Completely missed the part where this was book 3. The premise is amazing but I didn't have time to finish the first books to properly review.

This book is everything I’ve come to expect from Constance Fay: it’s silly, it doesn’t take itself seriously at all, and it is just incredibly fun to read.

For those who aren’t familiar, this is the 3rd book of Fay’s *Uncharted Hearts* series of sci-fi space adventure romantic comedies. The books star the crew of the scout ship Calamity (which is also the title of the first book) as they go on adventures among the stars and find love. The first book was about the ship’s captain, Temper; the second was about Micah the ship’s medic; this time, it’s the Calamity’s engineer Caro’s turn.

Caro is mostly flying solo in this book. She gets a call from Ven, the former captain of the Calamity and Temper’s shitty ex, asking for her help rescuing someone from jail. Against her better judgement, she lets herself get talked into it, and the fact that the person she’s trying to rescue is extremely hot has absolutely nothing to do with it. So she finds herself on a prison planet run by the Pierce Family, one of the capital-F Families that controls everything and antagonists from earlier books (and from Caro’s past, personally, which we learn more about as the book goes on). There she meets the prisoner she’s trying to rescue; a research subject known only by his codename Leviathan. He’s gorgeous, and super buff, and huge; he’s also a mindless killing machine, a prototype Pierce supersoldier. Until Caro touches him; physical contact with her brings him out from under Pierce mind control, and allows him to become his own, kind self again, though with no memories of who he is. He does remember how to kiss, though.

Like I said: this book is extremely silly. It’s the story of an escape from the universe’s most absurd jail - it’s a prison exclusively for high-ranking members of Families that get into trouble, so it’s more like a spa where no one is allowed to leave than anything else. The relationship between Caro and Leviathan is utterly lacking in surprises, but it’s still fun to read about. There *are* surprises in Caro’s personal journey and the way the adventure plays out.

Overall, I think it’s weaker than the first two books, because it’s largely missing the rest of the found family of the crew of the Calamity. They’re not 100% absent, but their appearances are brief. I’m always a sucker for a good found family in my fiction, and I felt their lack. Though I will acknowledge that it was entirely appropriate for Caro, as a character, to try to do everything on her own here, and when they do show up Temper (lovingly) chews her out for it.

At the end of the day, this is a book that seeks to entertain and delight, and it accomplishes this with gusto.

I'm a big fan of this series, even though I shy away from romance mostly. It was fun to read more about Caro here and I love the way Fay's fleshing out characters more and more!

It was a good sci-fi romances. I really liked Caro. She was amazing and brilliant. She's fierce and opinionated. She knows what she wants and gets to it. Leviathan was an amazing, mysterious and deadly MMC. Loved their relationship and banter. They were made for each other.

I had a hard time with the world building. But I saw too late that it was the third book in the same universe. It's advertised as standalone in the same series but I think it's better to read them in order to fully understand what's going on.

I'll try reading the first one to see.

I really enjoyed "Chaos," especially seeing Caro's story unfold. Her mission to help her crew and confront her past by infiltrating a prison and controlling a super soldier with a touch? Pure fun. The ensuing hijinks and escape, mixed with a budding romance, made for a quick, engaging read. I'm also loving how each book expands the Uncharted Hearts universe and crew dynamics. The sci-fi romance was well done, balancing the steamy scenes with a compelling plot.

Chaos is the third book in the Uncharted Heart series, and we finally get to follow Caro! After Caro gets a message pertaining to the safety of her old crew she jumps at the chance to help them out especially since it's in a lab to do with her past. Things immediately go awry and she ends up imprisoned and being chased down by a super soldier, who she can reprogramme by touching. Hijinks ensue and escape plans take action all while a love story is unfolding. I really enjoyed this book and these characters and I look forward to reading more in this series!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor/Bramble for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: March 11, 2025

4.25 stars
Another fun installment in the Uncharted Hearts series. Each can be read as a stand-alone as they focus on a different character but there is a common thread running through. This is a sci-fi romance (or science friction as the author put it) which is a lot of fun. A lot of great banter in this one which I love.

Another fun installment of the Uncharted Hearts series where we get to know Caro, the engineer of the Calamity's crew. Caro intentionally get herself put in prison to help Victor and Victory and ends up with other priorities to help correct mistakes from her past that she encounters while in Shikigami.
These books are quick reads and I like how we learn more about the crew and the universe in which these books take place. I can't wait to see who the next book will feature.

