Gremlin’s Last Run by Jaye McKenna

Hey everyone,

The last few days i’ve been struck down with illness, which has meant a lot of time in bed but little time for reading. While ill, however, I realised it had been ages since I’d read a true, set in space, science-fiction romance so after some rooting around on Goodreads I came across Gremlin’s Last Run by Jaye McKenna. The cover and blurb instantly intrigued me so despite it being the second in a series I quickly hit the buy now button on amazon. This story set in Earth’s far flung future when we’ve spread across the galaxy, although a specific time frame was never given. Oh, and did I mention its an M/M romance?

The book:

Rhys Tyler, captain of the Gremlin, is no stranger to living on the edge: the edge of solvent; the edge of legal; the edge of sane.

An empath so sensitive that he cannot bear human touch, Rhys makes his living hauling cargo through the deep dark, the interstellar emptiness between populated star systems. And if keeping his aging freighter in working order means resorting to smuggling, well, a man does what he has to in order to survive.

Alek McKinnon is a Federation agent in trouble. Everything that could have gone wrong with his latest mission has. He's been ambushed, kidnapped, imprisoned, and forced to participate in an illegal experiment that has crippled his psi and left him bonded to an ancient artifact that has already proved itself deadly.

When Alek stows away aboard the Gremlin, all he's looking for is a way home so he can report to his superiors. He's not expecting to find a psion in desperate need of training. And he's sure as hell not expecting to fall in love.

My Thoughts:

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from this book, whenever, you buy a self-published book it can always be hit and miss and lately I had been DNFing quite a few books. In contrast Gremlin’s Last Run grabbed me from the very beginning with the suspenseful first chapter where Alek is attempting to escape captivity from an unknown enemy. I loved the world created by Jaye Mckenna, particularly the concept of Psi who are humans with special powers.

Although both Rhys and Alek are Psi they had vastly different childhoods that have resulted in completely different lifestyles. Whereas Alek was raised in a large family that understood and accepted his powers, Rhys didn’t even know what was wrong with him. His powers have made it impossible for him function in society and since the death of his uncle he’s been trying to keep the Gremlin functional and afloat alone. Rhys was my favourite character in the novel and I thought the author did a great job of developing his character throughout the book. In the beginning he has lost all hope and is virtually suicidal.

'He’d shoot himself up and he and Gremlin would make one last, glorious run straight into the heart of a star before things got to that point'

I loved the interactions between Alek and Rhys they were so caring and sweet with each other and had an instant connection. Both Alek and Rhys are fundamentally good people and this is clear from all the decisions they both make throughout the book. At numerous points they put themselves in danger to protect each other they showed each other and the reader how much they cared and valued each other through actions as much as words. Their romance does develop quickly but it felt realistic given the tense and drastic situations they themselves in, for nearly the whole book they are running from the baddies and trying to stop more people from being hurt in the future.

‘I’m the captain. I say where we’re going. You’re not in any shape to be out there by yourself. I’ll get you home if I can, Alek. I promise.’

Generally the world building was very good, although I do feel it could have been thoroughly developed in certain part, however, as previously mentioned this is the second book in the series and although it worked perfectly as a stand-alone romance I do feel I missed out on some of the over-arcing storylines concerning the Psi and the enemies they were facing. I have already purchased the first book in series and plan to read it as soon as humanly possible. This is a world I want to know more about and some of the characters introduced I want to have their own stories. Trevor, one of Alek’s brothers needs someone in his life. He’s like a grumpy bear that’s all bark and no bite. He was one of my favourite secondary characters in this and I’d love him to get his own book.

Overall a really good science fiction MM romance book and it isn’t often I can say that! Apparently these books are a niche market so when a good one like Gremlin’s Last Run appears it should be given the recognition it deserves. 

My rating:

Happy reading everyone and see you next time!