Pets in Space 3: Embrace the Passion – Review

Tags

5 stars, Alexis Glynn Latner, Anna Hackett, Book Review, Carol Van Natta, cats, dogs, E D Walker, favorite series, Hero Dogs, JC Hay, Kyndra Hatch, other worldly creatures, Pauline Baird Jones, pets, Ruby Lionsdrake, S.E. Smith, scifi romance, Tiffany Roberts, Veronica Scott

There are giant creepy spiders in one of the stories in Pets in Space 3. So I thought it was appropriate to post this review today. Happy Halloween!

About Pets in Space 3: Embrace the Passion by Pauline Baird Jones, Carol Van Natta, JC Hay, Kyndra Hatch, E D Walker, Ruby Lionsdrake, Tiffany Roberts, Veronica Scott, S.E. Smith, Alexis Glynn Latner, Anna Hackett

Eleven original, never-before-published action-filled romances that will heat your blood and warm your heart! Eleven authors combine their love for Science Fiction Romance and pets to bring readers sexy, action-packed romances while helping a favorite charity. Proud supporters of Hero-Dogs.org, Pets in Space authors have donated over $4,400 in the past two years to help place specially trained dogs with veterans. Open your hearts and grab your limited release copy of Embrace the Passion: Pets in Space 3 today!

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Review Pets in Space 3: Embrace the Passion

Since the beginning, when Pets in Space 1 was introduced to the Scifi Romance world, I have been very enthusiastic about these collections. The combinatin of scifi and romance was already a favorite thing for me, but when you add in an endearing pet….don’t expect me to say ‘no’ to these great anthologies.

There are so many remarkable stories in this 3rd collection. Everyone who reads it will pick out their favorites, and so have I.

Two of my favorite series are represented. Pauline Baird Jones’ Project Enterprise and Carol Van Natta’s Central Galactic Concordance. In an anthology with these two great authors and their familiar series, it is easy to pick my favorites.

In Jones’ Operation Ark USMC Sergeant Carolina City (Caro) is charged with repatriating a shipload of sentient beings that all bear some resemblance to animals an Earthling might be familiar with: turtles, eagles, pandas, etc. Along for the ride is Kraye, a human that was pretty much raised by robots.

So the human that was raised by robots has a hard time understanding other humans, especially a certain Sgt. City, his feelings toward her and her unspoken communication toward him. Luckily, he has Bull (robot) and Rocky (squirrel) (yes – moose and squirrel – Pauline did that!). Bull and Rocky try to coach Kraye, which leads to a few smirks, but ultimately, he is going to have to figure things out for himself.

Caro, the human that was raised by humans also has a hard time understanding Kraye. He may look like a human, but he has robot-like reactions and doesn’t pick up on any of her non-verbal communication. Bluntness may be required.

But before they can figure each other out, all sorts of adventure will keep them busy. Someone has betrayed the mission and the effort to take all their passengers to their home planets is anything but a ride around the park. Action-filled with spooky giant spiders, Operation Ark has humans, robots and other assorted sentient beings that are in for danger, tricky maneuvers, heroic actions, Greek alphabet code names and maybe, just maybe, a kiss or two. Pauline Baird Jones again succeeds in making me laugh out loud at her quirky humor, race through her action scenes and cheer when the spider gets it! Project Enterprise fans, buy Pets in Space just for this story!

Cats of War by Carol Van Natta takes place in the galaxy of telepaths, telekinetics and patterners where not having those skills seems to be a major handicap, but having them puts one on the CPS radar. In this story, we have two people who have avoided the CPS trap, but find that sometimes, using your talent for good is worth taking the risk.

Our hero, Kedron, is a quiet nerd who is not sure if he should open up to the lovely techie. He is pretty sure he should not, but that doesn’t keep him from saving up a weeks work of technical issues that will require her attention. Ferra is the heroine who is dodging a past by doing time – voluntarily – as an indentured worker. Kedron is definitely out her her league.

Their mutual attraction goes unnoticed, mostly, until circumstances force them to spend more time together. Whether it is fixing technical problems with dubious causes, saving animals or fending off the gangster indenturees, Kedron and Ferra make a good team. I think you could say they have chemistry.

Wait – I havn’t mentioned the pets yet. Flying cats. How cool is that. Plus they can communicate telepathically. How really cool is that! The cats are some of the animals that needed rescuing and they quickly worm their way into the hearts of Ferra and Kedron.

Cats of War is a sweet addition to the Central Galactic Concordance series, so if you are a fan, you should absolutely check it out.

