Destined to the Ogre

Planet of Monsters #1

by Eden Ember

My eyes flutter open, I’m on a bed of furs in a cave. Not in my pod, not in stasis. The last memory I have is of the ship blowing apart as we hit the escape pods for safety. Then someone darkens the cave entrance. My heart pounds out of my chest when I see him, a giant monster standing inside the door of the cave looking at me. He’s huge, larger than anything I’d ever seen before. Thick muscles cover him under the brownish green skin, a pair of pants, thankfully, cover his middle, and the rest of him has leather straps holding various weapons and tools. He turns to me, his face skewing until he sees me, then he smiles! He’s a monster! Huge, what some may refer to as ugly, scary, but he’s smiling. A smiling monster can’t be that bad, can it? I’m about to find out…

Genres: Aliens, Monsters

99 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 17, 2023

About the author

Eden Ember has found her passion is writing sci-fi romance and fantasy. She’s working on several books right now, with more to come.

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/edenemberauthor

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/edenember/

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate leaving bad reviews because I know how much work goes in to writing anything. However, readers gotta know… Do not waste your time!

The overall plot is fine. Female human space explorer crash lands on alien planet, gets saved by an ogre looking alien. Unfortunately, the writing is so simple it would have been better suited to a graphic novel. The characters are just awful.

Pippa is an idiot. She’s been on the planet for a week, and while I can understand snuggling up with a big strong man when you’re afraid of the storm, I’m not quite sure about the soothing effects of oral sex. She keeps rejecting his ideas about fate bringing her to him to be is mate. Then she does things like that. Then, when he thinks she’s accepted him, she explains all about human dating and goes back to her furs. The very next night however, she’s right back in his bed. At least this time she’s not a tease and finally accepts him.

Then there’s some running, some getting lost, some flooding, some big, scary birds… then wham, she’s pregnant, has a giant baby after about 30 minutes of labor, and names him after a teddy bear.

Kordu was kidnapped from his village to be a cage fighter. He’s awfully simple for the engineer he’s supposed to be. He is also a virgin, so, you can understand his lust and confusion. He’s also very affectionate, open, and honest. It’s got to be hard to deal with Pippa being flighty and cold. She should be in shock from the space ship exploding, terrified of her surroundings and the “monsters” that inhabit them, unable to communicate with the huge being that treats her a little like a pet (convenient translator), and wary of just about anything. Instead she’s just a little afraid of thunderstorms and apparently very horney.

[kymagirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mechanical engineer Pippa (h) travels aboard a space exploration ship which experiences a malfunction, and she is forced to evacuate in an emergency stasis pod that crashes on planet Tra’Vek. Kodru, a Kodlain ogre, takes her from the wreckage and into the safety of his cave. Pippa is at first wary of Kodru, but once they can communicate with one another, she realizes that he wants to care for and protect her, believing that fate brought her to him. With seemingly no way off Tra’Vek, Pippa learns of Kodru’s own tragic past, and their relationship begins to grow as she explores her new life. Hot and steamy alien monster romance with action, adventure, and danger featuring a strong woman and her protective cinnamon roll mate.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rescued by the Ogre . . .

The space ship Magellan had 200 passengers on board as they searched for new planets and alien life, flying through a wormhole. When a serious problem arises, they are ordered to get to the escape pods before the ship explodes. Pippa crashes in her stasis pod and awakens on a planet containing what she assumes are monsters. An ogre named Kodru rescues her. He treats her kindly and is protective of her, believing she may be his mate. He is also patient with her, accepting that it may take some time to convince her of his worthiness and that they were meant for each other. Despite his own difficult life, he takes joy in farming the land. