Review: Christiansen: City Boy: President in the making (Badass Security Council Series Book 13) by L Ann Marie

Christiansen: City Boy: President in the making (Badass Security Council by L. Ann Marie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Enjoyable Story

This book is part of a continuing series and should not be read as a standalone because it would make no sense whatsoever.

This book felt like a return to form for this author. The last book had a very messy first third to it which meant it wasn’t as much of an enjoyable read as usual, whereas this book is a much more smooth creation.

Kristos is quite a minor character in the previous books. He’s just been given a promotion to 2nd Tier Officer, but we don’t see much of him before this book.

Kristos was born and raised in the Club, MC Colorado. His mother was a club girl and she always told him that his father was an enforcer that died when the Club was getting out of the drug business. Crow, the original MC guru, told Major, who was then the president of that MC, to send Kristos to college and gave them a specific list of the courses he should take. Crow did this for people he saw as being important in the future.

In the same week that Kristos met the woman who was meant for him, he found his life shifting in lots of other ways too.

Natalia is rich. Her family had lots of different types of businesses and investments and when they died when she was young, it all became hers, but she never really wanted to be part of running the companies, particularly when all the board members and lawyers would continue treating her like the child she was when she inherited the businesses.

Natalia is incredibly bright and has three degrees. She is very like Stella and wants to make a difference in the world through technology. When Kristos takes her to the compound on their second date they find out she has been trying to get a job with the BSC and knows a lot about the BSC because a good friend works with the Princes up in Mass. Everyone tells them they belong together and she is strangely accepting of this, plus the job they offer her as Stella’s assistant.

Kristos and Natalia getting together is just the beginning of the adventures in this book. So much happens, as usual, but it’s all smooth and makes sense. There are a lot of ties between the original MC, Princes and BSC that happen in this book and it seems to move their connection forward into the future that Crow saw so long ago. There are plenty of visions and plans dangled for future adventures to keep us coming back for more.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. It had romance, passion, family secrets and huge firefights. I really liked both Kristos and Natalia and hope to see more of them in the future because they are really interesting characters who have a lot to offer the story, both in this book and the future.

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Series Review: The Draga Court Series by Emma Dean

Sometimes when life isn't going the way you want it to, and life at the moment is very unpredictable, it's comforting to read books you've enjoyed before because you know you aren't going to be disappointed. When I re-read books I don't post about them on the blog unless I've not reviewed them before. However, after re-reading The Draga Court Series by Emma Dean I decided to try something a bit different. When I re-read a series I'll do a summary post with links to the individual book reviews I've written. On a purely selfish note, it makes it easier for me to post recommendations for the complete series to the various Facebook groups I belong to.

Book 1: Princess of Draga by Emma Dean

4 out of 5 Stars

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Book 2: Crown of Draga by Emma Dean

5 out of 5 Stars

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Book 3: Jasmine of Draga by Emma Dean

5 out of 5 Stars

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Book 4: Heir of Draga by Emma Dean

5 out of 5 Stars

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Book 5: Queen of Draga by Emma Dean

5 out of 5 Stars

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Book 6: Fate of Draga by Emma Dean

5 out of 5 Stars

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I hope you like the new format, and if you think of anything I should include on the summary page, please let me know.

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Review: Pirate Nemesis (Telepathic Space Pirates Series Book 1) by Carysa Locke

Pirate Nemesis by Carysa Locke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I listened to this as an audio book, and therefore the narrator’s performance may have coloured my experience of the book.

Mercy Kincaid was born a pirate. Her mother ran from their family when Mercy was 3 years old, after the death of her father. Mercy’s mother kept her safe until she was 13 when she didn’t come home. Mercy did as she was trained from infancy to do, she ran and kept running until she found a safe place with a grizzled ex-naval smuggler and his daughter, who became her best friend.

Many years pass and Mercy and her best friend are still searching for Mercy’s mother. It leads them into a trap, where Mercy is tortured, with her friend held as collateral damage.

