I liked this much better than Eclipse the Moon (but not nearly as much as Hunt The Stars). I liked the plot, most of the writing and most of the characters, but the romance falls flat.

This book (like Eclipse the Moon) relies on vague references of the characters' past interactions to build up the romance, making the foundation of the relationship seem shallow. Some of the dialog and interactions seem contrived and forced, without true substance. ( )

Recovery specialist, Lexi Bowen, would do anything for the Starlight Shadow crew. So when she hears they're in trouble she is willing to use all resources at her disposal to rescue them - even if that means teaming up with Nilo Shoren - the Valoff who maybe broke her heart.

Like the first two books, this was fast paced and action packed. The mystery surrounding who is trying to start a war between the Valoffs and Federated Human Planets was riveting and kept me hooked until the very last page. My biggest complaint would be that we didn't get to see more of Tavi and the crew as Lexi and Nilo operate solo for a lot of the book.

Lexi was great. I can't say I liked her quite as much as I did Kee but I loved her morally dubious attitude. And her chemistry with Nilo was explosive. There was a lot more flirting and banter and sex in this one and while it was good, there was also a lot less emotional development. Although Lexi's past is explored, Nilo's was more or less left blank and it was hard to like him as much because of it. I never really felt like I got to know who he was and what made him tick. That said I did really like them together and I was rooting for them to sort themselves out and commit.

As for the mystery most of the plot threads are wrapped up and Frank Morten and Sura Fev are brought to justice. I would've liked to see more of the fallout and consequences but it was sufficiently addressed.

It looks like this is the end of the series which is disappointing. I'd love to read more about this world and the characters in it. Prince Liang especially was intriguing and I would love to learn more about the Empress and her political manoeuvrings. Still, a decent conclusion to what was a great trilogy. 4.5 stars, rounded to 4 stars. ( )

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥.5
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞.5
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨

First Impressions
Capture the Sun is the third and the finale in the "Starlights Shadow" trilogy and if you have been paying attention to the series, then you know the plot is coming to a climax in this installment and that there are some unresolved issues to be worked through with our couple of this installment. This was also a couple I wasn't looking forward to, I knew that there would be plenty of angst, and some of this author's heroines, don't always work out for me. However, I was hopeful for this one here. And while I really enjoyed my time with this one, it was a bit lackluster for me personally.

First Line
I'd sworn I would never set foot on Valovia again, but I was about to prove myself a liar.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Nilo
A Valvolain Teleporter, has psychic abilities, and has to be careful around touching but has secrets of his own and reservations when it comes to Lexi.

The Heroine: Lexi
A recovery specialist, strong and sassy, and has to get creative in order to be a survivor. She tends to lean towards thievery and is out to defeat the FHP.

Summary
Lexi Bowen hasn't felt much shame in the profession that she has chosen for herself. Even those she called family, she knows don't approve of what she does, she does what she needs to in order to survive and get ahead of the FHP. She was left for dead once and refuses to risk that ever happening again. Her morals tend to fluctuate at times, but loyalty to those she loves always is a priority but her first loyalty is to herself. When she bumps into Nilo again, she is afraid to open her heart to him as she did once before and he hurt her in ways she won't even admit to herself. But as they join forces and start a fling of sorts, the heart is bound to get involved...

What I Loved
There were many elements to this story that became redeemable for me in this one. One is the world building in how Jessie Mihalik is able to craft her stories. She is a powerhouse of a storyteller especially in the world building and plot aspects of a story. Its what I really look forward to every time I pick up one of her books and in this one it really delivered on all fronts where those elements are concerned. You definitely know what you will get with a Mihalik novel and its so fun to see such an author becoming so well known and well loved. The bantering between these two are beyond entertaining. Its an interesting dynamic in how the author implements humor, because it comes out of nowhere at times when the reader least expects it. I absolutely fell so hard for the hero, Milo. He is one sexy man that is packed with secrets and mystery and I just wanted to dig deep into his character and even though this is more from the perspective from Lexi, I appreciated what we received from the hero in this one and the type of man he becomes with Lexi. The plot of this finale will definitely take your breath away, especially once we get to the third act of the story, is where it really builds into such a thrilling crescendo and loved how all the little details get tied together.

What I Struggled With
I really struggled with the heroine in this one. I do think I need to be in a certain mindset to truly enjoy this type of heroine and I just don't think I was in for Lexi. She is a character that I haven't truly enjoyed in the trilogy and I was curious if Mihalik would be able to redeem her character for me. While there was some positive aspects to her growth that we see in this one, she was so emotionally constipated to the point that it really starts to rub you the wrong way. I honestly wanted to shake some sense into this gal, she was challenging to relate with at times.

Overall View
Despite some of my reservations, Capture The Sun is a story that will leave you in suspense in the most delightful way. Its a story of adventure, sassy characters, and a journey worth taking a chance on...

Favorite Quote(s)
Nilo had somehow wormed his way into my heart, and I wasn't above trying to steal his in return.

