I read this series several years ago, and at that time I would have given it 4 stars. Now it's only 3 stars, maybe 2.5 stars. I now see the controlling aspects as abusive. ( )

In the first book of the Brides of the Kindred series, Olivia Waterhouse is drafted to become the human mate of a Kindred warrior. A few years ago, an evil alien race called the Scourge attacked Earth and would’ve decimated the planet if not for a second alien race, the Kindred. In exchange for their help, the Kindred demanded the planet’s eligible single women. 95% of their race is male and they need women to procreate with. The Earth governments agreed and set up a worldwide draft of all eligible women. The thing is, most of the warriors only want women they can psychically bond with so the odds of being chosen are slim.
After six months of torture, Kindred warrior Baird escaped his captives with one thought in mind: find his mate. They’ve been sharing dreams and her presence in his mind kept him alive and sane through his imprisonment. Once Baird finally claims her according to the law set up between the Kindred and Earth, nothing goes right. Though she desires him, she’s also terrified of him and makes his courtship of her very difficult.
Baird is awesome! He’s patient, gorgeous, giving, and stubborn. Even though he understands why Olivia is scared and why she misses her old life, he thinks she’ll grow to love him because they’re destined for each other.
I couldn’t connect with Olivia. Yes, she loves and misses her sister Sophia and her best friend Kat, but she never really gave Baird a chance. For over ¾ of the book, she complains and insults him. She doesn’t try to make their relationship work. When they’re having sex, she’s all for him and wants him, but she changes her mind afterward and blames him for her actions. His pain over her continuous rejections is so strong and palpable that I cried a little for him. Even after she disobeyed a safety precaution and got herself in serious trouble, she’s still defiant and seemingly ungrateful that he saved her.
Sex scenes and arguments took up most of the book, but the action at the end picked up the pace. The scenes with Baird’s brother, Sylvan, were great.
The book could use an edit to fix missing punctuation marks, extra punctuation marks, a few misspellings, and the wrong form of words. Though I like the hero, the world building, and the overall plot, I would’ve enjoyed the book more if the heroine would’ve been a stronger woman.
3 Stars

Disclaimer – I downloaded this book from Amazon and volunteered to review it. I am not compensated in any way, shape, or form for this honest review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason unless at my discretion.
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Frustrating heroine. Really, stupidly, annoyingly, frustrating. She's one of those, I want you but I refuse to let you have me because my ex boyfriend cheated on me and now no man is trustworthy.

She gets caught up in the seduction but always gets to the point where she "realizes" she's about to get laid and then puts on the brakes and yells at the hero.

Then she basically treats him like crap and refuses to follow the laws of the land.
Dispite all that it's a decent book. Seriously hot dirty talk and seduction.

A lot of the scenes take place in dreams so the heroine can be seduced but in actuality isn't.

Whatever.
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Finished Reading October 19, 2015
[b:Claimed|10439221|Claimed (Brides of the Kindred, #1)|Evangeline Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327942833l/10439221._SX50_.jpg|15343817] by [a:Evangeline Anderson|240840|Evangeline Anderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1236196830p2/240840.jpg]
Genres: Adult, Erotica, Romance, Sci-fi.
4 Stars

1st, the good.
It started out quick, hard and fast. The story was engrossing and the set up intriguing. The writing was great, so it flowed really well & kept your attention. There were some really intense moments. The romance (of course) & the sex scenes, for the most part, were captivating.
2nd, the bad.
A few places got a bit to wordy. Words that could have been used to up the intensity factor in the 'scary' sections. Also, there was a section towards the end that just seemed to happen WAY to quickly. I am trying to say this without giving anything away about the story. I hate spoilers!

If I could talk to Evangeline Anderson I would tell her to get rid of the 'Wordy' sections & give the frightening sections the same intensity as the sex. After all, both parts make your heart beat faster and your gut clench. And isn't that what a great story is all about?

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A decent little erotic sci fi romance. The sex in order to bond thing was the main thrust of 2/3rds of the story. After she is forced to break the contract for marriage and leave him, the action picks up and the story is actually more interesting. Also the genetic traders thing was interesting and different. It sets up the possibility for different types of alien actions of the heroes in further books.

The sci fi elements were not the greatest here. It's what I call sci fi so soft it's hazy. For example, there are a bunch of mostly unbelievable animals living on the ship. I mean come on, a push me pull you llama type thing that changes sizes on command, can carry you anywhere on the ship, is telepathic and lives below the garbage disposal?

Plot wise things are not the most lucid. Most of it involves the fact that the Kindred are 95% male and need women from the three planets they've found in order to breed more Kindred. The guys then try for a month to seduce the woman they've claimed. The first 2/3rds of the story involved this so there wasn't hardly any action/plot at all for most of the story. Also they're at war but bring their human women up to live on a ginormous ship orbiting earth. As big as the Death Star it seems. That just seems a little iffy since the bad guys are hiding just behind the moon. Mostly the bad guys capture their enemies to torture them since they get some sort of energy high off of it but they also attack and blow ships up.

But the taken by a sexy alien thing was the thrust of the book and if that's what you're looking for, you should find it here.

Thanks MelissaB for loaning it to me. ( )