Heart's Prisoner (Dark World Mates #1) (2024)

Olivia Riley is becoming one of my favorite sci/fi alien authors. Her writing and world building are spectacular.

Things I Loved
📌strong FMC
📌alien that is really alien
📌slow burn-enemies to lovers
📌language barrier
📌different cultures and both learn each others customs

Spice Rating
1.75/5 🌶️
It needed another spicy scene and I**the readers needed to know if his package was scaly and if it was a darker shade than his body 🤭 this author definitely puts more into the world building versus the smut. Don’t get me wrong it’s HOT but it’s not overly descriptive.

Overall thoughts: I definitely would recommend this author and book!! In most alien romances the fated mated and insta love tropes are most used and it can be tiring. This is a slowwww burn and I loved seeing them get to know each other while also learning each other’s culture.

Audio 5 Stars Maxine Mitchell is on my short list of absolute favorite female narrators! Love her male as well as her female voice!!!

Story - 5 Took me be surprise Stars!!

Unless Olivia Riley uses another pen name, this was one hell of an impressive debut.

The story is definitely more plot than smut, but it makes the relationship development that much more believable. There is no insta/primal attraction. If anything, the heroine is a bit creeped out by the hero when they first meet. Hell, even I was creeped out by him when he's first introduced into the story.

The story is gritty, raw, and dark with lots of violence. I LOVED IT. At times the romance seemed to take a backseat, but when it does happen, it's absolutely wonderful. I can read this kind of scifi romance nonstop!

Omg, y'all! I. LOVED. THIS! New favorite alien romance right here!

Do you enjoy alien romances, but feel like you have to sift through so many duds to find a good one? Not a huge fan of the insta-love, insta-lust, or insta-mate tropes that seem to happen in these types of novels and instead craving more build up between the main couple? Want a hero who is verrrrry not human and honestly pretty terrifying looking (and therefore activates ye ol' fear kink)? Well, LOOK NO FURTHER!

I absolutely devoured this book in less than 24 hours; it was everything I've been looking for in a sci-fi romance, and I AM BEGGING the author to write many, many more books (I almost cried when I realized this was a debut and that there isn't a backlist for me to go through).

The only tiiiiny thing I wanted more of was the sexy times! Don't get me wrong, the main sexy time scene we got was A+++, but that's why I was then craving more. Now, in the author's defense, I don't know if any amount of steam would've been "enough" for me, because Xerus is definitely my favorite alien hero I've read to date, and I could read another dozen books of him and Lana and still not think it was enough. Olivia Riley has already become an insta-read author for me, and I'm so excited to see what she comes up with next!

Unexpectedly good alien romance thriller!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💚🖤💙❤️💜
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: ☺️😮🙂🥰😘
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Solo Narration

The heroine:

The Hero:

The Story: Lana took two months after agreeing to the job, before she was off to Lazris. She read up on the Assets as much as she could on the way there, there were several different alien races held their. Asset X was of the highest threat level at the base (other high threats were a group of Raptors, a creature that would pretend to be asleep and then grab its prey and eat it alive-slowly). Asset X was reptilian, poisonous, 7 feet tall and a weaponized military team had to be on stand by when someone was interacting with him.

I have read quite a few stories before where the alien or paranormal being is in a situation like this, either being experimented on or studied in some way, though this story was a bit different, where they are doing my psychoanalysis than anything else. Though the military seems to have some alternate agenda and is seeing it as more of an interrogation than what Lana thinks it is.

I liked the difference though like always, there were men that think of Xerus as an it instead of a him. I don’t know why they can’t see sentient beings as anything but animals in so many books like this, but I suppose it is true to life and that would be how things really would happen.

The story got better as it got more mysterious. There were very strange things going on at the base, and nobody was talking about it in other than whispers, but if I were Lana, I would have been freaking out at some of the things she saw there. This story got better and better as it went along and I was on the edge of my seat through much of it. I was pleasantly surprised since this was an author I hadn’t heard of before.

