a very fast read, and when I'm saying that, we're not fooling around.

Nice mix of postapocalyptic nasties, hot physical attraction, action, surprises and a decent finish. ( )

The story just never engaged me, although it was interesting enough. Up to a point. But the last 30% or so of the book got a bit repetitious for me. I found myself skimming a lot of pages. ( )

2.5 there was a lot of promise, but I was left feeling like too much Mary Sue in Raina. Overall the story idea was really solid just lacked character development. ( )

This is an older SFF Romance which appeared in the short-lived Dorchester Shomi line. It got very good reviews when it came out, and I needed a book for a challenge category so I borrowed it from my library. This is the revised version that Silver/Kenin put out after she got her rights back from Dorchester.

It's very Mad-Max in the setup and it features a kick-ass heroine, which now are all over the place but were rarer a decade ago. Raina Bowen is a long-haul truck driver in the Northern Wastes, which seem to be a sub-Arctic region spanning Canada and maybe other countries. The continent is controlled by an authoritarian government and the main intercontinental highway is owned by a Supervillain who hates Raina and wants to see her dead (but not before he tortures her a lot).

Raina is trying to win a huge bounty for being the first to deliver a load of grain to a specific destination. That goal goes by the wayside fairly quickly, when the man who is going to give her a license to drive freely on the highway is attacked by Supervillain's minions and Raina comes to his rescue. Wizard turns out to have a complicated backstory which involves rebels, genetically enhanced rebel leaders, and a bunch of other stuff.

The road romance part of the novel is pretty good, although it's disconcerting to have mental lusting when their lives are constantly in danger. The worldbuilding isn't that deep but it's more than adequate. I liked the supporting characters.

So what didn't I like? I guess it was that it felt pretty shallow. Raina was kickass and avoided connecting with people, until she didn't. Wizard was an automaton until he wasn't. The Supervillain was totally over the top. It was all kind of cartoonish, but in an easy-to-digest way. ( )