Starred review from April 22, 2024
Fraimow (The Iron Children) paints the far future with a Gilded Age aesthetic in this breakneck adventure that hits every beat it should and still manages to surprise. When Evelyn Ojukwu, a debutante from the distant Kepler colony, lands on the old-money satellite New Monte, she immediately catches the eye of Esteban Mendez-Yuki, heir to a corporate fortune. Demure, proper Evelyn is everything Jules, the last girl Esteban courted, was not—a fact she’s well aware of, since her real name is Ruth and she’s actually Jules’s sister. Ruth and Jules spent years running scams on the rich passengers of interstellar liners. Now Jules is pregnant with Esteban’s baby and heartbroken over his abandonment and Ruth’s ready for her biggest score ever and the sweet vindication of making clueless Esteban pay. Then she meets Esteban’s charming and far-too-smart stepsister, Sol, and feels herself start to fall in love. Sol knows something’s fishy about “Evelyn,” and as Ruth tries to charm Sol off the scent, her growing feelings land her in deep trouble—both with her heart and with the criminal syndicate determined to collect on Sol’s debts. The aristocratic milieu that Fraimow explores will put readers in mind of Bridgerton in space—and it’s exactly as fun as that sounds. Spiced with clever sci-fi touches that make the romance feel fresh and exciting, this is compulsively readable and totally delightful. Agent: Bridget Smith, JABberwocky.