This book was told in Solo narration which I don’t usually like, though it was the first book in a series so I decided to listen to it anyways. Maxine Mitchell did the narration and she always does a good job. She has a pleasant voice which is strong and clear, yet feminine and she has this way of portraying fear and anxiety through her voice so well.

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I really enjoyed this one a lot I did have some slight nitpicks that I will go over later but overall I was seriously impressed with this.
And is this a debut author? because if it is then I’m even more blown away with the quality of this sci-fi alien romance.
This one definitely stands out from the crowd it’s unique and has such a different vibe to what’s currently on offer out there.

So all this takes place on a research planet in a state of the art military science facility.
It’s a huge self-contained space built underground over twelve floors.
Our girl Lana is a doctor a behaviourist who specialises in the study of alien life forms.
She is assigned to the classified floor 12 where her newest patient or Asset-X as he is referred to resides.

He is one of many specimens housed on this floor but is Lana’s sole patient he is also deemed highly dangerous and hostile, Lana is the latest in a line of behaviourists assigned to him.
Asset-X or Xerus as he is known is of Alien origin he’s a 7ft 2 biped reptilian with spikes and horns demonic-looking with some interesting extra abilities like mimicry.
He’s kept securely in a reinforced titanium steel electro-charged enclosure and the whole facility is super secure with armed guards and special clearances.

So this is an alien sci-fi romance and it’s very slow-burn in fact the first two-thirds of this there wasn’t really any romance at all.
If I’m describing this accurately I’d say it’s much more sci-fi with romance rather than the romance being central to the story, Its also definitely much more plot led than romance led.
There is romance here and we do get to the sexy times eventually but it’s much later on and isn’t the main focus at all.

And considering this story is confined to the facility itself you’d think it would get monotonous and boring but it didn’t.
Especially when events started to take-off and everything imploded then it really was edge of your seat stuff.

I only have a few points to make on what would have improved this for me and they really are minor things, So Lana herself could be a bit soft and naive.
She is easily intimidated and cowed by words and doesn’t really read between the lines.
Instead of looking at Xerus’s past actions towards her and judging him by those standards, she takes what is verbally said and just runs with that.
I mean even I could see what he was doing here being cruel and scary to protect her but she couldn’t.
I suppose that’s why it was so brave and courageous when she did step out of her box her going against her inert nature and fear kind of proved her devotion to him.
I just wished she’d been a bit less girly earlier on and just gone with her gut.

This was also sole POV Lana’s and bar the epilogue we get no input from Xerus.
I do think dual POV would have moved this up a level.
The slow burn was fine and it did work but some added connections earlier in the story would have again improved this overall.
It did take a while to get to that part of this and I was wondering at one point if there was even going to be any romance thankfully there was and it did work.

Finally the epilogue I would have liked one slightly further along the timeline and on Xerus’s planet rather than the spaceship.
I’m hoping as this series goes forward and I’m definitely on board here that we get a chance to visit his planet and learn more about Xerus culture and people.

I loved Xerus he was fabulous and my favourite part of this, this story is worth reading solely for him alone.
I’m most definitely on board for the next book in this series and have no issue recommending this I enjoyed it a lot.
I removed half a star because of my above points but this managed to enthral and capture my attention ever so easily a thumbs up from me.

Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com

1.5 stars

The premise with a human behaviorist analyzing a beastly alien captive was interesting especially since this wasn't a fated mate instalove kind of romance. The couple had time to get to know each other.

Unfortunately, the execution lacked everything that could have made this an appealing book.

Problem areas:

- the narration. 3rd person is fine, but the whole thing felt stilted. The voice sounded droning especially since there was a lot of infodumping

- Lana. She's a dumb idealist. As in, she genuinely does not grasp what happens to prisoners of war, even though she is a part of the whole process. She is also blissfully unaware of past human atrocities and genocides, in a way that only Americans can be

- the cringy, neverending dialogues: despite the narration fast forwarding several times, it never does when the grating dialogues between Lana and her coworkers, bosses, guards, doctors etc. are going down. She talks a lot, and we have to witness all of it. On the plus side, we find out how dumb and prejudiced everyone is, but on the other hand, they remain so cartoonish (especially the one lecherous guard - you know the type!) that you can't take them seriously as characters. Also, Lana also comes across as ridiculously ignorant in most of her dialogues

- the behaviorist sessions: either Lana is a terrible bahviorist, or the author does not understand what a behaviorist does. In one instance, Lana questions whether Xerus has self-awareness (while showing him a mirror). As if ... speech wasn't one of the most decisive indicators that Xerus has self-awareness. Then again, Lana does look at herself in the mirror, and she sure as hell has no self-awareness, so ...

