A strait-laced astro-archeologist turned treasure hunter has one weakness: his deadly, seductive rival.

Astro-archeologist Niklas Phoenix loved his job studying artifacts at the Institute of Historical Preservation…until he learned that it was all a lie. Forced out of the Institute, he joins his treasure hunter brothers, but now the Institute is trying to lure him back for the ultimate treasure hunt—a return to the planet that seeded life throughout the galaxy, Earth.

Only one thing convinces him to go—dangerous and enigmatic treasure hunter Nera Darc.

Nera escaped hell and has made a life for herself where she bows to no one. Niklas Phoenix has become her dark obsession, and now on a perilous mission, they’ll be working side by side. She’s built hard walls around her withered heart, but Niklas threatens to break them all down, and that’s a risk she can’t afford.

The dangers of Earth strip away Nik and Nera’s secrets and their simmering passion explodes. As a dark enemy closes in, they can only trust each other in a fierce battle for survival.

My Review:

There have been three HUGE questions hiding in the background of the first five books in the Phoenix Adventures series. All those stories have had their very own happy endings, but there have been a few issues hiding in plain sight – at least some of the time – from the very beginning.

First, there’s the tease – all the teasing – about rival treasure hunter Nera Darc. She’s good, she’s very good. She’s especially good at swooping in after the Phoenix brothers have done all the hard work and sprung all the traps. She’s clearly not hunting for treasure nearly as much as she’s hunting them for THEIR treasure. She’s driving all of them a bit crazy in the process, but it’s astro-archaeologist Niklas Phoenix who seems to be more than a bit obsessed with her. And possibly vice-versa.

The second question is wrapped around Nik Phoenix, every bit as much as Nik is wrapped around the axle about the reason that he resigned from a job he had worked his entire life for. He had been one of the star astro-archaeologists at the prestigious Galactic Institute, but he left under a cloud of suspicion to come home and work with his brothers as a treasure hunter. Whatever happened, he doesn’t talk about it. He doesn’t even like to think about it. So he mostly shies away from those memories, even from inside his own head.

The final question is the biggest, and it’s the question hiding in plain sight from the very beginning of At Star’s End. It’s the question about Earth. The series is clearly set in a far future, a future in which humanity was forced to escape from a dying Earth. The treasure that the Phoenix brothers are hunting in that opening story is a surviving fragment of the Mona Lisa! Clearly, something happened between our now and their then that seriously effed things up. But we only have hints about it, along with a black hole where the information should be on the condition of this planet in their now.

Those three questions; who Nera Darc is and why she’s so fixated on the Phoenix brothers – or at least one Phoenix brother in particular, the truth behind the reason that Nik resigned from the Galactic Institute, and the current condition of the effed up Mother Earth that a fleeing humanity left behind, all come barreling towards Nik Phoenix like a laser cannon at the opening of Return to Dark Earth.

That title is a big hint that Earth is believed to be dark, empty of life and destroyed beyond habitability. But the Galactic Institute is mounting a big, well-funded expedition back to humanity’s home to see if the destruction left any treasures behind. They’ve contracted with the best treasure hunters in the galaxy for the kind of treasure hunting opportunity that the dreams of both historical enquiry and avarice are made of.

Nik Phoenix wants nothing to do with the Galactic Institute or any of their schemes. Not even this one. Not until Nera Darc breaks into his ship, informs him that she’s going to be part of the mission, and steals the treasure he and his brothers just acquired on her way out.

That’s all it takes to convince Nik to do the last thing he ever intended to do – work with the Institute again. Not for the trip of a lifetime, not for seeing humanity’s home planet with his own eyes, not for the treasure. Nik’s going to watch Nera Darc’s back. Because as badass as she is – and she definitely is – he can’t stand the idea of her being in the midst of those scum without him to stand at her side. Whether she wants him there or not.

Escape Rating A-: When I read the original version of this book it seemed as if it might be the end of the Phoenix Brothers wild saga. It had that feel then, and it still does today. Even though I know now that there are four more books coming.

As it turns out, this is kind of an end. The later stories, which I’m looking forward to reading again, were just a bit ancillary to the main action, much as the two novellas that make up In A Dangerous Orbit turned out to be.

Return to Dark Earth, with the way that it answers the lingering questions set up in At Star’s End, still feels like AN ending if not quite THE ending of the saga.

That being said, it’s still a very satisfying ending, because it answers those questions. And not just that we get both Nera’s tragic backstory as well as the real reasons behind Nik’s departure from the Galactic Institute. That Earth is every bit the horrifying mess that they (and the reader) expect is not exactly a surprise, but the fight to plumb the depths of the Institute’s corruption AND the wasteland of the planet at the same time makes for a pulse-pounding adventure every step of the zombie and mutated monster infested journey.

