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Return to Earth #3

Valley of Fire

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Ava Wynne wants to start fresh, in a place where nothing reminds her of her failed relationships in Easton. Once awarded a transfer she is paired with a beautiful co-pilot she doesn’t really like. After two cross-continent cargo flights, Ava and her co-pilot are assigned to fly a member of the ruling elite to the cloud city of Miami. The last thing Ava wants is to fly an air taxi for some spoiled member of the Chancellor’s family. But Ava will have bigger problems than her dislike for the ruling elite. A member of the “Return To Earth” insurgency forces their cruiser to crash-land in the desert region of North America. Held captive in this barren outpost, Ava and her privileged, yet captivating, passenger begin to discover things about each other and themselves that will change them both forever.

Third Book in the Return to Earth Series

264 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2016

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About the author

Missouri Vaun

23 books125 followers
Missouri Vaun is a two-time Golden Crown Literary Society award-winning lesbian romance writer published by Bold Strokes Books. SLOW BURN is Vaun’s latest novel. Can a healing wildfire fighter and a not-lucky-in-love artist find love despite their inner doubts?

Vaun spent a large part of her childhood in southern Mississippi, before attending high school in North Carolina and college in Tennessee. Strong connections to her roots in the rural South have been a grounding force throughout her life. Vaun spent twelve years finding her voice working as a journalist in places as disparate as Chicago, Atlanta and Jackson, Miss., all along filing away characters and their stories. Her novels are heartfelt, earthy; speak of loyalty and our responsibility to others.

She and her wife live in Northern California.

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5 stars
14 (36%)
4 stars
12 (31%)
3 stars
11 (28%)
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1 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for Lex Kent.
1,682 reviews8,699 followers
October 15, 2016
3 1/2 Stars. This is the third book in the Return to Earth series, if you include the novella, The Ground Beneath. Though there is also a prequel, that I have not read yet. I liked this quite a bit better than The Ground Beneath, but not as much as All Things Rise.
This book stars Ava, who we met in All Things Rise. Ava, is a hard character to like. She wants to be attached to nobody, but when others around her pair off, she becomes jealous. And while I didn't really care for her in Book 1, I felt bad that she was lonely and stuck in this spiral. It was nice to read a book with a potential love interest for her. That brings us to Leland, a new character. Leland is daughter to the Chancellor of the cloud cities. Basically the man in charge of it all. Leland is tired of people wanting her for wealth and power, so she happily brings Ava home from the bar for a little bit of an escape. Neither women realize this one night stand is not the last they will see each other again.
Leland is a very likeable character and I think she helped carry the book a bit. She absolutely made Ava more likeable. The romance was pretty sweet between them, and you hope for a happy ever after for them.
This story doesn't have as much excitement as some of the other books, its a bit more political about the people against the ruling cast in the cloud cities. There is some time spent on Earth and a small cameo of Cole and Audrey. I would not have minded a little more of them as they are such a likeable pairing. This book did leave an opening as to whats going to happen in this world next. There is definitely room for some more books, and I look forward to reading them.
If this book sounds interesting to you, I would absolutely read All Things Rise first, to get more of a feel about Ava.

An ARC have been given to me by Bold Strokes Books, for a honest review.
Profile Image for Delitealex.
212 reviews102 followers
July 15, 2017
3.5 stars

I felt a little lost jumping in on this third book so I definitely recommend starting from the beginning. As I read more and the story threads came together things were easier to follow. I enjoyed the action but not so much all the politics. The chemistry between Ava and Leland was great and I also loved the glimpses of how the world had changed and why.

Received this book from Bold Strokes Books via netgalley for an honest review.
Profile Image for Jade.
203 reviews16 followers
September 15, 2016
*ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher for an honest review*

It's a bit daunting being the first person to write a review but I will try to be as helpful to other readers as I can be.

The Return to Earth series is based on quite an interesting concept and I really do think that there is room for a bit more development on the idea. The first book introduced us to Ava and if I am honest, I just didn't like her. I thought that that would change in this book but it didn't because I couldn't stand her personality. Ava plays the petulant, spoilt, rich girl well and I just couldn't seem to understand her feelings of anger and betrayal towards Cole and Audrey at the end of the last book and I couldn't understand her outburst towards Leland in this one.

For me Leland was the saving grace and if she had been paired up with someone else and if I had been more invested in the relationship I might have given the story a higher rating. Leland is one of the elite but she is humble and I absolutely loved her character.

Vaun is a very good writer I enjoyed reading this book but as I said earlier I think there is space for more development in the storyline because I just wasn't as captivated as I expected to be. I expected more action and I definitely expected more than a quick gunfight at the end of the book especially considering the build up surrounding the insurgents that was created in 'All Things Rise'.

The most I can rate this book is 3.4 and that's mainly due to how much I liked Leland's character.
Profile Image for Ty.
264 reviews18 followers
January 27, 2018
My previous critique of the other two Vaun books I read was that she set up an amazing premise and then failed to fully utilize that premise, focusing too much on the romance between the main characters and not on the world building that seemed promising. The balance in this one is much better. There are some other flaws - the ending jams in a lot of action that hadn’t really been built up to, so it felt jarring, and the dialogue is often a bit stiff and formal, not what you’d expect to read between characters who know each other well. But this is still good enough to encourage me to read more of Vaun’s stuff in the future.
Profile Image for Tq.
25 reviews2 followers
October 2, 2016
I really enjoyed this read. It's the third book in the Return to Earth Series from Missouri Vaun. The characters were fun and kept the pages turning. The thing I like from this author is that she can take me away from the crazy world of reality into the future post apocalyptic world of romance and hope. I read fiction because it's fun and I enjoy the escape. Vaun certainly grabbed my attention with this one.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews

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