- the romance, or lack thereof. What was that? I'm all for talking it out and taking it slow, but in this case, I just saw a woman become infatuated with her pet project. As for Xerus, he has Stockholm's for a dumb weakling who prodded him a little less than the rest of them did. Whatever that is, it's not love

I don't think I'll check out the rest of this series.

I really enjoyed this one!

I loved the vibe of this book had-it had a dark, gritty, trapped in space storyline-and a enemies to lovers kind of romance- with interesting characters and a slow build.

I always have fun reading sci-fi romances with human women and alien H's- but I also thought the plot and background was well written.

Check this one out if you have KU!

Unusual, clever, dark, sexy and romantic.....
I found another favourite author, yeeeyyy!!!

Gah!!! I f*cking loved this book!!! The MCs and relationship development was on point! No simpering, weak, annoying heroine in this story. Lana was strong and protective of her Alien. This is one MFR book that didn't waste my f*cking time.

5+++++++++++++ stars audio and story!

Monster Love at it's Best!! 👏👏👏

This was so good. I was sucked in and couldn't stop reading until I finished. This is action packed, with a creepy twilight zone thriller-ish feel to it because as you're reading you know something weird is going on. Something other than what your main focus is on. There are twists and turns, and events you won't see coming. When all is revealed it rounds out the story so well allowing us to finally get to see Xerus and Lana in action together, without all the pesky eyes watching.

I loved this. I loved Lana and Xerus' interactions. How Xerus could see the beauty in Lana but more importantly how Lana could see the beauty and 'humanity' in Xerus. I loved how they built such trust for each other that they were able to work together to save the human race. Albeit unbeknownst to said human race, because it was the right and honorable thing.

My only gripe is I wanted to see them together on Tryth. I wanted much more...but I am excited to see book 4 is another story with Lana and Xerus!!

This book annoyed me more than it should. And I fully admit to it mostly being a "me issue".

See, the story takes place at a lab/research facility. Our heroine is a very smart biologist and behaviourist (or some such). Honestly I don't quite remember her titles. She studies alien behaviour and helps transition them into human society.

A good chunk of this book is her studying Xerus and being around her colleagues. And holy sh*t, the bad depiction of science and research grated. Everytime she said "theory" about something that was clearly a hypothesis made me pull hairs out. Also her methods. So sloppy! I beg of you, stop the torture!

But it did get better when the lab was destroyed and all aliens released. It made her unable to do any more "science".

I will also say that I thought Xerus and Lana had decent chemistry.

The writing wasn't good, but neither did my eyes bleed. Quite a few spelling errors, typos, and forgotton words but nothing too bad.

The incompetence and grossness of the military there also seemed... a tad overdone. You're telling me that the second sh*t hits the fan, these supposedly "best of the best" soldiers immediately start killing civilians, threaten to keep a woman for "entertainment", turn alien hunting into a sport, and do not at all try help people? That seems so unlikely. And that's coming from me, I'm not even that big on military. This just seemed a little over the top.

Final rating
Yeah, this ain't getting more than 2,5 stars. I'm rounding down because how much the science stuff annoyed me. I might not be a researcher myself, but I do study medicine and even to my untrained brain it was bad. ["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

Ooooo this one was a surprise!

Months later, I'd totally forgotten what happened in here but I only had to read like the first page again for it to all come flooding back. I really enjoyed this, I thought it would be fluff but damn the plot y'all!

