cool addition to the planet. I also loved the perception of gender and how people were able to represent their gender through different things (we see mainly through jewelry). Plus, the Resolution and the idea of a bigger world out there created a great sense of mystery.

Overall, I’m really glad I read Winter’s Orbit and I had an amazing time doing it.

This was a wonderful marriage of convenience, there's only one bed, oh look mortal danger m/m romance in space, and I really enjoyed it.


I talk about this book in this fully captioned wrap up video: https://youtu.be/GoXSLX65BlY

An exciting space romance standalone with twists, turns, and intergalactic politics!

Things I loved:
🪐 The characters were perfectly complex and life-like
🪐 Vivid world building without being bogged down in the details
🪐 The perfect amount of intrigue to keep me wanting more

Things I didn’t love:
🪐 I really just wanted a little more romance out of Kiem and Jainan’s relationship. It was almost as though we got the 30,000 foot view of it with skipped days and weeks of interaction. I guess what I’m really saying is : I would have read another 200 pages of just Kiem and Jainan existing in each other’s orbit (see what I did there? 😏).

4.5 stars for me! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I don’t know why I waited on Winter’s Orbit, because it was everything I hoped it would be. I suspect it won’t appeal much to someone who hates either the SF/F genre or the romance genre: there’s both here, intertwined, and if you don’t find both satisfying then you probably won’t enjoy the book. If you’re in fandom, you’ll immediately feel at home, I think — it feels like fanfic, in the sense that it has a certain joyful use of tropes that fanfic specialises in. “There’s Only One Bed”, “Mutual Pining”, “Sharing A Sleeping Bag For Warmth”, “Arranged Marriage”, etc, etc. There’s a lot of warmth and joy that arises out of the relationship between Jainan and Kiem, and it’s lovely.

That said, I don’t want it to sound like this book is pure fluff, because it isn’t (much as I might enjoy pure fluff with these two characters). It’s quickly obvious that Jainan has been abused in the past, and that his life has been very tightly controlled… Obvious, that is, to everyone but his new partner, who thinks he’s grieving, tries to give him space, and generally tries to be decent. They talk at cross-purposes and it leaves Jainan deeply unmoored, not sure of what to do, how to behave, or where the thin ice is. That theme runs throughout the book, yet overall I’d call the tone hopeful. And that’s mostly because of Kiem, who is a sweetheart.

The story is so enjoyable because the romance is a little bit of a slow burn: the misunderstanding at first, and Jainan’s fear, mean that the initial easy route into “oops, they’re in love” is blocked, and instead there’s a fairly natural development of their relationship into awkward friendship and more. That said, the “slow burn” has nothing on the 70-parter fics you can find in fandom!

I got really invested in this, which is why I decided to bump the rating up to 5 — I rate based on my enjoyment of books, after all, not some objective measure. At one point I kept having to put the book down to make stressed noises at my wife because eeep! Eeeep! It all came together really well for me.

I get the comparisons to Red, White and Royal Blue, and also the comparisons to Ann Leckie. For once, I can’t disagree. It’s not quite the same kind of book as Ancillary Justice et al, but there are some things that feel similar.

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell mashes up space opera with a Marriage of Convenience, with the added level of this being one partner’s second marriage of convenience after his husband is killed in what appeared to be an accident. I read the original version of this story on AO3, but long enough ago that I wasn’t sure how much had changed or been added for this new version. (Note that its previous iteration was not fanfiction.) The political plot involves their small, out-of-the-way empire renewing its ties with the larger galactic powers; if those ties are not renewed, it’s highly likely they will be invaded and devoured. Smaller mystery plots run throughout, though the main focus is Kiem and Jainan learning to trust and love each other. Kiem is an extrovert and, on the surface, a flake; Jainan is an introvert and fiercely devoted to his duty, which to him includes hiding the less savory aspects of his previous marriage. I felt the characterization was the best part, but I also enjoyed the worldbuilding, particularly details like the habit Kiem’s people have of using earth animal names for much more dangerous alien creatures. Content warning: past domestic abuse.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would, but I still enjoyed it. This book is entirely hinged on the miscommunication trope and it nearly drove me insane.

I really liked Kiem and Jainan’s characters. They had really interesting flaws that proved very useful at times. The tension between them was palpable and I loved how naturally their relationship progressed. The post-climax surprised me but it was great and wrapped up their character developments and the plot very neatly.

I guessed Jainan’s secret from the beginning. The hints are very subtle for the first third of the book but obvious if you know the signs. I liked that they were subtle, that Jainan’s trauma wasn’t just slapped onto the page.