Reaper is a psychic Killer, one of the most feared people in the universe. He’s able to see how to kill everyone he meets and executes it flawlessly. He has been sent by his King to find and rescue the daughter of an ally and when he does, he finds more than he bargains for which is the lost grandchild of the previous Pirate Queen.

I loved this story. How could I not love a story about psychic space pirates??? Apart from loving the premise, I really enjoyed the story. The world building was really interesting with great explanations about how the pirate society got started and why.

I liked both Mercy and Reaper both as individuals and as a couple. They had an instant spark but still needed to build on it. Reaper is cold and unemotional, as are all Killers. However, he was raised by an empathic mother and this has made him a little bit more accessible than most Killers.

The plot was complex and interesting. It interwove the Pirate society, the threat from the authority of the allied planets and all the threats from the hidden psychics within that society. There was a lot that Mercy had to deal with and she handled it pretty well considering.

I liked the narrator on this audio book, Carly Robins, and have listened to books she’s read before. She’s matter of fact with her delivery and doesn’t go over the top with acting the parts. She differentiates between voices, though in a few parts that differentiation went a little bit wobbly and it was hard to tell who was talking. But on the whole her delivery was engaging and enjoyable.

This is a good first book to a series as it gives a good background for any future work, lures you into getting the next book, but doesn’t drive you too nuts with a cliffhanger. I’d happily read/listen to the next book.

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Review: Wolf Shunned (The Alpha Queen Legacy Series Book 1) by Laurel Night

Wolf Shunned by Laurel Night
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Strong Alpha Female

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

Kaliya is a warrior. She’s faced down more wraiths than she can count. She is a captain for her Alpha and is more dominant than all the females and probably all of the males in her clan. Clan rules dictate that all wolves must be mated by age 20 or they are thrown out of the clan. Their species is endangered by the constant threat of the wraiths and shifters don’t live long healthy lives unless they are very lucky, which is why they are forced to find a mate so young. Kaliya only has a few months left to find a mate or find herself without the resources and support of the clan.

Kaliya has only one friend, Emory, a very submissive male, who is nonetheless intelligent and creative, a very strategic thinker and valued for his knowledge of the ancients. He adores Kaliya and she feels the same, but he isn’t dominant enough to make her wolf submit so they can’t mate.

Going to the Clan meeting, that happens every 5 years, is Kaliya’s last chance to find a male who is dominant enough to force her wolf to submit and allow the mating. She hopes she can tolerate the man who makes her wolf submit, but she has little choice if she wants to stay in the clan.

This is a multiple POV novel. I liked the way it was written allowing us to see into the minds of all the main people involved. Kaliya doesn’t really know anything about the alphas from the other clans but we get to find out how they see her and little about their clans from their POV.

I really enjoyed the world-building in this book. The author has very carefully built a world in which everything hangs together well. The history, culture and society of the shifters are constructed in an interesting and believable way.

What I especially enjoyed was that Kaliya is a very dominant female, who fights her own battles. She is competent, fierce and self-contained. She takes her responsibilities very seriously but still has a loving and tender side. I like that she’s not angry and in your face, snarky or volatile, which is often the case with these sorts of characters. I like how practical she is, whilst at the same time hoping she can find something to care about in the mate that she will be forced to accept if her wolf tells her to.

This book is a great set up for the rest of the series and I can’t wait to see what the author does with it next.

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Review: Ford's Rise: Party time with Ford Brothers, Alpha-Bits and Alexia (Badass Security Council Series Book 11) by L Ann Marie

Ford's Rise: Party time with Ford Brothers, Alpha-Bits and Alexia (Badass Security Council) by L. Ann Marie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Web’s Story

For those of us who have been on the long journey through the BSC books, you will probably feel like I do about Web. He’s a wonderfully empathetic character. He’s kind, sweet and enormously intelligent. He’s also sacrificed everything willingly for his young charges, the Alpha-Bits. I love that he finally gets his ‘One’ in this book.

