Tag Archives: erotica

Book Reviews: Warriors of Luxiria (#1-3), by Zoey Draven

In this month’s Renegade Romance box, I received a copy of the first 3 books in Zoey Draven‘s Warriors of Luxiria series: The Alien’s Prize, The Alien’s Mate, and The Alien’s Lover.

Kate Harper finally had it all back on Earth: her dream job, an amazing best friend, and an apartment completely void of her cheating ex. But when she wakes up chained on an alien planet known as the Pit, her whole reality flips upside down. Here, aliens fight to the death for the right to claim a human female. Even worse? She realizes she’s up for grabs.

Vaxa’an, the Prime Leader of Luxiria, has a duty to his people: ensure their dwindling race’s survival. Infamously ruthless and deadly, the Luxirian knows he’ll have no trouble claiming a female at the Pit. What he doesn’t expect to find is his fated mate, with her lush curves and haunting eyes that call to him, and he’ll stop at nothing to claim her.

When Kate becomes the warrior king’s prize, her only goal is to return to her old life. Certainly not to fall for an overbearing barbarian with a wicked tongue, whose determined to make her his own.

The Alien’s Prize:

*Sigh*
I think there may have been a time when I would have been more tolerant of this book. I have generally been amused by the whole “Mars Needs Women” plot device. Unfortunately, I live in America, where women are currently being stripped of autonomy and rights, and I happen to be studying Fundamentalist/Evangelical style Complementarianism. So, literally all I could think when reading this was how much the plot-line of King-Male takes an unwilling woman, sets out to fuck her into compliance/gracious submission, and then baby-trap her, and she turns out to be happy about it, matches the whole Complimentarian mythos. I just couldn’t really suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy it.

Outside of that, I think the whole thing moved too quickly. Kate adapted too easily, Vaxa’an was nowhere near caring enough about the difficult position she was in, and sex was used as a panacea in situations it did not fit. It all just felt really flat.

The Alien’s Mate:

Meh. I suppose I liked it more than the first book in the series, but like the first book, I found myself bored with the story here. The heroine, Kate, simply doesn’t do anything. The MMC goes off and does council stuff: fights, rules, makes decisions, etc. Kate? She sits at home, occasionally plays archivist, and grows a baby. She does nothing of note, literally, to the plot. Boring…and rushed. Draven even managed to squeeze human/alien gestation into 3 or so months.

The Alien’s Lover:

OK, look, I admit I’m not loving this series. I’m honestly surprised I made it to the 3rd volume (2nd couple). But, as you can see, I had the first 3 stories in a compilation, and I was determined to finish the ‘book.’ However, moving to a new couple helped a lot. The first and second volumes of the series are about the same couple, and I found them dead dull and was seriously ticked that the FMC just doesn’t do anything but exist.

Beks here is at least an active participant. She has agency and makes decisions and DOES THINGS. She decides what she wants and then actively pursues it. Yes, Lihvan does more, knows more, has more agency, and the vast majority of the tension in the story could have been cleared up with a conversation rather than assumptions. (Plus, the story plot points are basically exactly the same as in book one.) But I wasn’t as bored or irritated as I was with Kate and Vaxa’an’s storyline. So, I liked it more. That’s not to say I liked it a lot. There’s not much to it, and it’s made up of fairly cliched tropes. But I liked it better than the previous two.

I do technically have the next three stories in a 2nd compilation, and I’ll read it at some point. But I’m walking away from the series for the moment.

Book Review: The Alien’s Prize

Super Short Novella Clear-Out

I’m making a real effort this year to clear out any book clutter. I’m focusing on quantity, which means knocking out some of the shorter books on my shelves in order to reduce the actual number of books I scroll through, etc. So, here I’m focusing on short novellas, books that are over 100 pages, but not by much. Technically, by my own blog rules, I could give them their own post. (100 pages is my unofficial minimum page count for a blog post.) I’ve posted a few already this year, and, yes, the inconsistency will annoy me. But needs must because, for the sake of expediency, I’m combining several into one post, and I may return later to add to the list. (Which would mess with the alphabetization, but I trust the world can live with it.)

So, here we go. I read:

Reviews:

Black Briar, by Sophie Avett

Honestly, just florid and confusing. Half the time, I didn’t know if whatever was happening (if I could figure out what was happening at all) was happening in real life or some dream realm. I’m generally pretty tolerant of purple prose, so long as it doesn’t get in the way of the story. But the prose here isn’t just purple, it’s luridly so. To say I was confused is an understatement.

There is no character development or worldbuilding to speak of. Plus, there isn’t much of a plot, which would be fine if this were erotica, where the sex was the point. But despite starting the story with a sex swing, there is one singular sex scene in the book. And it’s overly long and full of purple descriptions of a whole lot of not-sex. Somewhere in the middle of it, the FMC had a personality shift that made all of the resistance and fight of the previous pages pointless.

