Mine to Take (1998)

I'll give Dara Joy 4 stars for the AU she created, and for side character Traed ta'al Krue, who is my hands-down favorite and appears in all her Matrix stories, including the e-books she sells direct from her website. But otherwise - the women are twits, the men are Tarzan apes, the sex scenes last forever, and there's huge logical paradoxes in Joy's sloppily thought-out AU that are only partially redeemed by the humorous touches. And I really, really, dislike her portrayal of Krue of Lodarres, who could not possibly be so successful, experienced, and respected with the way she draws his bull-in-a-china-shop character. Her most recent stories in the MoD series are "That Familiar Touch" and "Death by Ploot-Ploot", published through e-book only. "Death" is a waste of time, but "Touch" is an important point in Traed ta'al Krue's storyline, even though again he is just a side character who comes in only briefly. ( )

OK, I want a Gian Ren too! He's the king of all Familiars, beings who can take the form of both a cat and a human. Familiars are also intensely sensual and sexual (picture me fanning myself about now). Jenise needs to escape from her evil uncle who plans to wed her and become king by taking her virginity. When she hears he captured a familiar, she decides to rid herself of her virginity using the captive. Gian recognizes Jenise as his mate and refuses to leave her behind. This book was interesting and arousing to read. The growth of their relationship during their journey to Gian's homeland was realistic (or as realistic as sci-fi/fantasy gets). This book stands alone but be warned, you will likely end up wanting to buy the other books in this series to see where events here fit in the storyline!! ( )

Good concepts but not such a great read. ( )