Web is not exactly a straight forward understandable guy. He’s highly intelligent but grew up in a orphanage and therefore didn’t really learn how to make family connections because he was outside of the normal parameters of the other inhabitants of his group home. He has always stated that when he took on the care of the Alpha-Bits he learnt about family from them and he has always put them before his own happiness, though much of his happiness has been derived from their happiness. It’s no surprise that his ‘One’ is slightly atypical.

We first met Alexia in her role at EROPs, with the FBI. She is neurodiverse and diagnosed as having Asperger’s Syndrome, or high functioning Autism (which are basically the same thing). She has lived a life of isolation and hasn’t really had any support from her family, in fact she didn’t believe she had any. Becoming involved with BSC was the first time she felt really part of a family, though she had friends that she worked with in the past. It’s only once she joins BSC that she starts to form true connections.

As is often the case with these books, Alexia and Web getting together is pretty straight forward. The romance part of these books often takes a back seat to personal growth. The relationship is part of that growth and this is why it’s important. Learning to be part of a community and family is just as important as forming a romantic bond.

In this book we see Web really grasp hold of his family of blood and choice and accept that his role is important to many people. We also see more of the Alpha-Bits come into their own, especially Alder who really steps up into his role as Little Pres.

I enjoyed the slower pace of this book, as it was much less high octane than usual, but I did find it difficult to process some of the speech patterns that the author often uses for the Alpha-Bits and also, in this case, for Alexia. The choppy way of speaking with incorrect grammar is definitely a stylistic choice, but it is sometimes hard to process, especially when the majority is written in this way. However, I do love the Alpha-Bits so waded through it and still found pleasure in the book. I just wish that the author could accept that highly intelligent Alpha-Bits would learn how to speak more fluidly several years into being found and become more active socially.

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Review: Bird of Prey (Project: F5 Series Book 1) by Jade Waltz

Bird of Prey by Jade Waltz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Spin Off Novella

I’d probably give this book 3.5 ⭐️ if I could

As this is a spin off novella from the Project: Adapt series, it is not standalone. You really need to have read the other books before this one for it to make much sense. However, I get the impression that you could omit reading this novella for Project: Adapt to make sense, you just wouldn’t have a well rounded view of these supporting characters.

In previous books we are introduced to Qraniebi, who works for Zirebe. He is currently under investigation because his ship and crew kidnapped Zirene’s mate. We also have met Bryeca before, she is one of the Fab Five and sister to Zirene’s mate, Selena’s, bodyguard. Both Selena and Bryeca’s brother are missing. She has been entrusted with finding out if Qran is involved in that situation.

It doesn’t help that Qran and Bryeca have been lovers on and off for some time.

This novella doesn’t give an awful lot of time to delve into these characters. It feels like plot explanation rather than too much emotional content. I felt it could have been more, which is what I’ve felt with this author’s novellas before. I feel like a lot of the good stuff is stripped out to make room for the plot to make sense. I’m not sure if I’ll read the other novella in this series before reading the next book in the Project: Adapt series as I would rather just delve back into a full scale novel.

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Review: Chaos Reigning (Consortium Rebellion Series Book 3) by Jessie Mihalik

Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Saving The Galaxy

I’d probably give this book an overall rating of 4.5 stars if I could.

This review was based on listening to the book via audible and as such has references to the narration as well as to the story.

This is the third book in the series and has the same narrator as the first two. My same comments about her narration stand for this book as for the others. Emily Woo Zeller is a competent and natural narrator, but her male voices drive me nuts. She tries to make the male voices too deep for her natural range and she just ends up sounding strangled. Apart from that mild annoyance I really enjoy her reading style.

This book follows shortly after the second book in the series and focuses on Catrina, or Cat as she prefers to be known to her friends and family. Cat is the youngest in the family and plays up to the stereotypical spoilt baby of the family role. As with her older sisters she is playing a role for the benefit of the family. Sometimes the role is so convincing she almost believes it herself. She plays the social airhead who cares more about pretty dresses than body armour but she is also sweet and kind to those around her. She is often overlooked and she sort of likes it that way.

