Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Shoot the Messenger by Pippa DeCosta Series: The Messenger Chronicles #1
on February 22, 2018
Genres: Science Fiction Fantasy
Pages: 300
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Amazon, Barnes & Noble
Kesh Lasota is a ghost in the machine. Invisible to tek, she’s hired by the criminal underworld to carry illegal messages through the Halow system. But when one of those messages kills its recipient, Kesh finds herself on the run with a bounty on her head and a quick-witted marshal on her tail.
Proving her innocence should be straightforward—until a warfae steals the evidence she needs. The fae haven’t been seen in Halow in over a thousand years. And this one—a brutally efficient killer able to wield tek—should not exist. But neither should Kesh.
As Kesh’s carefully crafted lie of a life crumbles around her, she knows remaining invisible is no longer an option. To hunt the fae, to stop him from destroying a thousand-year-long fragile peace, she must resurrect the horrors of her past.
Kesh Lasota was a ghost. Now she’s back, and there’s only one thing she knows for certain. Nobody shoots the messenger and gets away with it.
A new space fantasy reverse harem series where the guys are hot, the perils are many, and one rebel messenger holds the key to the survival of the human race.
Shoot the Messenger is the first book in a new series, The Messenger Chronicles by Pippa DaCosta. There are a few things I’ve learned about books by Miss DaCosta.
1 – She is not afraid of having her main characters do horrible things.
2 – She loves to wrap the emotions of her readers around her fingers and make them dance like puppets.
3 – Normal love lines aren’t necessary. She will bend and twist the road to romance anytime she pleases. Because who says there even needs to be a road to romance in the first place? Sometimes sex is just sex.
4 – You are going to think you know who the good guys and the bad guys are. Well, you are probably horrible wrong and she is going to smack you in the face with it at some point.
5 – In my 3 series experience with Pippa, I have learned she isn’t a tidy wrap it all up with Happily Ever Afters for everyone kind of author. Sometimes that is a little hard on my soft heart, but it is always engaging.
When I read the synopsis for Shoot the Messenger I had to look up what a reverse harem was.
Reverse Harem Definition. – A genre in manga and anime where a single (often ordinary) girl is liked and followed by a bunch of handsome men (3 or more) who are all madly in love with her. The girl often cannot pick which guy she should go out with and remains indecisive.
Well, while this isn’t my everyday cup of tea sometimes it is totally what I’m in the mood for especially if it is done by Pippa because I’m pretty sure it won’t be YA cheesy but more lustily scorching HAWT.
Kesh is the heroine at the center of this story. She used to be one of the Fae’s favorite play things. She learned well at the hands of her masters and she was one of the best. Now she has escaped and lived in hiding on an outpost delivering messages on the black market.
While Kesh isn’t exactly ordinary, she has a gift with technology and some pretty kick ass whip skills, she isn’t nearly as interesting as all the men who are in the picture. Let’s just say yum to them. While I definitely have a favorite in the growing Harem thus far the series is far from over and I could see someone else pulling into the lead.
Kesh ends up in a bit of trouble with a very large bounty on her head and ends up working with Marshal Kellee (hawt guy #1). He is beautiful, deadly, fast and not entirely human. I want one! But there is also Talen (hawt guy #2) a Fae in exile who is equally beautiful and dangerous but willing to help Kesh with her problems.
This, like most of Pippa’s works, is fast paced without much down time between crises, fighting and devastating revelations. There are some pretty big secrets held back until the last moment and man she suckered me again (see #4 above). It was a really good introduction to this world and a great set up for the next book in the series. I’m very excited to see the men of the Harem again and add a few more to it.
In case you are worried about the reverse harem thing, there wasn’t any actual sex yet. There are a few steamy moments but no full on sex. Not to say there won’t be in the series but if this is like any of the other series by Pippa DaCosta it won’t replace the story and while not fade to black in the past, it wasn’t pages and pages of explicitness either.
About Pippa DeCosta
Pippa DaCosta is a USATODAY bestselling & DragonCon award Finalist hybrid author. Before securing a traditional publisher, she published the Veil Series (a x5 book urban fantasy series) independently in 2014. Pippa is traditionally published with Bloomsbury and Random House Germany. Her work has been featured in the Galaxy Chronicles anthology, part of the Future Chronicles series. Pippa continues to independently and traditionally publish fantasy and science fiction.
She lives in Cornwall, UK.
Friend me at Goodreads.
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