Overall impression:very fast-paced and steamy sci-fi romance novella. There were quite a few times where I felt like rolling my eyes but it was⭐⭐.5/5
Overall impression:very fast-paced and steamy sci-fi romance novella. There were quite a few times where I felt like rolling my eyes but it was an enjoyable enough read to pass time on the weekend. Probably won't continue with the series because there wasn't really anything to draw me in.
✅ Alien / Human ✅ Warrior Prince / DV Survivor, Mother ✅ Fated mates ✅ *Fine* book cover ...more
Overall impression: as much as I loved this book, I just couldn't get over how the (view spoiler)[rape (hide spoiler)] scene was handled. (view s⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall impression: as much as I loved this book, I just couldn't get over how the (view spoiler)[rape (hide spoiler)] scene was handled. (view spoiler)[Abel saved Mikey (her mate's brother) and in the process Kane (her mate) was captured. Although Mikey (I fkn hated this nickname btw) was supposed to keep Abel safe, he smelt her period blood and proceeded to rape her. The scene was so detailed and glorified that it made me feel physically sick. I can tolerate scenes like this when they serve a purpose in a book - but after the scene, Abel went on to protect Mikey for the rest of the book. She hid what he did to her, pretended like she wanted it and got upset when people wanted him held accountable for his actions. She didn't even want to tell Kane because she didn't want his view of Mikey to be muddied...like it should definitely be muddied because he's the grossest piece of scum there is out there. It felt like the scene served no purpose in the end, except showing us once again that men that rape women can get away with it. (hide spoiler)]
✅ Alien king / human survivor ✅ Apocalyptic romance ✅ Enemies-to-lovers ✅ Insta-love romance ✅ Bonding for life / immortal romance ✅ Gritty ✅ Cool book cover ✅ Part of a series ⚖️ Dark romance ❌ (view spoiler)[Abel is raped by her mate's brother (hide spoiler)] ❌ (view spoiler)[Abel protects her rapist (hide spoiler)] ❌ (view spoiler)[Author emphasises how much Abel enjoys oral sex whilst she is being raped (hide spoiler)] ❌ The term "sweetest blood" (aka period blood)...more
Overall impression: good time-filler but nothing revolutionary or engaging enough for me to want to read the rest of the novellas in the series.⭐⭐.5/5
Overall impression: good time-filler but nothing revolutionary or engaging enough for me to want to read the rest of the novellas in the series.
✅ Emperor / Rogue Queen ✅ POC heroine ✅ Smart and strong heroine ✅ Cool sci-fi tech (i.e. neural links, biological augments) ✅ Pretty book cover ✅ Novella in a series ⚖️ Poorly explained why Samara was chosen to be "Queen" over rogues ⚖️ Anti-monarchy group has "Queen" as leader ❌ Insta-love ❌ Lust in scenes that made zero sense ❌ Weak plot ❌ Telling rather than showing ❌ Zero world-building...more
Overall impression: a pretty average and mostly clean sci-fi romance that just needs a good edit to elevate it from 3 -> 5 stars. It severely lac⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall impression: a pretty average and mostly clean sci-fi romance that just needs a good edit to elevate it from 3 -> 5 stars. It severely lacked a lot of the sci-fi elements that transport readers to a cool futuristic world. There was barely any world-building and you never really explored the lore and culture of the alien species. My other big tripe with the book was that it jumped time too quickly. You'd read a completely normal scene that ended with the promise of deepening the MC's relationship, but then it would jump months or years into the future and you'd be struck with the realisation that those smaller 'intimate' scenes really meant nothing in the grands scheme of things. It made it pointless to read those chapters.
✅ Alien ruler / ordinary human ✅ Immortal love / bonding ✅ Sci-fi romance ✅ HEA ⚖️ Slow-paced with weird time jumps (spanned over 8 years somehow) ⚖️ Slow-burn romance (kinda) ⚖️ Author confusion between empathic and telepathic abilities towards the end ❌ No world-building ❌ No exploration of alien culture ❌ Minimal use of side-characters ❌ MMC wanting to continue sleeping with other aliens to bear more children after (view spoiler)[bonding with FMC (hide spoiler)] ❌ Fade to black s*x scene with MMC and more detail given about her prior (view spoiler)[r@pe (hide spoiler)] scene
Side note: can't really be bothered to continue with the series. It ended on a semi cliff-hanger, but not one interesting enough to draw you back in. Happy to pretend it's just a HEA stand-alone novel for the time being. ...more
Overall impression: I had high hopes for Taken to Voraxia because it promised alien diversity, cool tech and the fated mates trope. Unfortunately⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall impression: I had high hopes for Taken to Voraxia because it promised alien diversity, cool tech and the fated mates trope. Unfortunately, it didn't quite deliver and ended up being like 1000s of other sci-fi romance novels. I started getting a bit bored towards the end and had to force myself through the last 100 pages. Luckily I had the physical copy of the book, so this one didn't quite end up in my dnf graveyard.
