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Jen Gilroy is a highly talented author! I really enjoyed getting to know her characters through this fun summer time read. It was captivating, moving, and the characters made a home in my heart for good!

This first book in Ms. Gilroy's Firefly Lake series is a wonderful one. This story is one of hope, longing, forgiveness and second chance at love. The emotions of Charlie and Sean can be felt as if they are the reader's own. I love when a book can do that! Each character brought something new to the story, each page turn, capturing me just a little more!

If you love a book filled with amazing characters and a plot that will sweep you away, then this is the book for you. However, I can't give this a full on 4 or 5 star review like I wish to. There is some language(not through the entire book but more than once or twice) and a few scenes that you don't find in a clean read, but the over all story itself, with the wonderfully portrayed characters and the messages of hope and forgiveness can pull the reader in despite the issues, leaving me with recommending this as a 3.5 star read.

Book 2, Summer On Firefly Lake, releases in July and I love the cover just as much!! Despite the lower rating that book 1 had, I may give book 2 a try to see where the next story goes. Overall, Ms. Gilroy is definitely a talented author. <a href="http://cafinatedreads.com/tlc-blog-tour-review-the-cottage-at-firefly-lake-by-jen-gilfoy/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Cafinated Reads</a>
  
Firefly Adventures: Brigands and Browncoats
Firefly Adventures: Brigands and Browncoats
2018 | Entertainment, Miniatures, Science Fiction
Okay! Yes. Firefly, a great IP. Check! Gale Force Nine, a publisher that brought a previous Firefly game to life and was pretty darn good. Check! Solo, Cooperative, or Competitive? Check! So far so good, so how does it stack up and have I finally found my gorram Firefly love?

Firefly Adventures: Brigands and Browncoats (from here just Firefly) is a miniatures skirmish game that can be played as a one-off game experience or as a campaign style story game. In it players will either control one or more Crew (the heroes of the show) or all of the Goons (the bad guys). For the solo experience I will be detailing here the solo player will control all characters on both sides. The Crew will be attempting to pull off The Rescue Job by rescuing an injured comrade hostage stashed in one of the 10 buildings on the board. After the hostage has been rescued all Crew and hostage must make it to the landing pad area before time for the Job runs out.


To setup, follow the instructions on the included Job pamphlet (there are four included in the box). The beginning of the Job will look similar to the photo below, though other components outside the board setup may be in whatever location fits the player best. After Equipment cards have been revealed and shopping completed, the game may begin in earnest, and best be quick – you only have 50 Moments to complete the Job!
Firefly is a turn-based minis game, but turns will probably never be in the same order. Each action taken by a character costs Moments in time, tracked by the brown Moments tracker around the board. Each character, be they Crew or Goons, will have their own Time Marker to show where in the 50 Moments the character currently resides. The character whose Time Marker is furthest in the rear of the pack will take their turn next. On a turn characters will have several choices of actions to take: Move, Complete a Test, Heal, Assist, or even Brawl and Shoot!

This Job focuses on gathering Intel from a terminal in one of the buildings or by chatting up nearby Cowboys. These Intel chips may be turned in for information to help narrow down exactly in which building the hostage is being held. Along the way, however, certain events may cause the Crew to have to “act heroic,” which means swapping out their gray “casual” mini for their green “heroic” mini in order to complete the event. Funny thing though, once a Crew member acts heroic, if ending their turn within line of sight of a Goon, that Goon becomes Alerted and joins the Timeline with their own mini and Time Marker. The Goons will now be trying to take out the beloved Crew member! As in the photo below, poor Mal is being surrounded by Goons with Zoe and Jayne nearby to help.


