secretromancereader's review
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
cdb393's review
4.0
More like 3 1/2 stars. The setting of the space race and having a female coder in the '60s as a heroine was fresh and enjoyable. I loved Charlie and Parsons separately. Something about Charlie and Parsons together didn't quite work for me. I never felt their connection as a couple like I did with the couples in the previous two books in this series. That said, the writing was good and I look forward to the next one in the series.
sheids's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
csharp7's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
emmalita's review against another edition
5.0
Every time I reread Earth Bound I want to review it again. Gene and Charlie are both so starchy and their unraveling is so private. It’s one of my all time favorite romances.
I enjoyed Star Dust when I read it a few years ago, but I didn’t follow up because the next book was about Eugene Parsons and the grumpy, emotionally unavailable engineer did not sound like someone I wanted to read a romance about. Friends, I was an idiot. What a difference there is between 48 and 50, because now I know that a grumpy, emotionally unavailable engineer is my thing. Especially when paired with a super smart, emotionally unavailable engineer/mathematician.
Eugene Parsons is one of the directors of the space program. He is tasked with getting American men into space and onto the moon safely and before the Soviets. He is feared and is generally seen as an unreasonable, humorless perfectionist. Dr. Charlie Eason probably ought to be the director, but she’s a woman, so instead she is a computer and in charge of the other women.
Eugene and Charlie begin an affair, one in which they meet at a seedy motel where they never talk about work and they never talk about their affair at work. This is the most unusual romance novel I have read. On it’s face it is unromantic, but at it’s core it is seething lust and pining hearts. It is sappy and emotional in ways that feel entirely earned.
I don’t know if I would have appreciated Earth Bound two years ago. I think I would have found it a little cold. I don’t entirely know what has changed that now I am swooning over these two people who are so allergic to emotion. I am though. I am swooning.
I enjoyed Star Dust when I read it a few years ago, but I didn’t follow up because the next book was about Eugene Parsons and the grumpy, emotionally unavailable engineer did not sound like someone I wanted to read a romance about. Friends, I was an idiot. What a difference there is between 48 and 50, because now I know that a grumpy, emotionally unavailable engineer is my thing. Especially when paired with a super smart, emotionally unavailable engineer/mathematician.
Eugene Parsons is one of the directors of the space program. He is tasked with getting American men into space and onto the moon safely and before the Soviets. He is feared and is generally seen as an unreasonable, humorless perfectionist. Dr. Charlie Eason probably ought to be the director, but she’s a woman, so instead she is a computer and in charge of the other women.
Eugene and Charlie begin an affair, one in which they meet at a seedy motel where they never talk about work and they never talk about their affair at work. This is the most unusual romance novel I have read. On it’s face it is unromantic, but at it’s core it is seething lust and pining hearts. It is sappy and emotional in ways that feel entirely earned.
I don’t know if I would have appreciated Earth Bound two years ago. I think I would have found it a little cold. I don’t entirely know what has changed that now I am swooning over these two people who are so allergic to emotion. I am though. I am swooning.
sungmemoonstruck's review
5.0
This *might* be closer to 4.5 stars but I really loved this romance set during the Space Race, with its two compelling and unique main characters and the perfect blend of science, history, and romance. I'm not sure I've ever read anything quite like it and considering the amount of romance I read, that's quite a feat.
mara_miriam's review
2.0
See my review of Star Crossed for a review of the Fly Me to the Moon series.