The crew of the explorer ship Calamity is back. This time their engineer Caro Ogunyemi decides to help recover a stolen chip from inside a prison where the Pierce family is experimenting on prisoners to create a super soldier. She expects to use her hacker skills, but unfortunately her merest touch causes electronics to die because of a strange bug bite on their last exploration. The result is Chaos(paper from Bramble). She can get in the prison because she is wanted by the Pierce family and their only successful super soldier is being used to kill prisoners in gladiator maze fights. By holding his head in the right place, she can turn off the implant that keeps him under control. Constance Fay tells a great series and I’m looking forward to more adventures by other members of the crew.

Chaos by Constance Fay is fabulous.

Caro is an engineer on a starship with her best friends and has been on some interesting adventures lately. That comes to a head for Caro when she meets a super soldier in need of saving. And she is there to save him.

I love sci-fi romance and Constance Fay does it so well. The romance gets spicey but never overshadows the story of a man who needs help regaining his agency from a vile tech oligarch in (what feels like a not too distant) a space-faring future.

I hope we get more books in this universe!

If you like Jessie Mihalik, Kit Roacha, or Everina Maxwell, you will love The Uncharted Hearts series by Constance Fay.

This one falls under 'really liked, but didn't totally love.'

I think the premise was really cool, and I loved Caro's voice. She's funny, relatable, and I like that she isn't a perfect heroine making all the right decisions. The overall plot was good, if a bit roundabout at times. I think, sadly, the letdown for me was the romance. It was just kind of... warm instead of blazing hot. Still a great story, but I definitely wouldn't pick it up just for the romance.

I’ve been really enjoying this science fiction romance series! Not only is it a breath of fresh air to see a blending of romance and science fiction instead of always fantasy, but Constance Fay is one of those rare authors who seems to have an effortless handle on the important factors found in both genres and effortlessly blends them into enjoyable, stand-alone novels! That said, while I enjoyed this one as well, it has been my least favorite in the series overall.

But let’s start with the purely positive points! As I said, the science fiction elements in this series have always been great, and this one was no exception. We had A.I., we had a luxury space prison, we had cyborgs, we had new aliens! And, on top of it all, the main plot of this one wove in and out of the greater political machinations going on between the powerful families who run the galaxy and who increasingly seem to be on target for a massive conflict at some point.

Another unique science fiction element is an ability that Caro develops after being exposed to an alien bug whose bite/sting leaves her with the ability (disability?) to essentially shut down any sort of technology with only her touch. Not only is this an incredibly interesting concept and we see many variations on how it can be utilized throughout the book, but I enjoyed the way that this specifically impacted Caro, a character whose entire sense of self-worth is caught up in her technical prowess. It wasn’t explored as thoroughly as I would have liked, but I did enjoy the brief moments of reflection we got from this.

But this also speaks to one of my first stumbling blocks: Caro’s inner journey. The first two books in this series were successful, in my opinion, not only because the romances were excellent, but because the main character’s had incredible backstories and personal arcs that were explored throughout their story. Now, there is an attempt here to give Caro something similar. However, it just doesn’t hold up against the incredible stakes and backstories that came before. Caro’s entire inner journey revolves around an incident that was A.) entirely accidental and B.) one that she immediately tried to remedy. That being the case, there really isn’t a whole lot more to do with this backstory or much of a character arc to explore. This is so much the case that another character pretty much lays it out for her exactly as I have here! In the previous books, both main characters had some dark stuff in their pasts, things that were heavily reflected in the way they saw themselves and the choices they made. This lead to incredible journeys for them to explore. Unfortunately, Caro just didn’t really have that.

I also struggled with the romance in this one. It’s not bad, by any means, and what we did get, especially in the latter half of the book, I really enjoyed. However, the nature of the situation lead to what felt a lot like an instalove situation. Levi barely speaks for the first half of the book almost! And while I liked the idea behind this romance, as well as Levi himself, especially when he became more involved in the story, the actual love story itself felt very truncated.

This wasn’t helped by the inclusion of a second POV character, something we’ve never seen before. And, unfortunately, I think this inclusion worked against this story in a few ways. For one thing, by devoting even a handful of chapters to another character, the book lost much-needed page time that could have been spent on better pacing for the primary romance. For another thing, this is one of those weird situations where I enjoyed this secondary character so much (and the hints of a future romance!) that I almost began to want to spend more time with her than Caro! Definitely not something you want, though I am very excited for what I hope is the next book’s main couple!

