Tuesday, November 1, 2022

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Dance with the Devil by Kit Rocha



Dance with the Devil is the third book in Kit Rocha's "Mercenary Librarian" series of Post-Apocaplytic SF Romance novels, which began with Deal with the Devil and continued with The Devil You Know.  The series features two groups of super-soldiers: genetically modified Maya, Nina, and Dani (to start) and mechanically augmented Knox, Rafe, Gray and Conall, all of whom escaped from the Corporate powers that rule this post-apocalypse version of the US, as they attempt to make a better life for the people of Atlanta despite it all...and maybe fall in steamy love with one of the others along the way.  The first two books were very enjoyable sexy* fun, and so I was very happy to preorder the third, especially given my enjoyment of Rocha's other works.  

*Note that this is not an "Erotic Romance" like Rocha's Beyond Series (technically set in a different part of the same world) and thus while there is sex, the book isn't chock-full of it like in that series, relying more on action and romantic moments that aren't simply sexual exploration (although that is there too).  

Dance with the Devil follows Dani - the girl modified to feel no pain - and Rafe - former intelligence agent who got into the Techcorps world to support his family - as they both attempt to deal with their steaming attraction to each other (and Rafe's wanting of something more permanent than mere sex) and with the need to infiltrate the Techcorps to gather intel necessary to help their people...and to possibly inspire a revolution to make things better.  You have steamy spy moments, strong characters (including the fun main duo, who I'd been waiting to see featured since early in book 1), decent action and well a plot that works pretty well as both a stand alone and a potential conclusion to this series....even as it also sets up the potential for a continuation at some point (the authors have said they're taking a break from the series).  I needed a fun read when I started this book, and I got it.  


------------------------------------Plot Summary-------------------------------------
Since Maya and Gray took out one of the TechCorps' most valuable executivess, the ones Gray and the Silver Devils once fled, the TechCorps have started to act out, and send its agents out to try to reassert control.  But the Silver Devils and Mercenary Librarians are stronger and more unified than ever, and with their growing family have been just able to keep one step ahead of their dangerous foes.  For Dani, that has meant luring TechCorps operatives into traps and disposing of them.  For Rafe, that has often meant watching Dani's back, even if she refuses to accept she could use the help. 

And for the two of them, that leads them both to greater frustration, as they burn with attraction for the other, but find themselves each with their own reasons against acting on that passion: For Rafe, his desire for Dani to be more than a fling; for Dani, her belief that she's not really worth more than a fling and that she can't give Rafe what he truly wants. 


But when the team realizes that their best hopes of fighting back requires making contact with an Executive deep on the inside, Rafe and Dani find themselves pretending to be married on an infiltration mission of the decadent, luxury-filled Hill, where the ultra rich and powerful and connected - to the TechCorps and otherwise, congregate.  There the two will have to deal with their respective pasts: the family Rafe left to protect and the past Dani wishes she could escape.  And perhaps worse, they'll have to decide what to do about each other and if they can really pull off their goals, save both their old and new families, and possibly find something more in each other along the way......assuming the TechCorps don't kill them both first. 

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Dance with the Devil is structured like pretty much all of Rocha's works - most of the chapters are narrated by one of the two main characters, except for occasional interludes from other characters' perspectives once in a while that builds upon those characters and the background of the world.  But the vast majority of the book centers around Rafe and Dani, two characters we've seen grow attached dangerously since the series' beginning, when Dani snuck in at one point and lightly stabbed Rafe....who found it a bit hot even if he complained openly about it.

And the book gives us a lot of what I really wanted from Dani and Rafe.  With Dani you have the girl who feels no pain, who thinks of herself as just a killer without placing much value on herself due to what she did once in her past, and who is known for being insanely reckless as a result.  With Rafe you have the intelligent agent who's a lot more measured and smart, who got into the TechCorps military to obtain money for his family, and who cares deeply for both his old family and his new one.  The new are an incredible study in contrasts - hardly a new one, but an effective one - but they both care so so deeply about those in their family and will do anything to protect them....even when it gets them both in tremendous trouble and danger.

And well, they work really well together as a result, with some really great romantic chemistry, which makes their eventual sex scenes work pretty well, even if they're not quite Rocha's best.  I loved them both a ton, as well as the other characters who are built up here or further developed from in previous books, and Rocha keeps the action somewhat unpredictable and exciting along the way as things get really really dangerous and bad for our heroes.  There are some moments that don't quite work - a new type of foe is introduced as a menace to our main duo but other characters seemingly can deal with them with no issue at all, which seems preposterous, for example - but overall the romance is fun, sexy and steamy, the action is really well done and exciting, and it all comes together in a very nice way that would work as a conclusion to the series.....if the book still didn't include a cliffhanger and set up a bunch of other potential romances to follow things up (we've got a potential triad romance and a M-M romance that future books could handle).

I hope that we'll eventually see those follow ups, but in the meantime, I look forward to whatever comes next from Rocha - it's bound to be incredibly excellent.                                                                                                                                                    



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