The Ninth Orb

Interstellar #2

by Kaitlyn O'Connor

Scientifically speaking, it made sense to send two hundred women and 'frozen pops' to establish the colony on New Georgia and insure a good gene pool. But when the colonists arrive after fifteen years of space travel, and discover that the alien compound directly across from their new city is filled with young, virile Xtanian men eager for 'queens' Eden Chisholm has her hands full trying to keep the peace. The Xtanian's themselves are stunningly human-like, but their customs are completely alien to Earth culture. In the Xtianian society, women are rare and therefore the men are of little value beyond what they provide for the comfort and safety of their 'queens'. And the queens have harems. Rating: Contains graphic sex, explicit language, profanity, some violence, group sex, and some material that could be offensive to sensitive readers.

Genres: Science Fiction, Aliens, Romance, Menage, Erotica, Fantasy, Science Fiction Romance

220 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2006

About the author

Stats:
■Kaitlyn has written and completed nearly 140 intellectual properties under several pen names in different genres.
■She has written over 8,000,000 (yes, more than 8 million!) words in published works.
■She has nearly 50 partials in various genres in various stages of completion. :0
■In 2004 she wrote 27 different stories which, together, amounted to nearly a million ‘printed’ words.
■However her most productive year was 2009 when she completed 17 projects totaling well over a million words.
■Second runner up was 2007 when she completed 14 projects at just over a million.
■The year 2008 was a close tie to 2004 in number of words written.
■Her least productive year was 2011. Sorry!
■At 500 to 750 words per hour, the 8+ million written words constitute 10,666 to 16,000 hours, or 20 to 34 hours per week, devoted to Kaitlyn fans over the past 9 years!
■One title had over half a million copies pirated. She decided not to count anymore.

Kaitlyn O’Connor’s Bibliography

Liar’s Poker—romantic suspense; 1993; 93k

Lord of Chaos—historical suspense; 1993; pen name Goldie McBride; 98k

Moonlight Surrender—historical; 1993; 100k

Bond Unbroken—romantic suspense; 1993; 98k

* * * *

Bride of Atlantis—paranormal; published NCP March 2003; pen name Marie Morin; 47k (overall light/humorous)

Sexphiles: Haunting Melody—paranormal/erotica; published NCP Jan-Mar 2003; pen name Kimberly Zant; novella (overall light/humorous)

Four Play—erotica; published NCP Apr-June 2003;pen name Kimberly Zant; 9k

The Lion’s Woman—science fiction; published NCP Apr-June 2003; pen name Kaitlyn O’Connor; 58k (drama)

Thief of Hearts— erotica; published NCP April 2003;pen name Kimberly Zant; 6k

Thief of Hearts: The Return— erotica; published NCP May 2003;pen name Kimberly Zant; 6k

The Claiming—science fiction; published NCP Apr-June 2003; pen name Kaitlyn O’Connor; (drama)

The Assassin’s Blade—science fiction; published NCP July-Sept 2003;pen name Lyssa Hart (drama)

Blood Moon—paranormal/fantasy; published NCP July-Sept 2003;pen name Sylvia Kincaid; 59k(drama)

Doctor, Lawyer … Police Chief—erotica; published NCP July-Sept 2003; pen name Kimberly Zant; 9k

Neptune’s Daughter—paranormal; published NCP July-Sept 2003; pen name Marie Morin; 35k (overall light/humorous)

SexPhiles: The Howling—paranormal/erotica; published NCP July-Sept 2003; pen name (overall light/some humor)

Yar & the Orgasmizer9000—Science Fiction; published NCP July-Sept 2003; pen name Marie Morin; 23k (overall light/humorous)

Below—science fiction; published NCP Oct-Dec 2003; pen name Kaitlyn O’Connor; novel(drama)50k

fantasy; published NCP Oct-Dec 2003; co-authored ; (overall light/humorous)

The Prey—erotic suspense; published NCP Oct-Dec 2003; pen name Kimberly Zant; 33k(dark)

science fiction; published NCP Oct-Dec 2003; co-authored 41k (overall light/humorous)

* * * *

The Djinn—paranormal; published NCP Jan-Mar 2004; pen name Marie Morin; 29k(overall light/humorous)