The pacing was also a bit strange here. There was a ton of action, which I really enjoyed. But there was also a “Mad Max: Fury Road” situation towards the end where our group of characters spend a significant amount of time breaking out of the prison only to travel for a few days before, for plot reasons, needing to turn right around and break back IN to the prison!

Overall, there was still a lot of great action and romance in this book. It just didn’t quite live up to the highs of the previous two books. That said, I’m incredibly excited for the next book, if the other POV character we had here is going to be the lead! Fans of this series should still definitely check this one out, as it’s still a fun time all around, these quibbles aside.

Rating 7: While Caro’s backstory was a bit weaker than previous characters’ in the series, this was still a fun, romantic science fiction romp!

Link will go live on April 19 on The Library Ladies

Okay so I love a good science fiction romance with hilarious moments and banter and this did not disappoint!

A super fun sci romp filled with humor, adventure, tension and mayhem as Cora, the brilliant engineer of the spaceship The Calamity goes on a solo mission to rescue two mercenary twins the crew has befriended who have gone silent on a prison planet run by the nefarious elite Pierce family.

Victor and Victory were sent to retrieve a highly valued tech chip, which they’ve been unable to do as it’s been embedded in the brain of an experimental test subject. The Pierces are trying to build completely controllable human soldiers, with chip-control as well as hugely augmented physics. Their experimentation has gone awry, and things have spiraled out of control.

Cora leaps into action, relying on her tech expertise, only to realize upon arriving on the planet that in a prior mission she had been bitten by a bug that has left her killing any tech she touches. Comic touches also abound as she searches the prison to find the twins, as the denizens of the prison are mostly badly behaved elite family members, and the prison mostly contains them in a constant spa treatments environment.

Add into the mix a passionate romance that unexpectedly sweeps Cora off her feet (literally), the first instance of true consciousness and independent thinking by an AI, and predatory animals that haunt the planet’s woods, and the action never slows down.

A great addition to this delightful series by Fay. Next adventure please!!

Thanks to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Fun, fast-paced, action-packed, and a steamy romance with some space drama, Chaos is everything I love about a sci-fi cozy romance and I can't wait to see where this series is going to go next!!!

This world is so well written and I love that in each installment we learn more about what's going on in this world and its politics. Levi and Caro's chemistry was off the charts from the moment they locked eyes and the steam from them was coming off the page. I loved getting to see how the main characters from the previous books were doing, and I loved meeting the twins! I'm keeping my fingers crossed we will be getting their books in the near future!

This is a fun, sci-fi jail-break romance that asks you to suspend logic, but not in the way you might think.

This is the third in the Uncharted Hearts series, and I've read the first two. So this can be read as a standalone or in order.

We're following a strong FMC who is a space mercenary and is hired to rescue a man from a high-security prison on a desolate planet. I like the creativity of the prison set-up which includes a mazerunner-like challenge to the death and plays with gravity during a chase scene.

The pacing in the first half was solid, but started to stutter near the end. The 'spicy' scenes were a bit cringe and I think Constance would benefit from reading more spice, including never having your FMC use the word 'penis' in foreplay.

My logic needed to be suspended for nothing to do with space travel - it was actually HR. lol. Like hiring practices and administration. Our FMC needs to get into the prison's top secret lab where they're doing human testing. So she gets herself arrested, with the plan that the billionaire who owns the prison will show up, and hire her and put her in his top secret lab.

If you're not upset about Palpatine from Star Wars having a desk, then maybe this won't both you either. But it bothers me.

Unfortunately I think this is where my relationship with the series will end.

Yeah I cried over a robot -- sorry, android -- and I'd do it again. This is probably my favourite or second favourite in the series so far, although I have high hopes for a Victory and Donovan book at some point. I always like sci-fi romance books that focus on the mechanic/engineer so I was already primed to like Chaos. And chaos it was, my big Thing about this book is I wish we had less time in the prison. It is a fun location but I was excited when the crew finally left and then we immediately went back. I just feel like there are more exciting things to see in the vastness of space. I also love Levi and would have liked to see more of his interpersonal workings, it felt like most of his Angst and Turmoil were off the page.
All that being said I very much enjoyed it and I'm excited for whatever comes next.

The nitty-gritty: Humor, action and romance combine in this latest entry in Constance Fay's absurdly fun sci-fi series.

