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Pacifica Rising #1

Degree of Resistance

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A perfect society hiding a terrible secret. A betrayed man condemned to mindless slavery. A woman willing to break all the rules to set him free.

Freelance tech Evie Contreras is part of the Employee class of the Pacifica Protectorate, the “perfect society” that arose on the West Coast after the breakup of the United States. But Evie knows all about Pacifica’s festering core and the secrets that keep it in power. And when she discovers that her fiancé Ben Drake has been turned into a cyborg slave by a sadistic protectorate officer, she will risk everything to rescue him.

Saving Ben turns out to be the first step in a deadly game between Pacifica and a shadowy resistance group known as Rubicon. Evie reluctantly accepts Rubicon’s help in rescuing Ben, but in return she must go back to Pacifica and rescue a hidden artificial intelligence that may hold the key to saving the entire planet.

Assuming the protectorate doesn’t find her first.

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 21, 2017

8 people are currently reading
31 people want to read

About the author

Nicola M. Cameron

26 books27 followers

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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Profile Image for Merissa (Archaeolibrarian).
4,203 reviews119 followers
January 22, 2024
Degree of Resistance is the first book in a new series by Nicola M. Cameron in the #Cyberpunk/#Science_Fiction genres. In this series, climate change is real. There is snow in the Sahara, places in India are only inhabitable for about 3 months out of 12, due to the searing heat in the summer and freezing in the winter. After The Warming happened, life was chaos, but some form of normality has been regained. However, it only takes one thing to knock everything off balance. This is what happens to Evie when her boyfriend/fiance dies, and she is suddenly in charge of a 6-year-old. She makes decisions and sacrifices, changing her life towards a new direction. Eleven years later, she hears a story from her daughter which throws her life into chaos once again.

This is exceptionally well written, with no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt the reading flow. The story is intriguing, with lots of twists and turns to keep your interest. There are more shocks and surprises as the book continues. This story is wrapped up nicely, whilst still leaving you wanting more and leading nicely onto the next book. A new direction from Nicola M. Cameron, and definitely recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Mar 12, 2017
Profile Image for Matt Burlingame.
Author 11 books49 followers
April 30, 2017
I have been a Nicola Cameron fan for some time, and have always enjoyed her work. But I was blown away reading Degree of Resistance. A perfect mix of science fiction, romance, and the right amount of Cyberpunk--and did I mention the really hot romance? I felt connected with Evie right away and was cheering her on the entire time. Fans of cyborg romance and--like me--need to read this book! And did I mention the amazing romance?
Profile Image for Lynn Turner.
Author 3 books97 followers
April 29, 2018
I was blown away by this story!

This is my first time reading Nicola's work, and my first time in years reading science fiction with romantic elements. I binged on Octavia Butler a few years ago--even found her most rare books--until I was stuffed, then turned my voracious reader appetite to romantic comedy, lol.

::stops rambling::

Nicola's world building is something I admire so much. She's done her research and it shows, because the story is SO immersive, I could HEAR the mechanical whir of the 3D printers printing the exosuit parts, feel the explosions, and tingle at the hot New Orleans drawl one of the characters spoke with. I tasted the food, felt the fear, the sexual tension, sadness and love. The complex society she created was so intriguing. No word was wasted, and every scene felt absolutely necessary to drive the story forward.

I enjoyed the dialogue in this steampunk not-so-distant future, and the technical bits were so well-explained, I had no trouble understanding it or keeping up. It was FASCINATING. Cyborgs, artificial intelligence, exosuits, space vehicles, holograms...I mean, the tech is incredible!

Evie is such a strong heroine. I loved getting a peek into her work, and all the different relationships she maintained. Her voice was so entertaining, and I often thought as I read that I'd say things EXACTLY the same way--she's so relatable. One of my favorite scenes is a pretty intense encounter she has with some ne'er-do-wells, where she remains calm (and witty), then does hand-to-hand combat in one of the most badass scenes I've ever read. She's beautiful, sexy, brilliant, and resilient.

Ben...ooohhhh Ben. I cried when I learned what happened to him, it was so awful. I had to put the book down at the big reveal, because it was SO intense and heartbreaking. Yet, when I came back to it, Nicola took my broken heart and put it back together. She showed that Ben was still a man underneath it all, still very human and very much in love with Evie. He's swoon-worthy, really. So flirty and romantic, protective and brave.

Watching them rediscover their connection was so satisfying, an amazing return on my investment in this story and characters. Despite the ills and evils and misfortunes these characters endured, despite the dark and often frightening times, the deep love they had for each other prevailed. And OMG The Sex! I may or may not have re-read those scenes a few times, hahaha. Also, bonus points for masturbation, more books need to make that a normal thing, especially assisted masturbation. It's hot, just saying. ;)

The story ends with a pretty harrowing cliffhanger, and I cannot WAIT for book two so I can learn what happens.
Profile Image for L.D. Blakeley.
Author 15 books135 followers
February 21, 2017
Delicious cyberromance meets action-packed science fiction!

DEGREE OF RESISTANCE is a gripping, high-stakes, keep-you-on-the-edge-your-seat Sci Fi adventure that combines seamlessly with a May/December romance as sexy as it is sweet. And Nicola M Cameron’s skillful world-building will draw you into this technologically advanced universe in an instant.

This story has androids, cyborgs, an evil corporation, government cover-ups and enough twisty-turny goodness to keep you reading straight through to the end in one sitting. And let’s not forget the romance! The course of true love never did run smooth (a much better writer than I once said) and our heroine, Evie, finds this out first hand. But with each bump along her road to Happily Ever After her resolve is strengthened, giving her the tenacity to kick ALL the bad guy ass en route!

Fans of science fiction, cyberpunk, and romance will love this first book in the Pacifica Rising series.
Profile Image for Shannon Eichorn.
Author 3 books14 followers
June 16, 2019
This near-future dystopia surprised me for how lovable it is. The heartwarming story of a woman a long-lost love, it's full of fantastic worldbuilding. Like engineers being upper class, just under the Investors. (Not that I'm biased.) Like the main character being a mechanical engineer and a maker. Like the charming application of cybernetic technologies in both civilian and military applications, withheld by the evil government to control its populace. I will be looking for more scifi romance by this author.
Profile Image for Sandra Guzdek.
480 reviews6 followers
August 5, 2024
The first in a new series, and this one is fantastic right from the start. It's not-too-distant future dystopian-ish US, with a splash of science fiction and a dash of Westworld. In this one, the protagonist, Evie, has a mission to accomplish, but it's just an introduction to a wider world for Evie. I'm very much looking forward to more of the story.
Profile Image for Gloria.
Author 39 books85 followers
January 28, 2022
Steamy science fiction thriller. Fun characters, with a mind-bending premise.
Profile Image for Skye Kilaen.
Author 19 books376 followers
no-thank-you
October 22, 2018
I had read another of Cameron's books and really liked it, so I gave this a spin since I'm a sci-fi fan. I liked so much about it - but wow, SO many content warnings for lack of consent, rape by coercion, sexual assault threats:
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews

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