Tag: Science Fiction Romance

Grace Goodwin-Beast Charming

We’re back to the Interstellar Brides world. This book is about one of the Atlan warlords who live on the Colony. Some of them have been roped into a reality show of sorts to help the Atlans find their mates. Yeah, they all have kind of a fairy tale theme to it. I bet you can’t guess which one Beast Charming is. That’s right it’s Pinocchio! No, seriously, it’s Cinderella inspired.

We start with Tane, an Atlan whose beast is close to a Mating Fever and being lost forever. It’s his turn to find a Bride, and he’s doing it on Chet Bosworth’s reality show. For his turn, they are having a huge Bride Ball. It currently boasts 300 eligible and beautiful young women hoping that they are his mate. Side note, there are a buttload of other Atlans and Prillions standing guard at the ball, hoping that they meet their mates. Meanwhile, he’s stuck in a ridiculous outfit, looking just like Prince Charming, if Prince Charming was a huge alien who had a beast inside of him. Tane is standing at the end of the stairs, meeting each and every young woman who is walking down the stairs, trying to be his bride. Too bad he already knows she isn’t.

Then we have Elena. She is standing outside the ball in a gorgeous dress that doesn’t quite fit her. She hasn’t been invited, but she has to get in anyway. That’s because she’s responsible for Abby, an 18 year old social influencer whose billionaire father hates aliens. Abby, while being a lovely person, just wants to get her father’s attention, and ending up on TV at the Bride Ball will certainly do it.

All is going well and Elena and her partner in crime have managed to get into the ball. Elena has ended up in the receiving line in front of Tane, and Tane recognizes her as his mate. He takes her out for a dance, then he takes her into a side room, and well, takes her.

Sadly, Tane doesn’t know Elena’s real name because she came in on a stolen invite. So, when Abby gets found and our three lovely ladies have to run away, Tane doesn’t know where to find her. His only clue is a locket that a paparazzo stole off Elena’s wrist when she hit him.

I liked Elena. She is very protective over anyone she considers hers. She will go to war, almost quite literally. She will definitely do things that she wouldn’t have thought that she would. You see that by her going to rescue Abby. You also see it in what she does about Tane later in the book. Even better, she does it without warning Tane.

I love Atlans. I think they are my favorite of Grace’s guys. That pretty much automatically means that I like Tane. I think that he’s a good guy, and it’s obvious how loyal he is and how loving he is.

OK, that’s all for today. Go check this one out, as well as all of the other IBP books. Happy reading!

Grace Goodwin-Claimed by the Cyborgs

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.

Alison Aimes-Savage Prince

Alison has brought us an outer space alien omegaverse story with Savage Prince. This isn’t Alison’s first time here, but I think that the other book I have from her wasn’t omegaverse. This one isn’t the first book in the series, but the first one came out when I was taking a break, so I missed it. I need to go dig it up, because I want to get more of this world. I will say that I didn’t get totally lost by not reading the first book, but there are things that I had to work out as I went along, so I would definitely recommend reading them in order.

So, we start with Maxheim. He’s an Alpha Lord, the second in command in his family, and a member of the outlaw group, the Brotherhood. He and his 2 younger brothers are searching through an omega auction because they are looking for the man who stole their twin brother and sister when they were babies. Maxheim and his family thought that the twins were dead, but recently found out that they were stolen and still alive. So, off the boys go to find the asshole who stole them. As a bonus, they are also looking for the person who is responsible for killing many of the men of the various families of the Brotherhood. All of a sudden, there is a room that attracts Maxheim for some reason. He looks in the room and sees that it is covered in blood and bits of dead people. But there’s also an odd scent that calls to him.

Then we have Tess. She’s an omega and a slave. She has spent many years doing what her owner Aldar has told her to do. She does it because he has 4 young omega girls that he uses to leverage her obedience as long as her long time friend Rav. Tess has a power. She causes men to rage and kill. They touch her once, and then after that she lets loose her gift and causes all the alphas to rage, lust, and kill. They hurt themselves, they hurt others, and they don’t stop. Her owner uses her as bait. He gets members of the Brotherhood to come to bid on fucking her, lets them think that they have won a chance, and then the guards leave the room. After that happens, Tess lets loose with her power, and runs and hides in her cage while the alphas go crazy. This time, the second time she’s doing this tonight, something goes wrong, and things happen early. A massive riot starts in, and then a huge alpha comes in and rescues her. And Maxheim meets the woman who was seen in a vision about him.