This is the third book in Constance Fay’s Uncharted Hearts series, and Chaos is another adrenaline-fueled story with lovable characters and plenty of humor. I did have a few issues with pacing and logistics this time, although Fay’s brand of humor is on point. Although you could read this as a standalone, I suggest reading the series in order, otherwise you’ll miss lots of character and plot development.

After the events in the last book, the crew of the Calamity is taking a well deserved break. It’s during this time that ship’s engineer Caro Ogunyemi gets a call from her old friend Ven, asking her if she’d be interested in helping him with a retrieval job. Unfortunately, the job involves infiltrating a luxury prison called Shikigami and extracting two soldiers who were sent there to rescue a prisoner. Victor and Victory, the brother/sister team who were tasked with the rescue mission, have gone radio silent, and Ven is worried about them.

Caro isn’t too keen on going to Shikigami because it’s run by Carmichael Pierce, head of the diabolical Pierce family. She did some work for them years ago but things turned sour, and now the Pierces are trying to find her. What better way to break into the prison that turn herself over to them? But once inside, Caro discovers what the prison is really doing. An intriguing prisoner named Leviathan has been augmented with a control chip that turns him into a mindless super soldier, part of Pierce’s Project Titan initiative. Caro is drawn to him, but Levi just wants to kill her. Now it’s up to Caro to rescue him, figure out how to disable his chip, and get them both to safety—along with Victor and Victory—before Carmichael Pierce can stop them.

“Chaos” is the perfect title for this book, because it’s literally chaos from start to finish. Not only that, but Caro herself is a bit on the chaotic side and sort of a mess, which is one reason I loved her so much. Most of the story is told from Caro’s first person point of view, although we do get a few chapters from Victory’s perspective too. These confused me at first, but I came to really enjoy her chapters. Caro is brash, messy, outspoken and doesn’t always think before she speaks. She’s also a brilliant engineer and hacker and can fix any kind of tech. She thinks on her feet, and in this story she has to because trying to escape a prison isn’t all that easy, turns out.

Something happens to Caro in the first pages of the story that is important when she gets to Shikigami, and I thought it was a very cool idea. It adds some complications to the plot and also helps with the brewing romance between the two main characters. And speaking of, I thought the romance was pretty well done, although there’s nothing slow burn about their attraction! The romance is fairly tame in this series, so readers looking for extra spicy scenes might be disappointed—but don’t worry, there are plenty of other elements in the story to love. We do get a hint of which couple might be the focus in the next book, and I hope I’m right because the story between these two was a lot of fun.

Fay’s dialog is still as funny as ever, and the humor in this series is one of the best things about it. The danger and action are off the charts, and there’s rarely any downtime for anyone in the story. Her characters are lots of fun too. I loved getting to know Caro more, and Victor and Victory are great additions to the cast. One of my favorite new characters in this book is an android named GR81 (who Caro calls “great one” lol), and he and Caro bond since GR81 has become sentient and now wants to make friends. There are some harrowing scenes involving these two that brought quite a bit of emotion to the story.

There were a few things that didn’t quite work for me. For some reason, I found the scenes inside the prison to be confusing at times. Maybe I just couldn’t grasp the layout of the prison, but trying to imagine where the characters were at any point had me scratching my head. It seemed like the characters were going around in circles and not really making much progress, especially since Caro and Levi finally escape, only to decide they both need to go back inside the prison for different reasons.

But aside from this, I had so much fun with Chaos. One of the big mysteries in the story revolves around Levi and who he really is (since they put the chip in his head he’s forgotten a lot about his previous life), and I like the way the answers are slowly revealed. I haven’t seen an announcement yet about the next book, but I’m hoping it’s on the horizon! I can tell Constance Fay still has lots of stories to tell about the crew of the Calamity.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

This series is very fun, and I love a space adventure! As always, the characters are a huge highlight, and I enjoyed Caro's story, and the romance! I also really enjoyed the friendships, and getting a glimpse of the characters from past installments. There is a lot of action, and for me personally, I maybe would have oddly liked a wee bit more downtime? But that is a personal preference and one that most people probably don't agree with. Anyway, this was very fun and very readable. Love the banter and the humor, as always. Idk if there will be more in this world, but I will gladly read them if so!

Bottom Line: Another fun installment with space shenanigans and very enjoyable characters.

Thank you to the publishers for the opportunity to read the next book by the great Constance Fay!
I have loved each one of the worlds she created for her characters. Each and every one of her books while centering on a new couple still features a new and exciting world. If I where a new reader to this genre, I would start with her series!! Four solid stars!