Fast-paced Blue Galaxy had me glued to the pages, and I finished this novella in record time. That is the good news. The bad news is that inconsistent characterization of the heroine was one of the reasons I was so fascinated with the story. I kept wondering who the heroine would metamorphose into next as she changed from sweet ingénue to wanton nymph to scheming political strategist and more.

For Captain Javan Rhodes life is good. After years of scrapping for a living, his ship finally came in. He will earn a ludicrous amount of money to convey an unknown passenger to an unknown location. Upon meeting his aristocratic passenger, Sola, he immediately falls in love until good sense kicks in, reminding him of the mess he made of his life the last time that happened. All he wants to do is transport his aristocratic space bride to her destination.

Sola might seem like an ingénue, but there is a reason she is on Captain Rhodes’ space freighter and it is not what he thinks. After studying his files and learning to fly his ship, she decides she needs tutoring in the ways of men to fill in the missing gaps from her training. As Javan and Sola travel across space secrets are revealed, lies uncovered, and both Sola and Javan’s lives change (for the better?).

After reading this I had to go back and look at the marketing of this title. As a space opera, this book works so much better than a romance. In fact the romance didn’t work at all for me. Think of Mrs. Smith (Angelina Jolie) from the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith paired with Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) from Apollo Thirteen. Sola runs circles around Javan for most of the book and he is oblivious to her true personality and her true mission as is the reader. He is not so much her hero as her foil.

The book is very much in the moment, with very little time spent in the characters’ heads. And I wish I felt like it had more of a plot than the heroine revealing who she really is and the reason for her actions. So what worked for me? The story is fast-paced, and it is unpredictable.

If you like space operas, you might find more to enjoy in this than I did. Otherwise it not a book I would recommend.