Wolfstar (Tour of the Merrimack Series #2) Book

After a story reset at the end of the first book, RM Meluch does a switcheroo on certain characters, and makes the Roman allies the main villain, which is to the benefit of series. The characters, with names like Farragut, Steele, Kerry Blue and Cowboy, are stoic and true, have a black & white sense of honor that we expect out of military folk, and speak in jargon and off-colored witticisms that feel familiar to anyone who's served aboard naval vessels.

Meluch gets it. These characters have strong interpersonal relationships, crushes on each other, conflicts with each other but in the end it's all about kicking Space Roman ass and taking names. This is pure fun set on a space ship. It has little to say about anything deeper than demonstrating how badass their characters are in a pinch.

A lot of side characters from the previous novels took a bigger role this time out, most notably the ship's XO Calli Carmel, who is the most perfect human being ever created, and yet you don't mind it.

Take the epic space antics of Star Trek, add in some current-world military flavor, and the style-over-substance characterization of the Ocean's Eleven films, put it in a blender and be ready to rush out and grab the third book in this fun sci-fi series.