Suddenly a Bride

Across the Stars #1

by Ruth Ann Nordin

Rilo An comes from a world where there are no women. What he longs for is a life mate: someone who'll complete him, someone he can love who’ll love him back, someone who’ll ease the aching loneliness that haunts his life. So he leaves his world, takes on the Earth name Chris West, and makes a payment to Star Systems Unlimited for a life mate.

When he bonds with Caitlyn Davis, he thinks life can't get any better. But she was married before, and memories of her deceased husband still linger around her home. Will he find a place in her heart or will he have to become like her first husband in order to get her love?

Genres: Romance, Science Fiction, Aliens, Contemporary Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction Romance, Paranormal

244 pages, ebook

First published June 21, 2011

About the author

What's to say? I write a lot. I read often. I sleep little. Once in awhile, I've been known to clean the house. A number of kids live in my house and there's this guy they call dad and I call husband. All in all, it's a pretty good life. :-)

Reviews

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this and told myself, "That creeped out feeling is just because it's odd sci-fi." But...

I tried. Really, really tried, but it just turned out to be dadgum-messed-up. I couldn't get past the overall message. It's a dangerous form of rape culture that tries to pass off drugging the heroine for sex as romance. Chris releases the so called sex hormone, MINUTES after he meets her. This puts her into a hormonal craze that she doesn't understand and the author has the nerve to call it their marriage/bonding/mating ceremony. Come on people. My dream wedding certainly wasn't in the backseat of a van and it didn't involve sex with a stranger. It's rape, plain and simple.

Ick!

That is just the tip of the iceberg. After the whole breeding thing and the hormone taking away this woman's choice to decide her future fate, she becomes a complete doormat! This book was just terrible! I could hear my brain cells scream as they died. I was promptly punished by a migraine, which I probably deserve for finishing this thing.

I try to be constructive and kind in "bad" reviews, but this wasn't a case of "I just didn't care for it." I'm not opposed to reading stories that involve rape on occasion, but it better be handled appropriately, with plenty of gall for the offender and sensitivity to the victim. Not dressed up like some twisted fantasy.

I was stunned by how many glowing reviews I read. THINK PEOPLE! There's a time to suspend belief. Would you want your daughter thinking love means being drugged against her will? I think not. This book went too far. It sends a damaging and dangerous message. It is NEVER okay to have your CHOICES taken away in this manner. I don't care how it's dressed up. This heroine was stalked, raped, and eventually lost her right to fall in love with the man of her choice. She should've experienced PTSD and anger issues, but nooooo... She went on with life and called her friends about her instant marriage like she just got a great deal on a pair of shoes.

Save your brain cells and pass on this trainwreck. The author should be ashamed. It upset me so much that I will not read another one of her books.

[Seon Ji (Dawn) · Rating 3 out of 5]

++Spoilers++

This is a tough one to rate, so I went up the middle with a 3 star.

I love this authors historical romances, and this is the first one of hers I have read that was not.

First, I want to say that this is not a hard core sci-fi read, It's more like a contemporary romance with aliens.

One of the things that I found a bit strange is the non MC aliens in the beginning of the book. They kinda reminded me of the old Star Trek creatures or like the original Star Wars guys in the bar scene with Hans Solo. A bit old fashioned sci-fi in their description. But it was kinda unique and it was only in the beginning so it was easily overlooked.

I'm not a big fan of contemporary romance, and I'm not sure if this is part of the reason I was unable to connect with the H & h, it probably is to some degree, but I think the biggest part that made me lose the feeling is the constant mentioning of the heroine's deceased first husband. It was too much. I don't generally read books with the dead ex theme or when there is an element of an old love in the past. I prefer that the H&h only ever loved each other, I also have a hard time grasping at how one can love two people. I like the fantasy of there ever only being one true soul mate.

Anyway, I just didn't "feel it" between the H & h here. It felt more like lust than love.

Lastly, although I absolutely LOVE beta heros.. here, he seemed too benign.. almost feminine in his personality. The heroine was far more dominant and it was weird to me.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the hero, he was perfect, but there was just something missing.

