If you loved Hunt the Stars as much as I did, let me tell you that Eclipse the Moon is a worthy sequel. I was very happy to be back with the Starlight’s crew for more adventures and Jessie Mihalik did not disappoint. But then again, when does she?

I had already fallen in love with Kee and Varro while reading the first book and therefore I hardly believed I could love them more. And yet, here I am, crazy about them. I would pledge a life bond to these two. I’m serious, they had such a great chemistry. It’s the best friends to lovers I have read in a while. With a lot of longing that turned my heart into marshmallow. Now, call me your ‘bright star’ and I’m all yours.

Not only did I adore the romance but Varro and Kee were amazing characters. I loved that Kee was such a sweet yet strong character, I loved how smart and sensitive she was. As for Varro… I’m not one who has the ability to resist the strong and quiet kind and he was all that. But I also loved seeing his protective streak, and with each layer of his personality uncovered, I loved him even more.

Just as I had in Hunt the Stars, I loved the secondary characters as well as the found family they form. In Eclipse the Moon, Jessie Mihalik also introduces us to new characters that I hope we’ll get to see again because I liked them a whole lot!

Yet again, Jessie Mihalik wrote a story that entertained me from the start to the ending. It was so easy to get lost in the universe that she created and the story that she wove. I had so much pleasure and fun with the plot of Eclipse the Moon, I went through so many emotions and feelings, it made me feel like a kaleidoscope (in the best way).
Also, something that I absolutely love in the Starlight’s Shadow world is always learning more about the Valoff culture and just how respectful the characters that are not Valoff are of it. It warms my heart every time.

Overall, I loved this book so much. For some reason that I can’t explain, it gave me some The Lunar Chronicles vibes if TLC was adult and without the retelling aspect of it. But also, if you love reading space opera/science fiction stories with solid romance, you do not want to miss out on Jessie Mihalik’s books and Eclipse the Moon!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go figure out how I’m going to be able to wait 2023 for the third book (which I suspect will be Lexi and Nilo’s story and I couldn’t be more excited for it!)

*I voluntarily received this e-ARC from NetGalley and Harper Voyager in exchange for a honest review.

Kee and Varrow's story encased in this space opera. Kee is the hacker extraordinaire, Varrow the ultimate weapons expert with incredible mental abilities. While the story was good, it was incredibly slow and slogging with the unrequited lust Kee has for Varrow. I like you, I don't like you, I want to like you ad nauseum. When you finally get to the space station, the book is fast paced and thrilling. Excellent tension, heart thumping escape action, and a nice surprise thrown in to twist us up. Grade A from that point on. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC from Netgalley.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for allowing me to read and review this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After the cliffhanger we were left on in Hunt the Stars, Eclipse the Moon starts us right where we left off. The Starlight team is trying to find Morten, the one who betrayed Tavi and her ex-military team years ago and is now causing more issues and possibly an upcoming war between the humans and the Valoffs. Instead of reading along Tavi's POV we are following Kee Ildez: bounty hunter, hacker and rainbow haired solider. Kee decides to take matters into her own hands and leaves the Starlight crew to stay on station Bastion to gather her thoughts and feelings for Varro, a Valoff with extraordinary telekinesis powers and find out where Morten is, while she's away. When Kee gets into trouble, she finds out Varro has been following her and then joins her in the race against the clock to find Morten and find out what is his bigger plan.

I greatly enjoyed Hunt the Stars and thought the romance between Tavi and Torran was very entertaining and made for a fun read. I was very excited to delve into Eclipse the Moon and my expectations were pretty high. Personally, I think ETM has met my expectations but has not surpassed them. I did like Kee's POV and thought her to be more relatable than Tavi, though I think I liked Tavi's POV more.

I was a little disappointed we did not get more interactions with the other Starlight Valoff crew members and Anja was almost non-existent. With Tavi being Captain and her story already told, I was fine with not seeing as much of her since we were more focused on the character development of Kee and Varro. I thought with Kee being closer to the other secondary characters we would get more moments spent developing Chira, Havill, and Anja but instead we were introduced to a few new characters who received more development. I did become a bit disappointed with not getting more Kee and Eli moments too as Kee describes Eli as being a brother to her. We saw them together in the beginning and at the end, but again, all focus was on Kee and Varro's relationship and finding Morten and the telekinetic at the end of book one.

I hope we will see the crew members get more screen time in the next book, which honestly I hope there is a next book with that cliffhanger! The ending for Kee and Varro was wrapped nicely but the plot was left super open, so I'm crossing my fingers for another book. I have no idea who the next book will focus on next. At the end of Hunt the Stars, there is a page letting us know who was next but of course with this being an eARC, it was left blank this time.

