Kestrel by Adrienne Lothy

Book one of the Starhawk trilogy Niko has only ever wanted to protect people. Once a bounty hunter renowned for bringing in the most dangerous criminals the galaxy had to offer, Niko's life was forever altered after a job gone wrong left him with a devastating injury. Resigned to a languishing existence, he now believes his bounty hunting days are officially over. But when an elusive assassin known only as the Kestrel sets his aim on galactic leaders and celebrities, Niko is called back into the fight. Caught in a deadly hunting game of cat and mouse, Niko soon discovers that nothing he's been told about the Kestrel is what it seems, exposing a web of lies as vast and entangled as the galaxy itself. Niko is forced to make a choice: work alongside the only family he has left to stop the Kestrel from ever killing again, or save the life of the very assassin he's been sent to take down… And Niko might just be falling in love with him.

Adult • Diversity Representation/Disability • Science Fiction/Space Opera • Romance/Action and Adventure • Diversity Representation/LGBTQ+ • Science Fiction/Romance

Content Warning: murder and violence, references to trafficking and sexual assault, references to past deaths of family members (parents, siblings), depression, references to past domestic and child abuse, vulgar language, detailed and graphic sexual scenes between consenting adults