The novel kicks off with Jill and Nial in a classic pressure-cooker situation: alone together in a tiny spaceship, hurtling toward Earth after the mission of the earlier book, with loads of time to kill and just one bed. Mars introduces Jill first, in bitingly funny diary entries and POV passages, as she steels herself for the harrowing duty she feels she must perform once home: killing her father. She’s annoyed but intrigued by Nial, but so hard-edged (“The need to fight, to expend all of her anxiety was a living thing”) that readers may expect him to be put off, especially when she goads him into a physical fight. But no: Nial adores her. “While everything about her was hard, he had a feeling that she would melt for him,” Mars notes.
Their intimacy is earthy, spicy, funny, and complex, especially once the tense idyll of space travel ends, and they face politics, conflict, and Jill’s father, who’s capable of anything. Familiar faces from earlier books turn up, and while reading the series in order is recommended it’s not strictly necessary. For all the novel’s brisk storytelling, sharp dialogue, and spirited comedy, Claiming Jill never loses sight of the hard choices Jill faces, or their emotional toll.
Takeaway: Spirited human-alien romance, with laughs and intrigue.
Comparable Titles: Ilona Andrews’s Innkeeper Chronicles, Dianne Duvall’s Aldebarian Alliance series.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
