Back to Grace and her Interstellar Brides. As you can tell by the title Claimed by the Cyborgs, we’re back on the Colony. And this one made me very sad sometimes. All three of the main characters, because we’re dealing with Prillons, are very broken, and I just couldn’t help pulling for them from the very beginning and wanting for their relationship to succeed. I had a real visceral need for them to get their HEA.
Like usual, we start at bride testing, with Danika getting tested. She’s a volunteer from jail. She’s only 23, but she’s spent 7 years in jail for committing a murder, and now she’s looking for something she hasn’t had, pretty much ever. She wants love, stability, safety, and a home. She doesn’t trust the program or the wardens when they say that is exactly what she is going to have, but she’ll try to hope. Danika ends up with a 99% match to a Prillon warrior, and the warden explains that means that she’s going to have 2 mates, the primary that she’s matched to, and a second that he chooses. Danika, all hopped up from her testing, thinks that’s just about alright with her. She really liked her testing.
As a side note, we didn’t have Warden Egara doing most of the testing. She’s training someone new, but we did at least get to see everyone’s favorite warden. I really want her to have a happy ending with a new warrior or warriors. I think maybe being matched to Prillons again might not be the best for her. Maybe an Atlan?
Anyway, on the Colony, we have Thomar and Varin. Thomar is Danika’s match, but he is refusing to take a bride, and it’s not because he’s a jerk or anything. He and Varin have only been at the Colony for a couple of days, and only because Dr. Sunnar is there, and he has been very successful in removing Hive implants. You see, Thomar and Varin were held by the Hive for over 2 years, and were tortured and experimented on. Among other things, the Hive implanted Thomar’s mating collars in the guys, and caused them to create a mind link. Thomar is in constant pain, and is pretty much always triggered. Varin can just barely managed to keep Thomar as stable as possible, and he helps bear Thomar’s pain, which is intense. To top it all off, Thomar really just wants to die. So the guys agree that they will refuse their bride.
When Danika hears that, she first is frustrated and kind of accepting, because she knew that this would happen. But when she learns more about Thomar and Varin, she decides fuck that, and that she’s going to fight for them. Thomar and she matched 99%, which means that they are perfect for each other, and she’s not willing to let that go. She decides that she’s going to get real up close and personal with the guys, because she is going to claim them, whether they like it or not.
Thomar and Varian are stubborn af, but they really don’t have a patch on Danika. I honestly don’t think that they could possibly out stubborn her, no matter how hard they try. Even combined, she manages to get her way. She doesn’t push, she doesn’t cry, she doesn’t manipulate, she just says that this is the way that it’s going to be, and it is. She also does everything she can to protect her guys. And that includes facing down Helion, the head of IC, who I really, really, really hate.
Danika is a survivor and a protector. I mean, don’t get me wrong, T & V are too, but Danika has always been that, and for the majority of her very short life, she’s had to be that, and there has been no one to back her up, so when she sees Varin and Thomar, and how much they really need someone who will protect them and stand up for them, they trigger her instincts, so, she does what she needs to. I think that she may be one of my favorite Brides.
In fact, I think that this trio may be one of my favorite pairings. I mean, I love pretty much every pairing, and we all know how I feel about Atlans, but there is something about the way that these 3 very damaged and broken beings come together and make one unit that is really special, and something that I don’t think we’ve seen as much in the IBP world until now. Yeah, there’s been broken characters, but the damage in this one is so profound.
I can’t wait to see what Grace has planned for the IBP world. We learned some interesting stuff in this one, so I’m really excited.
In Between the Pages 