PROJECT HAIL MARY by Andy Weir

I enjoyed Project Hail Mary even more than The Martian. Instead of one man trying to survive on a foreign planet, this story is about one man trying to figure out how to save Earth from a micro-organism from another galaxy. He is light-years away to solve the problem when he meets Rocky, an alien that looks like a five-legged giant spider made of rocks. The two of them are in the Tau Ceti system for the same reason, and work together to save both their planets. But they must learn each others language and culture to do so. When they do find a solution, it causes even more problems.

This is a wonderful story that combines multiple scientific fields, including social sciences to explain what is happening and why the characters do what they do, but it never feels like too much. There is a lot of suspense in the story, right up into the last chapter that kept the pages turning. I also found the scenes that go back in time, and shown as Ryland Grace retrieving a past memory, easy to follow and relevant to what was happening in the current time.

I really enjoyed Project Hail Mary and I look forward to watching the movie version soon!

PENDERGAST: THE BEGINNING by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child 

I've read several of the Pendergast novels by Preston & Child, so when I learned that an origin story was releasing, I wanted to read it. Especially after rereading Relic last year. In this novel, Pendergast joins the New Orleans Field Office as a probationary FBI agent under Special Agent Chambers. When the two of them are suspended for not doing an investigation by the rules, Pendergast looks deeper into similar cases that could be related. But where Chambers wants to find a simple explanation, Pendergast believes nothing is that simple and once again goes against the rules to entertain his hunch. In the end, the case is not so simple and even more gruesome than Pendergast believed.

I really enjoyed this insight into Pendergast's beginnings as an FBI agent. It reveals how his mind works—very different from the average mind iykyk—while also giving us other details of his life, some of which have been revealed in other books in the series. And the epilogue is from Relic, so it's a smooth transition for those who haven't read it.

I do wonder if there will be a book written from an even earlier time in Pendergast's life, specifically his and Proctor's time with Ghost Company.

THE KISS COUNTDOWN by Etta Easton

Event planner Amerie (Mimi) is having a rough patch in her life after being fired from her job, the end of her relationship, and facing the realities of her mother's illness. She is already lying to her parents about what is going on in her life so they have one less thing to worry about, but when she comes across her ex and his new girlfriend at the coffee shop, she tells him she's already moved on, too. When he asks who, she grabs the guy she spilt coffee on the week before.

Vincent is an astronaut who is getting ready for his next mission to the moon. His mother is trying hard to convince him to take a desk job as she doesn't want to lose another child. He avoids most family functions for this reason.

Vincent goes along with Amerie's story under the condition that she will do him a favor as well. This leads to the two of them fake dating, not only to impress Mimi's ex, but also to take some of the family pressure off Vincent. But the lies get out of hand when feelings get involved. When the truth comes out to those most important to Amerie and Vincent, they both must decide how real their relationship is.

This was a fun and cute story with very realistic lives and feelings. Perfect for those who enjoy meet cutes, fake dating, real feelings, family, and happy endings.

SKI-CROSSED LOVERS by Allison Temple

Ski-Crossed Lovers is a rivals to friends to lovers to maybe friends to lovers mm romance with lots of skiing, pinning, intimacy, and emotional trauma. Cedric first met Austin on the ski hills as a competitor. After many years and races, they become friends, both representing Canada at many events. It's after a qualifier for the Olympics that Austin confesses his feelings for Cedric go beyond friendship, and that leads to a night of record-setting passion between them. But their new relationship is short-lived when Austin crashes during a ski run and barely survives. His recovery happens far away from Cedric and a portion of Austin's memory is gone, including qualifying for the Olympics and the night he confessed his feelings to Cedric. But Cedric remembers that night and finding him in the woods after his accident, not sure if his best friend and new lover would survive. Cedric must try to work through his emotional trauma while Austin goes through tons of physical therapy if they are ever going to compete in ski cross or even be friends again. This story was such a great romance and perfect to be read during the Olympics, but also can be read any time. I look forward to reading more from Allison Temple as well as other Love on the Podium stories!

COLD ETERNITY by S.A. Barnes 

I think this might be my favourite of the three space horrors I read by S.A. Barnes. Halley is searching for a place to hide out and ends up on a space barge containing cryogenically frozen beings hoping to circumvent death. 

But there are things happening on the barge that make Halley question her own sanity, from finger bones and strange noises to glitchy AI holograms and missing bodies.

As Halley tries to solve the mysteries of the barge, she learns the truth is much more frightening than she expected. And she is highly unlikely to ever leave. If she survives another day.

This book is quite the thrill ride from beginning to end, and the truth was much more gruesome and messed up than what I expected. Halley's back story was well-developed and the other characters were creepy, even those I liked. 

I definitely look forward to more by S.A. Barnes! 

GAME CHANGER by Rachel Reid

I grew up in a hockey town and went to school with a lot of hockey players, some of whom went further than playing for the local Jr. B team. Because of that, I was never interested in reading a hockey romance. Then the TV show, Heated Rivalry came along, and I loved it! And as an author, I wanted to read the source material, so I bought the first six books in the series.

While Scott and Kip's story isn't exactly the same in the book as it is on screen, I thoroughly enjoyed reading how their relationship developed, while witnessing the passion between them and the struggles they faced. Even though both are super sweet characters with some amazing friends and family members, the beginning of their relationship is quite a roller coaster ride. It all felt very real as though it played out in real life. I truly enjoyed Game Changer and look forward to Heated Rivalry next!

HEATED RIVALRY by Rachel Reid

As with Game Changer, I read Heated Rivalry after watching the show on Crave. A great book! I'm so glad Rachel Reid wrote it and that Jacob Tierney enjoyed it and decided to turn it into a series that closely followed the book. It was interesting to note the slight changes in how Shane and Ilya's story started between the two, and to catch further glimpses into their relationship that we didn't see in the show. I definitely look forward to more of Shane and Ilya's story in The Long Game and Unrivaled, as well as other books in the Game Changers series.

AURORA BLAZING by Jessie Mihalik

Aurora Blazing is a fast-paced space adventure with a slow burn romance that could almost be considered a second-chance romance. It is engaging with wonderful characters and a happily for now ending that suits both characters well.

Bianca is a one of the House von Hasenberg daughters and she is still recovering from the sudden death of her husband and the experiments he performed on her. When her brother is abducted with no hints as to who took him, she uses her connections and her other new abilities to search along with her siblings for any clues to his whereabouts. But the information she seeks requires a personal touch, which is hard to get when she's constantly under surveillance. She sneaks past the house security and flees to find her brother. But Ian, the House's director of security is after her to bring her back home. It's bad enough that Ian won't give her a chance to help, but he is also the man who broke her heart before her arranged marriage.

Aurora Blazing is Bianca's race to escape Ian, find her brother, and then ignore her increasing attraction to Ian when he does manage to catch up to her.

While a complete romance story, Aurora Blazing is part of an overall series arc that started with Polaris Rising.