Review: THE MERCENARY by Petra Landon

She's a prisoner of the Imperial Forces. He's a nomad with a mercenary army. Can a desperate girl's risky gamble and a fierce warrior's love turn the tide of war and rewrite the destiny of their corner of the galaxy?

In a distant corner of the galaxy, Quadrant Five burns in the flames of a deadly war. The Budheya people are one of the worst affected.

Saakshi
Imprisoned by the Ketaari Imperial Forces, a young Budheya rebel is sent to a distant space station to work in an alehouse. For a girl who has known only hardship in her short life, things could be worse. Until an old foe walks into the alehouse.

Zoran
Zoran is Hadari'Kor - notoriously fierce mercenaries who only fight for hire. Drawn to a weary-eyed server girl, Zoran is forced to confront age-old traditions and question his role in the war.

The Rebel & The Mercenary
Alone, friendless and far from home, Saakshi makes a desperate gamble to trust an enigmatic stranger whose hot gaze haunts her dreams. The echoes of this unlikely alliance reverberate across the quadrant. As a relentless enemy hunts Saakshi, Zoran must fight with everything in his arsenal to protect her. When passion ignites amidst the embers of a smoldering war, will a warrior's quest for justice bring a mighty Empire to its knees ...

Author's Note: A spirited and resilient girl, a fierce warrior with a mighty heart, a fiery passion that flares amidst the debris of a deadly war and a love that will alter the fate of an entire quadrant forms the tale of The Mercenary, a standalone story that sets the scene for The War Chronicles - a collection of SciFi Romance & Space Opera tales with romance, swashbuckling adventure & a sprinkling of action.

Purchase Link: http://amzn.to/2EhNsgD

MY REVIEW

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Saakshi is a prisoner living out the remainder of her sentence on a space station as a serving girl. Her people, the Budheya, have been oppressed by the Ketaari Imperial Forces for more than a century and she got in some trouble as part of the rebellion. An unfortunate encounter with one of her past tormentors leads her to ask for help from an unlikely ally - a Hadari’Kor mercenary by the name of Zoran. Amidst their blossoming relationship and feelings for one another, Zoran not only protects her from further pain, he becomes the driving force behind a monumental move forward for the freedom of her people.

This was an incredible story of space galaxy proportions. It read like a Star Wars episode with the author’s own personal unique spin on things. Despite its verboseness, it was easy to follow and drew me right into the drama, action, and the ongoing predicament that Saakshi faced. I was swept away by Zoran’s willingness to become involved in a fight that genuinely wasn’t his, all for the love he had for this woman. Their relationship and the alliance between rebel forces shared equal air time and made for an amazing introduction for this series. The war has barely begun and I’m sure there will be even more fantastic developments in the next book, The Warrior, featuring the side characters introduced in this one - Sila and the Ur’quay Star Captain.

Release Date: August 25, 2017

Genre: Sci-Fi Romance

POV: Multiple - 3rd person

Heat: 3 out of 5

Type: Standalone - Book #1 of The War Chronicles series