I like how omegaverse books all play by the same basic rules, but how each of the authors who write them give their stories their own spin. In this world, Alison’s fated mates have bands that appear on their wrists and neck after their mating has been fulfilled.

I really like Tess. I feel really sorry for her too. She has been handed a really shitty hand. I mean, she has spent the last many years of her life a slave, and her life wasn’t all that great before tht either. She’s been abused, tortured, used, and had her mind fucked over for years. She doesn’t think that she deserves anything, and she’s pretty sure that all the nice things that Maxheim wants to do for her are just lies to trick her. And I’m not surprised about that because no one has ever tried to give it to her straight. It’s always been a trick or a lie.

Maxheim took a minute for me to warm up to. He’s very controlled at the beginning. it’s like he’s in a block of ice, and I think that he likes it that way. That control and that numbness lets him stay focused on his family and finding his twin siblings. I think that all the control and discipline that he has is not a bad thing. I mean, no one wants an out of control alpha flying around, but that control also causes problems. He likes to micromanage, and that causes problems.

I loved this book, and I’m looking forward to seeing what haoppens next, because I think it’s going to be quite interesting.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out. Happy reading!

Grace Goodwin-Starfighter Command

So, it’s been awhile since we had Grace around here, which makes me really happy to bring Starfighter Command here today. Now, this isn’t one of her IBP books. It’s the second one in a new series, Starfighter Training Academy.

OK, the way that this series works is that there is a planet called Velerion. They are under attack by an evil queen and the Dark Fleet. Prior to book 1, a traitor told the queen where the Starfighter base is, and she attacked it, and the majority of the Starfighter pair bonds were destroyed. So, the PTBs on Velerion came up with an idea. They sent out a “game” called Starfighter Training Academy out to many planets, including Earth. The goal is for people to finish the game, and then the Velerions will come get them and tell the winners it’s real, and then take them back to Velerion to become one of the Starfighters. There are 3 classes of Starfighters, pilots, command specialists, and heavies. Today, we’re looking at one of the command specialists.

Mina was playing with her friends Jamie, who has gone missing, and Lily. Jamie played the pilot, and when Mina and Lily helped her win, they saw her Velerion partner ask her to be his bond and she accepted right before her screen went blank, and that was the last they heard from her. Now, it’s Mina’s turn. She’s just about to beat the final mission, and she’s really excited. Her only worry is that she’s going to lose Kassius, the game avatar that she created and who has been her partner this whole time. She has a huge crush on him, and he’s just a collection of pixels. So, Mina wins and accepts her bond with Kass, and then her screen goes blank.

Mina makes it to work the next day, she’s a secret agent/LEO kind of person. She’s good at hacking and she has connections all over the place. She’s been trying to track down Jaime with all her expertise, and nothing is working. All of a sudden, she gets a call that Kassius is at the front desk wanting to see her. She has him escorted to a conference room, where she finds out that everything is real, and she can go to Velerion to make a real difference.

Kassius knows that he would be great in the Starighter program, but his commanding officer hates him and refuses to promote him. Of course, that guy is a huge fucking douche, but whatever. That’s OK, Kass has plans. He’s going to go and hack his way into the system and add himself into the program. He hacks in with his boss’ creditionals, and does everything he can to get himself into the system, and he knows that he’s been sucessful when he gets matched with Mina. And he spends the next several months training with Mina and hiding it from his boss. Then there’s the day that he gets the call that Mina has wone the game, and he needs to go get her.

As a person born in the 70s, my first thought when I read the blurb from these books was the movie, The Last Starfighter, because it seems really similar. There are some differences, and there are some similiarities. I don’t think that this series is a ripoff of the movie, and I do think that the book works well.

I like Mina. I think that she is very clever and frighteningly compentent. She knows exactly what she’s doing, and she does it very well. I wouldn’t want to mess with her at all. I thnk that she makes logical jumps that work really well. Honestly, I wouldn’t want to try and cross this woman.

Kassius is a lot of fun. He’s irreverent, rebellious, and strong. He’s also incredibly protective. I think that he is the perfect match for Mina.