I liked both our MCs, I was gonna say characters but nope nuh-uhn! These characters were sh*t! And I don't mean that the author wrote bad just that these were the type of people that would make me trigger happy, granted that's not saying much seeing as I hang onto my temper by the skin of my teeth but yeah, they were scum! So it was definitely all the more awesome cause justice is served!

I first read a free sample, but then decided to purchase the book. This may not sound like much, but for me to actually purchase a book (I don't have Kindle Unlimited) by an unknown self-published author is a rarity.

The book ended with a firm C, and here's why. First, the premise. Not an original one, but it doesn't have to be. That's why we have tropes, and that's why they work (for the most part) - every author adds their own unique spin yet meets the reader's expectations. The alien in the book looks like an alien - check from me (and a warning for those who don't prefer them too much on the "alien" side). The relationship developed at a nice slow pace - also check. Missing from the story were insta-love and incessant sexual scenes - a huge check, actually. Those of us who aren't into the minutia of aliens' mating habits, destined mates trope, or hapless females abducted to make alien babies will appreciate Heart's Prisoner. The heroine is ordinary but not hapless, and her feelings for the hero grow over time. The hero has all the requisite traits of an alien hero: big, red, scaly, has teeth and isn't afraid to use them. He is obstinate and temperamental, and I still don't know what to make of his violent outbursts in his cell. The world-building is okay, done more like a backdrop, which was fine by me as I was there for romance, not sci-fi action.

The stars were deducted mainly for the two-dimensional secondary characters whose role wasn't always clear, rambling storyline that I skimmed over in a lot of places, and lack of editing. The narrative needs to be tightened, but overall, a decent offering.

I loved this book. I feel like it's rare for me to find an alien romance I truly love these days. I'm sure there are other alien books with the same premise, but I don't think I've ever read one where the human heroine (in this book, Lana) is a doctor studying the captive alien hero (in this book, Xerus) so the novelty was also fun for me. I also think the world building in this book was well done which is important to my enjoyment of any sci-fi, fantasy or pnr book.

I had heard this was a slow burn going in, but it seemed impossible for any sort of relationship to develop between Lana and Xerus given the circ*mstances under which they interact: 24/7 military style surveillance/recording of all their interactions which take place through glass with Xerus locked up in his cell. Most alien romances I read have the alien and human thrown together on a ship, on a strange planet, locked up together, etc. but there's usually forced proximity which is great for romance & smut obviously, but we got none of that here. Slowly, a quasi-friendship born of mutual respect and interest grows and this is definitely a slow burn. I honestly could've done with a bit more smut lol (there's only one detailed sex scene), but I still really liked it.

Another interesting thing about this book is that Xerus is not humanoid. He's described as a 'demon from hell' and it honestly fits lol: 7+ feet tall, red reptilian scales cover his body, he has a long poisonous barbed tail, spines protruding from his back, long horns described as similar to an African impala, sharp black teeth, red and black eyes, curved talons on his fingertips, slits for his nose...so even though normally I prefer the more humanoid aliens I was into it haha. Having a non-humanoid alien as the main lead felt more 'realistic' lol it feels silly talking about the realism of a sci-fi alien romance, but alas... I feel like if there are other 'intelligent' life forms out there the chances that their body plans are super similar to ours are not high so it was fun seeing this sweet little human fall in love with this scary looking lizard alien.

A few notes about what would've made this book even better for me:
-It didn't happen a lot, but there were typos, grammar and syntax issues.
-The plot had a lot going on so while it was still a romance the slow burn aspect of that combined with Lana and Xerus being kept physically seperate for the majority of the book made me wish there was a lot more of them together.
-I would've loved to have seen more outside of the Lazris facility and that planet:
*slight spoilers*
The entire book takes place at this facility which really didn't allow for us to fully get to know Xerus and flesh out his character. Only in the epilogue do we leave the facility and we're just in a ship approaching Xerus' home planet, but we never get there on page. I think if even one third or one fourth of this book had taken place on Xerus' home planet this would've been a 5-star top read for me. Xerus' people and customs seem really interesting, but we don't get to explore that or see who Xerus really is as he fits into his society and that would've been *chefs kiss* amazing. I think the plot definitely could've carried to make the home planet feel not like an epilogue, but like an essential part of Lana and Xerus' story. UGH. I need it! haha. If the author ever writes more about them I'll be all over it. (Please write more about them!!)