The Fairy Ring—fantasy; published NCP Mar 2004; pen name Catherine Paige; 42k (overall light/humorous)

urban fantasy; published NCP Jan-Mar 2004; co-authored ; 29k(drama)

Goldilocks—erotica; published NCP Jan-Mar 2004; pen name Kimberly Zant; 8k (overall light/humorous)

Guardian of the Storm—science fiction; published NCP Jan 2004; pen name Kaitlyn O’Connor; 61k (overall light/humorous)

The Invitation—erotic romance; published NCP Jan-Mar 2004; pen name Kimberly Zant; 9k(drama)

Maiden of Atlantis—paranormal; published NCP Jan-Mar 2004; pen name Marie Morin; 40k(drama)

Noccio—science fiction; published NCP Feb 2004; pen name Veronica Chase; 9k (overall light/humorous)

science fiction; published NCP Jan-Mar 2004; co-authored 51k(drama)

The Shaman—erotic suspense; published NCP Jan-Mar 2004; pen name Kimberly Zant; 32k(drama)

Thief of Hearts: Stolen—erotica; published NCP Jan-Mar 200

Reviews

[Helen 2.0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm beginning to think I might be in a toxic relationship with Kaitlin O'Connor's books.

It seems like every time I read one, I pick out tons of flaws in the writing, the plot, the characters, etc. When I'll read other people's reviews critiquing lots of things about her writing I'm always like, Oh yeah, I totally agree.

Her narration is way too long and really bogs down the pacing.
For whatever reason, she has a tendency to way overuse exclamation points.
Most of the romance heroes are caveman lugheads who solve every problem by punching each other.
Not to mention the really convoluted takes on consent and sex as a biological need (why is this coming up in so many of my romance reads lately? Can we NOT?)

So yeah, I agree with all those points wholeheartedly. And yet, something keeps me coming back to Kaitlin O'Connor's books, time and time again. Even though I know I'm going to be annoyed and I know I'm going to be put off in some ways. I just keep thinking, “This time is going to be different!”

Hence the toxic relationship.

So the Ninth Orb does stand out to me above other series and standalones I've read by her, such as the Cyberevolution books. I like the Ninth Orb the best by far. It has some really unique and entertaining sci fi world building. The alien-to-human dynamics really break the mold in the world of sci fi romance, where tropes and plotlines can get super monotonous really quick.

In the book, a human colony of 200 women arrives at the planet they were designated to colonize only to find that it's already been occupied by a much larger colony appearing to be made up entirely of alien men with horns and wings. These alien men have been cast out from their home planet, which is ruled by an extremely strict and brutal matriarchal culture.

When the human women arrive, the alien men see them as “queens”—people to be served. But the women neither understand nor trust this and the way they react with fear and very cautious exploration feels so sensible and real. As opposed to what one might usually expect in escapist sci fi romance. And yet, somehow, this still feels like escapism in the end.

I can't explain it. I swear there's something about Kaitlin O'Connor that's addictive. She hurts me, but I keep coming back.

The heroine of this novel is Eden, the diplomatic leader of the colony. She navigates first contact and integration with the aliens in such a smart and tactical way that you can't help but admire her. Along the way, she finds love and has tons of group sex, which, you know, is also fun.

One issue I always have with Kaitlin O'Connor's books is the pacing. As I mentioned above, the characters in her books (including The Ninth Orb) have a tendency to go on and on deliberating both in narration and in dialogue. This really slows down the plot and often ends in me skimming entire chapters.

At the same time, the endings always feel abrupt. I’m never expecting them. And when the heroine says to the hero/heroes that she loves them, I always have this gut reaction like, ”Wait, already? Are you sure you don't still hate this man?”

So somehow the writing feels both too slow and too fast in pacing all at once.

I also feel I should note that probably my biggest gripe with Kaitlin O'Connor is the characters’ attitudes towards sex as a need rather than a privilege. Many of her more space-opera-style books involve the institution of maritime law as a plot point (i.e., women being required to sleep with the crew to maintain peace). Because apparently without being sexually satisfied, men are just ravenous beasts who can't control themselves and nobody should blame them for that. This kind of bullshit really should not be tolerated in romance books, let alone anywhere else.

