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!

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

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.

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

Links

Add Pets in Space 3: Embrace the Passion to your Goodreads shelf:

Purchase Pets in Space 3: Embrace the Passion:

 

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

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

Advertisements

Lost Valyr (Project Enterprise #7) by Pauline Baird Jones – Review

Tags

5 stars, aliens, favorite series, humor, parrot, Pauline Baird Jones, scifi, scifi romance, series, space exploration

About Lost Valyr

She’s a scientist in the wrong galaxy. He’s an alien in the wrong century. Can their love reset a terrifying future?

Dr. Rachel Grant knows her way around the Garradian tech on the Kikk Outpost. But the technology she encounters in an alien medical lab stumps even her brilliant mind. With a little help from her scheming parrot sidekick, she manages to push the right buttons and transport them to an uncharted planet…where they find a recently defrosted alien, who heats up Rachel.

Valyr wasn’t going to warm up to the bright-eyed scientist anytime soon…not after she pried centuries of cryosleep from his cold fingers. But waking up in the wrong century is nothing compared to the robots targeting his still-frozen team. And their situation only gets worse when he discovers the spiderweb of destruction trailing in the robots’ wake. With their backs against the wall, Valyr is blown away by Rachel’s determined passion in the face of impossible odds… but they’ll need more than a chemical reaction to survive what is headed their way.

Lost Valyr is the seventh standalone book in the explosive Project Enterprise sci-fi romance series. If you like heart-pounding chemistry, ragtag bands of misfits, and action-packed space battles, then you’ll love Pauline Baird Jones’ rollicking romance.

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

Review of Lost Valyr

I always enjoy meeting up with old friends from previous Project Enterprise encounters. Colonel Braedon Carey, Helfron Giddioni, Doc Clementine, Robert Clementine, Emily, and of course, Sir Rupert. Of them all, Doc was the very first Project Enterprise heroine that I met (yes, I read the books out of order), so she is an old friend. I can’t quite see why Rachel finds her so daunting but she does.

Almost immediately, Rachel gets herself into a situation that she is pretty sure Doc and the other brass are not going to be please about. The sitrep – transported off planet, by alien technology, to a medical lab containing a recently awakened-from-cryosleep man named Valyr. Sentient, talking parrot Sir Rupert is Rachel’s work companion and he has made the trip with her.

The transport, by all appearances, was merely an elevator. Alien technology. You gotta love it. I like how all these humans are trying to maintain a presence in a galaxy furnished with all the cool gadgets they don’t understand and, many of which are still being discovered (i.e. they have a lot of nerve). Wouldn’t that be a dream job though! What else are they going to find?

Sir Rupert, who was interesting in Time Trap, gets even more intriguing in Lost Valyr. His talents and goals are slowly revealed. In fact, he is the one that got the elevator to ‘work’. With a co-worker like Sir Rupert, things are going to get interesting. He also has a delightful sense of humor.

Next up are the robots. Are they good or bad? They attack outposts, looking for something and at the same time are pursued by Zaddek (more on Zaddek in a sec). And despite the robotness of their actions, some of their thoughts are a bit human-tinged. Some, not all. So what is their purpose? And where do they fall on the good-to-bad scale? I enjoyed this group of robots as characters and as major plot enhancers. But beware, they are on their way to the outpost where Rachel, Rupert and Valyr are hanging out.

If you don’t want to wonder if a character is good or bad, lets talk about Zaddek. So, a spider as a bad guy. Personally, I like spiders in my garden.  But up close, they are creepy looking.  No two ways about it, Zaddek is really bad! He has been known eat his own crew members. That has got to hamper his overall effectiveness as a captain. What if he eats the very person that can save the ship. Who would volunteer to crew for such a captain? No one. Can you say ‘shanghai’? But there is at least one crew member that is doing what she can to get the hell off the ship and in doing so, Savlf may do more than save herself. Zaddek and Savlf have a very unhealthy relationship. The trouble is Zaddek, like so many successful evil geniuses, is arrogant. Now, we all know that arrogance in the criminal mastermind is a fatal flaw. Zaddek’s arrogance prevents him from realizing just how unhealthy the relationship with Savlf is (mwah, ha, ha). I have to say, Zaddek is so evil, that knowing his weakness from the beginning, gave me hope for all the good guys.

Lets talk about the romance in the the room – Rachel and Valyr. Valyr doesn’t talk much. Rachel seems to make up for it. Though much of conversation is internal, they still seem to communicate well. Rachel thinks that because she is low ranking she won’t get to keep her ‘alien’ like Doc and others that were allowed to keep their odd and alien matchups. Does Valyr want to keep her? He has some unexplained mission, and might have other things to do.

By the end of the book, Rachel and Valyr do seem to have become a couple.  However, Valyr’s presence and purpose are not clearly defined. Readers of the series may link him with events that took place in a different part of the galaxy. Lost Valyr, more than most books in the series, hints at previous stories. Now, I am not saying you have to read the other stories. Lost Valyr is a fine story all on it’s own. If you have read the rest of the series, you will appreciate this one all that much more.

There is so much going on in Lost Valyr. Amazon says there are 337 pages. You need all those pages to cover all this ground. There is romance, aliens, cryosleep, the US Military in Garradian space, old friends from earlier books in the series, the Gadi, robots, Zaddek and his crew, and lest I forget to mention, there is Bangle, the helpful AI of the central outpost. Plus, Ms. Jones’ delightful brand of quirky humor enhances the overall reading experience. Read Lost Valyr. You will not be bored. However, you may be in danger of losing sleep.

The author provided a copy of her book so I could bring you my honest review.

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

Links

Add Lost Valyr to your Goodreads shelf:

Purchase Lost Valyr:

Purchase books in the Project Enterprise series:

Not Fade Away (Interstellar Rescue Series #4) by Donna S. Frelick

Tags

5 stars, aliens, Donna S. Frelick, favorite series, flashback, little gray aliens, scifi, scifi romance, series

About Not Fade Away

Earth shielded his secrets–
Until her love unlocked his heart.

Rescue agent Rafe Gordon is human, though Earth has never been his home. But when his legendary father Del becomes the target of alien assassins, Rafe must hide the dementia-debilitated hero in the small mountain town where the old man was born—Masey, North Carolina, USA, Earth.

Home care nurse Charlie McIntyre and her therapy dog, Happy, have never had such challenging clients before. Del’s otherworldly “episodes” are not explained by his diagnosis, making Charlie question everything about her mysterious charge and his dangerously attractive son. Rafe has the answers she needs, but Charlie will have to break through his wall of secrets to get them.

As the heat rises between Charlie and Rafe, the deadly alien hunters circle closer. The light they seek to extinguish flickers in the gloom of Del’s fading mind—the memory of a planet-killer that threatens to enslave the galaxy.

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

Review of Not Fade Away

The Interstellar Rescue Series is a favorite of mine. Each story not only stands alone, but is unique in plot and style which enables me to enjoy each one without knowing where the story line is going before I even start. There are characters in Not Fade Away from other books, so I had the advantage of having already met them, but you don’t have to read the previous books to appreciate this new one.

Rafe, the hero of Not Fade Away is human, but has never been to Earth until now. This makes for some uncomfortable situations for Rafe. You see, Rafe did not do his homework before coming to Earth and now he is at a loss to understand much of the culture in the U.S. including things like pizza and dating. It falls to Charlie to explain such things to the ‘Canadian’, making for many humorous situations.

Maybe the humor made the romance develop faster than I realized. In other words, one minute Charlie and Rafe were secretly admiring each other, and the next they were having secret serious commitment thoughts about each other. It is not that I minded. It is just that I felt I missed something in the romance. In the end, Charlie and Rafe make a great couple to cheer for. Charlie puts up with Rafe’s idiosyncrasies and Rafe admires Charlie’s strength.

Of course, I may have missed out on some of the romance because I was caught up in the rest of the story. I really liked how Del’s story is told through flashbacks to his time as a slave toiling away at a big project the Grays were attempting to engineer. The flashbacks added really important details to the story, filling in Del’s history, explaining his present state of mind and setting up the present day challenge. To put it simply, Del’s flashbacks tell the story of the birth of the big bad AI. Hence, the present day challenge.

Not only is there an alien AI, but there is a not so huge, but really nasty, psychotic bad guy (Zouk) that is on the hunt for Del. At the beginning, he has absolutely no idea where Del is, but his intelligence and total lack of morals gets him the info that he believes will allow him to track his prey. Zouk is the kind of villain I love to hate. But he is a really ‘good’ bad guy!

I can’t talk about this story with mentioning Happy. Yes, I was happy to read the book but I am talking about a dog named Happy. This loving pup worms his way into everybody’s heart. Well, maybe not everybody, but at least the important people. Happy is just one more reason to read this book!

Not Fade Away has a flashbacks, being hunted, hunting, good aliens, bad aliens, rescue, romance, Earthlings, homecoming to Earth, and pizza. The constant action overlays the understated, but crucial romance between the heroine and hero. When you read Not Fade Away, look for alien history, thrills, lovin’ and an epic showdown between a really villainous alien and the good guys. Not Fade Away is highly recommended!

I received a copy of this book from the author so that I could bring you this honest review.

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

Links

Add Not Fade Away to your Goodreads shelf:

Purchase books in the Interstellar Rescue Series