Tag Archives: sci-fi

the prisoners gambit banner

Book Review: The Prisoner’s Gambit, by Kira Quinn

A couple of years back, I won a book giveaway that included the first three books in Kira Quinn‘s Mark of the Infala Series. Last Year, I read book one, The Alien’s Bond, as the Q book in my yearly Author-Alphabet Challenge. (You can see my review here.) I’m doing the same with book two, The Prisoner’s Gambit, this year.

The Prisoner's gambit cover

Being taken prisoner by ravenous green-skinned aliens was not cool, but when the Raxxian ship fell under attack, breaking apart and crashing on a planet in a galaxy far from home, Maureen realized that was only the beginning.

There was one bright side though. She had made a friend. A thickly muscled, blue-skinned hunk of a friend at that.

Stranded and alone, the pair’s attraction was obvious from the start, but much as they wanted to see where things might go between them, a new ordeal was spoon thrust upon them. One that threatened to separate them just as things were getting interesting.

It would be a struggle, but with their attraction growing by the minute it was a fight worth having. It would be hard, but if they managed to succeed, perhaps life as a survivor on an alien world wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. Judging by the chemistry between the human woman and rugged alien male, it looked like it could be quite enjoyable indeed.

my review

OK, look. I did not expect to like this book. I gave the first book in the series a 2-star rating last year and did not expect this one to be any better. But I challenged myself to clear some physical books off of my shelves this year, and needed a Q for my yearly Author-Alphabet-Challenge. What I also did not expect, however, was for this one to be worse than the first. I didn’t like the character in the first book and was just sort of bored with the whole thing. This one is just plain bad.

I think the author does not know what she wants to write. There is not enough sex for me to call it erotica and therefore accept that the sex is the point, not a plot or character development. (And what sex there is is abrupt, uninteresting, and 100% not sexy. Forplay, what’s that?) But the prisoners gambit photothere also isn’t enough of a plot, and absolutely no character development. So I can’t call it a romance or a character-driven story.

Add to that, many events rely on world-building that is so unidimensional it makes little sense. The villain was only slightly removed from being the clichéd woman scorned trope (*yawn*), and I was quite simply bored the whole time. But hey, I can mark Q off my challenge list. So it’s not a total waste!


Other Reviews:

his human assistant banner

Book Review: His Human Assistant, by Michele Mills

I picked up a copy of Michele MillsHis Human Assistant as an Amazon freebie a while back.

his human assistant cover

I’m a corporate whistleblower running for my life, so I take the first job I can find off planet.

Now I’m a lowly assistant for some rich devil named Hannibal Hellstone? And when I say “devil,” I mean DEVIL. As in this guy’s skin is dark red, he has shiny black horns, sharp fangs, silver-tipped claws and a barbed tail. This Hyrrokin is scary AF and his eight-year-old son looks just like him. And, he has a sharp-toothed, three-headed, fire-breathing “dog” at his side.

*gulp*

I’m supposed to live with my new boss?

I don’t know anything about kids. And I don’t like pets. But, jeez, this guy is hawt. And his kid is sweet too. My heart cracks open for them—and their “dog.”

Hannibal starts throwing heated glances my way. But if this honorable soldier knew the real me, the girl with the checkered past, would he still want me? Oh well, it’s not like this is going to get serious—he’s told everyone he’s never, ever, going to marry anyone ever again.

This is good, right?

That’s what I want too…right?

my review

Honestly, I was just bored by this. I appreciated the plus-sized, smart, capable heroine who takes the lead in the end, but the writing is prosaic and repetitive. (And there are some strange word choices… *cough* teats?!). The plot is bland and uninteresting, and the romance is sub-par.

Mostly, however, the characters don’t get to know one another (or not in a manner that the reader feels). So, what he seems to fall in love with is her body and all the ways she can be of service to him (his business, his son, and his dog), which is just ick, in my opinion. I don’t even know what she is supposed to have fallen in love with.

I have too many other books to read to bother with the rest of this series (even though I think I own some).

His Human Assistant Photo


Other Reviews:

Review: Monsters Love Curvy Girls (Books 1-4) by Michele Mills

system collpase banner

Book Review: System Collapse, by Martha Wells

I purchased a signed copy of Martha WellsSystem Collapse through The Broken Binding.

system collapse

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast.

Yeah, this plan is… not going to work.

my review

Oh man, I missed SecUnit and crew. I really did. Unfortunately, it had been a hot minute since I read the last book, and this one picks up right where Network Effect ended. So, I was a little hazy on the remembered details. So, it might be worth a reread before you jump into System Collapse if it’s been a little while for you, too.

This book is predominantly internal to SecUnit’s thoughts and banter between SecUnit and ART, and I was 100% there for it. I love them both to pieces. We also get to see a lot of growth in SecUnit as they come to recognize and accept their own past trauma, try to do the right thing in difficult situations, and keep their humans alive (preferably all the humans, but definitely their humans).

All in all, I will be on pins and needles, hoping there is another book in this series at some point.

system collapse photo


Other Reviews:

Blog That Book: System Collapse