Tavish has been a whore since she was twelve. Unscrupulous brothel owner, Fat Louie, has owned her since cyborgs murdered her family at age seven. Having accepted her existence, Tav has nothing to look forward to until the night 275 pounds of solid muscle comes into the club on Janus 5 to arrest criminal Vincent Mendez. Suddenly, before thinking of the consequences, Tavish thrusts herself into the center of the fray to help Stone Cold Bondsman Xavier Kovuchenko. When she ends up with Mendez holding a knife to her throat, she knows that the outwardly cold bounty hunter, a man touted for always bringing in his quarry, holds her life in his hands.

Xave has a decision to make. The woman or Mendez? Although his solitary lifestyle held little room for women, there was something so captivating about the plucky redhead that he finds himself doing the unthinkable, leaving Fat Louie's with her instead of Mendez. When his boss Warrick Stone finds out and saddles him with Tavish as a partner, Xave knows his solitary life is about to change. Stone orders them back to Janus 5 to find Mendez and get the information he's holding. It's information that will implicate the Alliance in the slaughter of hundreds of colonists, including Tav's family.

Although their search turns into a pleasure-filled romp through the seedy pleasure spots of Janus 5, Xave wonders what Tav will do when she discovers what he really is. Will she be able to look him in the face, let alone love him as he's come to love her? Or will she walk away from him forever?

Daggertail is an interesting, fast-paced and engaging read. I was especially intrigued with the futuristic prejudice that Kaitlyn Maitland devised for Tavish and Xave to overcome, as well as her invention of Xave's lethal daggertail whip, hence the novel's name.

Tav and Xave are enormously appealing characters. Each has their own flaws and vulnerabilities, along with strengths. Although their numerous sex scenes almost succeed in lighting the pages on fire, there was a lack of believability in them. When Tavish emerges from an attack in an alley with her dress ripped and dirty, her hair a mess and her heels broken, the pair go to a fancy casino looking for Mendez without anyone taking notice of Tav's dishabille. In route, they waylay another whore for her shoes. Why not her dress, too? And considering all the sex they have in elevators and hotel rooms, etc, all with Tav running around without underwear, it seems there would be a question of hygiene and smell with all the bodily fluids that had to be running down her legs. Yuck!!

Otherwise, Daggertail is a very enjoyable, well-told story. I'm happy to see that there's a likely hood of sequels about Nathan (I'd ruin a nice surprise if I told you who he is), plus stoic Warrick Stone and precognitive Lola of Stone Cold Bondsmen.

Reviewed by: Merrylee