I enjoyed the book and it did meet my expectations after reading Hunt the Stars but I did find myself slightly skimming some of the informational parts towards the end. Side note: this book is definitely a bit spicier than book one. (For me, I'm totally fine with this!) I think with having Varro and Kee know each other for a period of time instead of just meeting like Tavi and Torran, there was a decent amount of "tension" between the two characters. The romance plot did not take over the overall plot of the book which is always a nice change compared to other books with heavy romance and not enough story.

Eclipse the Moon is a great sequel to Hunt the Stars, featuring the trope of a sunshine/grump-protector instead of enemies to lovers, and I look forward to reading future books from Jessie Mihalik.

4.5 stars

I am so happy the publisher and NetGalley allowed me to - again - read a book from this series before it drops!

If you enjoyed the previous book and its characters then you will certainly enjoy this one as well.

Kee and Varon are our new couple. One who is soft and kind and the other who is closeted and broody. Together, they give off good chemistry and work well in any sort of situation (if you get my meaning). Their relationship was a nice build and their sex scenes were well earned.

I enjoyed the things that were brought to the table - in terms of powers and overall issues between the governments of both factions. However, Kee and Varon were not as strong character-wise like Tavi and Tarron were to lead the book. I just found the entire 'kidnapping plot' boring. But, from it, we got a new crew-mate and one who might end up with one of the other crew members later on.

I also found a bit of an issue with the the villain - Morten. His presence and that of a certain telekinesis female were only shown in the last fourth of the book. Might have been better to have them show up a little sooner. Might have cut down on the lulling bits of plot.

Overall, it was still a solid book and the ending has me wondering what will happen in book two and if our next couple will be a spy who was MIA in this book.

Big thanks to Harper Voyager for the e-ARC of this book via NetGalley. This review is being given honestly and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Pick this up if you enjoy: forced proximity, mutual (oblivious) pining, I want you but can't have you, telepathy dreams 🥵, who hurt you with a side of pet name in a different language, telepathic bond

CWs: torture (on page & off), sexual content, military/war trauma, violence, bomb/explosion

Overall 4.75/5 rounded up to 5 for enjoyment

*It is necessary to read book 1 before this one due to the continuation of the plot started in book 1 & the characters who are introduced

Kee and Varrow are secondary characters that we're introduced to in We Hunt The Stars (Book 1), Kee being the tech on the human team and Varrow being a weapons specialist on the Valoff team. The two do NOT start off on the right foot as Varrow assumes Kee's bubbly and kind nature means she's dumb. This is quickly proven wrong and the rest of book 1 hints at some kind of tension between the two.

I'm not going to lie, I think Book 2 blew Book 1 out of the water; and I LOVED Book 1! Like, book 1, I really loved the mix of sci-fi, romance, and action that Mihalik gave us and found myself super anxious to finish the book due to the events that take place. I think what pushes Book 2 into the lead is how much the overarching plot develops in this book as well as the romance between Varrow and Kee, I found it more natural/believable compared to Tavi and Torran (reference my Bk 1 review). I did find myself getting ready to reach through the pages to beat up Varrow but he kind of made up for it (at the last fight scene). This book will SEND you through so many emotions, there were parts where I was laughing at one thing and then the next chaoter had me crying.

I think my biggest problem with the book was that I was hoping we could see Varrow and Kee connect a bit more on their shared trauma, it seemed like they were evenly matched in terms of deep, lingering pain from their time in the military and I feel like that would have been a nice thing to see between them. Though this may just be because Tavi and Torran had a similar thing between themselves. I also feel that I'm just super curious about the past war (in the book world, Valoffs and Humans were at war until about 3 years before book 1 starts) and would like to see more about it.

Overall, I really loved this book & feel that Mihalik is a great writer and I really couldn't reccomend this series more!

*I was on the edge of my seat for like the last half of the book because there was a lot happening and I was SO eager to find out how it would all end. I really need the next book but I'm going to have to wait until this one comes out at least 😭

Kee Ildez, bounty hunter is the team's hacker. Their last job ended badly, and the team is tracking down a familiar face, their military commander and apparent traitor who is trying to restart the interstellar war. Her former squad left the military as heroes... but that was a cover-up. Now Kee's determine to tease out who's bankrolling and masterminding the plot. Kee's scheduled to go planet side to gain access to the networks and Varro Runkow, a Valovian weapons expert has appointed himself her guard. Her flirting has gone nowhere with quiet, grumpy, and incredibly handsome, Varro. Kee is determined to lockdown her feelings and keep everything professional.

