Review: Only Bad Options (Galactic Bonds #1) by Jennifer Estep

Title: Only Bad Options

Series: Galactic Bonds #1

Author: Jennifer Estep

Genre: Adult, sci-fi, fantasy

Publication date: September 20th 2022

Published by: Jennifer Estep

Source: eARC from author for review

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Synopsis: Space opera meets Bridgerton in an exciting new science-fiction fantasy adventure by bestselling author Jennifer Estep. Perfect for readers looking for a mix of magic and technology and for fans of soul mates and enemies-to-lovers stories.

A WOMAN WHO SEES EVERYTHING...

Few people know the name Vesper Quill. To most folks, I’m just a lowly lab rat who designs brewmakers and other household appliances in the research and development lab at the powerful Kent Corp. But when I point out a design flaw and a safety hazard in the new line of Kent Corp starcruisers, everyone knows who I am—and wants to eliminate me.

I might be a seer with a photographic memory, but I don’t see the trouble headed my way until it’s too late. Suddenly, I’m surrounded by enemies and fighting for my life.

I don’t think things can get any worse until I meet Kyrion Coldren, an arrogant Regal lord who insists that we have a connection, one that could be the death of us both.

A MAN WHO CAN’T FORGET HIS PAST...

The name Kyrion Coldren strikes fear in the hearts of people across the Archipelago Galaxy. As the leader of the Arrows, the Imperium’s elite fighting force, I’m used to being a villain, as well as the personal assassin of Lord Callus Holloway. Even the wealthy Regals who live on the planet of Corion are afraid of me.

But everything changes when I meet Vesper Quill. I might be a powerful psion with telepathic, telekinetic, and other abilities, but Vesper sees far too many of my secrets.

Thanks to an arcane, unwanted quirk of psionic magic, the two of us are forced to work together to unravel a dangerous conspiracy and outwit the dangerous enemies who want to bend us to their will.

My rating: ★★★★★

Sometimes in life, you have only bad options.

Ever since Jennifer Estep announced that she was writing this book, I was ALL IN. Last year I fell into this rabbit hole where all I wanted to read was sci-fi, and I’m honestly still there, so this book came at a perfect time for me! Plus, Jennifer has never written sci-fi before, so I was very excited to see what she would do with the genre, and it turns out that it was amazing! I loved this world! But that should come as no surprise because I pretty much love anything this author writes 😆

This book follows Vesper who is this sort of inventor for a big company. But Vesper discovers that there’s something shady going on in the company and now everyone wants to shut her up... permanently 😬 One thing I just have to mention is that at one point Vesper is smuggling something and she uses nail polish and nail art to hide it, and as a nail artist myself... 👀

...I was like YES! 😆 I obviously really enjoyed that. Lol. But I just liked that Vesper was smart and was able to think on her feet.

And then we have Kyrion who is the leader of an elite fighting force and quite the badass. But he was also a complete dick when we first met him, all because of the unexpected connection that happens between him and Vesper. And as the story progresses and you get to know these characters better, you understand why Kyrion is the way he is.

One of my favorite things about this book was actually that: getting to know the characters and watching as their relationship developed. One thing I was worried about going into this was that this book has this sort of soul mates thing going on, and when you have the soul mates trope, it usually means intalove, which I hate. But this book did NOT have that and I was SO happy! In fact, it had the slowest of slow burn romance and I was here for it! Could I have used more kissing? Yes, but honestly I much prefer this to instalove.

I also really loved the whole enemies-to-lovers trope and them realizing that they have to trust each other if they want to get out of this whole situation alive. They had these very sweet moments where they opened up to one another and talked about their childhoods. Vesper's mother was absolutely awful, and while the relationship between Kyrion’s parents might have seemed like something out of a fairy tale to outsiders, in reality it was not. Especially when you realize what led to their deaths. And it was all so heartbreaking! I probably would’ve cried had I not been reading this in public. Lol. But yeah, their relationship toward the end of the book was...

Another thing I loved about this book was that not only was it sci-fi, but it was a mix of sci-fi AND fantasy, and I really enjoyed that! On the sci-fi side of things, we have the sort of futuristic setting with all the high tech things: appliances, buildings, ships... all the things! Like I previously mentioned, I’ve been very into sci-fi lately, so I really enjoyed this aspect of the book. And the thing I feel like Jenifer Estep always excels at in her books, is the fantasy elements! In the case of this book we got swords and characters with different kinds of magic. Vesper has seer magic that basically tells what's wrong with something/how it works, and how to make it better. It’s why she’s a lab rat (and a good one at that!) at the company she worked at. And Kyrion is an empath and has telekinesis, among other things. I always love the supernatural abilities in Jennifer’s books because the characters always use them in some very interesting ways.

And of course, the other thing that Jennifer Estep is amazing at is writing incredible action sequences! There was a scene that took place on a magma planet and omg, the place was hardcore! It was amazing and I loved every second of it! The climax was also great, and I liked where the final fight took place because everything just came full circle. Also, for not being a fighter, Vesper was pretty amazing in that fight! Like I said, she’s smart, especially when it came to using her abilities.

So as you can see, I obviously loved this book 😆 I liked the characters and their powers and the dual POV where we switched from Vesper to Kyrion. The story was intriguing, the slow burn romance was great, and the action was amazing as always. The mix of sci-fi and fantasy was interesting and I really enjoyed it! It was just a great book all around and I really hope we get to see more books in this series.

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