Deal with the Devil is Orphan Black meets the post-apocalyptic Avengers by USA Today and New York Times bestselling author duo Kit Rocha. Nina is an information broker with a mission–she and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to save the hopeless in a crumbling America. Knox is the bitter, battle-weary captain of the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to … the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to avoid slaughtering innocents, and now he’s fighting to survive.
They’re on a deadly collision course, and the passion that flares between them only makes it more dangerous. They could burn down the world, destroying each other in the process…
Or they could do the impossible: team up.
This is the first book in a near-future science fiction series with elements of romance.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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This book sure started out to be very interesting. I loved the action and the wide diverse of characters in the story. They are so unique that I can’t wait for their stories. My only issue is that it was too long, that by the last few chapters I wanted it to end already. I still enjoyed it and will continue with the series. Oh and that ending seriously!!!! Like somewhat of a cliffhanger and oh man what will become of him! Yes spoiler free but I still had to mention it. I need to move some more apocalyptic books up my tbr. Its a nice genre changer.
I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I’ve never read this author before, and I fully went into this book not sure I was really going to like it because I am not a big of post-apocalyptic stories. Boy was I wrong! The first item I want to talk about is the description of the book. The ladies are not a group of librarians. Yes, they make books, but that is just the tip of the iceberg…and also gets into something that happens and is a spoiler. Next, they are all living life, not really fighting for their lives at the beginning. All that beng said, this was an excellent, well-written urban fantasy that was very hard to put down. I loved the characters and the plot. There were little memos interspersed around the chapters that at first were a little annoying, but it didn’t take long to see how important they were. This was a well-crafted book, and I am really looking forward to the next one! Highly recommend! I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.
Did I read a post apocalyptic sci fi romance in the middle of a real life pandemic? Yes I did and I REGRET NOTHING. When I first raffled for this book on Bookish First I was excited and hoped to win it and not long after, Covid hit hard here in the States and life went sideways for everyone. So after I received the book I wasn’t sure if it would help my anxiety or make it worse. I had so much fun reading this that I had no problem separating real life from the book. It was exactly what I needed.
I’m a sucker for a bad ass female MC and Nina is exactly that. She’s a mercenary librarian. It’s like my dream job that I never knew I wanted. Knox is a super serious soldier that went AWOL and now he and his team need Nina’s and her crews help. There are some twists in the story so I won’t say much more because it’s hard without giving anything away. But I will say there are clones, action and romance.
I’m definitely ready for book 2 and this was an ARC so now I have to wait even longer (cue sad violins). Kit Rocha is a writing team that I hadn’t heard of before but now they are definitely on my radar and I need to see what else they have to keep me busy until the next book in this series.
Mercenary Librarians ? Well this really called out to me ! If like me you’ve read the Beyond or the Riders series by this talented duo then this the first of a new series will definitely go on your shopping list. Yes its dystopian which seems to be their forte and whilst perhaps not as erotic as some of their previous work it nevertheless was a very interesting start to the series.
Nina is a perfect foil to Knox because she’s full of heart and such an optimist who truly wants to help others. Knox is a super soldier who has recently rebelled against his superiors although he is in an insidious position as he has to trick Nina but as he gets to know her that’s getting much harder to do !
Yes this slightly futuristic storyline is definitely a winning format with great world building, fabulous well developed characters and I’m already desperate to read more.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair
This was honestly amazing. I never thought I would see a day when the words mercenary and librarians would be in the same sentence, but it worked so well! I loved the fact that it was futuristic but it wasn’t too far into the future, both of our main characters were actually amazing, and the plot was gripping.
Win:
– the characters were very well put together. Knox was an interesting addition
-the risk that payed off. Again I wouldn’t expect mercenary librarians to work, but I loved it
Opportunities
-I want to see more of this world. It’s America, but it’s a completely different America than what we’re living in
-2 authors didn’t mesh completely. There were parts where I could tell that it was completely different writing from the page/ chapter / paragraph before. It didn’t take away much but it was noticeable
So all in all, I enjoyed this. It started off with a bang and didn’t let up afterwards. The plot wasn’t super interesting, but it was still very fun to read. I can’t wait for the next book!
I enjoyed this near-future sci-fi first in the Mercenary Librarians series.
Set in the second half of 21st-century Atlanta, Nina is the leader of a trio of information brokers out to help the hopeless in her area of Atlanta survive. Knox is the captain of a group of super soldiers who went AWOL from their big tech makers to avoid senseless bloody missions.
There’s cloning, government corruption, cool tech, lots of action and of course, romance. Good world-building and character development and a few surprises along the way. A few fairly explicit sexy scenes and some language and allusions to torture (nothing too graphic).
And yes, I would be open to reading further adventures.
Thanks to #BookishFirst, #Macmillan and #TorBooks for providing me the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.
I was so thrilled to read a new Kit Rocha book (love this writing team) but, honestly, I had a difficult time getting into this book. Usually I can devour one of their books within a day or two. This one I’d read a chapter and then I’d put it down for a few days and then I’d come back later because I received this as an ARC and promised to review. Perhaps, it was because the first eight chapters are heavy in world building with so many details and so many characters with constant action (like in every single chapter and almost every few pages). I had a tough time keeping characters apart and remembering who had what talents (or lack of). The new dysfunctional world was fascinating and the ideas for this dystopia are awesome. Also loved the idea of librarians, even though technically these ladies weren’t really “librarians.” However, it became tough to weed out what was going on, what the author was holding back and in general following. Seemed like the story kept throwing in a new curve ball but it often didn’t feel natural, but came off almost forced as in it was felt the story needed something and to toss in something else action-packed to happen.
Then, the characters. Sigh. First, I had a tough time caring about anyone other than our heroine, Nina, who the story spent the most time developing. The men…I get that they’re hot alpha soldiers but I didn’t connect with any of them and they all blended together (which made keeping them apart a nightmare). The h/H interactions lacked the usual heat I expected with Kit Rocha. I mean, it came in small bits but later…a lot later.
I give this 4 stars because the world is complex and developed with wonderful talent.
Absolutely amazing!!!!
I have been a fan of Kit Rocha for years and was lucky enough to have been given a chance to read and review the first book in their new series early! It was so good!!! Well written with fantastic character-building. This book compares well with the Beyond series, which I was a bit worried about, except that the sexy times are not quite as intense (at least so far). There were even a few somewhat obscure references to things from that series. There is plenty of intrigue, lots of action, girl gangs, soldiers, and of course, some romance.
The epilogue was just WOW!!! All parts of it!!! I am so excited to see where this series goes. I would absolutely give this more than 5 stars if I could. And I most definitely recommend it to anyone who it a fan of this trope!!!
I received an ARC through Netgalley.