Why I started this book: I've been stalked Netgalley for this ARC ever since reading [book:Hunt the Stars|56754734]. I needed to read the next book...

Why I finished it: Wonderful story, and once again, I'm left waiting for the next book in the series. Mihalik balances the continuation and escalation of the story with the romance between Kee and Varro. With an intergalactic fashion show, war-mongering conspiracy and hacking adventures, this book races along. As a reader, I know that I am incredibly lucky to have Mihalik publish two high quality novels in one year... so please ignore my unreasonable whining for a third.

This was okay! I think I didn't really learn anything about the characters, which to me is always rough. You have a group of people, you've added on MORE people, and I can't tell any of them apart.

Review will go live the week of release date.

This author has quickly become one of my absolute favorites in the fantasy/sci-fi genre. When one of her new or upcoming releases hit my Kindle I drop everything and settle in for a rollicking good time. I’m never disappointed.

Eclipse the Moon is the second book in this series, which began with Hunt the Stars and the introduction of this world and the now expanded crew of Starlight’s Shadow. Having met these characters I immediately fell in love and started mentally pairing up characters for future installments. Kee and Varro jumped to the top of my couple radar with their early misunderstandings and obvious chemistry.

The overall series plot continues on with this found family crew on the lookout for Commodore Frank Morten, who they believe was involved in the kidnapping of Torren’s nephew and possibly a more sinister plan to restart the war between FHP and the Valovian Empire. Kee is the ship’s information guru and hacker, able to dive deep into secure systems and retrieve intelligence material. But her hunt for Morten’s whereabouts seems to be at a standstill. So she obtains permission from Tavi to stay behind on Bastion, a space station with an FHP base, on the next restocking run. If it gives her some space from Varro, all the better. Maybe she can get her infatuation under control and her head back in the friend zone.

But Varro has other plans, and his need to protect her leaves them separated from their team and on their own for what turns out to be a dangerous mission.

Yet another Jessie Mihalik book that rocked my world. I adored this grumpy/sunshine space adventure thoroughly. I have a thing for hackers and information gatherers in my romance and Kee and her big brain ticked all my pleasure boxes. Pairing her with a Valovian weapons expert who grunts and scowls and is determined to keep her safe no matter the cost was just icing on the science fiction cake for me. You know when the heroine thinks the hero doesn’t like her “like that” because he is standoffish, yet does all these little things for her that she mistakes for just simple kindness because he wants to be friends? This is Kee and Varro. So when they are stuck together in a room short on space there are lots of misunderstandings and finally an admission that Varro feels the same way. But can a man whose mental abilities are so vast that other Valovian’s are scared of him, let down his guard enough to take a chance on love?

The plot is very intricate with all kinds of threads that I don’t believe will be tied up until the very last book in the series. But there is movement toward a big showdown and what I think will be the discovery of a vast plan that encompasses more than one government. This is book two and I had to check the author’s website to see if there is any mention of just how many books there will be in this series because I see at least two more romances I want to see play out. One of them is the polyam quad that was teased about in book one and is mentioned just a little more in-depth here. I have my mind set on this happening so be prepared for tears if it doesn’t.

Eclipse the Moon is a fast-paced, thrilling space opera. I’m kind of mad at myself for reading it so fast because now I have a long wait for the next book in the series. If science fiction/fantasy is your genre of choice you won’t want to miss this one. This is the good stuff.

Final Grade- A

I love this book. I love love love it. Firstly, there’s Kee, our MC. She clearly has ADHD (though it’s never called that), and seeing the ways that she and her friends work together to accommodate her needs is amazing. She has strategies for helping her remember to do tasks, for breaking out of periods of hyperfocus, and for dealing with rejection sensitive dysphoria. And when her strategies don’t work, as sometimes happens, her friends help get her out of her head and remind her to do things like eat. My spouse has ADHD, and seeing such great representation was so cool!

Secondly, I’m a sucker for romances where both leads have been secretly pining after each other and thinking that the other person wasn’t interested. But then they realize they’re BOTH interested and their romance heats up fast! And then, of course, the author tortures them with multiple interruptions leading to more pining. Mihalik did an amazing job with the pining—I was pining right along with the MCs.

Thirdly, Varro & Kee are a classic grumpy/sunshine pairing; a trope that never fails.

All in all, this book is amazing and I would recommend it to both romance and sci-fi readers. And probably other types of readers too.