Even in the Ninth Orb, there is an instance where a few human women ply a poor alien man with alcohol then take turns assaulting him. Eden throws them in the brig, obviously, but somehow, she and everybody else is more upset with them for disturbing the fragile peace with the aliens rather than—Oh, I don't know—gang-raping somebody?! Priorities, Eden!!!

It's stuff like this that really makes me feel like my relationship to these books is toxic.

But then again I keep coming back to this book. And I always enjoy it to some extent. Especially now that I've learned which parts to skim and skip entirely.

So I'm left wondering: if Kaitlin O'Connor writes bad books, but I'm the one who keeps reading them, who's really at fault here?

[Sophia Triad · Rating 4 out of 5]

SMUT
SCI-FI
REVERSE HAREM

Okay, I have to say that this is the perfect example of a reverse harem set up in space.
Xtanians, the inhabitants of Ninth Orb have a kind of beehive structure (minus the female workers) where the Queen is constantly pampered and bred by the males until she produces the next Queen and if she doesn't like them she can just kill them in cold blood, i.e. it is a pure matriarchal society.
When project leader Eden Chilsom and a space ship full of female humans (with frozen sperm from mother earth at their storage room) arrive in the Ninth Orb in order to establish a human colony, they realise that the planet is already occupied by a large number of gorgeous males with wings and horns.

Houston, we have a problem.

Soon the women will realise that these males don't behave like human men and they have a definitely submissive behaviour.

"Most humble apologies."
"What?" Eden asked blankly.
"I should guard my eyes."
The comment confused her more, not less. "Uh-- I guess so," she repeated doubtfully.
"Will you require restitution?"
Eden stared down at the sholdierm, completely at a loss. Finally realizing that he was waiting anxiously for a response, she managed a faintly apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I don't understand what you're talking about."
Surprised, he glanced up at her, his own expression confused."I am allowed to look upon you?"

Obviously lots of misunderstandings between the female humans and the male aliens -especially when Eden realises that the males search for their rightful queens and that the brothers cannot be separated.
Thankfully, everyone (humans and aliens) is considerate and extremely horny. So, everyone is happy in the end -except Houston and Earth who were hoping for a colony full of human babies, not Xtanians babies.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, I am not entirely sure how I feel about this book. I did like it but it didn't wow me. I liked the concept of this new world and the colonization but I wished for more details about the world and the aliens, like their mother planet and more of their thinking, about their view on this new situation. Also, why this group of humans left Earth in the first place, more details about that would've been great.

We get a very small, barely there POV from one of the more developed male chacters but that's about all. I just wished to know what they felt and how they dealed with what was happening to them. To say I was shocked about how they were treated by their own mother and in general by their species would be an understatement. I'm glad they got to know more love and kindness.

Now about the female main character, she was alright but at times I just wanted to punch her. The story is basicaly told only from her POV and that really bothered me. Too much inner dialog. Her communication with the males is so scarce and it leads to so many misunderstandings, it's ridiculous. When she had a problem, she didn't even ask the males of their opinion or to find out how they really felt about things, she just pushed them aside. Sure, keeping up the peace and diplomacy is important but to reason everything in the name of diplomacy is so immature and unreasonable. I had such high hopes for this story, since it has so many good reviews but I admit it wasn't the best book out there that I've read about aliens or simply genre like this.
Would I recommend it? Yes. But I will probably never re-read it. Just not my thing.

[Carolyn F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread I was afraid I would get bored because I thoroughly enjoyed this book the first reading and thought because I remembered most of it still that I would start skimming. Well I didn't. It was a great re-read and I liked the book even more second time around and upped my rating. I think this is because this author was my first foray into sci-fi romance/erotica and I didn't realize how Kaitlyn O'Connor's books are so much better than the majority of this genre out there. This is definitely an author I would recommend.

Previous review - 06/07/11I'm really enjoying Kaitlyn O'Connor's books and am trying to read them all if I can. Ignore the cover, there's a major cut and paste going on with the guy's head.

This one is the normal unbelievably hunky guys with the hot girls, but it was also really sweet. Eden with a bunch of other women are sent to inhabit a planet with a bunch of sperm popsicles for later use. They find out there are these men who have been abandoned to survive anyway they can since where they're from there aren't enough women to go around and all the women there have multiple babies with each birth. What's really sad is that it's being abandoned or killed.

