Susan Trombley

When I had been close to her—so close that I could breathe her in with the air that I drew into my lungs—I had seen her eyes widen, her nostrils flare, and her moistened lips part. None of that had been from fear. She’d looked at me with an almost hungry expression, but I didn’t think she wanted to eat me, though with the females of my species, desire to mate and hunger usually came together, often to the detriment of the males.

This author has such a great ability when it comes to show more creating heros and heroines outside the box and with The Kraken's Mate the second book in the Iriduan subject's we get to explore in more depth a character we met previously in The Scorpians mate.
So its no great secret that I like my alien's to actually look like aliens so I was especially excited to get stuck into this one.
Nemon is huge and instead of legs has tentacles: he is one of the experiments from the research ship
Joanie is one of the human rescued captives and this is their story.
Right from the start here, I felt this one had a slightly different flavour to its predecessor: just more emotive it's hard to exactly pinpoint but the romance here just felt so much sweeter.

“you are like a light shining upon the surface of the water, drawing me from the darkest depths to investigate what manner of treasure could glow so brightly.” His tentacles curled tight against his body. “I do not want to let you leave this ship, lest others will see my treasure and try to take her.”

Nemon though obviously extremely dangerous and potentially deadly has an almost childlike curiosity in his interactions with Joanie and she is fascinated also despite her initial wariness and fear.
I adored Nemon's adoration and enthusiasm as he attempts to woo and also learn all he can about his precious new mate.
I also appreciated the fact that Joanie was an ordinary woman with baggage and flaws its refreshing to find such an imperfect heroine.
This was relatively slow burn and I did love the sensuality behind the build-up: by the time they finally sealed the deal I was definitely invested in Joanie and Nemon's relationship and just for info, this is no way felt weird or strange.
This also had the added bonus of Thrax and Claire and they were very much a part of the story-arc
Finally, the romance in this one is just so adorable and gave me the warm and fuzzies.

“I didn’t fall in love with Nemon’s pretty face. I fell in love with the hearts that beat inside him and with the soul that I can see behind his eyes. That is more beautiful than a face could ever be.”

I enjoyed The Kraken's Mate (Iriduan Test Subjects, #2) a lot it was a well written and enjoyable read.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com show less

What a mixed bag. I loved the first half of the book. The second was a waste of time.
So the first half: She is kidnapped from earth. She's feisty in a realistic way. She meets the clone 34. He is creepy and I loved the way his movements etc., were described, how they began to get along. The instant sexual attraction was believable considering his stingers and physiology. They spent time learning each other and developing a relationship. There was a pretty good escape scene and then it seemed show more like another author took over.

Suddenly she is in love with 2 more guys. I mean boom. Just because she'd had snarky intercom interactions with one of the guys she was instantly in love. Sure he had repented his ways and gotten in trouble for it but he'd still used her for experiments hoping that 34 would kill her so he could observe for science. It would seem that she would need some actual time in his presence before love could truly bloom. And then there was the green guy would had a split personality. So she'd been in a glass cage next to his glass cage and they tried to communicate. It was stated that she never understood a word he tried to convey. I guess he understood her pantomimes although that was unrealistic considering some of the things he evidently understood. Seriously how do you convey to an alien with a totally different social structure that your husband cheated on you with another younger woman? Via charades?

Okay so they are all in love. I did like 34's reaction to all this. Whatever Rhonda wants. He was probably my favorite character. So the story moves into here's all the happy things which happen to them (after the mean side of the split guy rapes her and physically hurts her. She should have seen a doctor honestly). It's just a tell fest. This happens and then this happens and this happens. All happy, happy stuff that happens. No conflict. No actual actions or decision making from the characters to bring all of this great stuff to them. Waste of time. show less

When I had been close to her—so close that I could breathe her in with the air that I drew into my lungs—I had seen her eyes widen, her nostrils flare, and her moistened lips part. None of that had been from fear. She’d looked at me with an almost hungry expression, but I didn’t think she wanted to eat me, though with the females of my species, desire to mate and hunger usually came together, often to the detriment of the males.

