Title: Hope's Folly
Series: Dock Five book 3
Author(s): Linnea Sinclair
Genre: Scifi, romance
Publisher/Year: Bantam/2009
-Webpage: Linnea Sinclair
-Blog: Alien Romances
Synopsis: Admiral Philip Guthrie is in an unprecedented position: on the wrong end of the law, leading a ragtag band of rebels against the oppressive Imperial forces. Or would be if he can get his command ship—the derelict cruiser called Hope’s Folly—functioning. Not much can rattle Philip’s legendary cool—but the woman who helps him foil an assassination attempt on Kirro Station will. She’s the daughter of his best friend and first commander—a man who died while under Philip’s command and whose death is on Philip’s conscience.
Rya Bennton has been in love with Philip Guthrie since she was a girl. But can her childhood fantasies survive an encounter with the hardened man, and newly minted rebel leader, once she learns the truth about her father’s death? Or will her passion for revenge put not only their hearts but their lives at risk? It’s an impossible mission: A man who feels he can’t love. A woman who believes she’s unlovable. And an enemy who will stop at nothing to crush them both.
Review: This is tied in with Gabriel's Ghost and Shades of Dark (collectively known as the 'Dock 5' novels), so spoilers abound for many events and character relationships, but a brief recounting of the major plot points occurs to keep potentially new readers out of confusion. The book is also populated with characters that readers will know from the two previous novels (not just Sully and Chaz) so old faces are a friendly sight occasionally.
It was different to read a Linnea book where the romantic leads pretty much are on equal footing in most aspects (power, race, motivation), but I have to say I enjoyed it a great deal. It was nice to see both Rya (I love this name now) and Philip struggle with their attraction and respective feelings towards it. Rya was, with good reason it would seem, in serious hero worship of Philip for about two decades and was having trouble reconciling her Heroic Vision of the Man vs. the mundane reality. Philip meanwhile was struggling with not only his guilt over her father's death, but their age differences and I think the awkwardness of Rya's hero worship.
Some people just don't like pedestals.
Time of course is the great equalizer and by the time their romance really begins their main problem was how little time they had left to express those feelings. Imminent death from all sides does that. I will say, for a little while near the end, their relationship hit a common historical romance trope that is sometimes annoying as sin, but by the end of the book Linnea manages to finagle it into a workable solution to their romantic woes.
Rya's fascination with weaponry was amusing and entertaining (I wonder at the fact that Philip didn't think to question if her feelings were for him or his guns), especially the first few scenes that Philip and Rya re-connect (albeit unknowingly). Rya's ex-lover (can't really be considered a boyfriend) was an aggrevation, but not really anything to be concerned over.
Since the major arc of the Dock 5 books hasn't been concluded I sincerely hope for more exploration into the aftermath of the Alliance's reformation in any future books that come out!
