Thank you to Karina Halle and her team for the advance reader copy of Vanguard, a new dark post-dystopian romance from an absolute favourite author of mine.
Karina Halle always astounds me with how much she genre-hops and writes banger after banger across so many sub-genres of romance. From the moment Karina began to tease this one, I had incredibly high hopes. The premise was unique, and who doesn’t love the idea of a kinky Captain America? Karina has written an amazing opening instalment in a post-dystopian world that simultaneously tackles relevant topics surrounding politics and our world today, with a hot-as-sin romance.
I am a member of Karina’s review team, the Reckless Readers Society, but I remain honest and genuine in my reviews.
Her kiss may be deadly, but he’s indestructible.
Erasmia “Mia” Baxter is her agency’s most lethal operative, genetically engineered to have poisonous saliva. But having the kiss of death is hell on her social life. Her future holds no romance, no family, no intimacy of any kind—only killing for her country.
When her special ops group hears rumors that America’s first enhanced soldier—Vanguard—may be more deadly weapon than savior, Mia is tasked with infiltrating his inner circle to investigate. What she finds is a former military asset with a hidden dark side—and the only man she can kiss without consequence.
Intoxicated by the obsessive passion rising between them, Mia falls deeper into lust with each new sensual encounter. But the closer they become, the more she realizes there might be truth to the rumors. Vanguard is changing—becoming more violent, more devious, less…human. And the truth of her identity might push him over the edge entirely.
In a world where heroes and monsters are separated by the thinnest of lines, Mia must Is the man she’s falling for worth saving? Or is he the weapon he was created to be—one that will destroy her first?
A dark romance special ops spy thriller with a post-dystopian sci-fi bent—VANGUARD has the gripping twists and turns of BLACK DOVES paired with the seductive intensity of Runyx’s DARK VERSE series.
SPECIAL NOTE: this is POST-Dystopian and set in the near future, so it’s more The Boys than it is The Handmaid’s Tale. And please read the author’s note inside the book prior to diving in as topics and situations in the book can be considered controversial and triggering!
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: Mia Baxter is our heroine; she is sent on a mission to kill Vanguard, potentially. Her kiss is lethal; literally, it can kill a person, and it informs her character so much. She is a phenomenal undercover agent, a fighter, the type of woman you wouldn’t mess with. While also being a woman deprived of intimacy her whole life. All of that changes when she meets Vanguard, seemingly the first man she has ever met she can’t kill. Vanguard is a super interesting character; he embodies everything we should hate about this post-dystopian world, a super-soldier answering to the cadre of big business and corrupt government. In his former life, he was Nate Whitaker, an American soldier dedicated to serving his country. He was a pawn then and even more of a pawn now as Vanguard. Throughout the book, he is not just fighting against what he has been told but his programming, making his point of view chapters this amazing inner turmoil on full display.
- Setting: Vanguard is set in a near-future America in the year 2040, specifically a post-dystopian New York City. The world is dark and gritty, and the scary part is that it doesn’t feel as far away as it should. There is another amazing set piece that not so subtly ties to another standout Karina story, but I am not going to give away what setting we get to return to; you gotta read it for yourself.
- Romance: I spoke above about the depth of both of the characters; they have something in common: their loneliness. It would be easy to fall into a trap of insta-lust with this being the first man Mia can really be intimate with, but it is not just that she can kiss him; she opens up to him in a way she never had with anyone else, and he does the same. This is a couple that starts on opposite sides of conflict, who find solace with each other to face whatever threat comes next.
- Spice: The spice is off the charts, or should I say up in the air, against the wall, and everywhere in between. Karina said this book was Captain America, but she made him kinky, and she did not disappoint. This book has some of the most intense and passionate spice I’ve read in a while; it really exudes the depth of their feelings for each other and the way they almost heal each other.
Vanguard is 4/5 stars
You can pick up the story here.
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Thank you again to Karina and Lauren for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
