Two loners fighting to stay alive discover they must now save the galaxy.The only vaccine for a deadly galaxy-wide pandemic is missing … and the only ones who may be able to find it are a powerful talent on the verge of a meltdown, and a security specialist hiding her extraordinary skills in a menial job.“Overload Flux is a brilliant, suspenseful tale that will keep readers captivated from … readers captivated from beginning to end.” ~ S.E. Smith, New York Times & USA TODAY Bestselling Author of The Alliance series.
* * 2015 SFR Galaxy Award winner * * 2015 National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award Finalist * *
Brilliant investigator Luka Foxe must act fast if he’s going to save the civilized planets of the Central Galactic Concordance. For as a pandemic sweeps across the galaxy, someone is stealing the vaccine. To make matters worse, Luka’s hidden mental talents are out of control, leaving him barely able to function in the midst of violence and a rising body count. The convoluted trail leads to a corrupt pharma industry and the possibility of an illegal, planet-sized laboratory. In the face of increasing threats, he must rely on an enigmatic, lethal woman who has secrets of her own.
Mairwen Morganthur hides extraordinary skills under the guise of a dull night-shift guard. The last thing she wants is to provide personal security for a nova-hot investigator, or to be plunged into a murky case involving sabotage, treachery, and the military covert operations division that would love to discover she’s still alive. Worse, she knows that two more deaths won’t bother their enemies one bit. Their only hope for survival is to share their darkest secrets. With everything in their universe at stake, can they learn to trust one another?
Don’t miss this thrill-ride through a futuristic galaxy—get your copy of Overload Flux today!
Includes a free excerpt from Minder Rising, the next book in the series.
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The Central Galactic Concordance series:
• Overload Flux (Book 1)
• Minder Rising (Book 2)
• Zero Flux (Novella 2.5
• Pico’s Crush (Book 3)
• Jumper’s Hope (Book 4)
more
This is the start a series of science fiction romances from Carol, but it’s a complete story in and of itself, so you don’t need to worry about cliffhangers. I enjoyed the characters and adventure. 🙂
This novel is really the best of both worlds. A solid sci-fi plot, with adventures, suspense, space travels and techno gadgets that completely engage the reader into the story. But also wonderful characters (main ones as well as secondary ones), believable interactions, solid background stories and, most of all, a heart-warming slow-burn romance.
Add to that a dash of humour and a mix of different languages that left me very eager to read the next book!
After being utterly riveted to the prequel, I was revved to dive into Overload Flux for more of the CGC world of suspense and intrigue in the future among the stars along with the sensational narration work of Nicole Poole.
Overload Flux introduced its main characters over a grisly murder scene. Neither are exactly what they seem with their psychic abilities that must be hidden particularly Mairwen Morganthur’s. She can’t be discovered, but the longer she acts as the clever and tenacious Luka Foxe’s security, she is in danger of him figuring out her secrets long before he figures out who is behind the killing of his friends and what they knew that got them killed.
Luka’s minder talent is a wild thing that he can barely control, but he has to if he is to function and figure out the truth. With Mairwen at his back and helping him control his psychic talent, even the dangers of a deadly conspiracy, won’t get him off the trail.
Slowly, the pair make discoveries about the case and about each other even as someone races to stop them from discovering the truth.
This couldn’t have been any more up my alley than it was. Psychic gifts, a futuristic setting, murder mysteries, actions and a slow burn romance. I was so into the story that I barely shut it off to go about my needed business.
Luka and Mairwen were amazing characters. He is vulnerable because his minder gift is messed up, but he is dedicated and intelligent. He’s focused, but also kind. He is struck by Mairwen from the beginning when others overlook her. Once he knows the truth, he is not intimidated and completely respects her along with desperately hoping he can find a way to keep her with him. On the other side, Mairwen is keeping a dreadful secret. She is an augmented human with lethal abilities that are off the charts. She was taken and forced to become a secret government trained killer (or hunter as they are called). She got herself out of that by faking her death and taking on a new personal. She’s hidden in the background terrified to draw attention to herself. Luka is like a colorful and bright star in her life and she can’t resist him even though she fears he’ll find out about her. Protecting him as he does his work tracking down the truth becomes more than a duty to her. He’s showing her how to live and she never wants to lose him.
