ARC Review: Deal with the Devil (Mercenary Librarians #1) by Kit Rocha

Deal With the Devil
Mercenary Librarians, Book One

The United States went belly up 45 years ago when our power grid was wiped out. Too few live in well-protected isolation while the rest of us scrape by on the margins.

The only thing that matters is survival.
By any means. At any cost.

Nina is an information broker with a mission: to bring hope to the darkest corners of Atlanta. She and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to help those in need. But altruism doesn’t pay the bills—raiding vaults and collecting sensitive data is where the real money is.

Knox is a bitter, battle-weary supersoldier who leads the Silver Devils, an elite strike squad that chose to go AWOL rather than slaughter innocents. Before the Devils leave town for good, they need a biochem hacker to stabilize the experimental implants that grant their superhuman abilities.

The problem? Their hacker’s been kidnapped. And the ransom for her return is Nina. Knox has the perfect bait for a perfect trap: a lost Library of Congress server. The data could set Nina and her team up for years…

If they live that long.

Deal with the Devil is the first in a new series. It takes place completely independently from our previous series with no character overlap. It’s also our first traditionally published book. While we’re working with Tor, a publisher famed for their science fiction novels, the Mercenary Librarians series is still very much a romance series, with a new couple and a guaranteed HEA with each book.

 Buy the Ebook
iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo, Google

Buy in Paperback
The Ripped Bodice, Love's Sweet Arrow, The Haunted Bookshop, Indiebound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

Buy in Hardcover
The Ripped Bodice, Indiebound, Amazon, Book Depository

Audio Version
Audible

Add to Goodreads

What I thought about Deal with the Devil

 In this first book in a new series from the writing team of Kit Rocha, the reader is introduced to a world that they might recognize from the Beyond series by this author team.   Set in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic world similar (but not exactly the same)  to that of the Beyond series,  Deal with the Devil takes off with a super exciting scene setting up the two main characters for this book.

Nina is what is called an information broker in a world shattered by the flares. I love the premise for this series and how these "mercenery librarians" use information as their weapon to help those damaged by the flares that caused the collapse of their society. Nina is their idealistic leader and works hard to take care of everyone in her circle.

Knox is immediately intrigued with Nina and that's a huge driving force for him. A special forces soldier with a team of his own called the Silver Devils, he has his own agenda when dealing with Nina.

Overall, I thought this was a good start to the series.  I loved the action of the book, but the characters were harder to get invested in. I did find it hard to connect to most of the characters and found the writing style not as "easy" as that of the Beyond series. There was a lot to take in, but that was expected with a first book in a dystopian, futuristic romance. It did leave me wanting more.

An ARC was provided for review.

About the Author

Kit Rocha is the pseudonym for co-writing team Donna Herren and Bree Bridges. After penning dozens of paranormal novels, novellas and stories as Moira Rogers, they branched out into gritty, sexy dystopian romance.

The Beyond series has appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists, has been nominated for best erotic romance in the RT Reviewer’s Choice award five times, and won in 2013 and 2015.

Website (Kit Rocha): http://www.kitrocha.com
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/TheBrokenCircle
Reader Group: http://www.facebook.com/group/TheBrokenCircle

Twitter (Announcements): http://twitter.com/kitrocha
Twitter (Bree): http://twitter.com/mostlybree
Twitter (Donna): http://twitter.com/totallydonna