The red herrings about the identity of the murderer were good; I didn’t figure it out until it were revealed. There were a lot of twists that I wasn’t expecting. The sweet moments were even sweeter because of how reserved Jainan was. Even reading from Jainan’s POV, you can tell that Kiem really cared for and about him.

really enjoyed this and ripped through it. It helped that I’m on vacation in Italy!

At first I was pretty annoyed by just how idiotic the two MCs were being as pertains to their relationship. But it all gets explained and quite satisfactorily. I’m not sure people with this problem turn 180 degrees out of it quite so quickly, but it was nevertheless nice to see someone recover from it. It gives others permission to be happy.

The book was a fun political intrigue story set in a future colonized planetary system. The characters were interesting, nuanced and there was no element that didn’t get tied in and made significant later. There are plenty of question marks surrounding the “world” at large and I would welcome a bit of delving into that even if we don’t get to keep following our 2 heroes around.

Prince Kiem and Count Jainan are diplomatic aids forced into an arranged marriage after Jainan's husband Taam (also Kiem's cousin) is killed in a spaceship accident. But when Taam's death is revealed to have been a murder, not an accident, the two must now work together to solve the mystery before political intrigue causes an interplanetary war. All throughout, of course, they slowly fall for each other and duty becomes real love.

This is very much an opposites-attract type of romance with Kiem as the easygoing, charming, and extroverted flirt while Jainan is the quiet, socially awkward, and stone-faced academic who's more into duty and numbers. It is a delightful slow burn that is at times hindered by miscommunication and insecurity, but not extreme enough to be annoying. There's a good reason for it and I'd like to include a content warning for mentions of past domestic violence/abusive relationships. All in all, handled very well, in my opinion.

The worldbuilding flew over my head at the beginning but it is only really secondary to the characters and their relationships with each other. This is a space opera and not hard sci-fi, but it's got gorgeously described scenery (that very iconic tent in the snowy mountains scene is carved into my heart) and a special emphasis on culture and politics over technology and space battles. Fans of A Memory Called Empire may enjoy this too.

This is an atmospheric and cozy read that's meant to be savored slowly, rather than binge read all in one sitting. A very refreshing novel that I was excited to pick up after a long day, because it really did help me recharge. I'm looking forward to getting a physical copy when it's released because I appreciate it so much.

4.5 stars

“One match can light up an empire.”

After Prince Taam is killed in a flybug accident, his partner and Thean representative is left not only without a husband, but a partner in the Empire’s treaty. The Emperor appoints Prince Kiem to marry Jainan, and tomorrow. Soon, the Empire begins to show cracks in their flawless exterior. They suspect Jainan of murdering Taam, and purposefully voiding the treaty.

Winter’s Orbit was a slow burn. There’s a lot of military and government talk in the beginning that made it a bit difficult to get through, but in the end it really is worth it. And all of that “boring” talk does end up coming through in the end.

There’s an awkwardness between Kiem and Jainan that you want so badly to go away and just *kiss* already. Their relationship, although forced and quick, is much more than Kiem (who’s seen his fair share of all genders) and Jainan (married for Empire purposes) have ever had before. The relationship is not the main point of the story, but it is a big side story.

I’m surprised to see that this is Maxwell’s debut story. It wasn’t written in a way that showed novice at all. Everything was carefully plotted and there was significant amount of foreshadowing without giving away the entire plot. There are some things I knew right away, but others may take some time to pick up.

I usually don’t enjoy royalty based fantasies or science fiction, but the way this one panned out was satisfying. Without giving much away, a very satisfying ending.

Thank you to Net Galley, Tor Books, and Everina Maxwell for this advanced review copy.

Actual rating 3.5/5 stars.

That this was a political fantasy with a soft, gay romance was all I knew, and all I needed to know, before beginning the story so it is also all the synopsis I am going to provide in my review, as well.

What begun as a highly-detailed, bureaucratic story, with an intense murder mystery focus, soon became a novel that was perhaps a little too slow-burn and concerned with minute details for me to ever feel truly gripped by it. I had a great love for both central characters and a desire to learn just what occurred to deliver them to their current predicaments, but I lost some of the intrigue as their stories progressed.

This was certainly not a novel devoid of charm though. I enjoyed my time here and would be eager for a sequel concerning the same characters. There were some pivotal reveals that were kept from the reader until this book's close, when I felt they would have been better deployed earlier in the novel, but it did not detract from my love for those who featured in it.

