Monthly Archives: March 2020

Book Review of A Bride For The Alien King & The Alien Protector’s Mate, by Roxie Ray

I received Audible codes for copies of Roxie Ray‘s A Bride for the Alien King and The Alien Protector’s Mate, both narrated bu Megan Evans.

Description from Goodreads:

A fated mate is a rare gem … one I never thought I’d find.

With fifteen males born to a single female, women are my people’s most precious resource, one we’re in dire need of replenishing. And Earth is just the place to do it. Arranged matings are the only way we can survive, and as king I must set an example.

But I never thought I’d meet her.

One look at Rosa and I know she’s meant to be my queen. She’s nothing like I imagined, and more than I could ever dare wish for. But humans have only just learned that aliens exist, and I would surrender my kingdom before I forced her into a relationship she doesn’t want.

Time grows short as ancient enemies close in on my home planet, and if we don’t transport our volunteer mates quickly we will run out of time.

Review:

This was tolerable. It felt pretty formulaic though. Even worse, it very much felt like the heroine’s thought process went like this:

“This is horrible. This is taking advantage of the poor. This is human trafficking”
“I’m a king. You’d be queen.”
“Oh, sign me up.”

There was legitimately exactly that much interaction between her meeting the alien and changing her tune and flouncing off to an alien world. Much of the rest of the book was like that too. Ray hit the expected plot points but didn’t seem to put any real effort into letting it develop naturally. There was very little consistency in the technological level of the alien species. There was a distinct lack of other (non-servant) woman in the book. Even if they are born only 1-15, they should exist. And apparently, despite ostensibly being warriors and running a kingdom, the aliens have no concept of security. They let themselves be outplayed, tricked, beaten, and invaded far too many times to be believable. (See the statement above about needing to kit the expected plot point.)

All in all, not a winner for me. But the writing itself seems fine and the narrator did a fine job.

On a side note, what the hell is that cover? Beyond just being horrible in general, if you’re going to put characters on a cover, at least make an effort to make them look right. He is described as olive-toned, with scales and no horns. She’s a brunette.

Description from Goodreads:

My planet needs women, and I’m here to claim one.

Time is running out for my people, and we don’t have a moment to waste. Earthlings agreed to the bride program, but now they don’t want to follow through. It’s my job to make sure that they do.

I have no time to fall in love. After so long on my own, I wouldn’t even recognize the emotion. But the beautiful and wickedly smart human Vivian awakens something within me, a desire so strong I find myself at war with my duty. I know once she discovers the darkness within me she’ll run. I should push her away before we’re both broken.

And yet, I cannot let her go.

I owe my loyalty to my king, but if I’m forced to choose between my mate and my duty it may destroy us all.

Review:

After reading book one, I was wary about this second one. Turns out I liked it more than book one. I liked the characters and the story didn’t get quite as ridiculous. For the most part, the narrator did a fine job and the writing is pretty good. Though the dialogue gets hella formal, uncomfortable, and unnatural once they reach the alien homeworld.

But I find that almost all of my complaints about book one stand true for this one too. I’ll start with the simplest. Why does the publisher keep putting horns on the heroes on the cover? There is no mention of the Svantes having horns. This irritates me so much. It’s like the publishers are going out of their way to get it wrong. Those horns had to be added (though I realize this was probably a pre-made cover).

Next, one of the Svante’s most prominent characteristics is supposed to be that they are great warriors. But they show themselves to be incompetent again and again. It’s just not believable. Part of this might stem from the fact that Ray seems to refuse to populate the books with anyone except the few named characters. They seem to do everything and there doesn’t seem to be anyone in the background. So, the queen has two guards and no more. The same two Svantes that are on the ship with the main character are also the communication specialists on the planet. It’s like the whole castle has a population of maybe 10.

Similarly, there are far too few non-mate (or non-named) female characters, even on earth. Where we should at least see women (passing on the street, as a soldier, as a co-worker, etc) we just never do. I feel this so much. We’re erased from the universe. I think this partly has to do with what I said above about Ray not including extra people to populate the background of the book. All we’re left with are the characters who are given explicit purpose in the book—the named characters and a few ‘guards.’ It’s not that there are no actual women, it’s that there are no women that don’t serve a given and obvious purpose to the plot. It leaves the impression that the whole rest of the world is male except those few exceptions.

Lastly, a lot of this plot hinges on contrived angst and misunderstanding. But one of them can read minds. I don’t care how noble the idea of not intruding on her privacy is. As insecure and in need of reassurance as the hero was there isn’t a chance in hell he wouldn’t peak in her mind. It’s like the author just forgot this aspect of his character entirely for 95% of the book.

All in all, as I said, I liked it better than book one. But I’m unconvinced that I’d want to listen to the next one.