OK, that’s all there is for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Lee Savino & Lili Zander-Draekon Guardian

Oh, I’m so sad. This is the last of the Drakeon books. Well, the authors have promised us an extended epilogue kind of thing sometime this year, but still, no more books with the smexy dragons, and I love the smexy dragons. So, let’s talk about Draekon Guardian, shall we?

Yafet was known as Sixth, back when he was one of the original Draekon. Now, along with most of his brothers, he’s helping the rebellion and trying to fight their other brother, First, who is more than a little bat shit crazy. Yafet was sent after a couple of humans to rescue them. He brought them both back, but one of them, Liz, was his mate. He’s been trying to put off mating her and staying away from her. It worked really well for a while because he was busy trying to cure a plague. But now, it’s getting harder and harder. He knows that he shouldn’t do anything with her, and the thought that First might get his hands on her is just scary AF. He’s still working with all the medical researchers trying to cure the plague that First has created, because they know that he is going to deploy it again at some point.

Liz knows that she’s attracted to Yafet, but he never comes around her. She just stays in her room, never leaves, and is just terribly depressed, which really, I don’t blame her for. Her roommate manages to pull her out of it and takes her to a market. As a chef and cookbook writer, taking her to a huge market where she can find all kinds of food is the perfect thing for Liz. But, they run into problems at the market, and all her food gets left in a locker. Until it turns out that the food turns up in her apartment along with a new cooking unit.

Liz is dealing with some depression, and frankly, I don’t blame her one little bit. I would definitely be dealing with some serious mental health issues at that point too. Her whole world has changed and trying to deal with everything was just a lot. I think that she is really smart and creative though, and once she finds something to latch on to, then she’s better. And that’s something that she actually did on her own, mostly. I thought that was great for her and her own mental health, and her self-esteem. I think that she is also really fierce and she’s not going to let anyone mess with her, if she can avoid it, at least.

Yafet is definitely a good man. Dragon. Whatever. He has a huge streak of responsibility in him, and he can’t really cut himself any slack. He works really hard so that he can find the cure for this plague and he kind of blames himself. Which, it’s understandable why he does blame himself, even though neither he or any of his brothers have anything to blame themselves for. They were put into a fucking horrible situation by their creator, and the rebels didn’t make a lot of it easier when they first came out of stasis, but the rebels did at least straighten up. I think that he’s really smart and caring. I think that he’s also a little bit stupid. At least when it comes to relationships he is. But, don’t worry, Liz has some lessons for him.

OK, that’s all for this one. I’m going to miss these guys, so I’m looking forward to the epilogue bit. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Leann Ryans-Owned

This is another Omegaverse story by Leann. Owned is the 3rd book in the Omega Market books. This is the series where omegas are collected at a central collection center, and then they are auctioned off to the highest bidding alpha. This is a more scifi series, with alphas and omegas coming from all kinds of worlds and all kinds of species. In this case, we are on an alien planet, with a human omega and an alpha of unknown species.

We start with a young Lena. She and her parents have moved to a new planet. Her father is a very, very ambitious man, and he has goals. Goals in which she is very involved. Right now, she’s just barely started going from child to teen. She’s at a dinner with her parents and her father’s new boss and his family. He has an alpha son named Ivar who there are obviously plans about when it comes to Lena. Her father keeps telling his boss that there are ways around the collection center. Ivar tells Lena that one day, she will be his mate. She’s not all that excited. She’s not the only one.

Several years later, and Lena is turning 20 and is about to go to the collection center. Of course, everyone knows that it’s only a nod to the rules because somehow her father and Ivar have figured out a way that Ivar will win her auction. So, she heads to the center with just the bare minimum of what she needs because everything else can just be sent to Ivar’s house.

But what no one knows, except for, well, himself, is that Remi is bound and determined that Ivar is not going to win, because Lena is his. And he knows how the fix is working, and he’s going to fuck it up. He wants Lena, and he’s going to get her. It helps that he’s now a partner with Ivar’s father and the boss of Lena’s father. Remi also has friends in places none of those men do, and he has information. He hoards information and then uses it to his advantage.

So, Ivar is a creepy little fuck. Lena doesn’t like him, and frankly, I don’t blame her. Like I said, he’s a creepy fuck. Her dad isn’t any better, only he’s a creepy big fuck.