When Cat decides that she needs to get information from one of the lower houses to find proof that they were involved in her brother’s kidnapping, her older sister Bianca steps in and asks Alex and Aoife, two friends of Locke and Ian to accompany her, with Alex posing as her date and Aoife as her bodyguard. This is the start of a series of adventures for Cat, that stretch her confidence and ability to their limits.

I really liked Cat. She’s a fun character with hidden depths. She young, lively and intelligent. She’s also brave and determined, with a definite bossy streak.

Alex is a perfect foil for Cat. He’s handsome, confident, skilled and adept at falling into any role required. He and Cat have some big fights but they are mainly about her safety, and he is sweetly supportive. They also have some very spicy scenes, which mainly come towards the end of the book.

I don’t know if there are any more of the books in this series but I will be keeping an eye out because I really would like to know what happens to all the characters and their plans for the future. It’s definitely an HEA ending, but it could easily be changed to a HFN if the author wanted to carry on with this universe.

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Review: Deal with the Devil (Mercenary Librarians Series Book 1) by Kit Rocha

Deal with the Devil by Kit Rocha
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This review is based on listening to the book on audible, and therefore there is a section of the review relating solely to this aspect. My view of the story is probably influenced by the narration and this should be considered when reading the review.

I have read a lot of Kit Rocha books, and really enjoyed the ‘Beyond’ series. This isn’t like that, but I knew that going in. Unlike the ‘Beyond’ books, this is a dystopian adventure with some romance thrown in to help move the plot along, rather than an erotic romance dystopian novel. I imagine this book will appeal to a much wider audience.

Firstly, I have to say that the narrator, Lidia Dornet, was really good, verging on the excellent. My only very minor criticism is that sometimes during sections of dialogue where there was no reference to who was saying what, it was difficult to differentiate between the characters voices, almost like she was hedging her bets as to who was speaking. Other than this minor niggle I was very impressed with her style, which was relaxed and natural with enough emotion to allow you to connect with the characters. I enjoyed the audio version of this book I finished it in two days, because I couldn’t stop listening to it.

On to the story itself, which was really gripping. Set in the future, after the collapse of civilisation, Atlanta is ruled by The TechCorp, a huge technology company. The city is divided between the have and have nots and there is no one looking out for the have nots, except for in one section of the city there is a warehouse where three unusual women live, who have created a library for the local residents. To fund their work and add to their library these women go hunting for information in dangerous and dark places, being paid handsomely by rich collectors.

When Nina, their leader, is approached by Knox, a rogue TechCorp Protectorate Captain, for a job she is reluctant to trust the source. However, when the Rogue Library of Congress is dangled in front of her, she finds it hard to resist because of the reward of obtaining such a prize.

This book is woven on a rich tapestry of world building. The society is constructed with a fine eye for detail. Then the characters are placed carefully into that society and given a wonderful plot to follow. All the characters are wonderfully interesting and given space to grown and show themselves through the course of the book. Though the story focuses on Nina and Knox, there are also multiple points of view shown in different sections, which gives a well rounded picture of the story.

Nina is a fascinating character. She believes in the inherent goodness of people and the possibility of a better life and making a difference. She came from a truly horrible place and when she gained her freedom she wanted to make the world a better place for others, even at risk to herself. She’s an idealist, but she’s a ruthless one. She plans carefully and weighs up the dangers and seeks to protect her loved ones at each step of the journey. It’s an interesting counterbalance to her idealism.

Knox is someone who started out an idealist and had it knocked out of him over decades working for The TechCorp, as he was experimented on and sent out to do their dirty work. Finally unable to carry out one last horrific order, he and his team went rogue, even knowing they were risking their lives. His only motive is to secure freedom for his team from the consequences of leaving that The TechCorp ensured to install in their employees. He has to decide whether it’s worth giving up his eroded principles for his men at every step of his journey. His internal battle throughout this book is fascinating to watch as it’s handled with a delicate touch by the authors.

