2024 short romantic SF novel, side story in Galactic Bonds. Zane
Zimmer tries to juggle his position as chief hatchet-man to a
psychotic emperor with the demands of his highly-placed family…
Sure enough, this is Zane's side story, and since he was a major
villain in the first two books there's a fair bit of redemption to be
done. This book doesn't do all of it, but it certainly sets him on the
path, as he juggles his feelings about the sister his family concealed
from him, the marriage they're trying to force him to make (with, it's
clear if you've read a romance before, his actual destined partner,
though there's no sign of either of them realising yet), his playboy
image, and the more public parts of his life.
We also get another look at Vesper's female friends who showed up in
book 2, this time from the perspective of someone who isn't accepted
into their coterie (after all Zane's still trying to hunt down Vesper,
at least in theory).
The dedication "To characters like Zane Zimmer—who turn out to be so
much more than just villains" causes me to think that Zane's actuality
took Estep somewhat by surprise; he's still consistent with the
arrogant killer of the first book, but we do at least get some idea of
why he's like that.
Oh, and there's action too, with the bad guys attacking a high-society
party as well as stealing advanced tech. There's plenty of opportunity
for people to turn up not where they should be, and to suffer to save
each other. But of course they're not at all in love…
Slight but enjoyable.
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