I like Lena. She has tried so hard to do everything that she is supposed to do. She really is a good girl, and one who has been under so much pressure her entire life. Her father has never really seen her as a person ever since she presented as an omega. She’s really spent her life being a bargaining chip to her father, and he has no problem trying to cash in on her. I think that she is just such a sweet and lovely person. She’s really open and she just wants to be loved.

Remi is one of my favorite kinds of heroes. He’s devious, sneaky, tricky, and he is bound and fucking determined to get what he wants, when he wants it, and he will fuck over anyone who tries to get in his way. I really like him. Within his own personal framework and the framework of the world that he lives in, he’s a good man, and one that I wouldn’t mind knowing, because if he’s on your side, he’s on your side.

I can’t wait for the next book!

cityscape, Tokyo

I have to say that Lena’s mom fascinates me. I don’t know how much she knew and how much she didn’t. I’d like to think that she has some insider knowledge that she’s been using to help things out. I don’t know though.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Kate Rudolph-Dekon

I think that this is my first Kate Rudolph book here, but it’s not the first one I’ve read. I own several of the earlier books in this series, and it’s one that I tend to enjoy. So, let’s get to Dekon, shall we?

OK, this is a fated mate scifi romance. The way that it works is that the aliens are a species called Detyens. Their species is dying off. Part of that is because if you don’t meet your denya, your soul mate, by the time you are 30, you are dead. Pfft. Game over. There are so few Detyens left in the universe, it was nearly impossible to find their denya, but then one lucky male found out that humans are compatible. Now, the Detyens are slowly moving to Earth, hoping that they can find denya. OK, now that you have the basics of the world down, let’s get to the specifics.

When Manda was a tween, she was stolen by aliens. She had terrible, horrible, very bad things happen to her. After 5 years, she was saved by Detyens and brought home. But while she was gone, her parents went out to try and find her, and now they are out in space. But Dekon and his brother find her parents and are bringing them home. There’s just one problem for Deke. He’s pretty sure that Manda is his denya, which is a good thing. She’s only 16 and is recovering from MAJOR trauma, which is a bad thing. He doesn’t want to do anything that will stunt her growth or her recovery. He also doesn’t want to torture himself by spending years around her without being able to claim her. So, he decides, for both their sakes’ that he will leave. He leaves and ends up being a merc.

Five years later, he’s tired and is basically trying to kill himself. But after some thought, he decides to go to a Temple of Peace and try to fix himself. He lets his family know, and he lets Manda know. Manda is PISSED. She’s been waiting for years for him to come home, and he hasn’t talked to her at all during those years. She knows that she’s probably his denya, and so does his family, who she is close to. She decides that she’s not going to stand for his shit anymore. She’s going to go out and get her man.

I thought that Manda was very mentally and emotionally strong. She went out and was going to do the things that she wants to do, even if it’s scary, like going out to space. I love her thought that she probably won’t be abducted by aliens twice. She has had to fight, hard, to be where she is. She has to fight so that she could be better. She had to fight hard to deal with her parents, and all her feelings with them. I have so much respect for her and her strength and her will.

I understand why Dekon did the things that he did. He really was kind of in that I’m going to be damned if I do and damned if I don’t, so either way, I’m just damned. It had to be so hard for him to know what Manda was to him but have to deal with her being young, physically, and deal with her trauma which can make her older mentally and emotionally. There’s that. I think that he’s a good male, and he did, most of the time, the things that were the right things to do.

OK, nothing down below today. Go check it out!

Top 10 MM Books of 2020 pt. 1

I am persnickety on some things when I’m reading, but whether it’s MM or MF isn’t one of them. I will read MM, MF, FF, and everything in between, in whatever combinations and numbers possible. For me, it isn’t just about what parts go into which places, although that is nice, it’s also about the connection between the characters, and that connection doesn’t matter if you are male, female, trans, non-binary, or gender fluid. And technically, this should be classified as LGBT instead of MM, because one of the books has an NB character. But, the books on this particular list focus on the more male side, so I’m going to go with MM. So, in no particular order, let’s get to the first part of my list.

