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Monthly Archives: October 2019

Equinox (Horizon, #3) by Tabitha Lord – Review

31 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

5 stars, Adventure, Book Review, genetic engineering, romance, scifi, series, space opera, Tabitha Lord


About Equinox by Tabitha Lord

After a brutal civil war, Almagest is finally at peace, but the larger battle isn’t over. Dr. Caeli Crys has been captured by the Drokarans, feared enemy of the Interplanetary Alliance, who plan to use her unique telepathic gifts for their own sinister purposes.

Captain Derek Markham and his elite team of operatives race after Caeli, but soon find themselves trapped behind enemy lines on an occupied world. Despite the mounting danger, Derek will stop at nothing to save the woman he loves.

As events spiral toward a conflict that will define the fate of the Alliance, the Horizon team will be pushed to the limits of their strength—and discover that the greatest threat of all may come from an enemy within.

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Review of Equinox

Caeli and Derek still have so much to go through before they can relax and enjoy their life together. They find this out at the beginning of Equinox when Caeli is kidnapped by the Drokarans. When Derek and his team attempt to rescue Caeli, they learn some disturbing information. Their view of their own past is now completely upended. I like how this revelation sets off the rest of the story. There will be several more missions, lots of action, and lots of danger for the characters I have connected with in the first two books of the Horizon series.

When reading the final book of a series, I am always a little nervous. Will all the characters get a HEA? Will it even really end? Will the author wrap things up in a way that will have me saying – “That was good!”

The main thing I was looking for in the finale is the final part of the history of Almagest, which was revealed in pieces through old data files in the first 2 books. At the end of book 2, I was left to do some speculation and I can report I was pretty close on the origin of the Novali (the empaths) and the Drakorans (the physically stronger humans). I won’t say more because you will want to read that for yourself.

Beyond that, the final chapter of the Horizon series took me places I would never have imagined. It was not so much a wrap up as it was another story with a complex plot that just happens to end with no more questions. There was so much going on that the story seemed a bit rushed in places. I think the author could easily have added 50 pages and it would not have made the novel too long. On the other hand, the fast pace got me to the exciting conclusion quickly since I had a hard time putting my Kindle down.  And then I said “That was good!”

If you haven’t started the Horizon series, the first book, also called Horizon, can be purchased for the low price of $.99. This would be a great series to binge read! I highly recommend reading the series from the beginning.

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Links

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Purchase Equinox:

 

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Dark Matters (Class 5, #4) by Michelle Diener – Review

30 Wednesday Oct 2019

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

5 stars, AI ship, alien abduction, aliens, Book Review, human interaction with aliens, Michelle Diener, romance, scifi, scifi romance, spaceships


About Dark Matters by Michelle Diener

A time bomb, waiting to go off . . .

Lucy Harris is on the run, not sure where she can turn to for help, or if help is even available. But even as her abductors chase her down, she realizes they don’t just want to recapture her, they want to erase her.

When your very existence puts a planet at the risk of war, there’s no choice but to do everything in your power to stay out of your enemies hands.

A predator . . . waiting for the chance to pounce

The powerful AI battleship, Bane, is accompanying the United Council envoy to Tecra to mete out the punishment the Tecrans have earned for breaking UC law. He revels in the power he’s about to have over his old masters. But his mission isn’t only to rain down retribution on the people who kept him chained for years, he’s also looking for a human woman his fellow Class 5 thinking system mentioned in the final seconds of his life. Paxe admitted to taking Lucy Harris from Earth, and Bane has been looking for her ever since.

A warrior conflicted . . .

Commander Dray Helvan thinks the Grih made a mistake in not pushing for war with the Tecran, but he’s had to accept the compromise, that he and the other envoys from the United Council will go to Tecra and dismantle its military from the top down. His mission is not one of his choosing, but when he and his team arrive, he’s handed a very different job. While he distrusts Bane on principle, when the thinking system tells him there’s a woman running for her life on the planet below, he will do whatever he has to to see her safe. And if that means war for Tecra, well, then it means war.

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Review of Dark Matters

In Dark Matters, Michelle Diener takes the adventure planetside to Tecra, home of the species that has been out there making trouble. The Tecrans, subverting the law in their part of the galaxy, are the instigators in this series. The rest of the UC (mostly) are the law and some of the good guys.

In previous books in the Class 5 series, the UC has attempted, with a fair amount of success, to quash the Tecran attempts. They have found and freed 3 humans, and 4 Class 5s, while a 5th Class 5 blew itself up. As far as anyone knows, there are no more Class 5s and no more imprisoned sentient beings. Meanwhile, in order to make sure the Tecran military is no longer causing problems, the UC sends a coalition to, effectively, occupy Tecra. This seemed a bit high handed to me at first. Then I thought about the Tecran military and their part in all the trouble. And I sort of agreed that taking control of Tecra from the top down, was needed.