There were some wonderful action scenes and I loved those tight spots moments. There were some good twists. The futuristic setting and world were well drawn. All the elements of the book really worked for me and I love how it ended and the way the rest of the series seems to be laid out for the future stories.
As I said, Nicole Poole did the narration work and I loved her fabulous talent bringing not just the main characters to life, but giving the secondary characters their own sparkle so that I felt no disengagement from the story. Pacing, tone, emotions, accents, genders- all were amazing.
All in all, this was a sci-fi romance winner that I can whole-heartedly push at anyone who loves the genre particularly if you like a mystery and intrigue tossed in for good measure
Oh that epilogue! All those hints, clues and teasers! That was a great move to have me needing to read the rest of the series as soon as I possibly can Ms Van Natta.
Overload Flux is a well paced, action packed mystery tied up in a space opera bow. The story had so much depth, complex interwoven strands that together formed a wonderful whole. The world building was excellent, exposition guaranteeing that the prose flowed evenly, whilst understanding of the complex world and it’s inhabitants was always maintained. I adored Luka and Mairwen these were two immensely likeable protagonists, each with their own secrets, who somehow managed to be perfect for one another. The way Luka managed to draw Mairwen out of her shell, to show her how to live, how to laugh and how to love, was simply wonderful.
This was also a story of how it can be the little things that truly make for a great love story. From the noticing of expressions, to food choices and grounding one another, it was never difficult to believe in the depth of feeling between Mairwen and Luka. There are adventures to partake in, puzzles to solve, danger to avoid and friends to be found in this delightful book that will definitely be one I will read again.
I always love discovering new-to-me authors and being able to speed through a series, although I wish this one was longer. This science fiction romance by Carol Van Natta matches two unique misfits in stories that are page turners.
I don’t generally prefer a bunch of “romancey” stuff in the books that I read, but I thought that Van Natta did a great job of adding romance and sexual tension, to a well written, solid story. I actually don’t think this story would have worked without the addition. Most important to me, was that I actually cared about the two main characters and I like their supporting cast as well. I have read a lot of fiction that has cardboard characters, and it is tough to read a book where you really don’t care what happens to them. Luckily, Mairwen and Luka are solid characters that happen to carry a lot of “baggage”. To be perfectly honest, I became more interested in their personal growth, than I did in the overlying plot of catching the bad guys, and solving a crime. I look forward to reading the next story in this collection, even though it has a new ensemble of protagonists. I am also looking forward to when M&L show up in the series again. If you are looking for a series full of hard science fiction, dozens of characters and all sorts of technobabble, then these books aren’t for you. But if you want a fun, easy to read and understand story, that will allow you to grab ahold of the characters and hang on, then definitely start this series and see where it takes you.
Love the quirky characters. It was a fun exciting story with a little romance thrown in.
OVERLOAD FLUX was a fabulous first book in a huge sci-fi space opera romance series. Seriously, there are a lot of books in this universe! Lots to look forward to, for sure. I loved so much about this book, it was hard to narrow down my favorite parts. I especially loved the nods to many different Earth cultures. It seems that there are some planets where there are dominant Earth cultures like colonies from Iceland or China. So, for the reader, there’s plenty here in this universe to draw anyone in. It was funny how Luka, the hero, was always swearing in Icelandic.
I enjoyed Luka’s strength and gravitas without being an alpha a-hole. He was strong but vulnerable. Mairwen’s journey to humanity was captivating. She had a lot to learn about being a full human being, and it was heartwarming to see her progress with Luka’s help. Plus, there was a fabulous slow burn romance to top it off! I’ll definitely be reading more from this series. Thanks to Carol Van Natta for a fantastic read!
This book was a fun ride! I really liked the development of the main character, Mairwen, and the unusual qualities and experiences that made her a fascinating person to watch. The storyline kept me on my toes, with a nice balance of intense, action-packed moments and softer, more emotion-driven interactions. And Mairwen kicks butt! If you like strong female characters in your sci-fi, this is the book for you.
This was a great, absorbing sci-fi romantic thriller. The futuristic setting doesn’t overwhelm you if you’re unfamiliar with sci-fi. It’s got enough body that if you are a worldbuilding junkie, you’ll find a lot to chew on in the Central Galactic Concordance. I never felt bored with either the progression of the romance between the two main characters (it’s a realistic slow-burn) or the mystery.
