Deal with the Devil: A Mercenary Librarians Novel

Wow! This story bristles with energy, wit, and inventiveness and under it all a deep appreciation for the best in people. Perhaps the "angels of our better nature" is too strong of a phrase but I kept coming back to that as the characters in Rocha's tech/corporate hellscape keep reaching for what makes them human, what allows them to connect, what inspires them to do better and to make others better. It was exactly the book I needed right now in the midst of COVID-19 and I tore through it. Society has fractured under the Flares which has ripped away the technological ease under which people lived and forced communities under the control of corporations who coldly manipulate the traumatized people through genetics, implants, and bioengineering. Nina is a refugee from one of those institutes and has been left to build her own family out of great loss. I loved her team. The women who are smart and strong and have each other's backs. Bechdel test passed in the first chapter! Maya and Dani have their own pain and their own agendas and I really appreciated that although Nina is front and center, we still see so much of their stories through their own viewpoint. Knox is Nina's counterpoint and foil as the leader of a group of renegade genetically modified super soldiers who have also escaped control by the corporate overlords who created them. Knox is awed by Nina and the way she has been able to support her community through the rediscovery of information science (she's a librarian 🧐) Let me say that again. The badass post-apocalyptic superheroine of this book is a librarian. I love it! Knox is drawn to Nina and what she represents but he has his own agenda and his own secrets. And his team is just as fascinating as hers! This is a firecracker of a book. Tight plotting, role reversals, surprise arrivals, dangerous missions, this book has it all. But what ties it all together is a deep appreciation of the best of what makes us human-our compassion and our forgiveness. I don't know how I've been sitting on Kit Rocha. It's a duo author and I've been following one of them on twitter for a while, but this is the first Kit Rocha book I've read. It won't be the last. I'll be looking up their Beyond series and eagerly awaiting the next book in this series. I'm in love with this world and the people in it.

This is an EPIC study that has the making for a wonderfully crazy series. Nina is a clone. One of three, if you want to precise. She was made with 2 sisters and each has different skills. It’s how things are done now that the government has fallen and only a handful of Corporations “manage” whole sections of the United States. But when something goes wrong, Nina is left alone and she eventually creates a found family of other genetically modified women who keep their section of Atlanta safe. Captain Knox has the possibility of messing up that peace. He, and his crew, are former super-soldiers who are in desperate need of an electronic upgrade. However, the only way to do that is to convince Nina and her crew to help them on a mission. Of course there’s more to the story, but this is a non-spoiler review! As this is the first book, there is a lot of world building. You’re going to have to remember a lot of names, understand the general backstory of all involved and keep track of who has what enhancements. It’s not horribly overwhelming but be prepared. I enjoyed this book but I enjoy most things written by Kit Rocha!They create these dystopian worlds that manage to show that not everything is horrible, falling in love is possible and your found family is everything. It also doesn’t hurt that they writes some deliciously sexy sex scenes! I can’t wait or book 2 as I really want to know more about Maya and Gray.

I received an unedited had copy of this book, after I had already pre-ordered the kindle version. I have to admit that I couldn't get into the book having been reading e books since before Kindle was around, I had a hard time getting into the flow of this story. I don't really think it was the story as more of the fact that i couldn't just whip out my iPhone to resume reading or at my desk, I had to actually have the physical item with me and it felt different, cumbersome. I started and stopped the story several times, but when it actually hit my e reader I was ready to get back into the interesting world this story was in. As with all first books of a new series, it filled with multiple interesting characters and lives to be eventually filled out with future books. You get the up close and personal info on Nina and Knox, but with a lot more possible for future stories. While you can't really say that Nina and Knox get their HEA, they do get to the HFN. As with previous series for these authors, you get inventive, gritty characters and storylines. Neither are completely angelic, but neither are they beyond redemption, but always doing the best that can be done at the moment. The writing is exceptional so I will be looking forward to the next book in this series, and possibly re-reading this one right before its publication date. This book is well worth your time and $$. At no point was I pressured to write this review, and happily doing so.

Much of this story was standard fare - kick-ass gorgeous women with augmented abilities; ditto the men, who are also tall, studly, trained lethal killers, but who, of course, melt when they find their perfect mate. Plus new, evil organisations emerging after the apocalypse (solar flares which scourged earth). The heroines were somewhat unlikely librarians and indeed didn't start off this way - finding and copying books became a 'cause' for them but this work is very much secondary to the major plot. It's all pretty predictable. But the authors managed to wrap a decent plot around it, with solid world-building and the story trotted along at a fast clip with plenty of action. I skipped the obligatory sex scenes - each book has one hot and heavy scene, the rest is flirting/teasing. The sci fi is limited - there are augmented humans, fancy weaponry, advanced IT and genetic engineering, no doubt because this is a fairly recent earth after an apocalypse. There are no surprises with the HEA, each story is complete in itself - no cliffhangers here - although there is always an epilogue teaser, as a preamble to the next book. I've now read 3 of them, basically each story forming round a new romantic pairing up of 2 characters. Whilst I enjoyed them and can understand their popularity with readers who like their romance, I won't be buying any more as I prefer more sci fi with romance as a side dish.

