Review: Star Cruise Star Song by Veronica Scott

Posted February 16, 2023 by Lola in Review, Romance, Sci-Fi / 4 Comments

Star Cruise Star Song
by Veronica Scott

My Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
Addy Tryndall is a fresh graduate from a highly respected engineering college in the Sectors, on her way to a plum job on the Nebula Zephyr cruise ship. She knows she’ll be on probation but she’s determined to succeed and nothing is going to distract her.

Ryder McRhodes is a has-been interstellar rock star, on his way to reunite with his fellow band members to see if the lightning of mega success will strike twice for them. He isn’t sure he wants to be in the spotlight again and he hasn’t been able to write music since the band broke up.

Addy has secrets. Ryder needs a muse to unblock the creative flow…could her tightly guarded past be the answer to his problem? When the two are thrown together in an attempt to avoid the interstellar paparazzi he’s intrigued. She’s wary.

And someone is sabotaging systems on the Nebula Zephyr. Addy unwittingly finds herself in the middle of the situation while juggling her increasing attraction to Ryder and her challenges on the new job. Can she trust him with her secret? Or will he break her heart?

The danger on board comes ever closer to Addy as the cruise continues…

My Review

I was excited to return to the Nebula Zephyr space cruise ship in this newest Star Cruise story. Having read multiple stories set upon this ship it’s always a joy to return. It feels like returning to a familiar place and there are often mentions of characters from previous stories which is fun. While Star Song didn’t keep my attention as much as some of the other stories I still enjoyed spending time aboard the Nebula Zephyr again.

Star Song is the romantic story between ensign Addy who just starts her job aboard the cruise ship and has-been rockstar Ryder. I liked both characters, but especially Addy, who has a rare gift and can hear mechanical products make a song. I enjoyed reading about her, she’s a bit shy and not as fluent in social situations and she loves her work and is fascinated by the engines. Working here on a big ship is a dream come true and it was fun to see how passionate she was about her work. A chance encounter brings her into contact with Ryder.

Ryder used to be a popular rockstar, but has since then gone through a journey to find himself. Now his old band is reuniting and he agreed to meet with them. Will he go back to being a rockstar or not is the question he has to face. I felt like his character development was interesting, although most of it was in the past and I felt his current situation was less interesting. He has a choice to make here whether to reunite with his old band or not. Unfortunately I felt like it was kinda obvious what choice he would make and felt the plot surrounding his old band wasn’t as interesting.

While I liked the character I struggled with feeling their romance. I am not quite sure why, but I didn’t fully feel their connection. It read a bit like a rockstar romance set in space at times, which isn’t really my favorite trope to read about. There were concerts and the performing, the fame and fans that all get touched upon and it just wasn’t as interesting to me. I liked how Ryder seemed dedicated to making the relationship last long term, but it bothered me that they never really got to talk about it, until the end ofcourse. Addy keeps doubting Ryder’s sincerity, which also bothered me as while she seemed just as love with him as he with her, she kept doubting it would last and didn’t seem as willing to fight for it. I was also surprised there were multiple steamy scenes as the author usually only has one of those max in her books. They didn’t really work for me and the way the characters always seemed to set dinner aside or more talk in favor of it. I did really like the epilogue and the way these two made things work. It definitely left me with a happy feeling.

Story wise this book had the romance as well as two other plot lines going on and at times it felt a bit much. Neither of the plot lines caught my attention as much. The plot about the sabotage seemed interesting at first, but then hardly got any attention till the wrap up which was kinda predictable to me. I wasn’t as invested in the rockstar and band drama plot line and the danger that got tied up with it just felt as a way to up the stakes at the end

One of my favorite parts of this book was Addy and her friendship with Maeve, the ship’s AI. I really liked seeing them get to know each other and how their friendship grew throughout the book. The AI really was there for Addy and I thought their unusual friendship was awesome to read about. The AI has played an important role in previous books as well as in this one and I enjoy reading about her and learning more about the AI.

To summarize: I enjoyed returning to the Nebula Zephyr space cruise ship again. While each story set there can be read as standalone it feels comforting returning to the familiar setting. This story didn’t keep my attention as much as some of the other ones. There is the romance as well as two plot lines surrounding the characters going on, but neither plot line was one I was really invested in. I liked both Addy and Ryder. Addy had an unique gift of being able to hear what she called the star song and I liked her dedicated and enthusiasm for her new job. Ryder had some interesting character development in his past with how he found himself after the band broke up, but I found his current struggles with the band maybe reuniting less interesting and thought it was pretty obvious what he would decide. While I liked both character I didn’t fully feel their romance for some reason and didn’t care much for the rockstar theme. The steamy scenes didn’t really work for me and were more frequent than what I am used to from the author’s books. My favorite part of this book was Addy’s friendship with the ship AI Maeve. I really liked seeing them grow closer and how the AI was there for her when she needed help.