Throughout this book the characters’ internal struggles are front and centre, and they are as important as their physical conflicts. All the characters are damaged in some way. They all seek some form of freedom and happiness and have gone some way along the journey already, but they still have a long way to go.

This really is an excellent book, and I would happily re-read it, especially when new books in the series come out. I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait, but I’ll be waiting with excitement of the possibilities with this amazing cast of characters.

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Review: Develop (Project Adapt Series Book 3) by Jade Waltz

Develop by Jade Waltz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ruling A Moon

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This third book in the series sees Selena trying to adjust to her new life on the moon, gifted to her by Zirene. She has created so many plans to ensure her people of many races are safe, happy and fulfilled. She’s trying to make sure there will be income for her moon to sustain it’s people by developing tourism. At the same time she is coming to terms with trying to be a leader, a position she has no training for or experience of. Her nestmates, the two princes, are helping guide her in the ways in which she must act in order to ensure her people’s confidence in her.

At the same time she is adjusting to motherhood, with three cubs of a different species, due to her unique DNA. She’s having to accept the help of others because she’s can’t fulfil all their needs.

She’s also trying to ensure all her nestmates are happy and getting equal attention because she doesn’t want to act like other nestqueens, and take her nestmates for granted. She wants everyone to be happy. However, it seems that the outside universe doesn’t seem to agree with her philosophy and the outside tries to keep pushing it’s way in.

I really enjoyed this book. This series is great fun, and I love how the different species and cultures interact. The world building is superb in this series. The first half of the book was mainly focused on the relationships within the clan and it was a more gentle pace, but as things moved into the latter stages of the book, everything shifted up a gear, and ended in a HUGE cliffhanger. Jade Waltz, you are mean! It would appear that in the next book there are going to be even more changes for Selena to face!

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Review: A Broken Jewel (Jade Series Book 1) by Lucy Rains

A Broken Jewel by Lucy Rains
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Genetic Experiments and Evil Mothers

I’d not come across this author before this week when someone recommended this series on a group I belong to. After reading the blurb I was happy to download the book. It more than met my expectations.

It’s Jade’s birthday and her mother hasn’t come home again. She’s a respected scientist who travels the world and leaves her daughter at home with only the supervision of a house manager. Her mother is undemonstrative, unkind, absent even when physically present, strict and incredibly demanding. Jade constantly strives for her approval and yet she never gets it.

Jade’s mother keeps her isolated so she lives an incredibly lonely life with only two real friends and even they are not aware of Jade’s life outside of school. Jade has plans to escape her mother’s control but it’s going to take some time. Then she meets two young men who try to convince her to leave with them before she’s ready. She doesn’t trust them or understand their need to get her away from her mother so urgently, until things come to a head and she has no more room to put off making decisions.

For an 18 year old, Jade was pretty mature. She was intelligent, patient and determined. Then when she met the guys she became a bit hormonal teenager with rage issues. Normally I’d be put off by that, but it was obvious from the direction of the plot that were reasons for her behaviour, it just wasn’t obvious when it occurred.

This story really draws you in. It starts off quite ordinary and slowly drop by drop the intrigue builds and you become more and more captivated by the secrets that start to be revealed. It’s a fascinating book and I can’t wait to read the next in the series because the ending raised a whole lot of new questions just as a few are answered.

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Review: Aurora Blazing (Consortium Rebellion Series Book 2) by Jessie Mihalik

Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I adored the first book in this series and felt that this second book was slightly less enjoyable, though it good book. I listened to the audio version, as I did the first book and had the same problems with the narrator, Emily Woo Zeller. She is a gifted narrator and gives personality to her characters but she does insist on using voices that only come across as caricatures, especially the mens’ voices. I feel that her ability to narrate would be better served by avoiding this ‘acting’ part of her narration. She’s good at sounding natural in her delivery and it’s a shame that the voices distract from the story. This hasn’t stopped me buying the third book in the series as an audio version.