This year’s edition of Pets in Space includes several newcomers to the collection – Tiffany Roberts, E D Walker, JC Hay, Kyndra Hatch, Ruby Lionsdrake. Of note – JC Hay and Kyndra Hatch were among my favorites. Both told tales that included creatures in the canine family.  Also, both stories included secluded settings.  The takeaway – you are never lonely if your dog is beside you.

After the Fall by Kyndra Hatch tells a tale of the post-war interaction of between a male of Korth and a human female. In the war, they would have been enemies, but the war has been over for 10 years. A’rck has marooned himself, H’tch and K’mi on an unpeopled planet to forget what happened when invaders irrevocably changed his way of life in a senseless act. Lyra is an ‘invader’, or human, that has been sent to survey worlds for colonization and she just happens to find A’rck’s planet. This is going to be a battle. But K’mi, the young mohga has taken an immediate liking to the human and it appears, has bonded with her. That should be impossible. Mohgas bond only with Korthans. Between K’mi and her sire H’tch, the effort to bring the two enemies together becomes a plan. Large bear-like creatures and potential colonists add danger and conflict and the opportunity for A’rck and Lyra to grow close.

JC Hay’s Out of the Shadows feature umbra wolves being raised by Nafisi. Eventually the wolves will bond with Rangers and work side be side with them. Rafe is a retire ranger whose wolf died. He is sent to Nafisi’s ranch to assess the possibility that a criminal ring may have discovered it’s whereabouts and plans an assault on the ranch to steel the wolves. Nafisi and Rafe are both middle aged folks that are set in their ways and not open to other people’s interference. You see where this is going don’t you. Oh, there is a cute wolf pup, the runt of the litter, that takes a liking to Rafe. I don’t think Rafe is going to be able to chase the bad guys away and then just leave the ranch. Do you?

Have I given you enough to figure out if you would like to read Pets in Space 3? I hope so. Scifi, romance, pets and, oh by the way, a portion of the proceeds go to a great charity, Hero-Dogs.org. There are over 1,100 pages in this book, so I think it is fair to say you will be entertained for many hours!

I was given a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Links

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Giveaway

Don’t forget the ongoing giveaway for the audiobook of Phantom Evil by Heather Graham, or the print books of Catherine Cerveny’s The Rule of Luck and The Chaos of Luck.  If you haven’t entered yet, you might be interested to know that commenting on today’s post helps qualify you for an entry – see the giveaway post for all the details.  Or go straight to the giveaway….

Click Here:  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dawn of the Cyborg by Marie Dry – Review

Tags

4 stars, alien invasion, cyborgs, Marie Dry, scifi, scifi romance

About Dawn of the Cyborg by Marie Dry

On a future earth, Aurora has been desperately searching for her long-lost sister, when she is sacrificed to Balthazar, leader of the fearsome Cyborgs who invaded Earth. Now she is stuck on an alien spaceship with a crazy Cyborg who thinks she can give him a soul and who has a weird fixation with the way she moves.

Aurora is desperate to return to earth to search for her sister while the President of United Earth insists that only she can save Earth from enslavement by the cyborgs.

After spending time with the cyborgs, Aurora realizes that the machine she thought would be easy to betray, the machine she has to betray, if she ever wants to rescue her sister from enslavement, has turned into a man she could come to love.

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Review of Dawn of the Cyborg

If you are a fan of Marie Dry, perhaps you have read some or all of the Zyrgin Warriors series. This new story, that reads like the beginning of a new series, shares some aspects with Zyrgin Warrior: an alien species that invades earth, shows their superiority and makes demands.

This alien species is actually a cyborg species created by the Tunrian, an alien clone race that enslaved the cyborgs until Balthazar led an uprising. Balthazar now leads a small faction of cyborgs who’s number is barely enough to run the ships they won in the escape from the Tunrians.

Now in Earth space, Balthazar has seen the video where Aurora ran (to save a child from being hit by a car) and became “…the woman who moved like the finest Tunrian music…” Now he is obsessed with her and has convinced himself she is the one that will give him a soul. The concept of a soul is discussed from both the cyborg standpoint and the human standpoint. Each has their own take on the subject as do most readers. It will be interesting to see where they cyborgs take this concept as the story develops.

Balthazar forces the Earth president’s hand and demands he turn Aurora over to him. The president does not seem to have any choice and although shows regret to Aurora, there is a certain ruthlessness that will become more apparent. Does he have to be ruthless? Earth is depicted as a world with no defense against the invaders, so maybe his hard-hearted behavior is to be expected.

Aurora’s desire to find her sister that was left behind when Aurora escaped slavery (on Earth) provides the all-consuming motivation to play the role the president has cast her in – spy and possible assassin. Aurora’s desire to find her sister warps her every move in Balthazar’s world.

