Review: Calamity by Constance Fay

Calamity

Constance Fay

(Uncharted Hearts #1)

Publication Date: November 14, 2023

Paperback, 320 pages, Bramble

Genres: Adult, Sci-Fi, Romance

Goodreads

Bramble's inaugural debut is equal parts steamy interstellar romance and sci-fi adventure, perfect for fans of Firefly and Ilona Andrews.

 

She’s got a ramshackle spaceship, a misfit crew, and a big problem with its sexy newest member…

 

Temperance Reed, banished from the wealthy and dangerous Fifteen Families, just wants to keep her crew together after their feckless captain ran off with the intern. But she’s drowning in debt and revolutionary new engine technology is about to make her beloved ship obsolete.

 

Enter Arcadio Escajeda. Second child of the terrifying Escajeda Family, he’s the thorn in Temper’s side as they’re sent off on a scouting mission on the backwater desert planet of Herschel 2. They throw sparks every time they meet but Temper’s suspicions of his ulterior motives only serve to fuel the flames between them.

 

Despite volcanic eruptions, secret cultists, and deadly galactic fighters, the greatest threat on this mission may be to Temper’s heart.

My Review

Constance Fay's Calamity is a good book for fans of Meagan Spooner and Amie Kaufman's Starbound trilogy as well as some of the cheesier Sy-Fy space television shows that are addicting but ridiculous at the same time. Unfortunately, Calamity for me was a bit of a miss, but I could see some people having fun with it, especially for readers who like lighter romances with a decent amount of worldbuilding.

So the main character, Temperance Reed, has been kicked out of her rich family and is now the captain of a ship. Her and her crew take on an odd job involving another rich family, and one of the sons of said family, Arcadio, tags along for the trip. Temperance's personality wasn't super mature. Her inner dialogue and even conversations with other characters just weren't funny. The banter was really juvenile, in my opinion. And I feel like that's what the story and the romance was leaning on: being a light-hearted, funny, space romance. Honestly, it was just kind of weird and awkward. Arcadio also never really got a chance to move beyond "hot solder" designation. The supposedly "romantic" and "sexy" scenes did not hit.

The action for this story was decent. The conflict between the main characters and the cult group and another evil rich family was intriguing, but it didn't make up for the lackluster chemistry between the two leads. There was no real tension between the two; it was a bit insta-lovey/lusty. With some cheesiness thrown in. Some of the descriptions towards the end were also a little hard to follow. The writing got a little clunky.

Overall, Calamity didn't hit like I thought it would. I expected worldbuilding on the scale of The Expanse with a romance story similar to ACOTAR or FBAA, as this is published by a sci-fi/fantasy romance imprint. I think my expectations were too high. However, don't let that stop you from reading it. It could be a nice palette cleanser between heavier romantasy stories.

*Note: I received a copy of this book to review from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion/review.