This is one of those books I didn't know I needed until I picked it up. I mean, obviously I thought I'd enjoy it (because have you read Kit Rocha's other books???), but I wasn't expecting it to crawl under my skin and settle in the way it did. It worked for me on a lot of levels and OMG THAT ENDING! But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We'll start with Nina and Knox. Nina who is so cheerfully optimistic (although that might be the wrong word) despite everything she's endured. She genuinely wants to change things for the better and she finds a way to make it happen (along with her librarian sisters) no matter what roadblocks are thrown in her path. Knox is...a little less optimistic. He's battle-worn and recent losses have ground him down to the point where he makes a few questionable decisions to save the people who look to him for leadership. But Nina rekindles the spark of decency in him (not that he was ever morally corrupt or anything. Yeah. It's complicated. Sometimes good people have to do bad things to protect those who matter most.) and THINGS HAPPEN. Seriously. This book. It was very good. Very VERY good. A crumbling, post-apocalyptic world where living the good life comes at a high price and those who choose to fight are battling uphill while trying to protect those who can't protect themselves. And because it's something I genuinely adore about KR books, the core ideas of found family and forgiveness and accepting those around you as they are hit all my happy buttons. Nina's librarian sisters might not be her sisters by blood (or however you want to put it), but they are hers all the same. Just like Knox's team are his brothers. And somehow, this big, blood-thirsty group makes it work. Eventually. You know, after a few battles and threats and other bloody things. (And OMG THAT ENDING!) -Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

A little more sex please...A whole book and you squeezed out 2.5 sex scenes lol Please ma'am...I'd like some more 😉😏

Kit Rocha has done it again. This author duo takes world-building to the next level, and all you can do is tuck in and enjoy the ride. The characters are well-developed and relatable – I love finding characters who are real enough to be believable, but fantastic enough that their stories give me an escape from my real life while immersing me in their realistic-enough-to-be-believable life. Deal with the Devil gives us the story of Nina and Knox, set in the not-too-distant future in and around Atlanta, and it is an intriguing beginning to Kit Rocha’s new series (and, really, how can you go wrong with a series about mercenary librarians?!?). It is one of those books that you binge read start to finish, gobbling it up as fast as you can, then immediately settle in for a leisurely reread to pick up on all the things you missed because you devoured it so quickly the first time. I can’t wait for the next in the series!

My first experience with these authors. There was sufficient character building that we can appreciate the actions/reactions throughout the story. There is deception and remorse (for some). We have two unique teams of enhanced humans who trust only their own teams but are thrown together in a common cause. There is romance that was pretty well done and some heat. Overall, a very interesting story. I knocked off a star for the bait and hook element. This book was obtained on Kindle Unlimited. To read the next they are charging an obscene amount. I wish them well.

Ist langweilig und zu teuer.

I have been a big fan of Kit Rocha since I got immersed in the O'Kane world that they created in the Beyond series & now I am already totally invested in all the Mercenary Librarians characters & can't wait for the next one ☺

I'm not big on dystopia but when a book has superhumans, quiet resistance to tyranny, found family, and a love of knowledge and community baked in, I'm in 100% and loving the ride

After plenty of recommendations to read this author duo, I finally took the plunge. Mind you, I waited until this book was available for a decent price because HOLY COW IS IT EXPENSIVE?! Like seriously... on Amazon Canada... it's $11.99 just for the kindle copy. I bought the hardcover a while back from Book Outlet (thanks Book Outlet for always saving me money) and when the digital copy went on sale for 99 cents (was that a glitch that I was lucky enough to catch?), I grabbed my copy and promised myself that one day... ONE DAY... I would read it. And finally I did! And I really liked it! Seriously, what was there not to like? 📚 lethal librarians - Nina's a deadly clone, Maya is a human computer, and Dani... well, she's just crazy! 📚 mercenaries - they're the Silver Devils and when someone they care about is taken and threatened, they prove they're willing to do almost anything to get her back 📚 chaos - who doesn't love chaos? 📚 destruction - again, who doesn't love it? 📚 enough plot to carry over into another book and characters I want to get to know better 📚 there was even the apocalypse version of romance So why didn't it get all the stars? Well, here's the deal: I was told that these authors write some seriously filthy sex scenes. So when I realized that there was something building between Nina and Knox, I expected a lot of bow chicka wow wow and instead got some whomp whomp. The sex scenes were pretty tame. And I felt let down. I know, I'm terrible for docking a star for lukewarm sex scenes. And I'm sure there were more valid reasons to dock a star, but this is the one that keeps sticking out for me. Will I read from these authors again? Yup. I'm planning to continue this series. And yes, I do know that the authors have a truly filthy menage series out there, but I'm not interested in books like that. I'll stick to the traditional relationships I've found here and muddle through the young adultish intimacy.

The characters in this book are the reason I enjoyed it so much. I liked the plot and the world building is good but the characters are really well done. I enjoyed the Beyond series but the writing is much better in Deal with the Devil. I'm looking forward to more Mercenary Librarians.