Overall, I feel like this book was amazing, but that we were just getting started when it ended. I wanted more, more, more and that's honestly my biggest complaint haha. The second book in the series is about different characters😭with a completely different alien species and I've heard it's not as good, but maybe I'll check it out in the future.

That was awesome! On second read, yes, there are some minor plot holes... well, maybe not "plot holes" but things I wished the heroine would have questioned or asked about, but these were easy for me to overlook. The book kept me absolutely riveted. The author painted the scenes wonderfully too, making it very easy for me to picture the people and events in my head.

The first half of the book is a bit like others I’ve read where an alien is captured and some female scientist is assigned to study him. But the second half of the book totally flipped the script and things escalated in leaps and bounds.

Some reviews called this book "dark" or even "horror", but I wouldn’t go that far. It certainly wasn’t the lighter fair that most alien romances are, but I’ve read much darker and scarier stuff. Everything starts out very civilized but ends in a bit of a war zone. I enjoyed both sides of the book. It was neat exploring how the doctor tried to communicate with the alien and get him to tell her about his people, and it was also an action packed adventure once everything went to hell. There is a lot of violence and our two heroes, both H and h, get pretty roughed up. So you gotta like a degree of violence to enjoy this book, which I totally do! (Yeah I know, there's something not right with me. LOL)

The romance was a slow burn. The alien was genuinely scary for a while, then intriguing, then a bit alluring, then right back to being downright terrifying. Then, finally, all of the secrets were revealed, the ice broken and barriers dropped, and our two lovers were able to come together. This is not a sex heavy romance novel like many others are. We do get some very rewarding sexcapades, but not much. Read this for the story and the adventure and the romance, not for the sex. What sex there is, is just a bonus on top of all the other stuff.

I really hope this author writes more!! (Edit: She has! The four book series is now complete. Books 2 and 3 take place on other worlds with other people, and then book 4 circles back to our first couple a few years later and brings everything to a close.)

DNF at 28%. In the beginning I quite liked the book. It had its issues, but nothing that could be fixed with some good editing.

Then I encountered the factual errors. The description of how they make the translation software for Xerus hurt my soul. And no one actually does what they're supposed to do. Lana is an utterly inept behaviorist and should never have been allowed to graduate. The previous scientists working with Xerus were also utterly inept. And Nicole, being Lana's therapist, should absolutely not befriend her the way she does.

Then there was Lana's relationship with Xerus. She suffers from a case of Too Stupid To Live, the way she navigates this task. She is repeatedly told that Xerus is dangerous, Xerus repeatedly shows her that he is dangerous, and yet she simps for him like a helpless fangirl and insists that he isn't dangerous, even when the facts are thrown in her face. She says she's working on getting info from him, when in fact she strives really hard to lose any and all respect he might have for her. If he does feel anything for her, it never shows, and I usually like slow burn stories where the signs of affection are very discreet for the greater part of the book. There is absolutely nothing here, save a passing interest from him. All we see is him using her for his own benefits and she's all surprised Pikachu that he killed the Scibot with a pilfered piece of bone. Really? Literally everyone, including Xerus himself, has told her that he is dangerous.

There's also the writing style side of it. There are plenty of minor errors, and her internal dialogue is shown with single quotes. A good editor would have fixed this.

Another thing I didn't like is the expectation that all species will want to assimilate into the human culture. This is super colonialist and could be a great commentary on colonialism, racism and other -isms, but it's just presented as the normal that everyone works towards.

This was surprisingly amazing! And hella suspenseful, oh my god. It was almost a thriller more than a romance! Every time I thought I knew where the plot was going, it back-flipped and did something completely unexpected. A lot of sci-fi romance is really predictable and I really loved the uniqueness of this book.

My star taking away is for the extreme slow-burn of this book, to the point where it was almossssst not a romance. Don't get me wrong, I loved what happened with the plot, but I really had to wait a long time for my romance and I was left feeling a little dissatisfied in that department.