The icing on this story cake was the way that they managed to find a bit of an oasis in the midst of the destruction AND the answer to a real-life historical treasure hunt that has never been solved. Maybe someday, a thousand or more years from now.

That last discovery certainly tied this treasure hunting saga up in a bright and very shiny golden bow – along with a happy ever after that’s been well earned over the course of the series. Leaving this reader still looking forward to just a bit more, a chance to tie up all the loose ends, and to make sure that the few still-unattached members of the Phoenix clan get their own HEA’s tied up as happily as Nik and Nera did on their Return to Dark Earth.

Ambitious Patrol Captain Nissa Sander has spent three years at the galaxy’s edge keeping the law and order, and chasing scoundrel smuggler, Justyn Phoenix. But the charming rogue has always outwitted her and she’s had a hard time ignoring his hard body and handsome face. But when one of the galaxy’s most important documents—the US Constitution—is stolen, Nissa finds herself working with the very man she’s been trying to throw in her brig.
Justyn Phoenix embraces life and offers everyone a wink and a smile. He’s also in love with a spit-and-polish Patrol captain. Yep, crazy in love, and he knows she’ll never love him back. But when the opportunity arises to work alongside Nissa on a wild and crazy mission to recover the US Constitution, he can’t resist.
But nothing on this treasure hunt is as it seems. The trail leads them to fake documents, rival treasure hunters, and a millennia old mystery. As the hunt takes them beyond the galaxy’s edge, Justyn and Nissa will face the firestorm of their desire, and soon learn if they can survive long enough to save the galaxy.

My Review:

Patrol Captain Nissa Sander has spent her years at the galaxy’s edge trying to catch Justyn Phoenix smuggling illicit goods across the border. He’s trying to catch her attention. His plans are working a whole lot better than hers – at least when this story begins.

He’s too good a smuggler to let her find anything illegal on his ship. And she’s too good an officer to stop trying. But he’s certain he’s not good for her or good enough for her – and she’d agree with that assessment a little too readily.

Still they can’t stop baiting each other every time they cross paths. Even though they both know they shouldn’t.

At least, not until a thief makes off with one of the original foundational documents of the galactic law that she serves and he mostly gets around. Someone has stolen the US Constitution. The one, the only, the original. Or so everyone believes.

When it is discovered that the constitution that was stolen is old, but not nearly old enough, the hunt is on. Nissa needs a treasure hunter. Justyn has his cousins at the other side of the galaxy eager to help restore a piece of history – just as they did with the Mona Lisa in At Star’s End.

If Nissa can manage to trust a smuggler not to steal the artifact out from under her nose, her ambitions, and her obligations. Because she’ll have to, as she absolutely cannot trust anyone else. Not the father for whom she’s never been enough. And especially not the competing agendas of her GSS superiors, who are using them both in a dangerous plan of their own.

A plan for which Nissa is intended to take the fall – unless she can smuggle her way out. With Justyn’s help. And the heart she never thought he had.

Escape Rating A-: I’ve enjoyed every single book in the updated Phoenix Adventures as I did the originals. Although I still like the original covers better. And hopefully your imagery mileage varies.

Even more than ten years later, the “cousins” half of the Phoenix story still feels like Firefly, in spite of the years and the parsecs. Or however you want to measure things. The Phoenix Brothers on the one side of the galaxy, the ones in At Star’s End, are treasure hunters. The ones at galaxy’s edge are mostly convoy operators. They take colonists out into the black to establish new colonies in risky situations. Or at least unknown situations.

But Justyn is a bit too wild to captain convoys. Or too adventurous. Or both. He might be a better fit with his cousins the treasure hunters, as this story proves. Because he loves a good chase, which is exactly what he’s been doing with Patrol Captain Nissa Sander. Chasing her until she catches him. Over and over and over. He’s just never stayed caught. Not until now.

Both Justyn and Nissa have a lot to overcome to save the Constitution AND reach a happy ever after that neither of them quite believes they deserve. He knows his well-earned reputation will tank her career. She’s been trained to never let her own desires get in the way of her father’s ambitions for her – even if he’s trained her just as hard that she’ll never meet them.

Her superiors think they have her between a rock and a hard place. She knows she can’t trust them and she’s afraid to trust Justyn with the mission – let alone anything else.