Overload Flux was such a great read with the perfect mix of romance, complex characters, a solid story and an awesome sci-fi world that came alive. I first heard of Carol Van Natta when I read Pets Trade in the Pets in Space 2 anthology. Ever since I’ve been meaning to check out more of her books and I finally decided to buy the box set containing the first 3 books in this series. Before I finished Overload Flux I had bought the rest of the series available at the moment as that’s how good this book was.
When Overload Flux starts we get introduced to night shift guard Mairwen, quickly it’s obvious there is more to her than meets the eye. What seemed like just another normal job for her turns into much more than she anticipated. While at first it was a bit hard to get into the story and world, it’s the type of world building I like where there is no info dumps, but you just kinda have to figure out what is going on from what is said and happens. The author handled that very well in this book and I loved discovering more about this world.
Overload Flux is told from dual point of views or both Mairwen and Luka, with a few chapters from other point of views. Mairwen and Luka are such an awesome couple and great characters. Mairwen is very capable, but where she excels in a lot of skills, social skills are a bit more challenging for her. Luka is very smart and intuitive and has a physic-like skill that allows him to analyze people and analyze crime scenes. But he now struggles to control his talent after the latest case where he pushed it hard. I loved how both these characters had their struggles, flaws and strengths and they felt very realistically and I loved reading about them. I also liked how they both change throughout the course of the book and get a handle on some of the things they struggle with.
The story was intriguing and well written. I liked the almost suspense like plot thread about what was going on with this pharmaceutical company and why Luka’s colleagues got killed. It almost read like a romantic suspense book set in a sci-fi world at times. One of the few small niggles I can mention about this book is that I would’ve liked to know what happened to the pharmacy company after the things came to light and would’ve liked few things tied back to that a bit more. As at times I had a bit of trouble remembering everything that was going on and how it tied together.
One of the few things that’s so rare to find is a book that manages to strike the perfect balance for me between the sci-fi and romance elements. But this book totally did. I loved how the romance never overshadowed the plot line or the world building, but at the same time the romance was a very essential part of the book as well and get enough attention as well. It was wonderful to find a book that balanced all the different aspects so well.
Speaking of romance, I loved Luka and Mairwen together. How there was already a connection/ interest when they first met, but their romance builds slowly throughout the book. They start working closer together and grow closer and I loved seeing them open up to each other and how they are there and help each other. They were such a great couple and I am glad there is another novella about them as well and I hope we get to see them sometimes in the future books as I just want more of them.
I loved how the author handled the world building. It’s one of those book were you piece things together piece by piece, but it’s very well done. And most things you can easily gauge from the conversation or context what’s going on or what certain words mean. Most of this book takes place on two planets and a few space ships, but we get a feel of how there is a whole galaxy around this and how things work in this world. And at the same time I just want to know even more about this world. I am excited to see how this series continues.
Another thing that I noticed about this book was how some of the plot progressed in a slightly unusual fashion, which is great. Most books have a certain build-up with a big event at the end and then a quick wrap up. I liked how this book pacing felt slightly different and how there is a slightly longer wrap up part at the end. I also liked how the epilogue hinted at things to come in the rest of the series. And in a sense this book only feels like the start of a much larger plot line.
To summarize: I really enjoyed Overload Flux. This book had the perfect balance between story, sci-fi elements and romance. The story read a bit like a romantic suspense in space at times, with a mystery like set-up with how they’re trying to uncover more about what’s going on after two colleagues of Luka are found dead. The only niggle I had was that it could be a bit hard to remember all the details about what was going on at times. I really liked both main characters with how they had their flaws, strengths and struggles, they felt like realistic characters. I loved seeing them change throughout the book and grow closer. The romance was so well done, I loved these two together and how well they worked and fit together. I liked how the romance plot line nicely wove throughout the story and I loved seeing them grow closer and closer as the book progressed. All in all this was a fantastic start to this series and I am excited to read book 2.
ReAd like a instruction Manual for men.
I found it a good read with excellent plot and character development. Some of the scenes were very steamy, but it was well written.
It was all right it needed more details to round out the characters
This book is one of my keepers. Carol Van Natta creates a wonderful universe that I can not wait to read more about. Her characters are well thought out and I will be happy to meet them again.
This book had science fiction locations, a love story, and adventure.