BUT the plot is so exciting and the tension so suspenseful and thrilling, it's really worth reading for that alone. For a while ride, I highly recommend!

4 stars

This sci-fi romance is heavy on sci-fi plot and medium/low on romance. It does a good job at world building and the storyline kept me guessing (although full disclosure: I don’t read a lot of sci fi). I do wish the baddies were a bit more nuanced though, they felt a bit one-note.

Despite being low on steam (it probably would have worked just as well without the sex scene), the relationship between Lana and Xerus was quite moving. I enjoyed their culture exchange - she teaches him chess, he teaches her his language.

Overall, I found this to be a really engaging read, even if there wasn't as much romance as I normally like.

Rating: 3.3 / 5

So...here's the thing...

I read through this remarkably quickly, but it's the kind of "reading quickly" that happens because I keep searching for what I'm expecting to read about to finally happen...

...but then it just continuously DOESN'T, and so I keep reading further in the hopes that it just...will.

Except that the whole "romance' part of this, which is what I was expecting, only happens in the second half of the book after a lot of Clarice Starling / Hannibal Lector buildup, a ton of worldbuilding and scenes with characters that I didn't care about (and that I honestly just skimmed through).

But, unfortunately, it was a quick and rather out of nowhere romance DESPITE all that buildup...

...and just one lovemaking scene that left a LOT to be desired.

So...yeah, still a solid 3 stars for all the great stuff that I DIDN'T care about, and all that buildup...

...but definitely no more, because this is definitely NOT a re-read.

This book was a slloooooooowww burn. It really was more of a science fiction story with some romance added in than a romance, in my opinion. There wasn’t more than a hint of flirtation in there until like 80% of the way through.

Still, it was an interesting story, and I appreciated the non-humanoid alien, though I personally would have enjoyed the book more if some of the action and non-essential scenes had been cut down in favor of developing the romantic relationship between the hero and heroine.

It also could have used some editing. I saw numerous instances of passed instead of past, your instead of you’re, and things like phased instead of fazed sprinkled in with typos and other small errors. All in all, a good book, but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for.

Not sure what I expected. I’m lying. I thought it was going to be a decent read and just like all the other similar books that’s used and reused. Not. In. The. Slightest. Ok. I’m lying. Just a little bit. This one was just done really really well. I’m definitely reading the next book and the next one after that.
I’m I’m glad it wasn’t love at first site. I hate those in SFR. The h was curious about the H at first. He mad her nervous and feel a needle of attraction. The she feared him. All her emotions seemed natural and thats what separates this from all the other recycled alien romance books.

I’m mad the author only has one book! Why???? 😩 Loved this story, and am happy to add another author to my favorites!

Just finished it and I'm soooooo pissed.

Inhale....Exhale.... This review will be a little ranty and all over the place. Apologies in advance.

When you like a genre, you devour it. Good. Bad. Awesome. Mediocre. All of it. You also learn the tropes. On the surface, there is nothing wrong with tropes. I like tropes. They give us a sense of comfort. The problem arises when the tropes ARE the plot instead of IN the plot. If you're a fair-weather reader of the genre, the tropes probably won't bother you at all. If you're a fan, then you look askew and wait for the writer to make it work. When they do, you go, yeah, good one. When they don't, it sets your teeth on edge.

Dear authors of the alien romance genre, please, for the love of God! You DON'T

- have to make EVERY human male evil - incompetent evil, greedy evil, thuggish evil, evil evil - to justify why the alien hero is a good romantic choice. Your writing should show - not tell - why the hero is in fact the hero.

-have to make the military, government, scientists all villains. Your story should still hold interest if everything is by the book and sh*t STILL hits the fan. Really, Murphy can and will take care of it.

-have to make your heroine a STUPID WET NOODLE because the plot needs her to be. Especially if you tell us how smart and capable they are. What's worse is when you go, now she's stupid to move the plot along, she's smart and gutsy , nope, back to stupid because plot....you get the picture.