Susan Hawke-How to Forgive

How to Forgive (my post) is the 6th book in Susan Hawke’s Lovestrong series. This is Susi Hawke’s contemporary pen name, under Susi, she writes omegaverse. I would really put this book as a campanion book to How to Heal, which is book 5, more than just the next book in the series. It involves Grayson, who is non-binary, who has come home after college and is trying to build their life back up in their hometown. Gray finds their ideal job, but their bossis Clark, their old bully. I loved this because we really get to see Gray’s journey and what they have gone through. We’ve seen Clark’s and how he tried to change, so I loved seeing the other side, and how Gray works to build their relationship with the big bad biker. I love Susi’s books, no matter what name she’s writing under.

Piper Scott-Single Dad Sundays

Piper writes omegaverse, and one of her series is called the Single Dad Support Group. It’s a bunch of guys who were single dads who got together in an online forum and gave each other a lot of help. There are chats throughout each of the books, and on her page every Sunday, Piper would have a question that a reader asked, and the dads would all reply to it. Well, Piper pulled all those Sunday chats and turned them into this book. It’s funny as hell, and I will never see the word placenta in the same way again.

Kai Butler-The Earl and the Executive

This is a Regency romance. But it takes place in the future. In space. Yeah. You wouldn’t think that those 3 things fit together, but Kai made it work, and made it work well. You get an impoverished Earl who is looking for a wealthy spouse to marry. It’s a lot of fun, and you get to see spaceships set against the ton.

AJ Sherwood-How to Shield an Assassin

AJ writes some funny books while still keeping up some intense action, and that’s what she did here. This is the first book in a series, all focusing on different guys in this friend group. You see them all show up in each book, so you really have to read the books. This one is about Ari, who is an assassin, who is out doing his job when a little girl asks him to help her out with her step-dad. He takes care of the dude and then adopts Remi, as one does, you know.

Make sure to read the content warnings on this, because they are funny af.

Alice Winters-How to Vex a Vampire

Alice is another writer like AJ. (my post) Her stuff is funny as hell, she writes outrageous characters, and you still get these intense stories that drag you in. This book is the first one in a series, and you have to read them in order. Each book is about a new couple, but you see everyone in every book. This series is an urban fantasy, and has vampires, both born and created, and focuses on a vampire police squad. I honestly want to just take Finn home and keep him.

This is another one where you should read the content warnings.

OK, that’s the first part of my Top Ten MM books from last year. Check back tomorrow for more. 🙂

Grace Goodwin-Surprise Mates

It’s been a minute since I had one of Grace’s books on the blog, so yay! This one is a fun, sweet, sad, and made me very happy. In Surprise Mates, we get to see a lot of past favorites, so that was always nice. And we get set up for another Bachelor Beast style book some time in the future, I think. Which, again, yay! I have mad love for Atlans.

So, we have Lucy, who we met back with Olivia and Wulf. She is Olivia’s best friend, and when she and Wulf mated, she went to The Colony with them. She hangs around with the human brides, watches the kids, and is Aunt Woocy. But she’s lonely. None of the males on The Colony fit for her, and she isn’t going to have a fling with one of them anyway, because it would be mean to them. So when Queen Jessica’s mates throw her a surprise birthday party, or well, more of an event, and invite all of pretty much everyone, Lucy decides that Prillon Prime is Space Vegas, and what happens on Prillon Prime stays there. She’s out to find a hunky hottie or two and take a ride to Pound Town.

Then we have Niklas and Sambor, Nik and Sam. Niklas is an ambassador, and Sambor is his second, body guard, and pretty much Prillon’s best warrior and assassin. They are at the party when the DJ tells everyone they have to line dance, and that was reinforced by Jessica’s mate Ander, so yeah, everyone danced. Or, well, tried to do the Electric Slide. Nik and Sam didn’t do well, and knocked over Lucy, which actually ended up working out well for everyone. She looked at them, and said hey, I want orgasms, you want to give them to me? And I’m only barely paraphrasing there. And of course, the guys were more than willing to provide all kinds of orgasms.

I like Lucy, and I have liked her since we first met her. She’s a devoted friend, protective and loving. She and Olivia created a family of choice, and they really are sisters. Lucy just wants to have the best for her friend, and she’s happy at The Colony. Or rather, by her own words, she’s content. Content =/= happy. Content can be good, but it’s also lonely, so… I don’t blame her for at least wanting to get her swerve on while she’s on Prillon Prime.

