The Horizon by Charlotte Stein

The Horizon
by Charlotte Stein
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
This was one of those really fun, sexy books. Charlotte Stein by herself is always a winner in my opinion, but Charlotte Stein does space cowboy is practically the cutest thing ever – in a filthy, sex-obsessed way of course. It's got cowboy slang with just a hint of british grammar, so it took some thinking on my part to understand the sentences, but those are some of the funnest books for me to read.

Imagine some alien species, somewhere between Cybermen from Doctor Who and Vidiians from Star Trek Voyager (the ones with the Phage), chasing and capturing two humanoid space pirates to do whatever sick, twisted things they do. Except for REASONS, the space pirates get away after being shot up with some neural toxin drug. What happens next is fun and crazy and erotic. And for as much as there is a rollicking adventure happening in the background, this story is about two people finding out they belong together.

Both characters are pretty tough and unemotional, so every little step they take towards each other feels so poignant, like their crossing miles just to say “I like you”. They fight all the time and it's all so raw and perfect. They're both sort-of awkward but comfortable in their skin and comfortable with exactly how the other is. They're not out to change each other and their fighting is always related to caring and tough-guy posturing. I loved watching them finally figure out their feelings and see a little bit of their sweet, soft underbellies.

This book is written in third person, so we get a nice mix of each of their feelings. This is not a really long book – somewhere around 100 pages. So it goes pretty quickly and it's the perfect therapy for the end of a busy day. It goes into my “read again whenever I need a pick me up” pile.