Lady Bianca is the third born child of the Von Hasenberg House of the three ruling High Houses of the Consortium. She is very private and rebels in her own secret way against her father who rules his children with an iron fist. Bianca only managed to escape her abusive arranged marriage when her husband died and was sent back home with no assets from her marriage. Though there is no love between father and children, this is not the case between the siblings who are all very close and extremely loyal. When Ferdinand the heir to the House is kidnapped the prime information gatherer of the House, Bianca, starts to search the hidden networks and information sources for news of her brother. When she reaches a dead end, she leaves the safety of Earth, against explicit orders, to find more leads.

Ian, is head of security for House Von Hasenberg, and is exceptional at his job. He takes it as a direct insult when Ferdinand is taken and then Bianca escaping off-planet. When Ian finally catches up with Bianca, they have to find a way to work together to find Ferdinand before time runs out.

This story was a bit more predictable than the first in the series, probably because the reader has more information about the family and the universe in which they live. There was less world building, but there was more detail about the way the Houses operate. There was still plenty of action, just not as much because Bianca is a much more cerebral character than Ada, her sister. I actually felt like there should be more about Ian and Bianca and I hope that they make an appearance in the next book, because the ending was very abrupt and everything has kind of been left hanging. There is a HFN, but it could easily be undone, so I hope that is handled in the next book. Other than that, it was an enjoyable book and I look forward to reading the next one.

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Review: The Sentinel (Sentinel Series Book 1) by C Cato

The Sentinel by C. Cato
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Imaginative World Building

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

Dr Sonya Temple is a highly intelligent woman. She’s at the forefront of nanotechnology and she and her partner Ian have been working on a way to use nanobots to cure cancer. One day she’s meeting her mother for lunch and the next moment she wakes up in a strange place, with people she doesn’t know and alarms going off. She is terrified, angry and confused. The three men and woman she is with also seem confused but also to know more than she does.

Sonya and her companions went into stasis in 2025 and woke up 200 years later in a world transformed and alien to them. They have to find a way to survive in a hostile world without knowledge of the way society is structured or a way of getting by. Luckily Sonya’s companions were all ex-military and have survival training.

This strange and complex book is beautiful and poignant. It tells of humanity losing it’s way and evil being done in the name of survival. Sonya is intelligent, compassionate and guarded. She doesn’t trust easily and her situation doesn’t make that any easier. She’s also drawn completely to Cole, the man in charge of her companions, and it seems he feels the same way.

Cole is strong, commanding, determined and tender-hearted. He’s an amazing character and the magnetism felt between him and Sonya is impressive. However, this is a slow burn Reverse Harem and this book is spent getting know each other as well as the society they have landed in.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next in the series.

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Review: Jack: Honor (Bravo Series Book 1) by L Ann Marie

Jack: Honor by L. Ann Marie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s All About The Honour

This is the first book in a new offshoot series from Badass. There are many characters that cross over from previous books, and will be difficult to follow if you don’t start at the beginning of the original series.

This book follows Jack who grew up with Ranger, from Phoenix Rising MC. Ranger suggested him as a VP for Jordan in the City and then was quickly moved across to Bravo Rising when it was set up. In this book we learn a lot more about what it was like for Ranger and Jack growing up in a Badass Affliate and how their fathers raised them to support each other and promote the Badass way of life, to protect and honour.

Falcon the Pres of Bravo Rising wasn’t raised Badass but follows a similar way of thinking. Jack is soon persuaded to teach the way he is Badass to the bone. Two of the As follow Falcon and Jack, Asa and Alder. Alder is to be Jack’s support and Asa is Falcon’s. It’s good to see the way the As are growing more independent and following their own dreams for work and friendships. The Alpha-Bits have a lot to share about living with honour, they are also a motivation for why Badass must live to protect and serve the community.