Book Review of The Eddie Lancaster Series, by Sean Stone

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I received an audible code for a copy fo The Eddie Lancaster Series, by Sean Stone. It’s narrated by Hannibal Hills.

Series description from Goodreads:

My name is Eddie Lancaster. I’ve outfought vampires, out planned seers, taken on the fairy kingdom, and even created my own species.

I’ve been on the run since I was a teenager. I have the unique ability to siphon magic out of anyone and anything. My former mentor wanted me to put my talents to work for her gain. When I refused she murdered my parents. She’s been after me ever since.

Description of Warlock for Hire:

He’s annoying, rude and just a little bit sinister. He’s also a warlock. Not just any warlock. He’s a warlock for hire. Need magical assistance? He’s your guy.

Eddie’s life takes a bit of a turn when he meets Ashley Sheridan. She hires him to help her against a powerful seer who is threatening her family. He agrees to help but not in the way she wants. He quickly lands himself in dangerous waters and those he cares about are put at risk too. The deeper he gets the more he wants to put an end to the psychic’s machinations.

But how do you beat a man who sees every move you make before you’ve even decided to make it?

Review:

I thought this was basically ok. I love urban fantasy and Stone has set up an interesting magical world. I appreciated that Eddie isn’t all alpha-male—willing to get beaten up, jokes about only having an average size penis, admitting he’s not good at things. My primary problem (and the reason I say it’s only ok in my opinion) is that I didn’t much like him. His arrogance and casual objectification of women as humor annoyed me. I wasn’t offended or in a feminist rage or anything, I just thought it was uninteresting and boring. Why would I want to read about a guy whose idea of humor is barely above that of the average yabbo? I avoid them in real life, I’m not interested in cluttering my reading with them.

Similarly, I disliked that while Eddie failed at things he was still presented as capable. The female lead, however, was useless, so weak that she couldn’t even be let in on the plan she’s instrumental to. She is little more than a foil for Eddie to shine before. That’s a pretty big ‘Meh’ inducer for me.

All in all, I liked Warlock for Hire enough to continue the series, but maybe not enough to be in a hurry about it. Maybe men will enjoy this more than I did. I kind of sense that’s closer to the intended audience. Fair enough

Description of Warlock Wanted:

Eddie Lancaster’s in trouble.
One month ago I killed Killian Myers – he deserved it – and now Inspector Richards is after me. Luckily he’s got no evidence. But that’s not all I have to worry about.

People are going missing from Mote Park. Not usually something I’m interested in bu the circumstances point to the supernatural so I get hired to investigate and resolve the matter. It doesn’t take me long to figure out that what’s going in in Mote Park is far more sinister than a simple kidnapping.

On top of it all, Rachel, a horrible woman from my past, has arrived in Maidstone and she isn’t leaving without me. No matter who she has to kill.

Wanted by enemies on all sides, I have to find a way to overcome the odds before my friends end up dead and I end up a prisoner. Do you see my problem now?

Review:

I felt very much about his book as I did the first book in the series. The writing is fine, the world is interesting, and the narrator did a good job, but I just seriously don’t like Eddie. The fact that he and the author really seem to be proud of the fact that he’s an antisocial, arrogant, misanthropic sociopath grated on my nerves (and says a lot about the mindset of the modern male). It’s one thing to possess these characteristics, it’s another to bask in and brag about them.

What it feels like to me is…Have you ever heard the phrase “give me the confidence of a mediocre white man?” That’s how Eddies’ constant boasting contrasted with his “I don’t care” when he commits an atrocity feels. Not that him being white is at issue, just the mentality of believing his own superiority even in mediocrity.

So, so far this series has been so-so for me. I’ll finish it as I don’t hate it. But I’m not loving it either.

Description of Dark Warlock:

637. That’s the number of children that have been taken in the last thirty years.
All taken by one person. He never leaves any evidence. He never leaves witnesses. He leaves only a name: Mr. Panomie. And Panomie is far from human.

Eddie is hired to solve the case and bring about an end to Panomie’s machinations. He delves into a world, in which magical creatures are in charge. But Eddie has problems of his own. Rachel is in prison but her curse is fighting to take control of Eddie’s mind. And it’s getting stronger. Each time Eddie gives in to the dark urges the curse gains more ground and he becomes more monstrous. With the darkness inside him rapidly growing he has to figure out a way to cure himself before he becomes worse than Rachel ever was. But it’s getting harder to tell the difference between what’s him and what’s the darkness.

Review:

Honestly, I could just cut and paste my reviews from books one and two here. So, there isn’t a lot worth mentioning. I still don’t particularly care for the character, the narrator still does a fine job and the writing is still perfectly readable (or listenable in my case). There is significantly more personal growth here than in previous books. So, maybe he Eddie becomes less unbearable as the series progresses. All in all, I think it’s just a matter of taste and this series wasn’t the one for me.