Capture the Sun
Complex
Inventive
Fast paced

Capture the Sun

Jessie Mihalik β€” 2023
Acclaimed author Jessie Mihalik returns with the thrilling conclusion to her Starlight's Shadow trilogy. An intergalactic thief must join forces with the charming teleporter who stole her last job--and may now be her only hope for saving her former crew. As a recovery specialist, Lexi Bowen's jobs typically require more trickery and thievery than honest work. Her former captain might not approve of her flexible morals, but stealing artifacts for rich assholes pays the bills, and Lexi's had enough of war and death. The FHP left her to die once; she doesn't plan to give them a chance to finish the job. Unfortunately, her latest contract takes her to Valovia itself--and right back into the orbit of Nilo Shoren, a Valovian teleporter who already cost her one payday and nearly stole her heart. Armored against his clever charm, Lexi plans to get in, get the job done, and get out. But when her former crew goes missing in Valovian space, Lexi will have to work with Nilo to figure out what happened--and stop it--before the galaxy's two superpowers can use the disappearance as an excuse to return to war.
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Reviews

Photo of Lover of Romance
Lover of Romance @addictedtoromance
3 stars
Jun 23, 2023

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:πŸ“”πŸ“”πŸ“”πŸ“”πŸ“”
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:πŸ¦ΈπŸ»β€β™€οΈπŸ¦ΈπŸ»β€β™€οΈπŸ¦ΈπŸ»β€β™€οΈ
Intimacy Level: πŸ”₯πŸ”₯πŸ”₯.5
Relationship Building: πŸ’’πŸ’’πŸ’’
Heart & Feels:πŸ’žπŸ’žπŸ’ž.5
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚
Page Turner Level:πŸ“–πŸ“–πŸ“–
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨


First Impressions
Capture the Sun is the third and the finale in the "Starlights Shadow" trilogy and if you have been paying attention to the series, then you know the plot is coming to a climax in this installment and that there are some unresolved issues to be worked through with our couple of this installment. This was also a couple I wasn't looking forward to, I knew that there would be plenty of angst, and some of this author's heroines, don't always work out for me. However, I was hopeful for this one here. And while I really enjoyed my time with this one, it was a bit lackluster for me personally.

First Line
I'd sworn I would never set foot on Valovia again, but I was about to prove myself a liar.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Nilo
A Valvolain Teleporter, has psychic abilities, and has to be careful around touching but has secrets of his own and reservations when it comes to Lexi.

The Heroine: Lexi
A recovery specialist, strong and sassy, and has to get creative in order to be a survivor. She tends to lean towards thievery and is out to defeat the FHP.

Summary
Lexi Bowen hasn't felt much shame in the profession that she has chosen for herself. Even those she called family, she knows don't approve of what she does, she does what she needs to in order to survive and get ahead of the FHP. She was left for dead once and refuses to risk that ever happening again. Her morals tend to fluctuate at times, but loyalty to those she loves always is a priority but her first loyalty is to herself. When she bumps into Nilo again, she is afraid to open her heart to him as she did once before and he hurt her in ways she won't even admit to herself. But as they join forces and start a fling of sorts, the heart is bound to get involved...

What I Loved
There were many elements to this story that became redeemable for me in this one. One is the world building in how Jessie Mihalik is able to craft her stories. She is a powerhouse of a storyteller especially in the world building and plot aspects of a story. Its what I really look forward to every time I pick up one of her books and in this one it really delivered on all fronts where those elements are concerned. You definitely know what you will get with a Mihalik novel and its so fun to see such an author becoming so well known and well loved. The bantering between these two are beyond entertaining. Its an interesting dynamic in how the author implements humor, because it comes out of nowhere at times when the reader least expects it. I absolutely fell so hard for the hero, Milo. He is one sexy man that is packed with secrets and mystery and I just wanted to dig deep into his character and even though this is more from the perspective from Lexi, I appreciated what we received from the hero in this one and the type of man he becomes with Lexi. The plot of this finale will definitely take your breath away, especially once we get to the third act of the story, is where it really builds into such a thrilling crescendo and loved how all the little details get tied together.

What I Struggled With
I really struggled with the heroine in this one. I do think I need to be in a certain mindset to truly enjoy this type of heroine and I just don't think I was in for Lexi. She is a character that I haven't truly enjoyed in the trilogy and I was curious if Mihalik would be able to redeem her character for me. While there was some positive aspects to her growth that we see in this one, she was so emotionally constipated to the point that it really starts to rub you the wrong way. I honestly wanted to shake some sense into this gal, she was challenging to relate with at times.

Overall View
Despite some of my reservations, Capture The Sun is a story that will leave you in suspense in the most delightful way. Its a story of adventure, sassy characters, and a journey worth taking a chance on...

Favorite Quote(s)
Nilo had somehow wormed his way into my heart, and I wasn't above trying to steal his in return.

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Character Types: Thief, Sassy and Snarky
Themes: Psychic Abilities, Angst, Ship Star Faring Adventures, Space Opera, World Building a Focus
Tropes: Fling, Enemies to Friends to Lovers

Book Perspective
1st POV

Recommendation For Reading Order
I do recommend reading this series in order due to the nature of the world building and the details in which we see building within each book. And there are circumstances and moments that happen between this couple that occur in previous books that will make more sense if you read those prior to this one.

Steam/Spice Explanations
Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes. There is a steady amount of sex scenes, not super explicit but not soft either. Its steady and strong throughout the story.

Photo of Madi Van Houten
Madi Van Houten@madi_vh
4 stars
Sep 4, 2023
+3