The Black Sands of Hades (The Halcyon Universe: Side Quests #1)
by Mindi Briar
My Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f
Blurb:
Welcome to Hades Beach Resort. The night is alive with possibility, but beware the dawn…Angelique Azalea is desperate for a place to hide. Once a famous singer on a wealthy planet, she’s been running from her past for two years—and she’s exhausted her list of worlds that would hire an incognito celebrity without asking too many questions. Hades is, quite literally, the last resort. A nocturnal vacation destination with more environmental hazards than guests, it’s not exactly top of Angelique’s bucket list.
But if anyone can change her mind, it’s the friendly and attractive ranger Gabrielle. Gaby happily welcomes her as a new resident, though she cautions Angelique to be on guard. The rangers have been investigating a rash of unexplained disappearances plaguing their tourist community, and mysterious gang leader Romeo is a top suspect. Despite Gaby’s warnings, Angelique is drawn to Romeo’s stunning green eyes and smooth flirtations. Is her pulse pounding because he’s hot, or because he’s dangerous?
As Angelique unravels the dark secrets underpinning Hades’ society, she fears her growing feelings for both Gaby and Romeo may be her undoing. After all, she’s been burned before—and the past isn’t staying dead. To face her demons will risk not just her hard-won freedom, but her very mortality.
The Black Sands of Hades is a standalone bisexual, polyamorous sci-fi romance packed with tension, danger, and spice, perfect for fans of The Vampire Diaries and The White Lotus.
My Review
I received a free copy from the author through BookSirens and voluntarily reviewed it.
I’ve enjoyed the Halcyon Universe stories written by this author so far and when that series wrapped up I was hoping for more in this universe, so I was excited to hear about this book. It has no overlap with the main series, but is more of a side story as the title suggest. It can easily be read without having read the main story, but it is set in the same universe, which I liked.
I had so much fun reading The Black sands of Hades. It captured my attention from the start and I was excited to see Angelique find her way in this strange planet where the nights are when people are awake as it’s too hot to be outside during the day and the wildlife and plants outside of the resort can easily kill you. Angelique is a famous singer who has been running from an ex turned stalker and she hopes she won’t be found here. She grows closer to ranger Gabby and mysterious Romeo.
There was just so much I liked about this book. The pacing felt really well done, with always something going on and I wnated to keep reading and know more. This book did not have a dull moment and things start happening right away when Angelique arrives on Hades. I liked the characters. The plot has some interesting twists and turns and I really liked reading more about Hades as well as who Romeo is. I don’t want to spoil the reveal, but I thought it was such a fun one when you find out what’s going on with Romeo. And the rangers were interesting as well. I liked Angelique’s romances with both Gabby and Romeo, the two hate each other at first, but grow closer as they both care about Angelique.
There is plenty of danger and things going on. And I just thought there was something so fun and entertaining about this story. I liked seeing Angelique deal with everything that comes her way and learning more about Hades and making her life there was just amazing to see. The book is broken into separate parts and has the vibe of a fast paced tv series season.
I liked the polyamorous romance in this one with Angelique dating both gabby and Romeo. And seeing them slowly figure out how to make this work. It is messy sometimes and they have a lot to figure out, but eventually they get there. There are some steamy scenes as well, which I liked and I felt it fit the tone of this book. Speaking of tone, this book did have a slightly different vibe than the previous books I read by this author, but I thought it worked here and I really liked the vibe of this book.
The world building and getting to know more about Hades was one of my favorite parts of the book. I liked the interesting setting with the black sands that are too hot too walk on even at night, the fluorescent plantlife and the dangerous plants and wildlife. It really came to life and it felt unique and fresh and interesting. I liked reading about it.
To summarize: I had such a great time reading this book, it was such a fun read. The pacing is well done with a lot going on and things start happening right away. There was not a dull moment and I wanted to keep reading. I liked reading about Angelique as well as her two romantic partners ranger Gabby and mysterious Romeo. I liked learning more about all three characters and seeing them figure things out. I also liked reading about the planet Hades, it was all so interesting and I liked learning more about it the further I got. The ending was well done and wrapped things up well. All in all I can definitely recommend this one if you like scifi romance books and this one has no overlap with the rest of this universe so you can start with this one if you like.
Leave a Reply