As far as sex goes.. the author has gotten much spicer with these scenes which I like, but they still need work.

I still plan on reading the next book which seems more promising with Lexie and Mark.

Safety:

Hero-Virgin
Heroine-Widowed
Cheating-No
OW/OM- If you consider the constant mentiong of the h's dead ex an issue then it would be yes to the OM and No to OW
Violence-No
Cursing-No
Adultery-No
Rape-No.
HEA/ILY-Yes
Marriage/Baby- Yes to marriage and h is pregnant by the end
Sex-Yes a few times. Spicy and detailed.

[Auj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone says this feels like a contemporary romance with an alien, and I agree with them. I would have liked to see a version of this story where instead of the alien coming down to Earth, the human came to the alien's planet instead.

Rilo An is lonely. There are no women on his planet of Pandoran after the women there decided they didn't want to be bonded for life or bear babies. He purchases an Earth bride from Star Systems Unlimited and gets sent down to Earth, where he meets his bride, Caitlyn Davis. Caitlyn works at a restaurant called Jack's dinner and used to be married to her childhood sweetheart before he died of cancer.

I found this book under Goodread's Accidental Pregnancy list, but again it didn't satisfy the craving, because her pregnancy wasn't revealed the way I wanted it to. (Where the women doesn't know yet and just has the symptoms)

I would have liked an epilogue where we meet her baby. What I found was kind of weird was that Rilo An seemed to be no different than a human man. In other alien romances I've read, the male aliens compatible with humans may look like humans and have dicks, but they're not 100% human looking. Also, I would have thought he would want to be referred to by his real name, not his "Earth name".

I've liked the books I've read by Ruth Ann Nordin, but they're more like comfort reads than anything too exciting.

I might read Book 2, as the characters started their romance in this book & I'm a little intrigued...

[Mariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it

Maybe there was not much of an alien theme as some sci-fi as it was a single alien (or two) who came to earth Incognito as human. However, I liked the touches of an alien who is unfamiliar with our world and continuously wants to learn about his life mate.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suddenly a Bride by Ruth Ann Nordin
Across the Stars Book 1
I just love Ruth's books! Her hero's are the sweetest guys and you just fall for them as they try and please the love of their life. In this case our hero is Rilo An from Pandoran, a planet where there were only men left. He goes to Star Systems Unlimited and pays them to choose him a wife from Earth. He wants a woman willing to be his Life Mate and who will want children with him. He knows when he finds her that a special hormone will release from him giving her the desire to bond with him and that will make them Life Mates, or in earth terms, married. While waiting for his trip to earth he meets Marn. Marn has chosen to go to Earth and look rather then have the Life Mate chosen for him. Marn, who becomes Mark on earth, wants to know the woman would choose him as well. They meet again once they arrive and even end up working in the same place... a job that was the most challenging for them, as they are coming from an extremely advanced world. But lonely without women.

Caitlyn Davis is a waitress. Her first husband, Randy, passed away three years ago. She worked with her best friend, Sandy who was also Randy's sister. A man comes to the diner and Caitlyn waits on him, he is one of the sweetest men she's met in awhile. He asks her to eat with him and she does. Rilo's earth name is now Chris West and before Caitlyn knows what hit her, she is suddenly Caitlyn West. Through out the story we see where Chris feels like he has to be like Randy to gain Caitlyn's love. The villain in the story is her mother who likes to rule her daughters lives, she manages to get her claws into Chris and convince him that he has to do certain things to prove his love for her daughter. Poor Chris is so eager to prove he is as worthy as Randy that he falls for it. I can't wait until the next two books are written.
**Sexual situations within marriage. Rated R.

http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/...

[T00zday · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're wanting alien/earthling erotica, scratch this off your list.

This is a sweet, fluffy, HEA romance.
The villain in the story is the heroine's overbearing, controlling, judgmental mother. That's as heavy as it gets.