Of course once the ladies get a look at the guys they can't help but be interested. There's a catch though, just looking a little longer is like telling them that you want them and all their brothers. Sounds like fun until you figure out that the ladies from their planet are so huge that the sex isn't very enjoyable. Eden finds herself attached to Baen and through him his brothers. When she's on the verge of just abandoning the planet, Baen lets her know how much she means to him and then tries to change their ways so that she won't leave.

I loved this book. I've read a few of her books and each heroine is different, the worlds are different sometimes just through different periods of time but also different planets. I've found another favorite author.

[Suburbancowgirl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, I really didn't like this book. First of all, I have a lot of tollerance for characters. This is one of the rare instances where I really could not stand the heroine. She just pissed me off. She is supposed to be this big, tough, fearless leader, but can't seem to open her mouth and talk to the men. I understand the need to build up the drama between the different races, but come on. If they would have TALKED and SHARED, like one would have expected, the story would have been much more believable. Plus, it took over half the book before they even hooked up. Then, the smut - totally not hot.

The story was not well written - I was regularly confused because things simply were not explained well. If the writing was better, I would have at least given it 2 stars.

Finally, WTF does the title even mean? Not mentioned or had anything to do with the story.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good one from Kaitlyn O'Connor. This one was heavy on the world building and lighter on the sex scenes. That's actually the way I prefer it so it worked for me. I always find it fascinating that KOC invents so many new worlds instead of always writing new stories in the same old setting.

There are 200 women who have traveled 15 years to arrive at this new planet to colonize. They bring along frozen semen to have babies when they arrive since they think it will make a more viable colony than having men along. But there are already men there, a colony of human seeming males but with horns and wings. Obviously they end up getting together. And since this is KOC, all the relationships are menage.

One problem with KOC is that she lacks descriptions. In other words for example, we know the men have horns and wings but we don't know what the wings look like, where on the head are they? Do the guys have curly hair that curls around the base of the horns or long straight hair that flows away from them etc. Some of them have wings. Why only some? How do their clothes fit around them? How do they sleep in bed? Do they contain erogenous zones?

A couple of the plot decisions seemed a little simplistic for example the choice of where the aliens' home planet is located and the fact that the guys are discovered to be human genetically without any supporting info or even guesses on the part of the women. They basically went "They're human huh? Cool beans. So about that desalination plant..."

There were a lot more good points than bad though. There was a lot of thought put into the alieness of the guys. Altough I would have been happy with a bit more explanation of the guys' society, there was enough that you understood them. The two groups were socially very dissimilar and they did have plenty of issues understanding where each other was coming from. There was thought put into issues that would arise with 200 women who hadn't seen a man in 15 years.

The writing is good. The emotions are realistic. Only a couple of the guys in the menage relationship were developed at all here but those were fairly well done especially the main hero, Baen.

[Abi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the first really good books I've read this year. It had a genuinely interesting plot, a unique premise, and a relatable, strong main character. Plus the romance and sex scenes were very fun (and also had some really interesting cultural dynamics, which I feel like were unique to this science fiction and reverse harem book). This book was recommended to me by Helen, and I completely understand why she loves it! Oh, and this book is also pretty funny, which I really liked. Honestly, it just clicked for me, and got me out of my mini reading slump. While I'm not usually a science fiction person, this book wasn't super heavy on all the details (i.e. no science jargon) and the romance/harem aspects were done really well. It didn't feel rushed at all to me. 5 stars!

[Spynonu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had fun with this book. Misunderstandings seem to make up the bulk of plots in Sci-Fi erotica/romance books and this one is no different. It is well done though with each side feeling blindly through the differences in social structures and poor communication to build a new combined society.

I loved the characters and the rich world that was built to house them. There were so many ways this story could go!!

When I flipped to the final page I was smiling. I got my HEA but I wasn't ready for the story to end. To me that is the mark of a good book.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy* · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up

DNF at 70% with a skip to the end.

IDK. The writing was fine. I think the book just meandered too much for me. That plus the interactions between the heroine and Baen - even at the end - made it clear that she mostly wanted Baen but accepted the rest in order to get Baen. I mean, the majority of the guys hadn't been introduced by 65%. To me, this didn't have the feeling of a RH.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are my absolute favorite aliens ever! Sexy and hung with horns and wings that cater to your every need and treat you like a queen; this book rocked!

[Ladymcbeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story but the end is to quick ... as if the author wanted to finish it as quick as possible !

[eevee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eden is the leader of a ship full of human women who want to colonize a planet. When they touch down, however, they realize it’s already occupied. The aliens are strangely all male, and they have a firmly matriarchal society. Eden and her people decide to integrate themselves with the alien culture, even if it means they have to deal with male harems.

In polyamorous romances, usually the heroine knows and has chemistry with all of her love interests. Not the case in this book. Most are nameless and faceless guys she bangs.

So, Eden’s love interest is a guy named Baen. She has an emotional and romantic connection with him. However, she has sex with a bunch of guys she doesn’t really know/care about. I didn’t really like that because I at least expected that Eden would bond with more than 1 dude. But she’s in love with just him, yet she has sex so many other randoms. I didn’t care about them!

I don’t normally like poly romances, but I knew in advance that this had a ‘reverse harem’ theme. I’m usually fine with a trio but this was a lot more than I thought. So, forewarning — this is a true HAREM, with a lot of males who the reader (and heroine) doesn’t even know. Over a dozen. 12+ men. That means the heroine doesn’t have sexual chemistry with a majority of the men she sleeps with and it can be kind of uncomfortable and awkward. She does find their attention erotic, but only sexually.

Lastly, there was a sexual assault in this book that was swept under the rug. Someone was forcibly drugged and then other characters took ‘turns’ assaulting them. This group assault was not treated seriously in my opinion, because the perps spend a few days in jail and get a slap on the wrist.

I wouldn’t reread or keep this book for those reasons. Instead I would recommend SJ Sanders, because at least those heroes have separate personalities and aren’t faceless dildos. But if your fantasy is group sex with a bunch of (semi-stranger) dudes, then you may like this story better.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only write reviews when the book is either really good or a total fail. This, was a definite WIN for me. All around I loved it all the way through to the end of the epilogue, re read it right after I finished and still wanted more it was that good. The story develops somewhat slowly for what I usually prefer (I usually like the steamy sex to start soon but that's just me) but even though it took awhile to develop, I enjoyed every bit of the development and the waiting was well worth it for me. Don't let the cheesy cover fool you, I was hesitant at first because it all seemed kind of cheesy sci-fi to me but it wasn't, almost not at all actually. Anyway, five stars. Awesome book.

[Duetro · Rating 2 out of 5]

The two stars are for the concept. The hero(es) come from a species in which the males of a brood all share a mental connection, or some sort of hive mind. It seemed to be based on bees or ants. Reverse harems (and massive ones at that) were part of their social structure.

The heroine wasn't really into it. She only went along with the eight(!) of them because she wanted one, Baen, but he saw himself and his brothers as a package deal. She originally had a harem of over a dozen, and only had sex with them to avoid a diplomatic incident. Initially sex between the brothers and Eden is what she refers to as "sexless sex." She is placed on top of one of the bee men, held still, and the man ejaculates until he's writhing in agony. The only point of sex for them is fertilization. She has more passionate sex with Baen, whom then teaches his brothers through their hive mind how to please her. But even to the end of the book, she's unsatisfied with the harem, and only really wants Baen, and feels that monogamy is her more natural state. It sort of ruined the romance aspect for me.

There's no world building, beyond some very brief descriptions of the landscape and one animal on this planet. What I would've loved is having the perspective of Baen more frequently to get a better understanding of his relationship with his brothers. As it is, two chapters start with his perspective, and then quickly morph into Eden's.

And we have absolutely no idea about the personalities of any of his brothers, besides maybe Trar, who was the most talkative. Some of the brothers don't have any lines, and their only character trait is "love slave."

I would've loved to hear more about how the brothers felt about their incredibly misandrist society, where they were dumped on an alien planet for not being born female. This was considered the civilized option for their culture, because rather than killing them as babies, their mother waited until adolescence before banishing them. None of the brothers are even vaguely resentful of this, as far as we're told. The brood is expected to have "sexless sex" and serve their queen's every whim. Why do any of them want this? What do they see in Eden, besides "female"?

I mean, I don't see much in her, which brings me to my biggest gripe: I didn't like the heroine. Mostly for this major diplomatic incident, and the way she handled it. She invites thirty of the alien bees to celebrate with the women. At this celebration, one of the women slips alcohol to one of the aliens (they're total lightweights) and gang rapes him with a group of her friends.

