The Queen's Gambit

Rogue Queen Series, Book 1

By: Jessie Mihalik

Narrated by: Rachel Dulude

When the Quint Confederacy and the Kos Empire went to war - again - Queen Samara wisely kept her Rogue Coalition out of the conflict. But staying neutral in a galactic war doesn't pay the bills, not when both sides refuse to trade with neutral sectors.

With her people on the brink of starvation, Samara hatches a daring plan to snatch the kidnapped Kos Emperor from the Quint mercenaries holding him. The Kos Empire will pay a fortune for their emperor's return, enough to feed the Coalition's citizens while they wait for the return to a begrudging peace.

But when her plan goes sideways, Samara finds herself evading Quint mercenaries with the very man she intends to capture. And the more time she spends with Valentin Kos, the more she realizes that he's not the coldly indifferent villain she imagined. Torn between duty and desire, Samara must decide if saving her people is worth giving up the one thing she's always wanted.

©2018 Jessie Mihalik (P)2019 Tantor

Not Romantic

If you're looking for a good romance novel, this isn't it. The story itself is enjoyable, but it wasn't the romance I was hoping for.

Problem 1: The narrator gave Valentin a child-like voice. All the male dialog sounds like it is spoken by prepubescent boy. The female characters are given deeper voices than the men.

Problem 2: The story lacks romantic development.
I would have enjoyed this story more if Samara had taught Valentin how to defend himself and fight dirty. And if Valentin had taught her about philosophy and idealistic ideas. Neither character grew nor developed as a couple during the story. They didn’t grow together. They made an awkward couple. I hoped they would grow out of their awkward state. I hoped it would be a romantic and funny journey, but it just wasn’t. I enjoyed the world building and high-tech space travel, but as a romance this store was a disappointment.

Good story but narration wasn’t right

This was a rather simple but enjoyable story. It was hard to get past the almost monotone delivery of narration, but especially the soft, whispery voice given to the Hero. I got around it but many of the women sounded more forceful and vigorous in their tones.

I wanted more

Frankly, there wasn't enough of this book. I enjoyed it so much I wanted more of it. I liked the unique political situation and the uses and drawbacks of technology. The world was minimally but adequately described characters' likeability or villainy believable. I'm eager to dig into the next book in the series.

The action was good

The author thought of a good storyline and set some of the characters up well. But she passed over important guides to help the reader understand or even sympathize with the heroine. The main character was never believable or liked. To be a heroine is more than to display words, it’s a feeling too, that was never achieved in this action packed story. You never really sympathize with her in her bid to help her people. She was too busy saving the day and had no substance.

good story, okay narrator.

I love the story, but the narrator was not my favorite. some of the emphasis she chose didnt flow well and I'm not a fan of most of her Male voices. the audiobook was still pleasant overall, however.