In this book we also see the romance bloom between Jack and AJ, who is Mag’s younger sister. She comes to Bravo for a job as she’s just finished college and needs to find work in IT. Mag is the SAA and has been raising a disabled son with help from his mother since his Ol’ Lady left. He is staggered to find how much support he can expect with his son and Jack helping is how he meets AJ, who he calls Pepsi, because she looks like the girl from the old ad. As usual the romance is usually fairly quick and seamless. It’s all the outside stuff that keeps things interesting in these books. I kind of like that there isn’t a tonne of drama in the romance portion of the book.

I really liked this book and felt the theme of honour helped pull everything together really well. Having a theme may seem obvious, but I felt it helped the plot and the story telling.

I’m looking forward to reading the next book when it comes out.

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Review: Ranger's Rise (Phoenix Series Book 3) by L Ann Marie

Ranger's Rise by L. Ann Marie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Adventures with the Alpha-Bits

The main thing about this book isn’t the romance, it’s the Alpha-Bits, the genetically modified young men and children (named alphabetically). They are all undersized, suffer from malnutrition and find it difficult to interact socially. Their brains are incredibly fast, but their ability to speak is less so. The story started with the As, who are in their early twenties and are now the elder statesmen of the Alpha-Bits and help look after the younger and less experienced counterparts. They are working in the Ops room doing support.

This book follows Ranger and his joining Phoenix Rising from another Badass Club. He was raised in the club and follows all the tenets laid down from the early days and lives it. He has been brought into run the Aerial Ops and almost as soon as he arrives he meets Freedom, the nearly 6ft Valkyrie who runs all the martial arts and self defence classes. Right from the beginning there is chemistry but their incredibly busy lives seems to get in the way.

I love how this book follows not only the romance aspect but the connecting with the Alpha-Bits for Ranger and Freedom. They both are touched by the unusual little men and through their compassion Alpha-Bits' ability to communicate increases phenomenally.

As always there are crazy antics and mayhem aplenty, and it’s a good enjoyable read. I always like it when you get cameos from previous books as well, as we did in this book. It’s all starting to tie in together and I’m intrigued to find out where the plot is going to go next.

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Review: From the Ashes (The Phoenix Project Series Book 1) by Candice M Wright

From the Ashes: The Phoenix Project by Candice M. Wright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wonderfully Dark

Cameron is dying. She has terminal breast cancer and as a way to help her family after she is gone she has signed up to a secret government project as a test subject. On her death her medical bills will be taken care of and her family will get $1m. She doesn’t have the best relationship with her mother but she adores her 6 year old half brother Charlie with all her heart and she wants him to have a good life.

She’s on a coach in a convoy of several thousand terminal patients like her. They turn up at a small town built to house the subjects and she is place in an apartment with a group of men, due to confusion over her name. She’s had a double mastectomy and is bald due to chemo so she can pass as a sick young man so she hides her identity and finds out she’s been housed with a bunch of criminals.

This wonderfully dark and twisted tale is filled with fascinating characters and a complex plot. It’s filled with hot scenes between Cam and her men, but there is also a great deal of tenderness, friendship and love, amidst the fear of pain and death. You get sucked into the story and wish for Cameron’s happiness because with her life she deserves some.

The end of the book has all sort of information dumped on the reader and I could feel my eyes popping out as the story completely changed direction. I hate cliff hangers but the second book in the duet is due out in April 2020, so I’m not worried about waiting too long. This book also may have ended on a cliff hanger but it was also a very natural break in the story as the plot veered towards something different.

As always, this author captivates and compels the reader to keep on reading just one more page. She creates incredible characters and places them in extraordinary situations and all we have to do is watch with our jaws wide open. Every book I’ve read by this author is outstanding. This book is no exception. I highly recommend you read it!

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Review: Gene Born: Hunter's Choice (The Koci Hybrid Series Book 4) by Lilly Griffin

Gene Born: Hunter's Choice by Lilly Griffin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Danger Planetside

I would give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This series goes from strength to strength. The characters become more full and engaging with each book. In this book the people from Earth and their alien allies manage to win free of slavery and find a planet. Only the planet isn’t quite as safe as they think it’s going to be.