"Those idiots had poured enough alcohol down him I'm surprised he didn't drown. I just hope we managed to pump enough out of him to keep him from dying of alcohol poisoning."
Eden stared at the unconscious man grimly. "A lot depends, I think, on whether or not he pulls through... and how much he remembers. Do you have any idea what happened beyond them getting him dead drunk?"
Deb eyed her a moment. "They took turns with him. When the ring leader proposed another round the guy took off. I'm still not sure whether they meant another round of drinks or another round of him. Not sure he knew."
Eden considered that for several moments and felt the blood drain from her face. "The only group sex that's acceptable to them is one queen and her brood. I don't think they could've done worse if they'd set out to start a war."
Deb looked a little ill. "I could try to manipulate his memories," she offered hesitantly.

This man is brought into their settlement under an understanding of peace, and is raped (though the book never calls it that). He runs from the women when he has the chance, and collapses in front of the party goers completely incoherent and nude.

And then, this poor man, Letheen, is victim-blamed by his people.

"How is Letheen?" [Eden] asked when she'd settled on a lounge across from him.
[Baen] looked puzzled, but finally shrugged. "He and his brood are disgraced. We do not see them."
Eden blinked several times and sat up, placing her feet on the floor and sitting rigidly erect. "Because of... what happened? His whole brood?"
His looked surprised. "Latheen (sic) transgressed. The brood shares the disgrace. They will be banished from the kzatha and most likely will seek lscindee (ritual suicide) for being doubly disgraced. We would have slain them at once, but Latheen was returned in health and we were not certain, at first, that he had been dismissed by his queen."
... She knew the perps had not expected or intended anything so drastic to come of their little 'lark' (really? ffs), but that didn't change the fact that the repercussions were very serious indeed."

Eden hears that the man who was raped at her party would've been the victim of essentially an honor killing along with all his brood brothers, and she refers to the gang rape as a "little lark," and says in a later paragraph that she can't make excuses for the women. Of course not, you fuck! Why would you try and excuse rapists?

But, lucky for Eden, the alien bee men think that one of their men being raped is their fault, so crisis averted!

Of course, she and [the women colonists] knew they had been in the wrong, but fortunately for all concerned, the Xtanians didn't seem to know it. She'd spent days trying to figure out how to gloss over the incident to prevent serious repercussions...

Yeah, let's try and brush this gang rape under the rug. It was fortunate for all concerned that the Xtanians blamed the rape victim for being raped. Really, you heartless asshole? Was it fortunate for Latheen/Letheen?

I kept reading, hoping that somehow Eden would redeem herself from being a total monster, but her solution to the problem was to force the rapist to marry her victim. Not joking.

Eden speaking to the "head" rapist, Marion:
"You have two options, and for your sake I hope you chose (sic) the one most likely to bring this to a peaceful conclusion. You can accept responsibility for your actions and accept the brood you chose, or you can spend the next fifty years in prison contemplating the seriousness of your actions."

This shit is seriously medieval, and the book doesn't even seem self-aware about it. Like I said, Eden never even thinks about what happened to Letheen/Latheen as rape, and she herself kind of takes advantage of Baen after she accidentally got him drunk, though he was fairly coherent and speaking in complete sentences. Poor Le(a)theen was totally black-out, to the point of alcohol poisoning. Maybe the book was trying to push her whole diplomat/president angle and show that she was coldly practical about taking advantage of a misunderstanding to maintain peace. But either way, it made her kind of irredeemable in my eyes.

I would've liked this book a lot better if we spent less time in Eden's mind. Or if we spent less time around her, in general.

[Lou Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly wish this was longer! It's so good and sweet and intelligent. Really well written without a dumb plot. I just wish it were longer so we could get to know and interact with the characters more, cuz besides Baen we don't know much about the others.

It spends most of the time explaining and solving problems and politics of having a new colony, which is fine because it makes it more believable and enriches the story. Buuuut if it had like a hundred pages more we could have more on the men, after all they're the most interesting part lol i love their devotion

Anyway this might be a guilty pleasure but i plan on keep reading it haha

[Minke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I liked the book. I really loved the clash of two very different cultures and there attempts to understand one another. I felt like the stumbles and misunderstandings were believable and I enjoyed learning new information as the main character, Eden, found out more about Baen and the Xtanian's. And let's just say when they do come to a cultural understanding *wink* things get a little more interesting. The last chapter seemed a little rushed to me and I really wish I got to read more of Baen's POV, but other than that I enjoyed the book.

