Cats of War by Carol Van Natta

4 Stars

The writing and editing was top notch in this novella, with few if any typos in the ARC version of this manuscript. The world building was excellent without being intrusive, being layered subtly into the story. The characterization was great, with both the hero and heroine of this novel being vibrantly drawn, sympathetic individuals. The development of the romance between these two was the main weakness of this story, with these protagonists having some chemistry but never acting on it. The plot and pacing was excellent, with me rapidly turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next for these characters! There was a low level of angst in this story and pretty high stakes, which tends to be one of my preferred narrative structures for romance novels. This novel uses the Star-Crossed Lovers tope, because their respective positions and rank forbids them from currently being together. The world building, plot, and pacing was five stars. The characterization was also five stars. I took one star off the total combined score because of how weak the development of the romantic relationship was. This novella ends on a Happy For Now ending. I recommend this short story for readers who enjoy space opera with romantic elements. I would not necessarily categorize this story as a sci-fi romance. I do not plan to buy myself a keeper copy of this story, though I quite enjoyed it. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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