Susan Grant (1) (1954–)

Your Planet or Mine? is my first read by Susan Grant and the first book in her Otherworldly Men series. It got off to a lovely start with the sweet, childhood friendship/romance between the hero and heroine who meet at a young age when he comes to Earth with his scientist father and she rescues him when he accidentally gets stuck in a tree outside her window. I love how they fell in love as kids during the few magical days they shared and neither ever forgot. In my opinion, this is the most show more romantic part of the book, and when they finally reconnect, the author relies heavily on this brief moment in their lives to explain the ease of their relationship as adults. I had mixed feelings about this. I love the reunion romance theme, and think that having a prior connection went a long way toward developing their relationship. At the same time though, they only spent a few days together when they were quite young and have been separated for twenty-three years, so in spite of them supposedly falling in love at first sight and never forgetting each other, it would have been nice to have a little more build up to their adult relationship. Having them fall right back into that comfortable place with no internal conflicts perhaps stretched the bounds of credibility a bit, but overall, it was still a fairly entertaining story.

As a child, Jana had a speech impediment. Since she couldn't talk, she spent a lot of time dreaming about the fantastical, which makes her very open-minded when a glowing boy in a bubble suit appears outside her window. I loved her childish exuberance, her ready belief that Cavin was from outer space, and her confidence that she would one day marry him. Then we fast-forward to Jana as a grown woman. She has followed in the footsteps of her famous family's political dynasty and become a California State Senator while still in her twenties. I liked that Jana was an idealistic politician with scruples, and I admired her commitment to her family. She's just the kind of person we all wish politicians would be once elected to public office. Her grandfather believes that she will one day become president too. Somewhere along the line, as she was growing up though, Jana convinced herself that her encounter with the boy she dubbed “Peter” was all in her imagination, but for the life of her, she can't seem to make a relationship last. She's gained a reputation in the tabloids for being something of a playgirl, because she runs through men pretty quickly, always looking for someone who will measure up to “Peter” and never finding him. When Cavin finally comes back into her life, she almost immediately discovers that sense of fulfillment again.

Cavin was a sweet boy, who even in his youth, recognized the wrongness of his people "acquiring" Earth and colonizing it. He felt guilty that he and his father ever came there to study the planet, because it would be his father's scientific findings that would eventually lead to them invading. When he went exploring the planet, he instantly fell for the pretty girl who lived in the dwelling near where their spaceship landed. Over the years, he never forgot her and was pretty much always biding his time, waiting for an opportunity to return to her. Cavin became an accomplished soldier, but when he discovered that his people were finally going to invade Earth, he simply couldn't allow that to happen. Setting out on his own, he went in search of Jana, intending to do whatever was necessary to save her and her planet, but he does so with an assassin on his tail. I love how sweet Cavin is when he reconnects with Jana, as well as all the naughty things he whispers to her and how he can't seem to keep his hands off her. He was also very brave in his fight to save Earth. I do wish however, that there had a been a few more scenes from his POV. There were times when I felt like I didn't know him quite as well as I wanted to, but the author does mention that he's a simple man with simple needs, so perhaps there wasn't much more to know.

Your Planet or Mine? has a number of secondary characters, primarily Jana's family. Her grandfather, a former governor, is a driving force throughout. Also introduced are her brother, Jared, and sister, Evie. Jared is a former air force pilot who now owns his own business. He takes part in the Earth-saving operation from the sidelines, and when the story arc continues in the next book, My Favorite Earthling, he gets paired with Kiera, the queen of Cavin's people. Evie is a chocoholic divorcée who has always been Jana's champion. She becomes the heroine of the third book, How to Loose an Extraterrestrial in 10 Days, paired with someone who is introduced in this book, but I can't mention his name or it would reveal a spoiler.