Essentially, the reader is dropped into the middle of a scene with no context. The story continues from there, before the FMC undergoes a personality transformation, and we’re told they lived happily ever after. (I still know nothing about the MMC, least of all why he was so interested in the FMC.)

Leather and Lace, by Rebel Carter

Very sweet. It’s clearly part of a series, all but instalove, the town is so accepting as to be fantastical, and the narcissistically cruel mother is pretty cliched. But Minnie and Alex are sweet characters who make an endearing pair. If you’re looking for a light and fluffy quick read, you could do a lot worse than this one.

To Run with the Wild Hunt, by Mallory Dunlin

Meh. I’ve read several of the Monsters of Faery books, and I can confidently say that this was my least favorite. Which is a shame because I liked Lexi, and Key is just adorable. Their fem-dommy relationship was wonderful and sweet. I wish we had gotten an equivalent for Hunt. Obviously, there’d be little sweetness there, but there could have been a little something of relationship growth before the sex. And don’t get me wrong. I picked up a spicy book for the sex. But by the time we got to it here, I just didn’t particularly care. I’ll continue the series. I liked the other books a lot more. I suppose this was just a dud for me.

Shared Veins, by Emily Elder

Not horrible, but pretty mediocre. The FMC is a doormat, though she does have a pretty drastic attitude shift at some point and grows the beginning of a spine. The men are not given equal attention, and I don’t feel I really know them as anything more than caricatures (the sunny one, the brooding one, the brainy one, the leader, etc). Also, it is heavily in need of further editing. There are several super obvious errors that a basic spellcheck should have caught.

The Good Body, by Eve Ensler (V)

This was an interesting read. I think a lot of women will find something to relate to in it. However, I also think that others will find it fails to say anything new or noteworthy on an old and well-trodden path. I suppose both can be true.

Entangled with an Elf Prince, by Amanda Ferreira

This was really sweet. Honestly, I often didn’t know exactly what was happening outside of the very tight focus on the two characters (and there are only the two characters). But watching them discover one another was lovely.

Treasure, by Marleigh Kassidy

Meh, I mean, it is what it is, right? It’s an erotic short; sex pretty much is the point. The sex is fine; a little rushed in the v to dp journey, but ok, whatever. I mean, it’s not great, but again, it is what it is. My only real complaint is that it’s lopsided. Too much time passes as she tries to escape, and what remains after she is finished being scared isn’t enough to balance it out. Oh, and it ends on a cliffhanger, FYI.

A Monster In The Dark, by R.K. Pierce

Erotic horror(ish) that isn’t particularly spicy. There’s a whole lot more talk of what he wants to do to her than them actually doing anything. He is appropriately obsessive for a demon (though he has a relatively sudden personality shift toward the end). She is understandably panicked and scared, although she got over it remarkably quickly. All in all, it’s an amusing enough read for what it is.

Finding Her Minotaur, by Evangeline Priest

Meh. This was an entertaining enough read for the evening. But I read it last night before bed, and this morning, writing a review, it’s already fading from memory. Nothing of note stood out as worth remembering. Despite its cover and Minotaur MMC, it’s not particularly spicy. And while I realize, of course, that it is a novella, it’s exceptionally shallow. (Plus, it could use an editing pass to shore up the past/present tenses.)

It feels very, very much like it is part of something bigger. People are given titles, honorifics, or social standing, while world and galactic politics are referenced, and a mystery surrounding the FMC’s origins is hinted at; however, none of these elements are explained or contextualized.

The MMC seems sweet, noble, and loyal, but you don’t get to know him at all. You get even less of a read on the FFC. Priest gives you her circumstances, but basically nothing of her as a person.

All in all, I don’t regret reading it. But I honestly won’t remember I did by tomorrow. So, it’s not a winner either.

Thrum, by Meg Smitherman

Perhaps I misunderstood the brief, or the marketing of this book is off the mark. But I expected a monstery romance involving a deep space edlrich horror. This has a light sex scene or two, but sex scenes do not a romance make. This is horror, maybe gothic horror if you’re willing to stretch it far enough to encompass space. That’s not to say I didn’t like it. It’s atmospheric, and the reader truly feels the main character’s crumbling reality and fear. But it’s not what I was led to believe it would be. I was left with questions, and the sudden reveal and wrap-up at the end felt rushed. But generally, I enjoyed this.

Matched to the Mafia, by Jenika Snow

I’ve tried several of Snow’s books now. (I bought several all at one time, at some point.) And I think she just isn’t for me. I thought this was pretty trash. We get ‘he’s a bad guy and wants her’ in 15 variations, and that’s honestly about it. I know it’s a novella. But it’s not a very good one, IMO.

Starbinder, by Mark Timmony

Very clearly just a small taste of something larger, Starbinder is an intriguing teaser to the series as a whole. The writing is clear, and the world seems interesting. But I do think it was a bit too big to squeeze into a novella.

