Amanda Milo

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series. It's a messy series and there are many problems but I can overlook them for the most part because it has a type of protectiveness that is like catnip for me. I don't like the level of "not like other girls" stuff and the fact that a lot of the female characters don't act like people but again, I'm willing to note those issues and then move on. There was a couple of reasons I couldn't do the same with this book.

The first major issue comes show more up very early on and I think is by far the most serious issue. Tara has been kidnapped and is being sold at what is essentially a slave auction. Tac, one of the love interests is there and purchases her. Through this we learn that Tac was also kidnapped and sold against his will and we learn that he had been purchased by Brax, the other love interest. Tac then explains

"I’d been taken, and although my buyer had eventually become my friend—as was common."

I really didn't like this at all. The idea that in this world most people sold into slavery becomes friends with their owner just doesn't not sit well with me at all, especially coming from a perspective of being an American and knowing the history of slavery in my country. This felt like an attempt by the author to sidestep the issue of slavery in this story but to me she just made it worse. I will not that it seems like Brax's ownership of Tac functions more like indentured servitude where Tac worked for Brax for seven years and then he gets to leave with some payment but all characters call it slavery and I read it as slavery. I really, really hated this and it colored my view of the whole book and the relationship.

The other issues are much more minor, at least to me. Tac is described as being half human, half kangaroo basically, which...what? I just cannot picture someone as I'm supposed to see as a love interest looking like this. His feet are described as being as long as Tara's legs and I just cannot see this as attractive at all. It's so weird!

The other issue is that they don't get a translator until 3/4 of the way through the story. The author does make it very clear that everyone understands yes and no before any sex happens and the consent is very clear, I never felt like that was an issue, that was not my problem. My problem was that I was just annoyed by their inability to communicate. I was not entertained by Tara's inability to tell them what she needs for so much of this book. Forced lack of communication like this almost always bothers me in romance, especially if it drags on for this long. I just end up wanting them to be able to talk very early on. I feel like this is just a way to force the introduction of conflict without doing any interesting plot work.

There is still protectiveness stuff that I liked and some side characters I enjoyed but all of these issues really colored my perception of this whole book and the issues were present through so much of this book. I would continue reading this series but honestly this book did turn me off from this series a bit. show less

This is what sci fi romance should be. This wasn't just "Mars Needs Women!" like so many entries in this subgenre are. This story had logical clear world building and aliens who look and more importantly act alien. The story is told in alternate chapters from the hero who is the alien and the heroine who has been captured from Earth by slavers. The hero saves her because he thinks she is a princess of a race which his people revere. There is a language barrier so she is frightened and pretty show more mystified about what is going on. But since he saves her from the guys who bought her who were trying to rape her she considers him at least a better option. They learn to care for each other while on the run on the slave planet.

I dropped one star because I felt the story lost a bit of its luster after they got to the planet where all the other girls showed up. It took the focus off the main couple plus I would have preferred to read the stories about the other women in their own books without the spoilers provided by this one.

On the whole though I would almost giddy with the enjoyment this well done story provided. On another note, as another reviewer stated, the title of this one does the book a disservice. It is just so generic and the cover doesn't help either. I hope there are many more books in the series, sign me up! show less

I've just had one of my first very stressful school weeks this semester so I decided to pick up this more out there, yet easy to read romance as a form of stress relief. I'll basically read any romance that sounds interesting to me, including weirder non-human romances like this. I didn't expect too much going in to this book and I ended up pleasantly surprised. Though I think I went into this with a pretty open mind, I thought I might have some problems because romances where there is a show more communication barrier have been really frustrating to me in the past. Luckily, a translator was introduced fairly early on and the story became much more interesting to me after that point.

Our main couple got together pretty early on in the book but I didn't mind that because there was a lot of external conflict that kept the story interesting as well as a few conflicts caused by misunderstandings due to cultural differences. I definitely enjoyed reading the dynamics in this relationship. The over-protectiveness and possessiveness in this book is something I would absolutely hate in a real life relationship but I always really enjoy reading a romance where a partner is protective over the other partner, especially if there is a real danger. If you're looking for a book with that dynamic, you may like this story.

This book was great as a relaxing read during this stressful week. If you're looking for an easy to read romance with a lot of plot, I would recommend this one. I probably won't continue with this series, at least not right away, because I have so much to read but I did enjoy this. show less

So this was the book that started my fore into the "Humans as Pets to Aliens" genre.

It's told in the first person POV of an alien scientist who is in charge of the "Pet Project", a scientific study in the procreation of human pets. Can't remember how the come across the people, but they end up with them on their planet and because the aliens are so big they see humans as we see dogs. As beloved pets. This scientist is in charge of four humans, a woman and three men. He is very excited and show more hopes that he is able to prove himself in the field. He hopes to breed the humans and get specific characteristics from them.

It is such a fun story when we see the humans from an aliens perspective. We can even hear the "pets" speak in "gibberish" but if you read carefully you can easily tell what they are saying.

Out alien scientist is having a hard time getting the "handsome" and docile male to mate with the female. He does everything he can, but the male just isn't interested. Is it his diet? Is he sick? No, what we find out that the alien can't understand is that he's gay. Meanwhile, there is another male who is kind of beat up and scarred, whom the scientist isn't too keen on getting to breed with the female, but it turns out that they really like each other.

This is a great read, and the following books in the series are fun as well. There are no real sex scenes, or violence. As soon as I was done with this one, I read the other three.

Now, I am hunting around for more of these "humans as pets" types of books. show less