✅ Alpha MMC / strong FMC ✅ Dual POV ✅ Enemies to lovers ✅ Fated mates ✅ Alien anatomy and diversity (I never knew tails could be so sexy) ✅ Lots of spice ...more
Overall impression: started off promising but went downhill towards the end. Action scenes were thrown together and none of the characters were dev⭐/5
Overall impression: started off promising but went downhill towards the end. Action scenes were thrown together and none of the characters were developed enough for me to care.
✅ Alien Prince / Tech Writer ✅ Sci-fi romance ⚖️ Insta-love romance ⚖️ Simple plot ❌ Miscommunication trope ❌ Weakly developed characters ❌ Ex-girlfriend as one of the main side characters ❌ Teen-speak ❌ Cliche ending ❌ Poor world-building...more
Overall impression: a mostly enjoyable sci-fi romance with minimal smut and a well-developed plot. The characters could have been fleshed out a ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall impression: a mostly enjoyable sci-fi romance with minimal smut and a well-developed plot. The characters could have been fleshed out a bit more and the story could have been left without the cliff-hanger, but it was still engaging and worth the read.
✅ The romance was sweet but peaked early. The first few chapters between Saakshi and Zoran sizzled and their relationship developed quickly and sweetly. But over the course of the book, poor communication made the romance fizzle out until it picked up again right at the end of the book. I didn't really buy the explanation the author gave for them spending months apart, but it was still fine in the end. I'm more of a slow-burn type of gal, but it's good to change it up every once in a while.
✅ Saakshi was a strong and sympathetic heroine. Saakshi was the most developed character in the book by far with an interesting backstory, steady morals and consistent personality. I liked that the author spent the time exploring her culture too, allowing readers to fully appreciate and sympathise with her fight for freedom. There were a few scenes where her shyness made me roll my eyes, but each to their own.
⚖️ The storyline was incomplete and slow at times. I understand that this is the first book in the series, but I felt like it ended very abruptly and awkwardly. The second book is from a different character's perspective too, so I don't anticipate it picking back up very smoothly. Some parts and conversations between different characters were also quite slow, which made me want to skim-read. But after all of that complaining, sci-fi always finds a way to suck me back in with it's action and adventure.
⚖️ The world building could have been stronger. Sci-fi is known for it's extreme detail when it comes to exploring foreign worlds, cultures, languages and traditions. While some of this was done really well in The Mercenary, I feel like I could never really picture where the scenes were actually taking place. Sadly, the world-building was lacking for my taste.
❌ Zoran was a weakly developed hero. I definitely feel like Zoran was under-developed. Unfortunately the author told us rather than showed us what he was like. We were told that he was strong and scary, but then this never really showed through his actions or descriptions about him. In fact, he came across as lacking basic emotions and being boring at times. Definitely a let down, but the romance was still cute with his protectiveness.
Side note: I'm on the fence about reading book two in the series. We were introduced to the two main characters in book one but I don't really feel that strongly about either of them or about the continuation of the plot....more
A very dark, dystopian sci-fi slow-burn romance (yum). My only complaint is that I think the book could use an extra chapter or two tagged on4.5 stars
A very dark, dystopian sci-fi slow-burn romance (yum). My only complaint is that I think the book could use an extra chapter or two tagged onto the end to sum it all up better. For the most part, there was an overarching sense of foreboding and hopelessness, which was only overcome in the last few pages. I would have liked to see Gemma and Simon have a bit more of a HEA - I feel like they were robbed a bit by cutting the book off so abruptly. ...more
Choosing Theo was definitely nothing groundbreaking. It was a typical steamy sci-fi romance between a hot alien guy and Mary Jane human girl. T4 stars
Choosing Theo was definitely nothing groundbreaking. It was a typical steamy sci-fi romance between a hot alien guy and Mary Jane human girl. The plot was rushed at the start and the end, keeping the main bulk of the story on the main characters as they started to 'fall' for each other in a kind of 'forced proximity' situation. All in all, it was easily digestible fast food fluff that would be fine to pick up on a rainy day. ...more
Only Bad Options was a plot-driven adult sci-fi novel that chugged along at a steady pace unravelling the complex dynamics between the major f4 stars
Only Bad Options was a plot-driven adult sci-fi novel that chugged along at a steady pace unravelling the complex dynamics between the major families and civilians. There was a lot of doom and gloom, and there doesn't appear to be an easy way to solve all of the problems that are brought up in the book. Vesper was a really quirky and fun heroine that led the story. Her ability to solve problems was really interesting and brightened up some of the darker spots of the novel, and I'm excited to see how she develops in the rest of the series.
Despite the series being called 'Galactic Bonds', romance was definitely one of the weaker points of the book and I didn't really feel like Vesper and Kyrion had any sort of chemistry. Kyrion was also really unlikeable when we first started reading from his POV, which makes me even less invested in his potential relationship with Vesper. Either way, it was interesting enough and I'm probably going to read the next book when it is released. ...more
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