Book Review: Star Bringer by Tracy Wolff and Nina Croft

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Star Bringer by Tracy Wolff and Nina Croft

Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Genre: Science Fiction, Romance

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Red Tower Books (July 11, 2023)

Length: 608 pages

Author Information: Tracy Wolff | Nina Croft

Star Bringer by Tracy Wolff and Nina Croft blends together elements from the space opera and romance genres, resulting in a sci-fi adventure that delivers on both fronts to varying degrees of success.

In a system with a dying sun, the race is on to find a way to save the nine planets and their billions of inhabitants who depend on the star for survival. Nineteen-year-old Princess Kali, daughter of the Empress, is on her first royal mission to tour the research facility where scientists have been working on a promising solution to the problem when suddenly, an act of terrorism leaves the whole station in shambles.

In the chaos, Kali and six others barely manage to escape the flaming ruins of the lab by fleeing aboard a dilapidated starship. Her fellow passengers include Ian, a rough mercenary who immediately claims leadership of the group; his brother Max, a bit more soft spoken but no less ruthless; Rain, a high priestess from the Sisterhood of the Dying Sun; her bodyguard Merrick, a stalwart warrior monk; Beckett, an escaped prisoner with a massive chip on her shoulder; and Gage, a shady ex-Corporation employee who is loyal to no one but himself.

Trapped together in an unfamiliar and volatile ship, our ragtag crew suddenly find themselves hunted by almost every major faction there is in the solar system. Everyone on board seems to have a secret they’re desperate to outrun or a dangerous mission they’re trying to accomplish. Among them, clashes immediately ensue, but so too does a little bit of unexpected chemistry.

Star Bringer is the latest release from Red Tower Books, Entangled Publishing’s freshly launched imprint featuring new adult speculative fiction romance titles. Keep in mind though, while sci-fi may be the name, love is definitely the game. What this means is that world-building is on the shallower side, and the science is practically non-existent. Still, you can’t really blame the story as it makes itself very clear from the start: it’s all about the relationships, baby. Plus, it’s not shy about the instalove either. All the threats facing the group notwithstanding, most of this 600-page novel’s middle is dedicated to the two separate romance arcs that quickly emerge, one between Kali and Ian, the other between Rain and Beckett.

If you’re a romance reader, Star Bringer will no doubt be right up your alley, especially if you are a fan of the tried-and-true genre tropes and spicy hot love scenes. Personally speaking though, the relationships in this book kind of left a bad taste in my mouth, mainly due to both Ian and Beckett coming across as shamelessly taking advantage of their respective love interests’ lack of experience and naivete. Sorry, maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but I prefer my romances built upon strong foundations and characterized by mutual respect, and Ian was certainly no charming scruffy-looking nerfherder capturing the love and heart of a princess. By the book blurb’s own admission, he was just an asshole, where pretty much every word out of his mouth was “fuck” or a putdown directed at Kali. Ugh, so gross.

Having expected Star Bringer to be lighter on the sci-fi elements, I wanted a little more out of the romance, but unfortunately that just didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped. Still, I feel the authors succeeded in achieving what they set out to do. The potential is there, and I can see this being a lot of fun for the right reader.