[Liz]

Too weird for me.

RH but with broods. Fall in love with one of 'em, you gotta take all of 'em. Brothers, I mean.

[Spring Waters · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read pornos that were more fleshed out and believable than this POS.
So so so disappointed, and thats saying alot since i wasnt expecting much from it. There are many errors in the text that i found very annoying. The world building was poor to almost non existent. As was character building. I have no idea what the world looked like, what the vegetation looked like, what the animal life looked like. There are trees, rivers, animals, and a sun that may or may not be hotter than earths and thats it. I am left to assume that everything looks just like earths cause thats the only mental image i have to go on. I was confused the entire book as to who was who in the female colony because none of them had any actual character except for Ivy who was so contrived and stereotyped as to be laughable. The whole way that the aliens were dealt with was totally unrealistic, i mean they had decided that the ONLY way to go about things was to have the "most important person" in the colony shack up with something like 24 (!) of them and they still didnt know how their social structure worked, that they were telepathic, if the women could get pregnant from them, if their food was nutritious.......just not the way things would have been done. Then the aliens are supposed to have wings and horns but of course we get to know nothing about how they look or are used, in fact they are only referred to a handful of times throughout the whole book. We dont ever even get to know who out of Baens brood has em, how they differ from one another or any special accommodations that must be made because of them. In fact, in the sex scenes we learn that traditionally the males are on the bottom, even strapped down, somehow this seems a rather awkward position for the wings. Speaking of that, we never get told exactly why the male is supposed to be strapped down, nor do we learn what was done to him to make him ejaculate longer than he wanted to, or why that was done.
Then theres the sex scenes which were entirely unremarkable and certainly not "hot".
For a Scifi this book was horrendous, for a romance, really bad. I was willing to go along with some of the flaws but taken all together i was just...disappointed. I think that it could have been done much better and made into a great book. ah well
oh and ya why does she supposedly "love" Baen? As far as I got from the book their entire relationship consisted of either having sex or him doing things that annoyed the hell out of her....sooo other than that...oh ya and hes gorgeous...but how is he gorgeous? We're never told, just that he is "exotic." how is he exotic? never told other than having wings and horns but then we are never even told about his wings or horns. he flies once in the whole book and even then its just barely mentioned. GAH!

[Spuffed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book more than a lot of the sci-fi erotica books that i have read in the past. I won't give you my typical "quick rundown" as other reviewers have already done so.

Characters: I was very surprised about the different cast of characters in this novel. They were fresh for me as we got a close view of the politics of this group of women building a new colony. We saw first hand through the leader along with the major-general, the "governors", the doctors and the support staff. We also got a look at the common woman and how crowd mentality works. This gave the book more depth than one usually expects from sci-fi erotica and made it that much more enjoyable.

World Building: Pretty good but as other reviewers have mentioned, the author is fairly light on descriptors of physical appearance. If I haven't been in such a sci-fi reading mode lately, I might have had a harder time imagining the characters appearance than I did. So be prepared to flex your imagination on this one- you won't get further physical descriptions later on.

Why this got a 4 star instead of a 5 star rating: 2 reasons...
1. The sentence structure was often convoluted, long and basically ass-backward which forced me to reread sentences occasionally until I realized that they weren't necessary to understand what was going on anyway. One example: "...she could not but be grateful" instead of saying, "she was grateful". And that's a super short example. Sometimes sentences were so long they became a huge paragraph and could have easily been split up into multiple sentences or at least varying lengths.
2. Ending was a little short for me. It provided a satisfying conclusion of events but was done in a very terse manner that it became unsatisfactory as a whole.

-Spuffed, "Half stars are for pansies and one gif is plenty."

[T00zday · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book on a whim based on a slew of favorable reviews off GoodReads (Thank you very much ladies!) I had never heard of or read Kaitlyn O'Connor or Nicole Ash.

When I give 5 stars, it is because of the following reason: It's SO enjoyable to me that I can't stop thinking about the book & re-read it several times after that initial read through.

