I grabbed Donna McDonald‘s The Demon Of Synar from the KDP free list.
Too long description from Amazon:
Being captain of his own rescue ship is the kind of life Captain Liam Synar always dreamed of living. Being a master of his family’s hereditary demon was never in his plans because his brother had been trained for the purpose. Yet what choice did his father have when Conor’s evil came to light? Reluctant or not, Liam is the only Synar left to rule Malachi. Now his exiled brother hunts him to capture the demon while Liam stays on the run and saves Peace Alliance ambassadors in his spare time. As if that isn’t enough trouble to handle, his mate, Ambassador Ania Looren, now unknowingly hosts his family’s demon inside her body. Liam sent Malachi into her to save her life after Conor’s men almost killed her. And though Liam hadn’t wanted to, there had been no choice but to abandon her two years ago. His plan of keeping both her and the demon safe from Conor had worked, but his success at hiding what he’d done has finally reached an end. His next rescue has to be his estranged mate before Conor finally figures out the truth.
After accepting only one mate in her long life, Ambassador Ania Looren is now wishing the number had remained at zero forever. Mating Captain Liam Synar is turning out to be the worst mistake she ever made. Something happened after Liam abandoned her, something more than just the pain of losing her chosen male from her life. Something about his absence has stripped away the peaceful enlightenment she struggled years to achieve. Now she can’t meditate, can’t pray, and her compassion for other creatures seems to be dying. She is becoming again the kind of person she’s spent her existence trying not to be. On top of that, she’s been accused of murdering three males who attacked her and her family. She doesn’t even remember what happened that day. Now Liam is back and demanding she go with him to his ship. What choice does she have? Ania reluctantly agrees because it’s a better fate than being arrested and put through social reconditioning on her planet. The half life she’s been living for two years is no more worth keeping than her mating commitment to a male who obviously hadn’t wanted her after all.
Review:
The Demon of Synar is not what I expected at all. From the synopsis, I thought it would be a paranormal romance of sorts (albeit set in space), maybe even an M/M romance since Malachi is obviously male. It is neither of these things. I suspect there will be more romance in future books, but there is almost none in this one. Despite that, I really like the story, the characters, and their special differences. It’s fast-paced and engrossing.
What I didn’t like is that the book is the first in a series, but at 125 pages it barely scratches the surface. With multiple planets, species with different abilities, and then all of the personal drama that makes up the plot it is far from complete. Even skipping two very important years in the beginning the book still ends with what is essentially the beginning of the story. You meet the characters, become familiar with the environment, and come to terms with the challenge…and then it ends…on a solemn declaration of the task at hand no less. As a bait and switch, it’s pretty effective, though. It’s well-written and engaging, so I really want to know what happens. Undoubtedly, I’ll end up buying the second (probably more) in order to satiate the need to see it through and enjoy every word of it. But no matter how much I enjoy the story there is something that rankles me about having to buy two books to read one story.
Addendum: Reviews for the second and third books can be found on Goodreads: