Review: First Flyght by S.J. Pajonas

First Flyght (The Flyght Series #1)
by S.J. Pajonas

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: Reverse Harem

Blurb:
Her future is brighter than the stars. But one betrayal will change everything…

Vivian Kawabata can’t wait to claim her privileged destiny. But when the heir to the family agricultural empire finds her bank account empty while shopping for expensive shoes, she’s horrified to discover that her own brother has financially stabbed her in the back. To stand a chance of restoring her rightful place in the universe, the honest and rule-following Vivian may have to break a few intergalactic laws.

After securing an old ship from her aunt, Vivian takes on two new roles: a sexy heiress collecting eligible husbands and a hard-nosed captain rebuilding a lost fortune by any means necessary. Completely out of her depth, she’d be sunk without the help of a relationship broker, a handsome ex-boyfriend, a hacker with a heart of gold, and the other potential partners she meets along the way. With a business that runs the razor’s edge between trade and smuggling, can the former high-society socialite get the money she needs or will her brazen ambition lead to a deadly crash landing?

First Flyght is the first book in the Flyght Series of sci-fi reverse harem romance. If you like action-packed space operas and a universe full of twists, then you’ll love S. J. Pajonas’s interstellar adventure.

Note: This is a slow-burn romance series!

My Review

I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.

First Flyght was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and as soon as my copy arrived I started it right after I finished my current read. I happily dived into this new science fiction romance series by SJ Pajonas. First Flyght was a great start to this new series and I can’t wait to see where the series goes next. This is a great introduction to this series and there is so much potential and set-up and characters that I want to read more about.

First Flyght is told from the point of view of Vivian. Vivian has studied hard for the last 6 years, she’s graduating soon and then taking over the farm. Until she discovers her brother took all the money and ran. Now the bank is going to take their farm and unless they can buy it back within a year they never see their family farm again. Vivian is the only one who can make the money needed for this, so she jumps on a ship along with her friend Skylar and hopes to find ways to make money to buy back the farm. She also hires a relationship broker who is looking for potential suitors and that’s how her journey starts.

I like the whole set-up and how the main premise gets established quite quickly, but not rushed at all. And at the same time we get a feel for main character Vivian. I really felt for Vivian, she is in quite the difficult situation and after all her hard studying her dream of running the family farm seems almost out of reach now. And now she has to struggle to make the money to buy it back. Pajonas does has the habit to take her main characters through a lot and that’s certainly the case here. Vivian’s life gets worse before it even has the chance to get better. It almost felt a bit too much bad things happened to her at times, but it also felt realistic, as sometimes you get very down before things get better.

I liked Vivian for the most part, she could get a bit down sometimes, but given her situation that definitely seemed understandable. I liked how determined she was to make the best of this situation and take care of her crew. I like how she cared for others and listened to them. She was friendly, but also determined to fight for what she wanted to achieve. She seemed smart and had some creative/ unconventional ideas. Although I wish she thought a bit more of herself at times as she deserved to be happy too. It was interesting to see how she handled everything and I was totally rooting for her when she finally indulges herself and buys something for herself.

I like how the harem aspect is set-up in this book. With the world building that is established with more men than women, it makes sense how it is more common for women to have multiple husbands. It was interesting how Vivian thought to settle for one guy, but how the situation changed her mind. I am looking forward to see which other men she meets in future books. In this book she is only introduced to one of her love interests, I think.

This book is low on the romance, with the focus more on Vivian’s journey and how she’s trying to make things work. but there is an ex who she crosses paths with and which might turn into more again. To be honest I am not sold on ken and Vivian’s romance yet. I like the sound of their previous relationship, but didn’t quite feel their current spark as much yet. Ken seemed interested in giving it another try, but I didn’t quite feel the same sentiment of Vivian with how she just wanted to avoid him. I also didn’t quite like how Ken handles things at the end by asking that of Vivian. Although I think it will turn out alright, I still didn’t like his behavior there. But there’s enough promise of more there that I hope I’ll feel their romance more in the next book.

I liked how Vivian is knowledgeable of plants and growing things and how that plays a role in this book. And also the animals, there are quite a bunch of animals who play a role in the story, which was fun. I hope to see more of them in the next book.

There is a fun cats of side character. Skylar is loyal and close to Vivian, although she could be a tad self centered at times. I also was quite fond of Ai, the ship’s AI who has quite the colorful personality and adds come comic relief to some scenes too. Then there is Carlos, who knows a lot about tech and even hacking. And the girl who takes care of the animals. And Vivian’s relationship broker was an interesting character too, I liked how he interacted Vivian for the most part and liked the challenge of finding potential suitors for her.

The world building is so interesting so far and I loved everything we learn about this world. There are some pieces that really come alive and it’s easy to form an image of how things work in this world. I mostly want more tough as it’s all so interesting and there are still some details missing for it fully come alive in my mind. Pajonas does a great job sprinkling the world building throughout the story so as not to overwhelm readers, I am just impatient and want to know even more about the world as that’s always one of my favorite aspects of Pajonas’ books as she’s so good at creating new worlds.

To summarize: First Flyght is an exciting start to this new series. When Vivian finds out her family might lose the farm, she has to find a way to save money to buy it back from the bank. Vivian is a great character with how determined she is an how she cares for her crew. She has a lot staked against her and I liked seeing how she handled everything thrown her way. I liked the fun cast of side character. I especial liked Ai, the ship’s AI. There are also a bunch of animals around which is fun. The set-up for the harem makes sense given the world building, but this book is still low on romance. There is a bit of romance with Vivian’s ex who she crosses paths with again. I don’t fully feel the romance yet, but I am hoping that will change in the next book. And I am looking forward to see which other men Vivian will meet. I love what we’ve seen from the world so far and can’t wait to learn more in future books. It ends on a hopeful note and I can’t wait to for book 2 and see what comes next!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo
– Author’s website

You can also read my review on Goodreads, Bookbub and Amazon.

Tell me about a fun side character one of your recent reads had?