This author has such a great ability when it comes to show more creating heros and heroines outside the box and with The Kraken's Mate the second book in the Iriduan subject's we get to explore in more depth a character we met previously in The Scorpians mate.
So its no great secret that I like my alien's to actually look like aliens so I was especially excited to get stuck into this one.
Nemon is huge and instead of legs has tentacles: he is one of the experiments from the research ship
Joanie is one of the human rescued captives and this is their story.
Right from the start here, I felt this one had a slightly different flavour to its predecessor: just more emotive it's hard to exactly pinpoint but the romance here just felt so much sweeter.

“you are like a light shining upon the surface of the water, drawing me from the darkest depths to investigate what manner of treasure could glow so brightly.” His tentacles curled tight against his body. “I do not want to let you leave this ship, lest others will see my treasure and try to take her.”

Nemon though obviously extremely dangerous and potentially deadly has an almost childlike curiosity in his interactions with Joanie and she is fascinated also despite her initial wariness and fear.
I adored Nemon's adoration and enthusiasm as he attempts to woo and also learn all he can about his precious new mate.
I also appreciated the fact that Joanie was an ordinary woman with baggage and flaws its refreshing to find such an imperfect heroine.
This was relatively slow burn and I did love the sensuality behind the build-up: by the time they finally sealed the deal I was definitely invested in Joanie and Nemon's relationship and just for info, this is no way felt weird or strange.
This also had the added bonus of Thrax and Claire and they were very much a part of the story-arc
Finally, the romance in this one is just so adorable and gave me the warm and fuzzies.

“I didn’t fall in love with Nemon’s pretty face. I fell in love with the hearts that beat inside him and with the soul that I can see behind his eyes. That is more beautiful than a face could ever be.”

I enjoyed The Kraken's Mate (Iriduan Test Subjects, #2) a lot it was a well written and enjoyable read.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com show less

A slight, mocking smile tilted his lips. “You humans are meaningless to us. You are pets of the bright ones, playthings for them to use and dispose of at their will. For the umbrose, you mean even less.”

I really do appreciate this author's vivid imagination and decided to give this series a try as she has yet to write something I haven't automatically liked.
Got to say I am ever so impressed with the first book in this series and now I can't wait to read the next two books.
This series show more crosses genres and is oh so difficult to actually classify.
Part Sci-Fi, Part Dystopian, A touch of Fantasy and a smidge of paranormal: the world-building here was just insane.
Set against a rich fantasy backdrop the author has managed to build a reality which is incredibly complex.
A world where propriety and decency is top and swift punishment is adopted for any rule breakers to the Lord's regulations.
All in Dome City are under the authority of the censors.
So Lilith is a computer engineer living in in the Dome and her world comes crashing down when she along with her best friend Stacia are arrested and charged with treason.
She is taken by the Peacekeepers and thrown into a cell with another prisoner Ranove.
Lilith sees before her a mythical creature a supposed demon but her new cellmate is an Umbrose a species separate from humans which Lilith was previously unaware of because of her prior sheltered life under the complete authority of the Dome.
When Ranove escapes the facility where he is being held he takes Lilith home with him as his prisoner.
Giving her an ultimatum Prisoner or concubine Lilith already strangely attracted to her captor makes the only logical choice open to her.
This was very well written and sucked you very easily into the narrative.
Ranove initially came across as quite superior and cold but as this progressed he slowly evolved into much more.
I liked that Lilith was pragmatic in her acceptance of her current situation not making stupid desition based on pure emotion.
She was brave and very logical and I liked her a lot.
This was action-filled throughout and I especially adored the species barrier and prejudices that these two-faced from both sides.
This had bloodshed and lust and a war looming toss in the angels and demons backdrop and this made for a definite clear winner with me.
The only thing that dropped my rating slightly was that I felt that the romance here took a back seat slightly to the action and this spoilt things for me.
I also would have liked to see the aftermath of a certain female umbrose's betrayal as well.
Despite those grumbles, this still was such a fantastic start to this series and I read this in one sitting.
I am super intrigued with this and Lilith's Fall gets a thumbs up from me.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com show less