A solid space opera with lots of satisfactory plot twists. I enjoyed the world building. It did start out slow for me and I had trouble getting invested. I'm glad I stuck with it though. Did expect more of a romance vibe to it but I still liked it.

Is there a romance plot more audacious than the fake-dating scenario? Netflix's Bridgerton recently plumbed the depths of a false courtship in scandal-obsessed Regency-era London to great acclaim. But at its heart, the trope concerns two near-strangers forced into the intimacies of a relationship, and the surprising partnership that inevitably springs from an initially unemotional arrangement.

In her debut novel Winter's Orbit, Everina Maxwell rockets this surefire premise into space, uniting Prince Kiem (lesser royal of the Iskat Empire) in a political marriage with Count Jainan (from vassal planet Thea) following the unexpected and tragic death of Jainan's husband, Prince Taam. As if himbo Kiem didn't already feel like a poor match for austere widower Jainan, he fears encroaching on Jainan's grief so soon. Alas, neither has much of a say, burdened with the imperial order to make it work.

Typical fake-relationship stakes range from relatively low (fooling immediate family) to higher but still singular (Daphne Bridgerton's virginal reputation). But it's not just Kiem's pride, or Jainan's diplomatic immunity, riding on them convincing everyone they're in love: Their marriage reaffirms the treaty between Iskat and Thea, with the unfortunate timing of the human-yet-alien Auditors also overseeing how stable Iskat's dominion is in relation to the larger Resolution with other Galactic powers. The fate of an entire interstellar empire hinges on their ability to convince the dispassionate Auditors, plus Kiem's bloodthirsty detractors in the press, that this isn't a colossal mismatch.

Yet despite these looming consequences, the most pressing question in Winter's Orbit is, when will Kiem and Jainan realize that they're both hopelessly pining after one another?

Having first existed as The Course of Honour, an original work uploaded to the fanfiction site Archive of Our Own (AO3), the revised Winter's Orbit remains true to its fannish origins, skewing more toward one genre than the other. As a romance, Winter's Orbit delivers on its promises like a well-inked marriage contract: There will be misinterpreted touches and only one bed; they will get stranded on an icy mountain. As a space opera, its specifics are blurred, acting more as backdrop than real plot driver.

These young nobles have that compelling dynamic best summed up as "the grumpy one" (Jainan) and "the sunshine one" (Kiem): The prince is personable and engaging where his outsider husband is stiff and awkward. This is fertile ground for the tropiest of misunderstandings, compounded by our heroes' own self-loathing baggage. Kiem's assumption that Jainan's hesitation to touch him must be rooted in repulsion is catnip to this romance reader, while Jainan's bafflement every time Kiem reveals hidden layers and actual care makes one want to coo, "Who hurt you?" (In this case, it's not just a saying; consider this a content warning for domestic abuse.)

The space opera worldbuilding is broad but shallow. Of particular interest is Iskat's gender spectrum, indicated by flint (female), wood (male) and glass (nonbinary), which allows people to perform their gender through hairpieces, bangles, or pins. It also challenges Kiem with moments of dissonance, when he misreads a Thean person's gender based on his own biases. On the Thean side is a clan system with intricate relationships and loyalties — many of which Jainan had to give up when he married Taam. Yet despite how Jainan suffers from not honoring his own customs, Maxwell doesn't delve into what exactly those traditions are, nor into Jainan's tense position straddling two cultures. And the Auditors' deliberate distancing from other humans is fascinating, yet never truly explored.

While the novel's background is densely populated by supporting characters, they mostly feel underdeveloped. Kiem's symbiotic, antagonistic relationship with the press has less to do with his history of high-society faux pas than it does in reporters' apparently single-minded greed to get the best scoop. An Iskat professor and her Thean student reveal personal ties to Jainan, yet their impact on him is mostly as messengers for political intrigue. An exception is Bel, Kiem's dreamily competent aide, whose mysterious past could launch its own sequel and provide much-needed expansion to Maxwell's universe.

The marriage between love story and space opera is strongest in the smaller, human moments: The cringingly strained contract signing that Kiem and Jainan both botch. The absurd layers of bureaucracy through which they must wade to negotiate something as small but vital as Jainan accessing his private messages — revealing that Jainan's first marriage to Taam may not have been so storybook-idyllic. The utilization of a heavily-foreshadowed technology for a poignant sequence of reverse-gaslighting.