I also try not to give too many 5 star reviews.

But this one was a no brainer. LOVE it. I thought it was going to be spacey-futuristic erotica, but it was not. The sex didn't even enter the book until the halfway mark. Even when it did finally get around to the "sex" it was part of the plot. It was unexpected & you felt disappointed for Eden & her guys. As a reader, you are bummed out who she has sex with first, or rather who she doesn't.

But then the characters begin to work out their cultural differences...and you could then qualify those parts as holycrapthatsHOT erotica. But it isn't the entirety of the story, which I was loving. I actually bought the book thinking it was going to be erotica and still loved the rope-a-dope treatment.

I found the characters to have depth. I very quickly got sucked into their struggles and hopes.

Ladies who are more eloquent than myself have described the plot and twists to Ninth Orb here on Goodreads. I encourage you to check them out.

My copy of this book shows to have been coauthored by Kaitlyn O'Connor & Nicole Ash. So I am going trolling for more of their collaborative efforts to read next.....unless I decide to re-read Ninth Orb again for the fourth time since buying it day before yesterday.

[Brutally Honest · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story cracked me up. I read a few of the reviews and actually didn't pick it up until now because of the bad reviews, but wow was I missing out on a funny story.

cons:

- POV is really only from the heroine, which made me sad because we didn't really get to know the Hs well
- I was a bit confused at the heroine's behavior, mainly her snapping, at her friends and colleagues in the beginning of the story

pros:

- totally believable story line... just goes to show if we do contact aliens, we better first send out the anthropologists before saying or doing anything.
- the heroes actually had a completely different culture, and the culture clash between them was hilarious to witness
- a nice change from the regular macho men :3

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

First line: “Houston, we have a problem.”

I got an itch to read some good ol' Kaitlyn O'Connor the other day - one of my favorite authors in this genre - and this book, "The Ninth Orb," is so far one of her better ones. An all female crew of colonists land, after 15 long years, on the 9th orb of a solar system, preparing to colonize it. Surprisingly, they find that it's already been occupied by a group of humanoid creatures who appear non-threatening but exhibit odd social behaviors.

O'Connor is known for her alien sex stories and ménage, often combining the two. The Ninth Orb delivers in O'Connor style.

[Laz the Sailor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sci-fi premise and the development of the alien species was very well done. Yes I know that there is a terrestrial basis for it, but still, it was creative and well implemented. The first sex scene between our heroine and the alien males was scary and hot at the same time.
If this had been a bit longer, and the glaring s/f errors had been corrected, and there had been more sex at the beginning and the end, I would have given it 5 stars. The concept and execution of the characters was that good.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spaceship crewed by Earth women lands on a distant planet ready to colonize only to find a colony of alien men already there.

This is a story of integration, tolerance, sexiness, and finding out different customs. It is also about coming to terms of living a menage lifestyle. The Brood cannot be separated, so if you want a guy you get at least 4 or maybe more.

Once again I enjoyed this Kaitlyn O'Connor book.

[Mikaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved loved loved this book :)
there was just something wonderfull about the world and the xtanians and the situation that came about by the women going the thier world.
it made me smile, laugh and cry a book hasent made me do all 3 in awhile and i loved that it stirred them emotions for me.
with each book that i read of Kaitlyn o'connors they just get better and better, really looking forward to reading alot more from her :)

[Lynz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I somehow forgot to mark this book as read it will be marked so today. However, I've read it about 5 times by now. It's a little slow in places but I love the story anyways!

If you like aliens and multiple partners then I would definitely recommend this story! And if you need something after this I would try Love at First Bight by Tymber Dalton.

Happy Reading!

[rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

now this was a very enjoyable read with unique social structure for the alien men. i would have given it a 5; only, i felt, the relationship between eden and her RH were sadly not explored enough :(((

it's heartbreaking to see a book with an interesting world and lots of potential not turn into a series. i hope someday....

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular reverse harem, Sci-fi, space colonization adventure

An interesting & entertaining take on future colonization of new worlds. Love the interaction between to differing cultures & the building relationships as they build a community together.

[Angela Castle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

[Gab · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great. Sci-fi, humour, good world building and concepts, and romance with cool twist.

Highly recommend. Be aware does involve sex involving multiple partners.