Interactions between Aurora and Balthazar are a cross between humorous and dreadful. Balthazar’s lack of knowledge about humans, lack of empathy and lack of emotions make him a dangerous, obnoxious, overbearing alien. Who I did not really like at all in the beginning. And sometimes in the middle and even closer to the end.  But he does have his moments and Aurora seems to be able to see right through him.

As an added bit of interest, there is an anomaly on board Balthazar’s ship. Eventually, it leads to a stowaway who will definitely add interest to the story.

Also developing in the (possible?) series is the prospect that there may be other sentient beings headed toward earth. The Tunrians believe that their god Turana scattered souls across the universe and Earth is one of three planets they ended up on. Since the Earth probe Voyager pretty much provided a map to Earth, the cyborgs were able to find it. Which means others might be able to find it. Are they friend or foe? Who knows?

Dawn of the Cyborg is intriguing, dramatic, and poignant. This standalone novel delivers plenty of scifi concepts, tense conflict, action, romance and a look at what it means to have a soul.

The author provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Links

Add Dawn of the Cyborg to your Goodreads shelf:

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Giveaway

Don’t forget the ongoing giveaway for the audiobook of Phantom Evil by Heather Graham, or the print books of Catherine Cerveny’s The Rule of Luck and The Chaos of Luck.  If you haven’t entered yet, you might be interested to know that commenting on today’s post helps qualify you for an entry – see the giveaway post for all the details.  Or go straight to the giveaway….

Click Here:  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Abaddon Rising (Deg’Nara series) by P.L. Parker – Review

Tags

4 stars, aliens, gladiators, intergalactic war, P.L. Parker, romance, scifi, scifi adventure, series

About Abaddon Rising by P.L. Parker

One of a million statistics in the intergalactic war, Jocelyn St. Germaine is captured, sold as a slave and then forced to fight in the Deg’Nara gladiator games.  She’s slated to lose when Kanaan, the most feared warrior of all, claims her as his own. With his help, Joss’s chances of survival increase, but is it enough?

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Review of Abaddon Rising

The Deg’Nara series takes place in a part of the galaxy where there is a really nasty alien race, the Deg’Nara, that wants to enslave or obliterate all other races and worlds out there. Why? There is not a lot of reasoning given, except, like I said, they are really nasty.

The good guys are either slaves of the Deg’Nara or part of the onging fight against them. Or both. This common background is ripe for drama and action and romance.

Abaddon Rising focuses on two gladiator-like slaves of the Deg’Nara. Joss is a human woman who was ‘accidentally’ kidnapped by the Chiagan-Se and brought to this part of the galaxy (See The Chalice). The battles between the Chiagan-Se and the Deg’Nara resulted in Joss being captured and made a slave.

Kanaan is the local boy. Part Chiagan-Se and part Mogishada he was raised in the slave system, but his mother taught him everything he needed to know in order to not just survive, but to come out on top. Indeed, at the beginning of the book Kanaan is the ‘demon warrior of the slave pits’, also known as The Destroyer.

In the slave quarters Kanaan claims Joss to protect her, but it will soon become something more.

The relationship between Joss and Kanaan is a bit off again, on again, depending on the last conversation they had. It is not an easy alliance but as the reader, I knew they were meant to be together. However, neither of them is an ace communicator, so it takes awhile for them to confess their love. Which is how it should be. 🙂

Joss and Kanaan will go through much before the end of the book. Arena battles, training, a tournament, escape attempt, family re-union and ultimately, the chance to join in the great, far-reaching battle against the Deg’Nara. The story is nearly epic and the romance keeps the pace. I truly enjoyed every page of Abaddon Rising.

I feel like I should clarify the Deg’Nara series, which started with The Chalice, originally published in 2012. Breeder Slave came next, in 2017, but it does not seem to be billed as part of the series (according to Amazon or Goodreads). Finally, Abaddon Rising came out this year and it is designated Deg’Nara #2. It is a little confusing, but to clarify:

Breeder Slave really is part of the Deg’Nara series. It takes place during the same time period as Abaddon Rising but has mostly different characters and locations. There is a slight overlap. Read them in any order. Both fit in nicely with the Deg’Nara series.

The author provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Links

Add Abaddon Rising to your Goodreads shelf:

Purchase Abaddon Rising:

 

**********************

Giveaway

Don’t forget the ongoing giveaway for the audiobook of Phantom Evil by Heather Graham, or the print books of Catherine Cerveny’s The Rule of Luck and The Chaos of Luck.  If you haven’t entered yet, you might be interested to know that commenting on today’s post helps qualify you for an entry – see the giveaway post for all the details.  Or go straight to the giveaway….

Click Here:  a Rafflecopter giveaway