The intergalactic conspiracy to which Winter's Orbit builds is less gripping than Kiem and Jainan's rise to power couple. But when these sensitive boys figure out what actually makes their match work, that's when sparks fly.

When Prince Kiem, the court disaster and Count Jainan who is recently widowed, are forced into a political marriage, neither expect to be drawn into a plot that could change the course of their planetary empire.

The plot is excellent and twisty with understated court intrigue. The romance is slow burn and just really really sweet. I wanted to give both characters hugs because they needed them.

I would love another book set in this universe. There were so many possibilities.

This was a wonderful debut book and I will definitely read more from this author as they continue to publish. This was Red White and Royal Blue meets Star Wars, and it checks off all my buzzwords! Kiem and Jayan (I don't have the book with me right now, so I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong) have my entire heart and soul. Forced marriage or engagement is one of my favorite tropes in romance, and putting that trope into sci-fi made it that much better! My only "critique" if you want to call it that, is that the middle dragged a bit in the pacing, but for a debut novel, I can forgive that. Definitely recommend if you love political romances and science fiction!

Excellent remarkable and super unique. Honestly gays in space need I say more? I loved this book so much and have been recommending it to everyone I talk to! Cannot wait to see what else this author puts out

The Course of Honour has been on my TBR pile for so long that it has been turned from fanfic into the published novel Winter’s Orbit. But despite the long wait and all the hype, it turned out to be not the story for me.

Count Jainan’s home planet of Thea is barely able to keep the Iskat Empire from taking over. So, when the Imperial Prince Jainan’s married to dies suddenly, he allows himself to be rushed into another arranged marriage with the prince’s cousin, Kiem, in order to preserve the alliance. Although Kiem doesn’t exactly take his duties as an Imperial Prince seriously and has a reputation as a bit of a playboy, he proves surprisingly helpful as Jainan starts to investigate the possible murder of his former husband.

This story had a lot of elements I enjoy. I’m a sucker for reserved/sunshine pairings. I also love a good slow-burn romance. And I am all here for political intrigue. But although it was an entertaining enough read, it ultimately left me feeling rather ambivalent.

It’s hard for me to put my finger on exactly why. It may be that it was trying to do too much, because I found that neither the romance nor the science fiction elements were all that robust. There’s a lot of miscommunication between Jainan and Kiem. While there are some good reasons for that, it means that the physical aspects of their relationship jumped from no to go very quickly. (Readers concerned that some of the smuttier aspects of fanfic have made its way into the book should know that the sex scenes fade to black). Any intimacy between the characters is very limited, sandwiched between disasters. Which keeps up the pacing, but isn’t entirely satisfying as a romance.

As for the science fiction elements, aspects of the worldbuilding also felt shaky. There are passing references to God, despite it being unclear if this was in any way tied to our world, emphasising the flimsiness of the religious systems mentioned. But on a more grounded level, a large reptile makes an appearance in a snowy environment without any clue as to how a cold-blooded creature survives such a landscape (magic, I guess?). It’s supposed to serve as a joke (after all, bears are supposed to have four legs and fur), but just jolted me out of the narrative.

(Incidentally, for a while I was wondering if Iskat is meant to be Australia. Case in point: all the wildlife is constantly trying to kill the characters. But the presence of snow conclusively says not.)

That said, there were aspects of the worldbuilding I enjoyed. I’m always here for societies where gay relationships are normalised. The presence of nonbinary characters in this world was also normalised, although this could have used some work. The most prominent of the nonbinary characters (as well as one of the other minor nonbinary characters) was something of an antagonist in the narrative. It would have been good to have this balanced out with a few more nonbinary characters in more supportive roles.

Another thing I enjoyed was that there were lots of women in positions of power (including the Emperor and the Crown Prince). Often in stories that focus on gay relationships, the presence of women seems to disappear entirely. That definitely wasn’t the case in Winter’s Orbit. One of the stars of the show was Kiem’s assistant Bel, who proves herself a total badass on a number of axes (including administration, be still my beating heart). Word is that there’s set to be a companion novel and I have my fingers crossed that it will feature Bel.

This story should come with a content warning for intimate partner abuse. I am not the best person to judge, but it seemed to me to be handled reasonably well. There were times when I thought the good-with-people character should have picked up on it faster. But on the other hand, I think it’s realistic that people attribute the signs to other stories they already have about the victim. And the narrative also makes it clear that it was to certain others’ advantage for them to ignore those signs.

All in all, Winter’s Orbit was an entertaining enough read, but ultimately unmemorable.