Monday 13 August 2018

To See the Sun by Kelly Jensen - Release Day Review




293 pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Buy links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | B&N | Kobo | IBooks | Riptide

Blurb

Survival is hard enough in the outer colonies—what chance does love have?

Life can be harsh and lonely in the outer colonies, but miner-turned-farmer Abraham Bauer is living his dream, cultivating crops that will one day turn the unforgiving world of Alkirak into paradise. He wants more, though. A companion—someone quiet like him. Someone to share his days, his bed, and his heart.

Gael Sonnen has never seen the sky, let alone the sun. He’s spent his whole life locked in the undercity beneath Zhemosen, running from one desperate situation to another. For a chance to get out, he’ll do just about anything—even travel to the far end of the galaxy as a mail-order husband. But no plan of Gael’s has ever gone smoothly, and his new start on Alkirak is no exception. Things go wrong from the moment he steps off the shuttle.

Although Gael arrives with unexpected complications, Abraham is prepared to make their relationship work—until Gael’s past catches up with them, threatening Abraham’s livelihood, the freedom Gael gave everything for, and the love neither man ever hoped to find.

Review

For some reason I’ve never thought of a Science Fiction story in terms of it being a sweet romance. After reading To See the Sun that is going to change. This book is swoon-worthy romantic in the best possible way and I can honestly say I loved it from start to finish.

In Bram and Gael we have two main characters in desperate need of someone to love, someone who will love them, someone to take them away from the misery their live has been so far (Gael) and someone to complete the live they’ve started to build for themselves (Bram).

Gael’s circumstances broke my heart from the moment he was introduced. Locked into a world deep inside a planet and locked into working for crime lords, his life appears hopeless, desperate. His one wish—to see the sun— appears as humble as it impossible.

Bram’s life on Alkirak is bleak, because the whole planet is bleak and hostile, but nowhere near as desperate as Gael’s. Now that he is well on the way to creating a good life for himself, Bram wants more; he yearns for love and a family. Gael appears to be the answer to his prayers, and Bram arranges for Gael to travel across the universe to join him.

A mail-order partner inevitably comes with a host of issues, even without having a hostile living environment to content with. Bram and Gael know nothing about each other when they first meet. Both of them take a blind jump into the unknown in the hope that their risk will pay off and that they will find themselves face to face with someone who not only offers them what they are so desperately lacking in their lives but who will also turn out to be someone they can and will love.

Bram and Gael’s journey toward each other is slow and cautious. Gael arrived with an unexpected, be it charming, young stowaway in the form of Aavi. But more than that, Bram has no doubts that Gael is hiding things from him. But no matter how much he doubts both Gael and himself, Bram can’t deny that a bond is forming between them and slowly morphing from camaraderie to something deeper. At the same time Gael can’t make himself believe that he’s good enough for anybody, never mind a man as perfect as Bram. But even he can’t stop his heart from developing feelings his head doesn’t really believe in.

Just as things appear to be coming together for Bram and Gael, disaster strikes leaving both men fighting, not only for their lives but also for the fragile but undeniable bond that has formed between them and the family they’d created, almost despite themselves.

There’s so much to love in this book. The slow-burn love story is captivating. Bram, Gael and Aavi are fascinating and fully-fleshed and will worm their way into your heart. But there’s a fourth main character in the form of the planet itself; a hostile place that still turns out to be the perfect home for three characters in desperate need of a place and people to call their own.

This story was the perfect combination of Sci-Fi and romance for me. The world in which To See the Sun is set is described in enough detail to make it real, while the descriptions never take away from the main love story. The against the odds romance between Bram and Gael grows slowly, organically, at times almost against either man’s wishes and is all the more glorious for it.

Long story short: I thoroughly enjoyed this gripping and heart-warming story. Once again, Kelly Jensen has presented me with characters and a story that captivated me and will stay with me. If you like a very well written love story set in an anything but romantic setting, do yourself a favour and pick up To See the Sun.







No comments:

Post a Comment