I can’t believe I haven’t shared this review yet! I sat down and started reading Hunt the Stars in early January and absolutely flew through it, I enjoyed it so much. Keep reading if you’re interested in learning more about the first book in Jessie Mihalik’s new scifi romance series!

Ok, so I was disappointed when Mihalik announced that her next trilogy would be unconnected to her first one, because I really needed the rest of the Hasenberg siblings to get their HEAs. And the pitch as a gender-crossed Mandalorian meant nothing to me since I hadn’t seen the show yet at the time and knew very little about it. So while I was excited for this book, I wasn’t exactly dying for it the way I was with her previous two books.

So it makes me all the more happy to say that this book is amazing!! I loved every minute of it.

Tavi was a military hero in the human war with the Valoffs, an alien species similar to humans but with telepathic and telekinetic abilities. But now that the war is over, all she wants to do is protect her crew. Taking a bounty job from Torran, a general in the Valoff military, to recover a missing item is the last thing she wants to do, but she and her crew need the money, and so they agree to take Torran’s job. But the farther they go into enemy space and the more they learn about what they’re hunting, the higher the stakes become. And while she wants to trust Torran, she’s not sure if she can.

I had so much fun with the premise of this book, and it was just so delightful seeing Tavi and her crew slowly let their guard down and bond with Torran and his crew, expanding their little circle of found family.

I also really loved all of the twists and turns with the plot. I loved how everything was slowly revealed and just kept upping the stakes higher and higher. It was an intense book! It was so difficult to put it down to go to sleep because I needed to know what happened next, and I really liked how Mihalik used the plot of this story to lay out the plot of future books.

I also really loved the budding romance between Tavi and Torran and how they came to see past their prejudices and get to know each other. I especially appreciated how he made amends when he screwed up and how seriously he took Tavi’s trust.

Honestly, my only complaint is that I wish there’d been a bit more romance. Even just a few more scenes at the end where they talk about what they mean to each other and more firmly finalize their plans for the future would have been perfect. I could have used a bit more confidence in their HEA (there’s definitely one set up, but I wanted them to discuss their life together a bit more) and more intimate, soul-bearing scenes to go back and reread, because as soon as I finished this book, I just wanted to go back and reread all the pivotal scenes in Tavi and Torran’s relationship. And I think a few more scenes between the two of them with their guards down would have helped me get to know him a bit better, too. Obviously we know all the important parts, but I want to know everything!!

All in all, this was another great action-packed scifi adventure from Mihalik with an excellent romance to go along with it. And while I do think everyone in the two groups was paired off just a little too neatly, I still can’t wait for the others in the crew to get their own romances! I love a good sequel bait, and Mihalik definitely delivers on that front.

Lucky for you reading this now, I’m late to get this review up, so you can go ahead and grab a copy now!

I received an arc of Hunt the Stars from the publisher via Netgalley. I also preordered my own finished physical copy.