[Rachel-RN]

I picked this up for a challenge (needed a wedding themed book). I didn't make it that far before I started to see red. Issue number one: "He didn't like the idea that a woman might decide his genetic line didn't suit her." Poor baby, a woman might decide to not have children with you. Boo-hoo! Issue number two: "I know, but I was warned the women on Earth can be emotional. I'm not sure if that's worth it." Now, I realize it was someone else (not Rilo/Chris) that said this, but really?! Issue number three: "Marn: So you're planning to go through the ceremony as soon as you see who the agency picked for you?" "Rilo/Chris: I don't want to give her time to back out." Awesome! Who needs consent?! And that's all folks! I put it down after that, and promptly hit the delete button on my Kindle.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't normally bother to review romance novels. But when consent is taken away from a character just so another character can enjoy himself - well, I'm sorry. Physical satisfaction does not imply consent. The male lead rapes the female lead. Big fat no thank you.

[Mya · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars I love it but it is missing something to make it complete.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Suddenly a Bride ~ Across the Stars ~ Book 1 Rilo An from the planet Pandoran makes arrangements to look for a life mate on Earth and ends up in Florida. He is sent to meet Catilyn Davis and found her at work in a dinner. They bonded in her mini van creating his form of marriage called a 'life bond' and the fun begins.

Add her overbearing mother, having sex every six hours until she conceives, Chirs West Rilo's Earth name and this humorous unlikely love story is delightful. It is the most unique love story I have ever read and I've been reading romance for more years than I will admit to. LOL Highly recomment!

[MLL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some Spoilers. Nilo an comes from a planet where women are extinct. So he goes to a universal wish agency to find a mate from a compatible species. Armed with a new name, Chris West , earth money, proper I.D. and a pamphlet about women (he's never seen one) he arrives outside his chosen mate's diner ready to mate almost immediately. The problem is said mate, Caitlyn Davis, has never heard of aliens, doesn't know he is coming, and isn't even looking for a new husband after her first husband died 3 years ago. Due to strong pheremone he expels at Caitlyn she jumps his bones and voila they are married/ bonded til death do them part (literally). Surprisingly when he tells her she is now permantly bonded to an alien (he looks fully human) she believes him right away with very little evidence. The story goes on with the usual type of misunderstandings of an alien who knows nothing of earth or women. Unfortunately the entire second half of the book is monopolized but the irritating, controlling, manipulations of Chris's new mother-in-law who almost ruins everything. It is unpleasant to read. Still things work out with a HEA and a hint at the next book in the series.

Warning this book is erotic but not kinky.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I have to be a bit careful here, as I don't want anyone to think that I am slagging off the book or the author, which I most definitely am not.

My first Novel by Ruth Nordin was at first dismissed as awful, but then when I literally had nothing else to read I forced myself, and secretly enjoyed it. There is something endearing about the cheesiness of her novels. At first I thought that was an accident, but as I've read a few more I've decided that it can only be by design.

This here book, was a little confusing at the start, but go going. Chris, the main character was so naive and sweet I actually loved him.

It's not a huge literary work, but it does delivery in the happiness and cute spectrum, and especially where I've been in my head the last day or so, it has been a welcome treat.

Not badly priced at £1.93 for this 3.5 star read (probably 3 stars on Amazon). Give it a go if you are looking for light and frothy.

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a cute and goofy SFR with a seriously beta hero. He comes from a planet that bred itself out of females. He's used most of his savings to buy a wish. His wish is a lifemate--a woman he can marry and have children with. He ends up on Earth, which isn't aware of other life in the universe yet. The romance is sudden, driven by alien biology, and supported by each partner's willingness to be together and find a way to make things work. I didn't give it more stars because I felt that much of the conflict could easily have been avoided if he had believed her and if they had communicated with each other. It led to some eye rolling moments from me, but overall it was not a bad story.

[Shelley Chastagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a sci-fi romance. Rilo (aka Chris) is a naive alien in search of a wife. Caitlyn is picked by the agency to fill the bill. Unfortunately she comes with a manipulative mother. Poor Chris has to navigate the complexities of American earth culture and the nuances of dealing with an extended family. Packed with lots of funny moments and exasperation. This is another one of my favorites by Ruth Nordin.

[BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet... Very sweet 🙂

[Christina grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

0 ⭐️

I can’t even start with this book; first of all, the way the male and female protagonist got together is incredibly dubious and I found it to be super rapey. Like the guy arrives on earth to meet his arranged life partner, unbeknownst to her and he doesn’t even try to know her better before he releases some pheromone thing that makes her do the deed with him…and she has no idea what’s going on, therefore, there isn’t any consent on her part, she’s forced to go along with it.

Her friend then tells her the exact same thing I was thinking and the female protagonist just brushes it off saying she was attracted to him so no harm no foul. Like mam, you admitted that in other circumstances you wouldn’t get down and dirty with the man, you’re forced into and you defend the dude?

Also the male protagonist is the worst, he acts like a literal child and his species is supposed to be some superior, advanced race yet you’re as dumb as a stump- no thank you, no wonder you needed to have an arranged marriage with that kind personality and intellect.

[Brandilynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won't lie I thought that this was going be a stupid plot. But I have loved everything else Ruth Ann Nordin has written so I thought why not.

Here is why not:
I COULD NOT PUT DOWN THE BOOK EVEN TO GO COOK BREAKFAST! Yes, it was really that good. I love how innocent Chris is about Earth and especially women. It's very realistic in that sense seeing at men these days never seem to know what to do or say when a woman just wants this or that.

[Meluvbooks2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was beyond awesome. You fall in love with the characters. Love love catilyn and LOVE so in love with chris. This book was well written. You really felt the love the pain. It keeps your attention from begininng to end and well want you to buy #2. The situations, problems and pain really is in everyday life everyone knows or is one of these characters. I personally wanted to punch the mother in law. In to book 2. Get it you won't regret it.

[Lilie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book was not a hit for me.
I didn't care much for the main characters, and I was especially frustrated with the H going behind the back of the h and being so easily manipulated but the mom...
I mean... I understand that the H is not from this world and is trying his best but come on!!

Anyway, I don't think I'm going to read the next book of the serie, which is a real bummer because I really love this author!

[Keri · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 STARS - IT WAS OK

This started off decent. It was interesting even though the writing was mediocre. But around 50% I found myself just wishing it was over. There wasn't really an 'alien' feel to the story anymore, it just became a mediocre angsty contemporary romance with all the miscommunications that entails. At that point it took me a long time to get around to finishing it.

[shannon Stubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly cute

This was surprisingly cute. It was a sci fi romance that was different than what I'm used to. Chris and Caitlyn turned out to be a cute loving couple even though they're from two different planets. I bought this book not realizing it was a sci fi romance. That's what I get for judging a book by its cover and title. Worth reading anyways.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read this previously but appear not to have reviewed it here. An interesting story, although there are a couple of contentious ideas, the biggest being that the male’s pheromones take away the woman’s choice before sex. While there could be connotations of rape, I don’t believe that was the intention.

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alien comes to earth to find bride. This book was funny in some parts, and dragged in others. I thought most of the lame sex scenes were not essential to the book. I much preferred the I'm horny...close door.

[Nealean Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

The writing was excellent. The story is unusual and interesting. The characters were different and amazingly believable. I enjoyed wondering if an alien could truly come to earth and blend in. I want to read more books like this. COVID 19 be gone.

[Pam Santel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Yy of this world!

I loved Chris and Caitlyn's story. It was easy to believe. I always wondered if aliens would come to earth and reproduce. You have made it possible. I think if you like anything about outer space yon would like this book. Give it a try today!

[Ronnie Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different kind of story.

This book wasn't what I expected, but it shows the author's great imagination. At first I had a few doubts about the story, then I couldn't put it down. Sex is more graphic than necessary, but the story is out of this world. 😉

[Aisley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of a trilogy that'll melt your heart.

[authorsrikandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice ending. I really love it! Wishing I will find Chris West in my life!!?

[Freshta Masoud · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it a lot more than "Runaway Bride". It was a well developed story.

[MyzanM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me.