Turns out, this was wise thinking. The Tecran military was hiding the fact that there was another imprisoned Earth woman. Lucy Harris’ escape, early in the book, is the catalyst for all the conflict and action.

Bane is the Class 5 ship that is angry with all Tecrans and would really like some revenge. But first, he will do whatever it takes to save Lucy. Helping Bane search for Lucy, is the Grih commander Dray Helvan. There were several, ‘almost saved’ moments for Lucy, but the Tecran military (and by now, it becomes apparent that this is a renegade portion of the military) always seemed to come between Lucy and her salvation.

The romance between Lucy and Dray was fast and fueled by the heat of the moment. Lucy herself, is a ‘make the most of right now’ type of woman, so I thought the romance aspect of Dark Matters worked well.

I really liked the planetary setting for a change in this series and a look at the Tecran people, most of who were unaware of the military actions. Yet they must put up with the discipline imposed on Tecra. This made for a bit of moral reflection on the part of the occupiers and also, for Bane. If the series continues, I will be interested to see where this goes on the planet Tecra.

Each book in the Class 5 series can be read as a standalone story, so you can start the series at any point. I can recommend all 4 books: Dark Horse, Dark Deeds, Dark Minds and Dark Matters.

Thanks to the author who provided a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.

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Links

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Marie Dry, Author of Alien Redeemed – Guest Post with Excerpt

29 Tuesday Oct 2019

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

alien world, aliens, excerpt, guest post, Marie Dry, new release, scifi romance, series

Today author Marie Dry is here to tell us about her new book, Alien Redeemed. If you have read any of the Zyrgin Warrior series you know the tales of cross-species romances to be full of trial, tribulation, heart and humor. If you haven’t read any of the series, maybe this would be a good day to start!  In order to entice you, Marie is giving us a glimpse of chapter 1…..

Guest Post by Marie Dry

Writing Alien Redeemed was a journey of epic proportions. At one stage I even started to draft, in my head, the facebook post I would put up saying I won’t be able to finish Alien Redeemed.

Going in, I had a lot of it written and I thought this one would at least be easy to write. Famous last words! I deleted most of what I had and started again. And again, and again. It took me a while and a lunch with a psychologist to realize that I was so focused on what Sarah went through in the raider camps that I wasn’t telling the story. What happened now.

That’s when the story slowly started to come together and she and Zaar suddenly had chemistry and sparked off each other. I planned to tie a lot of loose ends with this book, and I did, but there are still a lot happening that will be told in the Zyrgin scars series. Before I started this book, I had already planned to have a series with the Zyrgins in Time novellas. Then a series with Zacar’s brothers that will be set in the unclaimed galaxies. And also a series that will kick off with Zorlof, Natalie’s son. She is the heroine in the first book. The scars took me by surprise and I can’t wait to explore their characters.

I hope everyone enjoys reading Alien Redeemed as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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About Alien Redeemed

On a harsh alien planet, in a faraway galaxy, Sarah, a gentle human woman, is determined to start a new life, far away from the hardship she endured on Earth and the pitying glances of her friends.

Once on Zyrgin, Sarah finds that, instead of being the empress and helpmeet at the side of the Zyrgin leader, she is merely his breeder. She is trapped in a gilded cage, not allowed to go out and interact with the other women on the planet, until she’s proven her loyalty to the empire by birthing Zaar’s child. After her traumatic experiences in the raider camps, and the resultant PTSD, Sarah doubts she could ever make love to her Zyrgin warrior.

Zaar assures her he has a superior plan to cure her of her problem. But is he able to reach through all the barriers Sarah has erected against true intimacy?

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Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Alien Redeemed

(Zaar is watching Sarah while camoflaged……)

“If you can’t spin and kick yet, turn as fast as you can, and kick hard, and with meaning,” the instructor on the TC program said. Zyrgins never gave conquered planets their technology. They improved existing technologies if it was necessary for the smooth running of the planet. The TC that allowed the humans to watch programs and badly reported news, was the most primitive of all the technologies they’d encountered. That went for the instructor of this so-called exercise program, as well. Why did she want to learn anything from this human male that had no muscles and no fighting skills?

Breathing hard, Sarah paused the program and adjusted her stance again. “Julia’s right, I need more exercise,” she mumbled and played the clip again. Sarah turned and kicked. “Take that, Destiny,” she screamed at the same time the solid thwack sounded as her foot connected. Zaar didn’t know which of them was more surprised when her heel hit his groin.

His breeder jumped around on one leg. “Ouch, ouch, ouch.” She stumbled back from him. “What the h… What happened?”

Zaar made himself visible.

She looked up at him and whimpered and scrambled away. “Where did you come from?” Then that Zyrgin-like spirit he’d observed in her several times, stopped her in her tracks. She lifted her head and stood her ground, her gaze flicking from his jacket to his face.