When all is said and done, Crew and Goons will be taking actions and spending Moments to do so. Should the Crew get to the landing pad with the hostage in tow the Crew wins! However, if time runs out on the Job (as it did with me twice) then the Job has failed. In either case the Crew may receive Rewards in various amounts of credits or Intel or other rewards that they may carry with to the next Job if playing a Story (several Jobs in succession).
Components. I am a HUGE fan of the components in this box. Not only are the minis great, the tokens chunky, and the artwork very good, but each 3D building is pre-assembled right out of the box. They nest very tightly and neatly within the box (whose bottom is also a very large building), but you will need to provide a bunch of baggies or other storage means because all the small components will be dumped into these buildings otherwise. I love all the components in this game, and they are all wonderful to handle… except one – the Time Markers. These are the tokens that represent the characters on the Moments tracker. As characters move along the tracker their Time Markers will be placed on a blank spot, or more often than not, on top of a stack of other Markers. No problem usually, unless your big man-hands tend not to be dextrous enough to grab the top Marker cleanly off the stack and it causes a giant mess of Time Markers on the board. I mean, not that it happened to me several times, of course…

In any case, Firefly is a marvelous scenario-based minis game that I have had nothing but great times playing – even solo! I honestly cannot imagine having more fun by adding more players, so this may be another “solo only” game for me. I will probably try it with my wife, maybe, or someone else once the COVID is gone. I love being able to figure out how best to maneuver each character in order to achieve the goals of the Job, but then something always causing me to have to act heroic and end my turn in LOS of a Goon, so now they are coming after me. I would not necessarily compare it to an action-programming game where you make plans only to have randomness obliterate them, but it certainly adds a giant amount of tactics to the game. In fact, during one play Mal alerted four Cowboys at once, and then the game was no longer a strategic stealthy experience but an all-out melee just to survive. I lost the Job, but only by a few Moments.

Ahh, this one is fabulous, and I am so happy that I have finally found that perfect-for-me Firefly game. If you are a fan of the Firefly mythos and are looking for a game that does it justice while having a ton of replayability, then please check out Firefly Adventures: Brigands and Browncoats. I am seriously also considering purchasing the expansions to add Book, Inara, Simon, and River. I mean, how could you NOT want to add River to your game?? I’ll be in my bunk.
  
Star Wars: Outer Rim
Star Wars: Outer Rim
2019 | Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Space
Theme (2 more)
Quick skill checks
Challenging gameplay
4 player game is ~3 hours (longer with AP) but it's much faster than Firefly. (0 more)
A faster 'Verse
Be a bounty hunter, a smuggler, or somewhere in between. It's all about getting the right ship and crew for the right job. With chatacters from the comics, clone wars cartoon, and movies you are bound to find one you like.
It's fairly rules light and easy to understand.
I have played this four times now and have played differently each time based on conditions i encountered.
  
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
2009 | Animation, Comedy, Family
Its in New Orleans! (0 more)
Great movie
Contains spoilers, click to show
I love this movie it ties in true cajun culture and it goes to show that hard work really pays off to get what you dream of. Tianna is a hard working waitress who dreams of getting the restaurant her father always dreamed of to get for her. Naveen is a prince who us carefree and spoiled. They find love in each other on their adventure to be turned back into humans after naveen was messing with voodoo. They meet a gator named Louis and a firefly named ray that help them on their journey.
  
Firefly: The Game
Firefly: The Game
2013 | Entertainment, Science Fiction, Space, Travel
Lots of variety in games. (0 more)
Not the most useful instructions. (0 more)
Shiny.
There is a LOT to this game. Like, a lot. Setting everything up requires roughly at least a four foot square space not including each player’s own Firefly board. Basically, it is BIG.
In the simplest game mode (‘First time in the captain’s chair.’) you need the board, which is huge, the plastic ships, around 3 decks of cards, money and crew (all provided). Admittedly, the instructions are not awfully clear and you may end up creating your own variations which work better than the ‘official’. A first game should be dedicated to learning the rules and how to play before any competition starts.
However, once you know what you’re doing you can have several hours of fun. You need to do jobs for money, spend it on upgrades and crew to complete goals, often go to a place and buy or sell something. Think Monopoly meets Risk. Upgrades to Firefly ships are fairly balanced, ones that allow stealthy movements reduce movement range, while increasing range may increase fuel consumption. Although, some are more imbalanced than others, but nothing is ‘game breaking’.
Overall a fun game that takes a little time to really get into.
(Oh, no real knowledge of the series or the expanded universe is required.)