Niklas and Sambor are both really good males. Nik is a little overly duty bound, I think, but that isn’t always a bad thing, really. I mean, part of his job is to make sure that the Hive isn’t getting a foothold in Coalition space, and he has to work with all kinds of people, so being very serious about his duty is kind of necessary right now. Sam is there to protect him, and has saved his life many times.

I think that this was a good story, and I did get teary a couple of times, but it made sense to be teary then. It was a little different to most of the IBP books, but it works really well here.

OK, nothing under the pic today. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Sophie Kisker-Tribute

Before I get started, I need to say that my K button is misbehaving. For someone reason, it keeps wanting to put multiple Ks instead of just one, so if you notice extra letters, it’s because either I or Grammarly missed them.

Anyway, let’s talk about Sophie and her latest book. I’ve missed Sophie’s stories, so I’m glad that she’s back. Tribute is fucking hot, and has a lot of hot fucking. It’s a very Sophie book, because you have non-con, darkness, and hot aliens. So, let’s get into the gig, shall we?

Mena is a human woman. She’s been on a ship for the last 10 of her years. She is one of what is probably the last human beings alive. The Earth was falling apart, and her ship and shipmates got launched quickly out to a planet that they had already sent colonists to. They are pretty sure that the planet is either completely unpopulated or the native beings are so primitive, they can be conquered. Well, they are wrong. The humans are headed to the planet Kazir, which is inhabited by an advanced alien species. And, oh, BTW, the previous human colonists are all dead.

Mik’kal is a senator on Kazir. He’s not just a senator, he’s the second highest senator. He’s been working with other senators to figure out what to do with the humans who are on their way. There are 3 choices. Blow them all out oof the sky, enslave them all, or put them all on a secluded island, after taking some of the humans, both male and female, as a tribute. The 3rd decision is the one that gets chosen. The human captain lets the Senate know who can be taken as tribute. The humans are all going to be put up on auction, but the leader of the planet wants Mik’kal to take one of them.

Of course, Mena is one of the tributes. And she doesn’t like the way that he and another male are talking over her. In fact, I love the comment that Mik’kal says to her about the fact he wouldn’t talk to his furniture before buying it, so why would he talk to her. Well, this pisses Mena all the way off, and she manages to kick him right in the balls. Hard. Which prompts Mik’kal to choose her.

One aspect of this planet is that it has something called nirza. It’s like the force, kinda. It’s an energy that ties the people and the planet together. The natives have to test themselves against the nirza in adolescence to learn to control it. As adults, they have to bleed off that nirza, or things turn ugly. Usually, that’s through violence, so society has created battle simulators and blood sports. Anyone who spends significant time on the planet has to deal with the nirza, not just the native species.

Anyway. Mik’kal is an asshole of huge proportions. He didn’t want a slave, and it’s very obvious. He wanted to just be done with the humans. He doesn’t want to worry about the humans infecting his world. The previous humans were all enslaved, and the rose up and killed themselves, and sometimes their children. He doesn’t want to see that happen again, so just be done with them before that can happen. He’s also a very dominating and domineering asshole. He has a huge dose of nirza and a lot of darkness, which he works very hard to keep controlled, at least before Mena. But for all that he’s an asshole, he’s an honorable man. He really wants the best for his world and his people. He makes the hard choices because it’s his duty, and he willing serves his people.

Mena is in a really hard place. She’s now a slave. She may have spent a lot of time reading hard core kinky books, and playing slap and tickle and spank with her friends, but fantasy is a lot different than what she is dealing with right now. For one thing, in her fantasies, there was the chance that the Master had some feelings for the woman and her needs were being met. That’s not how Mena feels. She feels like she’s just a piece of furniture and that she is going to be in pain for the rest of her life, and she really wants everything to be done if that’s all it’s going to be. She spends a lot of time fighting with herself. Part of her likes parts of what Mik’kal does, and part of her hates it all, and hates him too.

One of the things that makes this so Sophie is that we get to see Mena’s struggle to accept what is happening to her, if she can accept it. That struggle shows up in a lot of Sophie’s books, and it’s a struggle that I really like to watch.

Ugh, the human captain. At least he’s not the worst person in this book, but I will argue that he’s the second worst.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

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