Ink, Blood, and Other Afflictions: Episode One, by Kristen Coar

I am going to preface this review by stating that I don’t really understand (or enjoy) the serialization of novels. Why would I ever want to read only part of a story? I always finish them with a dissatisfied sense of incompletion. However, setting that aside, I very much enjoyed this first episode. I liked both characters quite a lot. While I got little sense of the world, I am intrigued by the setup for the future plot arc, and the writing flows easily. I’ll look forward to the rest…but maybe wait until I can have them all at once.

Vrauma’s Menagerie, by E.K. Darnell

This was cute, light, and fluffy. It’s not a complicated story, being fairly straightforward. But it’s a fun little read. The aliens are truly alien. One is given far more page time than the other, and that annoyed me a little. Our FMC is ultimately satisfied with them, however, and it all wraps up in an HFN ending.

Lessons With A Lich, by Emma Elizabeth

Meh. This wasn’t a big winner for me. I do not think it knows what it wants to be. There isn’t enough smut to say that it is “just smut,” but there isn’t anywhere near enough plot, character, or relationship development to be anything else. All of which leaves it feeling oddly formless and bereft. Add to that the irritating habit of saying names, titles, and endearments too frequently, and my just general ick factor with the professor/student dynamic. This isn’t a trope that always bothers me. But the way Elizabeth has written it here, it feels like an older professor taking advantage of a student’s infatuation. (That’s not how it’s meant, but how it comes across because there is so little else.) All in all, I wasn’t impressed.

Rain Through Her Fingers, by Rabia Gale

This was really lovely. Gale manages to squeeze a complete, meaningful story into a scant hundred or so pages. Elaine, despite being the retiring sort, claimed her agency and strength to come through and save the day. The male lead, Ned, remained a bit of a shadow, but he served his purpose well. I’d love to see this as a full-length novel, or failing that, more of Elaine’s adventures.

Dragon Burn, by R.L. Wilson

Meh. This would be a perfectly fine story outline, but it’s far, far, far too underdeveloped to be a story of its own, even a novella. On a side note, the use of “…my dear” felt so weirdly out of place.

Stolen Mayfly Bride, by Sarah K.L. Wilson

I will fully admit that Stolen Mayfly Bride was nothing like what I was expecting. But I’ll also admit that it was better. Brief though it may be, it’s atmospheric and humane and ultimately very sweet. The writing is lyrical, and it crams a whole lot into a few pages.

Breach of Peace, by Daniel B. Greene

This is a late add-on because I read it in October and even reviewed it on Goodreads. But somehow it did not get included here. So, I’m tacking it on to this post.

I generally enjoyed this. But it suffers, as so many prequels do, from a lack of a satisfying conclusion. Sure, sure, I get that it’s supposed to tempt the reader into picking up the rest of the series. But if I can’t also enjoy it as a piece of work itself, it fails in at least part of its purpose.

I thought the characters interesting, if not deeply developed. The same can be set for the world. It seems interesting, but you only scratch the surface of it here. Then it ends on a tragedy and a cliffhanger. Meh.

Book Review: Fallen for the Two-Headed Dragon, by Delilah Dare

I picked up a copy of Delilah Dare’s Fallen for the Two-Headed Dragon as an Amazon freebie. You can find a review of book one in the series (Married to the Mahr) here.
A hiking trip with her boyfriend turns into a tragic late-night news episode when Dana is pushed off a cliff, only to land in the lair of a two-headed dragon.

Taken by surprise, Rathym watches her scramble away – but by dragon code, he knows she now belongs to him. He will not allow his property to stray very far.

When Dana is inevitably dragged back to his lair, tensions rise, and Dana begins to wonder if he was right – she does belong to him.

I’m going to be honest. I didn’t plan to read this book. I was not impressed with the 1st book in the series, mostly due to the author’s style. So, I was gonna skip the rest. But I made a fundamental mistake. I grabbed my Kindle for a trip I knew would leave me waiting in the car for an hour, forgetting that it was a new one and I’d downloaded almost nothing. Literally, the only thing downloaded from the cloud that hadn’t already been read was this book. (I imagine I downloaded it and Married to the Mahr at the same time.) So, there I sat with very few options but to read Fallen for the Two-Headed Dragon, and let me tell you, I was no more impressed with it than the previous book.

Never have I seen an author set up an interesting element in a book that was as poorly utilized as Rathym’s two-headedness. I mean, sure, the two peens get plenty of play. But the two heads…none. Past the midpoint in the book, I started to wonder if he only had two heads when in large dragon form, but not the bipedal human-ish form. But I didn’t know. I DID NOT KNOW. Halfway through the book, I did not know if the character had two heads all the time or only some of the time! I never knew. Having two heads is of so little importance that I didn’t even know how to visualize the character. The heads don’t speak individually. He doesn’t seem to use them separately. There is nothing to indicate that his two heads have a point.

I’ll be further honest: I skimmed the book’s last third, especially the sex scenes. There was so little plot, and I was so bored. I didn’t want to DNF because I dislike DNFing books, but I wanted to be done. This author seems to have conceptualized ideas that look like they should interest me, but the way she writes is a no-go for me.

Other Reviews: