The minute I found out Riveted had a plucky, socially awkward engineer for its heroine and an earnest scientist on a mission for its hero, I was sold. I loved Annika, though I kept seeing Kaylee from Firefly in her place because they both have the same innocence and open-minded wonder about them.I have only two reservations about this book. The first revolves around the rather disappointing antagonist. Being the obsessively devoted son of a mad scientist has a lot of potential, most of which was left untouched. A forgettable antagonist never does a book any good, even if it is a romance novel.
The second reservation is for how this book seems to bludgeon the reader over the head with its many social justice issues. I like stories that speak messages of tolerance and acceptance but Meljean Brook could have done it in a subtler manner. Given us a bit of breathing room in between -isms.
Still, this story is a 4.5 due to excellent characters with real hang-ups, cheek-burning sexy times, and the sheer impossiblity of putting this book down.