- and now we pause the apocalypse because it IS a romance and you need to throw in some sexy times. The barbarians are at the gates, but we need them to play house and have sex and make the heroine a sexually sated wet noodle.

-have to make the story from one pov (the heroine's) to keep the suspense. In fact, if we had some of the hero's pov, you could almost justify some of the dumbassery of the heroine. Maybe.

-make the 'heroine' terrified of the hero for 70% of the book and then have her turnaround and realize she's actually IN LOVE with the hero because...well, they are about to play house and have sex so of course she loves him.

- ever use "...she thought" for internalized dialog. Use italics, that's the standard. Not, 'What are you doing', she thought. 'Blah blah blah', she thought. It's a personal pet peeve and made my eyes twitch every time I read it especially since most of those weren't even needed.

As you guessed, all of these things happen in this book and normally I'd write a scathing one-star review. BUT...there were some interesting points in this story. It was fresh enough to keep me interested. In fact, this was a fairly solid three-star book up to 40 or 50% despite some the issues presented above.

Then we have THE INCIDENT. So basically, this story is Predator vs Alien(s) if the Predator was a hot, sexy demon.

THE INCIDENT was not a surprise. I'm sure 90% of the readers saw it coming a mile away. I was okay with that because the h/h interactions kept me interested. I was even letting the sexual harassment slide (wet noodle heroine) because I knew what was coming.

Then THE INCIDENT...apocalypse, fire raining from the skies, we're all going to die, cats and dogs living together-MASS HYSTERIA!!!

Hold that thought because the h/h need to play house and have sex. Multiple times. - I'll admit, I blinked. What the Actual f*ck! I can't be reading this right. I did, and I f*cking lost it.

By then it's some 70-80% so I kept reading, but I was pretty numb to the whole story. When the evil, unprofessional, unscrupulous, psychotic SEAL team does its thing, I yawned. Of course, they did.

The sad part is this could've been a contender. It could've been a kick-ass horror story with romance. It had a solid foundation, but the walls were made of grass and the roof out of tissue paper.

Two-stars because I liked the idea and the beginning.

'The sea may be vast and frightening but there's always a way back to land somehow.'

I devoured this book in the span of a couple hours. It's been a while since I've read science fiction romance that features aliens that actually look scary and are similar to something you'd see in the Prometheus/Alien cinematic universe. Very detailed and action-packed story, sometimes the suspense was almost too much for me. The romance was slow burn (which is usually not my thing), but I was OK with it.

My only big issue with this book is that the ending seemed a bit rushed, I wanted to see what happened after the MMC Xerus and FMC Lana landed on his home planet. I had so many unanswered questions about his species, like how old was he and how did his species lifespan compare to humans? The HEA seemed too easy. The last 20% also had quite a few grammatical errors, which surprised me. Not a perfect story, but a fun one none-the-less.

Whoa 😯

I began this book thinking I knew how everything was going to play out, and then, BAM! It didn’t go at all as I thought!

Be aware that it’s somewhat sci-fi horror and darkish, but it never felt as if all hope was gone. It definitely made me catch my breath a few times...I could almost feel the emotions of Lana. Holy hotness...the tension and chemistry!!! 🥵 🌶 🧪

I’ve never heard of this author, but I definitely want to read the next in the series. I tried to find where to sign up for her newsletter, but had no success. Like Hades says in Hercules, “Two thumbs waaay up!!!” (But without the sarcasm...)

Good beginning, then blah

Good premise and I liked the female character in the beginning .. Appeared very professional, believable, the attraction building naturally between her and the alien, but when the sh*t hit the fan , she turned into a teenager, I finished the book but wound up very disappointed.

Another book where i enjoyed the hero 4* more than the heroine 2*. U could see where the plot was going but not Lana and so i felt like skimming to get to the action. I'll try another by this author, just hope it's got a slightly less naive main character

Solid alien romance and surprisingly un-tropey. I appreciated the slower burn development and trust between Xeras and Lana, but I wish it was a little hotter toward the end.

The characters (particularly Lana) didn’t jump off the page for me, but again, a solid read.

Really enjoyed this

I'm starting to question my sanity and taste at this point