The way that their treasure hunt beyond the borders of chartered space teaches them that they can trust each other with everything managed to be both a delightful bit of gaslamp/steampunk in an otherwise completely science fictional universe AND a thrill-a-minute chase on top of a combustible romance.

If you’ve ever had a yen to try science fiction romance, or if you’ve heard about this terrific series but haven’t been able to find a copy, this “remaster” of the classic is a fantastic chance to read a rocket-fueled adventure AND romance.

Unlucky-in-love salvage mechanic, Malin Phoenix, didn’t intend to get caught up in a coup and kidnapped by a sexy cyborg. But she finds herself swept into an adventure to help the deadly, emotionless CenSec, Xander Saros, retrieve an ancient Terran artifact and save his planet.
Soon she’s racing across uncharted space and is magnetically drawn to the cyborg whose strong arms and muscled body ignite a desire that burns brighter than a supernova. But Mal can never let herself forget that she can’t fall in love with a cyborg who can never love her back.
The crowning glory of the Centax Security program, Xander is heavily enhanced, his emotions dampened to nothing to allow him to be the most efficient, lethal killer in the galaxy. As he and Malin hunt for the remnant of the galaxy’s first computer, the Antikythera Mechanism, their quest leads them into the lair of a dangerous technomancer. But Xander can’t identify his greatest threat—the enemy or the fascinating woman who’s making him feel.

My Review:

Eleven years ago I fell hard into this book, and the same thing happened again in this reread. I mean that completely. When the Phoenix Adventures series originally began in 2015, I loved them all and remembered them very fondly, but eleven years is a LONG time and a lot of books ago.

However, I must confess, this was probably a case of the right book at the right time, as I needed a guaranteed escape from reality, and this author and especially this series has always delivered.

And did it again.

The first time around, I said this book combined bits of Firefly, Deep Space 9, Babylon 5 and Linnea Sinclair’s truly excellent science fiction romance Games of Command, all of which weren’t all that distant in the rearview mirror at that time.

Those antecedents still hold, although the world has changed. Ace scrapper/engineer Malin Phoenix is still Kaylee’s sister-from-another-galactic-mister, the jumpgates that help the Phoenix cousins/brothers are a well-used and VERY convenient bit of tech also featured in DS9, B5 and Mass Effect, while unfortunately Linnea Sinclair seems to have stopped writing some years ago. (If you love SFR and can find her books, they are ALL excellent).

I’d also throw the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the pile, as the Technomancer in On a Rogue Planet and the Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok are brothers-from-another-galactic-mother – who they probably murdered along their evil way.

There’s a big part of me that’s gobsmacked at just how long ago 2015 feels from a real-world perspective, how many of those references that were current then are dated now, and just generally how much the world has changed in the intervening years.

What hasn’t changed, not one little itty-bitty bit, is just how good of a story this was then – and is now.

Escape Rating A-: That’s the same grade I gave On a Rogue Planet back in my original review, and it earns that grade again today. On the one hand, it’s even a bit better than it was before, in that as a long term fan of the author I can see the seeds of some of her (then) future SFR and Action/Adventure Romance series, especially Eon Warriors, Oronis Knights and (literally in this particular case) Treasure Hunter Security.

On my two other hands, I have to admit that I liked the original cover better. More importantly, and this is a “me” thing, the background plot twist about saving the women of Centax from being sold into slavery for breeding purposes is starting to ring a bit hollow. It works in the story, and it provides one hell of a motivation for throwing the evil usurper OFF Centax, but the whole “women in the fridge in jeopardy” is just getting old for me. He was plenty evil without that added incentive to remove him from his stolen power. But, as I said, that’s a “me” thing.

What I loved about this story, then and now, is the way that Malin Phoenix knows just who she is and what she’s capable of, and isn’t willing to compromise those things or make herself smaller or lesser because she doesn’t fit the box that so many men want to place her in.

And, that instead of Xander being the stereotypical uncommunicative and unemotional alpha male, he is who and what he is for a reason that makes SFnal sense. He’s been trained and programmed to be unemotional because emotions are inefficient and get in the way of his duty. Whether the way that was done began as tradition or child abuse depends a LOT on perspective in a way that is thought-provoking rather than judgmental. (Although I’d have loved more about Centax because THAT would be a fascinating discussion in its own right.)

All of that being said, I had another fantastic reading time with the Phoenix brothers and cousins. So much so that I’m looking forward eagerly to the next re-release in this series, In a Dangerous Orbit, as well as the author’s next contemporary romance, Never and Always, in her Langston Hotels series.

But the Phoenix Adventures have always held a special place in this reader’s heart, and I’m beyond thrilled at this opportunity to experience all of their adventures again!