In addition to the romance, I thought that Your Planet or Mine? had a few other weaknesses. Jana's family was a little too quick to accept that Cavin was an alien which wasn't entirely believable. I realize that, at the very least, he needed Jana's grandfather's cooperation, but perhaps one of Jana's family members could have shown a little doubt. Instead, they, and then the government officials, all jumped on board with very few reservations. The political parts of the story were a bit slow-moving. In addition to Earth being in jeopardy, Jana has someone out to get her and her family by spreading false rumors of campaign fraud, but I couldn't help wondering if this part of the story couldn't have been pared down or eliminated altogether in favor of building Cavin's save the Earth mission a little more fully. Despite these perceived deficiencies, Your Planet or Mine? was a light, easy read and a pretty enjoyable story if the reader is inclined to just go with the flow. It has definitely peaked my interest enough to continue with the series. show less

SF Romance is one of my favorite genres but I don't seem to read many of them lately. I'm glad I finally pulled this one out of my TBR pile because I found it thoroughly enjoyable. I have not read the previous series which leads up to this book and had no problem following the story.

This books begins at the end of the Horde war (and the previous "Otherworldly Men" series). After being at war for hundreds of years the Coalition, Drakken Horde, and Earth have united into The Triad Alliance. show more The transition to peace is a difficult one for any society. Coalition Admiral Brit "Stone-Heart" Bandar has spent her career hunting and killing the hated Drakken. But now she has a new assignment - command a new diplomatic ship called "Unity" and staff it with members of all three societies. Her second in command is her former Drakken enemy, Warleader Finnar Rorkken.

Brit has good reason to hate and distrust the Drakken and she has earned her nickname "Stone-Heart". But she is a complex and admirable character. I was struck by how fair she was to her former enemies trying to integrate them into her crew in leadership roles rather than relegate them to subservient roles. Finn is another well written character. He has had to struggle his whole life to advance to his present position, but he is very smart and loyal to his crew. I admired both the H/H very much. All the characters were 3 dimensional and the action adventure story was fast paced. Kind of like watching an old episode of Star Trek (one of my favorites). Someone is out to sabotage the peace and Brit and Finn must learn to trust each other as they finally explore their attraction. The spicy loves scenes and touches of light humor made this a memorable read ... you'll find yourself laughing, crying and having a hard time putting it down. I look forward to the next book in the series - The Warlord's Daughter - due out in March 2009. GRADE: A- show less

My Review:

My Favorite Earthling or also known as "Royally Mated" as the newer title is. We have a delightful, fun science fiction romance that I didn't want to put down, was fully entertaining and had the best banter. Once I was truly immersed back into this world, I didn't want to put this one down in any way.

This had a blend of enemies to lovers with arranged marriage but with more fun vibes to it than super angsty vibes. These two do NOT get off to the best start. But when they learn that show more they will have to marry to bring peace to their worlds, "uh oh" is the big mantra in this book in how you should never bite off more than you can chew. They also come from very opposite cultures. But seeing how they interact and bond together was truly endearing. We have a hero who has to teach the heroine how to love. She is cynical and bitter about relationships and love and they are surrendered by those she doesn't feel that she can trust. I truly admired the writing style of this author in how she captures your attentions and gives you an entertaining addictive ride. We need so many more sci fi romances like this.

Overall I had a blast with this book and I can't wait to read more from this author. show less

My Review:

Moonstruck is the first book in the Borderlands series but is also connected to her Otherworldly Men series as well. Moonstruck takes places shortly after the Otherworldly Men series.

Moonstruck is a blend of enemies to lovers and forced proximity. There has been a peace formed between the Coalition and the Drakken. They are both military leaders and are now to work on the same battleship to be a symbol of peace and unity but joining their crews and trying to act like their past show more conflicts don't matter is easier said than done.

I really was intrigued by this one, I did love the chemistry and tension between these two. I found the hero not as alpha as I was expecting him to be or maybe the author toned him down with this updated version, not sure. But I was expecting a leader hero would have had a stronger presence with the heroine and you could just tell she is wearing the pants in the relationship and while I know she is a alpha female and all that .....it just felt like she could have softened in their more private moments and while we see some vulnerability its rare and I would have liked to see her character be more fleshed out.

Overall I found Moonstruck (or also known as Warleader in the new version) to be intriguing, adventurous and well developed. I was hoping for more in the character development but the plot and world building was on point like many of Susan Grant's novels turn out to be. I can't wait to see what happens next for the series. show less