Tags
4 stars, Adventure, aliens, Cara Bristol, humor, scifi romance
Review by Riley
About Alien Mate
I’m Starr Elizabeth Conner. Earth’s government falsely convicted me of a crime, packed me on a ship with other female felons, and sent us to Dakon, a primitive, frozen wasteland of a planet. Why? Earth needs minerals, and Dakon is desperate for females.
But I’m no barbarian’s ‘mail order bride,’ even if he is super tall, muscular, and the chief of his tribe. He doesn’t want a BBW blonde, either–it’s written all over his chiseled face. He’ll be truly angry if he ever learns what my ‘crime’ was.
I am Torg. I have waited 34 rotations for a mate of my own. With this shipment, I was sure to get a fine, sturdy mate who’ll bear me many daughters. Instead, I receive a small, curvy, pale-haired female who looks at me with anger and fear.
It is only when we ‘kiss’ that I believe things may work out between us. But I’m hearing rumors that Starr and her shipmates are law-breakers. To survive, Dakonians must obey all laws … or be exiled into the frozen wasteland. Just when I have found her, will I have to send my mate to die?
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Review of Alien Mate
Alien Mate is fun, romantic, and sexy. It also has a bit of mystery and danger. It is the perfect light read, taking only a few hours to finish, while filling those hours with scifi adventure and romance.
Just as the British shipped their convicts to Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries, in the future, earth ships convicted criminals to a world far away, Dakon. But instead of being shipped to penal colonies, the future transported criminals will be traded for shiploads of a valuable mineral. What’s in it for the Dakonians, who don’t even realize they are getting criminals? They are getting women. Long story, but due to a natural disaster, the planet is 90% men. Ms. Bristol puts her own very entertaining spin on the ‘Mars needs women’ trope.
Torq was late to the choosing of the mates sent by earth and Starr was picked last. I could so identify with being the one chosen last. Being chosen last does not put one in a cheery frame of mind. Starr and Torq end up with each other by default, not by choice. This is a bit of a rocky start. Our heroine and hero need to have some personal issues to work through – to keep things interesting – and the rocky start is just a portion of those issues. The shortness of the novel means that they can’t take too much time to work through those issues. I can’t decide if that was a good thing or not. I often felt Starr caved to Torq too soon, considering her motivations. But it is a romance, so I knew it would have to happen for a HEA.
Because of the natural disaster, the planet exists in winter and is frozen for most of the year. For heat, there is only fire. While planet recovery is slow, the natives have adapted. The newcomers are in for a huge change. Interest is added to the story with Starr trying to adapt after of life of comfort on earth. She must also adapt to the clan social structure.
Starr handles the new world with a little fear, but also with an open mind and a healthy sense of humor. One of my favorite scenes is of Starr and Torq discussing men’s horns and penises. (Because it’s funny. That’s all.) The humorous part is when the conversation between Starr and Torq turns to penises and, well, quantity. Torq’s response: “I only have one. Would you like to see it?”
Interactions between Starr and Torq were sweet and hopeful. But there are still problems to overcome and not just cultural issues. These problems keep the story moving along and provide a few surprises to continually freshen the story.
There are four reasons why I decided to read Alien Mate. One – Cara Bristol. Having read this author’s work before, I knew what I was getting into and was happy to get into it again. Two – the author promised (and delivered) humor. It is hard to turn down humor in a scifi setting. Three – SciFi Romance – of course! And four – 55k words. I often enjoy short novels between longer, more complicate stories. I combined all these reasons and came up with sure, I’d like to read Alien Mate! I am happy I did!
So, for scifi romance readers looking for a light adventure with romance, danger, and humor, Alien Mate is what I would recommend.
The author provided a copy of her book so that I could bring you this honest review.
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Jessica E. Subject is the author of science fiction romance, mostly alien romances, ranging from sweet to super hot. Sometimes she dabbles in paranormal and contemporary as well, bringing to life a wide variety of characters. In her stories, you can not only meet a sexy alien or two, but also clones and androids. You may be transported to a dystopian world where rebels are fighting to live and love, or to another planet for a romantic rendezvous.