Through adversity the disparate groups come together to stay safe. There are also the groups where mates cross species lines.

There are quite a few alternate POV scenes in this book, which I wasn’t sure about initially, but it is a good way of conveying information that Sloan isn’t yet aware of. It did break up the narrative a bit though, so I’m still not sure.

We are also introduced to more races of aliens, and there are even more males interested in Sloan and the other females.

One particularly interesting subject in this book is the emerging sentience of Willa, Sloan’s AI. It’s quite sweet the way she interacts with Sloan, though she sometimes behaves like a teenager throwing tantrums.

As with all of the other books in the series, I really enjoyed this read, and can’t wait for the next one.

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Review: Gene Born: Gladiator Hell (The Koci Hybrid Series Book 3) by Lilly Griffin

Gene Born: Gladiator Hell by Lilly Griffin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hybrids vs Gladiators

I’d probably give this 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This book builds on the ones that have come before in a great way. It takes all the interesting characters we met in the previous books and throws them in the deep end as they end up at the Gladiators Guild.

During this book Sloan comes into her own as a leader of her people. Her intelligence and drive have lifted her into a position she was unprepared for, but does not shy away from. She is determined to keep her people alive to the best of her ability.

Her bond with Ajax and Jaxon becomes deeper and they meet new aliens to become friends with.

There is a lot more sex in this book, and it gets pretty hot.

I’m enjoying this series more with each book as I get to know the characters and the universe in which they live. It’s fast paced and filled with passion. A really good read.

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Review: Gene Born: Pirates Bane (The Koci Hybrid Series Book 2) by Lilly Griffin

Gene Born: Pirates Bane by Lilly Griffin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dark Sci-Fi

This series is pretty dark. It’s about genetic modifications done without consent, the death of our world and being sold in slavery in another galaxy. However it is also filled with the ingenuity and intellect of human hybrids who have taken every kind of indignity and come out fighting for their freedom, working together to form a strong and cohesive unit.

It’s an inspiring story, that has a cliff hanger, but it isn’t a tear your nails out with your teeth kind of cliff hanger. It’s a ‘I really want to know what happens next’ kind of ending, but it won’t drive you nuts.

A really interesting story and I look forward to reading the next chapter.

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Review: Found (Project: Adapt Series Book 1) by Jade Waltz

Found by Jade Waltz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Aliens Who Look And Behave Like Aliens

Quite often in alien romance fiction the aliens the MFC will fall for are aliens that are remarkable similar to humans, but they are really big and blue or they have behavioural traits of a very alpha males. This makes for a less complicated story and more acceptable romance. This book takes an alternate slant.

Selena is kind of human. Earth was destroyed 60 years earlier by the Yaarnik, a race of aliens who have no problems at all with destroying a planet. Before they wiped out Earth, they took many women prisoners. These women have been experimented on. Selena is the second generation of offspring born from the original humans and has been changed. She has been ruthlessly experimented on her entire life, kept naked and imprisoned, alone and in pain until the day the ship on which she lived was attacked.

After the attack she is rescued by a ship filled with very alien looking aliens. The ship carries two different species that come from the same planet, one plant based and the other fish based. As you can imagine they have very different cultures and their relationships are different.

Sex in this book may feel uncomfortable to read about and strange and some people may not enjoy it. However, I thought the writing was beautiful and as Selena is not entirely human, it made sense that she would be attracted to non-humans.

This book mainly deals with Selena’s entrance into a environment, where she encounters different species, cultures and abilities. It’s a nice safe contained space, so the story can be less overwhelming than if she’d been thrust into a multi-species environment straight away.

Selena is a strong and interesting character, who has a great attachment to Earth and human culture, despite never having lived there. This is because the Yaarnik used the lure of books and other media from Earth as a way of keeping her docile and well behaved. Selena was so starved for companionship and intellectual stimulation she dove into Earth culture and that is what has shaped her expectations of what family and friendships should look like.

It’s a very interesting book, and I look forward to reading about Selena’s adventures as she gets exposed to further cultures.

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