Veena’s review of Ashwin (Gideon’s Riders, Book 1) by Kit Rocha
Dystopian Romance published by Kit Rocha 07 Mar 17
The sectors all united under the leadership of Dallas O’Kane and brought down the walls of Eden, a fitting ending for the Beyond series. Now the winners need to deliver in their promise of a new tomorrow and create a world order that is more than surviving. Gideon Rios and Sector One have emerged as a powerful beacon of hope. In this exciting spin-off, we explore a little more about the fascinating world of Sector One, which is as different from Dallas O’Kane’s world as chalk from cheese.
Gideon’s riders are dedicated men and women who forsake all relationships to put their lives on the line to keep the innocent safe. In this new series, we start the next wave of adventures with these brave men and women as they conquer new threats and find redemption.
Ashwin Malhotra, the Makkai warrior who has his own moral compass and uses his judgement in obeying certain orders which don’t align as well as his obsession with healer Kora, has fascinated me. I am pleased they are the couple chosen to launch this new series. If anyone deserves redemption and love, it’s this brave warrior who has been disciplined to the pain of death to forsake all emotion and embrace logic. Watching Kora and, more importantly, Gideon wage the battle for his soul is fascinating.
Kora is an exceptional healer with a great heart, all of which is devoted to her patients. We understand a lot more about who and what she is and how she’s survived against all odds, some of which have been evened out by the exceptional Makkai warrior who feels emotion, even as he’s trained to feel none. In her own way, she’s on a parallel journey to Ashwin’s as she finally opens up her heart to truly embrace who and what she can be. I read with bated breath as the story moves to a thrilling conclusion as her personal truths emerge and her new-found family take the steps to keep her safe from Eden.
Ashwin is always calculating the odds and angles in everything. He uses logic to justify his emotional reactions, except where Kora is concerned. His assignment is to infiltrate the riders and, if necessary, eliminate Gideon Rios, who’s a rising threat to his bosses. What Ashwin gets in Sector One as a rider is acceptance and hero worship. For the first time, he has difficulty separating emotion and logic, and, clearly, Kora and his growing love affair with her is a large part of the splintering of his control.
Life in Sector One is so very different from life in Sector Four, and yet we see the same level of camaraderie between the cast of characters. The scenes in the church with the outlines of the riders, both when the riders welcome Ashwin into their ranks as well as when they bid goodbye to their own, have a strong emotional impact and sucked me right into the emotional connect with these characters.
I can’t wait to read all the stories waiting to be told about the fascinating cast of characters I met between the pages of this book. Along the way I’m looking forward to glimpses of some of the characters from the earlier series, much in the same way as we caught up with Cruz, Ace, Rachel and their twin babies here.
Grade: A
Summary:
Gideon’s Riders, Book One
Lieutenant Ashwin Malhotra is a Makhai soldier–genetically engineered to be cold, ruthless. Unfeeling. His commanding officers consider him the perfect operative, and they’re right. Now, he has a simple mission: to infiltrate Gideon’s Riders, the infamous sect of holy warriors that protects the people of Sector One.
He’s never failed to execute an objective, but there’s one thing he didn’t anticipate–running into Dr. Kora Bellamy, the only woman to ever break through his icy exterior.
When Kora fled her life as a military doctor for the Makhai Project, all she wanted was peace–a quiet life where she could heal the sick and injured. The royal Rios family welcomed her like a sister, but she could never forget Ashwin. His sudden reappearance is a second chance–if she can manage to touch his heart.
When the simmering tension between them finally ignites, Kora doesn’t realize she’s playing with fire. Because she’s not just falling in love with a man who may not be able to love her back. Ashwin has too many secrets–and one of them could destroy her.
No excerpt available.