“Who is Destiny?” he asked. His breeder will not have relations with a human male.

She made lines on her forehead again and then touched her hair. “Someone I’m going to kill,” she replied. “How did you get in here?” She moved away from him, in the direction of the door. “And why didn’t I see you enter? I faced the door the whole time.”

He glanced at the corner where the TC still played the exercise program and then looked her up and down. “You do not have the skill to kill this Destiny. It would be better if a superior Zyrgin warrior like me killed him for you.”

She gave a strange laugh. “Oh, I think I can kick his butt without any help.”

“You are small and weak and your fighting skills are inadequate.” He glared at the instructor, still showing off his marshall skills. “Learning from an inferior male like that will not help you. You need a warrior.”

Her face leaked of color, becoming as white as the clouds in the Earth sky. “I don’t need a warrior; I don’t need anyone.” She smoothed her hands over her jeans, all the while watching him with those jewel eyes. “You haven’t told me how you got in here and who you are. I will call Zacar if you take one step closer,” she threatened. Her gaze went to the door, measuring the distance.

“Zacar is under my command and I can be anywhere I want and calling him will not help you.” He ignored the way she trembled and looked her up and down.” You are too puny to kill this Destiny. I will kill him for you.”

She wrung her hands. “You don’t understand, Destiny is—”

She stopped talking and bit her lip. “Thank you, but I can kick his butt,” she said. What was she going to say about this Destiny? Was it a male she met in secret? She inched to the left, still giving the door those furtive glances.

“You won’t make it,” he said gently, not wanting to scare her. But he wasn’t about to allow her to run out, screaming for the guards or Zacar.

She froze and for a moment he saw sheer terror on her face. He’d seen it on many alien faces during his many conquest campaigns. He didn’t want that look on her face when she looked at him.

She took another step back, but pointed her chin at him. “You have no right to invade my privacy like this. Who do you think you are?”

“I am the Zyrgin,” he told her. Obviously, she didn’t understand when he’d told her before.

“I know you’re a Zyrgin,” she added under her breath. “Did he think I missed the green-and-copper skin, bulging muscles, ridge on his head, and those odd eyes?”
Zaar decided to never tell her how good his hearing was. He enjoyed listening to her strange ramblings.

“The Zyrgin,” he corrected.

She rocked back a little, as if the truth had hit her. She touched the band that held her hair together, then plucked at her shirt. She took two more steps back, her eyes so wide, it looked like Earth viewed from space. “You’re the emperor?”

“The correct title is Parenadorz, but you can address me as my leader.”

“If you’re the Parenz-whatever, how can you be here? Julia said it takes a year for your ships to reach us. Surely you can’t just leave everything to travel to Earth to talk to one insignificant human.” She said that pointedly, as if she wanted to convince him she was of no importance.

“Your feeble human mind cannot comprehend my powers and how I can be here,” he told her and she narrowed her eyes at him.

She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her toe. “Why don’t you try explaining it to me? My feeble human brain might surprise you.” She trembled so much, he was surprised her thin limbs didn’t rattle together. But she was brave, standing her ground. He was impressed that she tapped her toes at him, in spite of her fear.

“I do not need to explain anything to you. But you should know that you are the least insignificant human on this planet. As my breeder you have a status above all others.” He knew what impressed breeders. The next time he came, he’d bring jewels and silk clothes. And strings of silk to replace her peasant silk.

“B…breeder?” she stammered. And then in that undertone: “So that’s what Julia talked about? Wonder how she knew?” She sounded disappointed, as if she thought her friend had betrayed her.

“I give you the privilege to become my breeder.” He manifested and presented the gold eduki pelt.

“What’s that?”

“It is the pelt of the eduki that I hunted and killed with my bare hands. You are now my breeder.” Zaar had resolved never to do this again, and yet he felt a savage satisfaction at knowing she belonged to him now.

She shook her head, her hair swinging back and forth. She ran to the door, but he’d programed it to stay close while he was with her. “No, no, no! Not again, never again.” She slammed her hands against the door.

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About the Author

Ever since she can remember Marie Dry wanted to travel. She lived in Zambia, Morocco and Spain and did short stints in Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Rome, Brazil, Portugal, Botswana and Mozambique. Through all the travelling reading romance has been a constant.

She read romances since she was nine and was fairly young when she decided she would write a story that had all the elements she looked for in a romance. Her first book was published in 2014.

There are several wonderful moments in her life that she would never trade for anything. One of them is meeting President Nelson Mandela and the second being published.

Find Marie here:

Website: http://www.mariedry.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariedryauthor/
Twitter: @MarieDry1

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Links

Add Alien Redeemed to your Goodreads shelf:

 

Purchase Alien Redeemed on Amazon:

If you prefer a different retailer, Marie will be sharing links to other retail sites on her Facebook page and website.

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