Deal with the Devil

Did I read a post apocalyptic sci fi romance in the middle of a real life pandemic? Yes I did and I REGRET NOTHING. When I first raffled for this book on Bookish First I was excited and hoped to win it and not long after, Covid hit hard here in the States and life went sideways for everyone. So after I received the book I wasn't sure if it would help my anxiety or make it worse. I had so much fun reading this that I had no problem separating real life from the book. It was exactly what I needed.
I'm a sucker for a bad ass female MC and Nina is exactly that. She's a mercenary librarian. It's like my dream job that I never knew I wanted. Knox is a super serious soldier that went AWOL and now he and his team need Nina's and her crews help. There are some twists in the story so I won't say much more because it's hard without giving anything away. But I will say there are clones, action and romance.
I'm definitely ready for book 2 and this was an ARC so now I have to wait even longer (cue sad violins). Kit Rocha is a writing team that I hadn't heard of before but now they are definitely on my radar and I need to see what else they have to keep me busy until the next book in this series.

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC on #NetGalley for an honest review.

MAN OH MAN!
This book blew me away,

The dystopian setting of the book allowed for some unique explorations of science, capitalism and the military, food security and the preservation of knowledge.
Interspersed in between chapters were observations from scientists about each character and their abilities and their perceived flaws and I thought that was brilliant as it helped to show how the evil overlords thinks of them.

When you look at how Nina and Knox interact with their respective teams and the environment around them, you can tell from the start that they are meant to lead together. The story just brings them closer and closer together until it is impossible to truly imagine them separately.
Their backstories, which involve both of them having lost loved ones, just helps you to understand the pressures they put on themselves to be the ones in charge and who stand strong for the people they care for, no matter what.

The richness of the characters and their relationships with each other and the community at large was also amazing. Watching the almost sibling like play between Nina, Dani & Maya vs the best friends yet almost chain of command dynamic of Knox, Gray, Conall & Rafe just emphasises how they all compliment each other and it's easy to see the characters who might be especially compatible romantically.

Did i mention that the pacing of the story was fan-freaking-tastic?
There is also the fact that every character in this story serves a purpose and every scene helps to propel the story forward and set things up for the rest of the series.

All in all, it was a wonderful book and I cannot wait to read the follow up to this.

??I gotta say the series??? name combining the words ???Mercenary??? and ???Librarians??? was what attracted me to this book. I enjoyed this book a lot. The characters grew on me, the plot was as intriguing, the romance was NOT the usual?? ???alpha male??? dynamic, and there are very strong female characters. I liked the post-apocalyptic world-building with super soldiers, augmented humans,?? librarians, mercenaries, big corporations, and people trying to help others.