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Character Types: Thief, Sassy and Snarky
Themes: Psychic Abilities, Angst, Ship Star Faring Adventures, Space Opera, World Building a Focus
Tropes: Fling, Enemies to Friends to Lovers

Book Perspective
1st POV

Recommendation For Reading Order
I do recommend reading this series in order due to the nature of the world building and the details in which we see building within each book. And there are circumstances and moments that happen between this couple that occur in previous books that will make more sense if you read those prior to this one.

Steam/Spice Explanations
Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes. There is a steady amount of sex scenes, not super explicit but not soft either. Its steady and strong throughout the story. ( )

This was great! I really liked Lexi and Nilo and thought that the chemistry between them was incredibly well done. I loved getting a closer look at Nilo’s abilities and I thought that it was obvious very early on just how much he cared about Lexi. The story had its fair share of action and excitement and I was worried about the characters more than once. I believe that this book did a wonderful job of wrapping up a very enjoyable trilogy.

Lexi basically works as a thief when she is not on a mission with the crew of the Starlight. She finds herself in trouble on a job and Nilo is there to whisk her away to the safety of his home. When she learns that her friends aboard the Starlight might be in trouble she is determined to do what she can to help. Nilo also wants to help his friends but is equally focused on keeping Lexi safe. I thought that they made a fantastic pair and loved watching Lexi learn to trust Nilo.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. I thought that it was a very entertaining read. It is the third book in the Starlight’s Shadow series which ideally should be read in order. This book features a different couple than the two previous books so it could work as a stand-alone if necessary. I enjoyed getting a chance to catch up with this fun group of characters and was thrilled by Lexi and Nilo’s happily ever after. I cannot wait to read more of this author’s work.

I received a review copy of this book from Harper Voyager. ( )

3.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

The man in front of me tilted his head, and I caught a glimpse of a familiar one-sided smile. My breath caught. It couldn't be.

The third and conclusion to the Starlight's Shadow series, Capture the Sun gives us the ship's wild card recovery specialist Lexi and the Valoff that once betrayed her, Nilo. This would be much better read as a series instead of standalone, book 1 (Hunt the Stars) lays the foundation for the space opera world. Heavy on the politics of the world, you'd be pretty lost, especially in the second half, as all the plot threads laid through out the first two come to a conclusion here. The first half focused more on the relationship between Lexi and Nilo, they get to spend a good amount of time alone without the distraction of all the other crew members and Valoffs. Book one alluded to Lexi and Nilo having previously met and we get the full background story here where Lexi feels Nilo only flirted with her to take a job from her and while accurate, there was truth behind Nilo's attraction. I missed seeing these two in book 2 (Eclipse the Moon) and I think that would have helped me have more of feeling an emotional connection between these two. While they spent good alone time together, I'm not sure I felt all those emotions that has me loving a couple.

“Starlight's Shadow disappeared.”

While some of the emotional foundation and depth was missing for me between Lexi and Nilo, I did think this third installment married the blend and pace of romance and space opera together the best of the series. It gave us a first half of romance, where I could spend time with Lexi and Nilo and then a second half of space adventure and bringing in all those characters the worldbuilding had previously got me to care about; this author is really great at managing a bigger character list. If you've read the first two, you'll know about how the Starlight's Shadow crew had fought in the previous big war between the Federated Human Plants and the Valoffs, leading to some initial distrust between our humans and Valoffs but oops, they're falling in love with them and uncovering what looks like some chaos agents trying to destabilize the fragile peace between the FHP and Valovian Empire. At the end of book two, there's strong hints as to the whos and whys but they need the proof. So our crew sets out to rescue a Commodore Morten from the Empress of Valovia and bring him back to an Admiral they know they can trust. This will hopefully lead to a trial with Morten and out who's trying to start the war. Lexi and Nilo are a little outside this but they come in when the Empress makes a play for Lexi to use her for leverage and Nilo rescues her. As they get reacquainted for some romance in the first half, it becomes apparent that something has happened to the Starlight's Shadow and her crew.

Nilo had somehow wormed his way into my heart, and I wasn't above trying to steal his in return.

The second half was full of planning, rescuing, and battles, bringing in all those humans and Valoffs we have grown to care about throughout the series and their antagonists, Morten, Sura Fev the Sun Guardian (Special Forces, elite soldier for the Valoffs) herself, and other Valoff fodder soldiers. The battle and danger scenes, for the most part, kept up the pace (I feel like one or two could have been cut or shortened) and tense tone to leave me fearing for the characters and wondering how it was going to wrap-up.

“What do you want, Lexi?” he murmured.
You, just you.

Like I said, I did think this one blended the romance and space opera elements the best out of the series but I just couldn't feel the depth of emotion between Lexi and Nilo. Told all in Lexi's point-of-view, I enjoyed her character, but with the romance, Nilo came off feeling flat to me; I just didn't feel the vibrancy from him the way the other aspects of the story hit. They were just kind of attracted to each other without the emotions and Nilo seemed all in from the beginning, what they had to work through was Lexi's PTSD from the war (not trusting/fearful of Valoff's and their powers) and her not feeling good enough, always ruining relationships. I will say it did have some hit nice steamy open door scenes, especially towards the end. If you're looking for a space opera with some romance and manageable at only three books to the series, this was a fun one. Each character was memorable some way to me and the space world captured my interest and was plain fun to get involved with, can't wait for the next world and adventure the author has planned. ( )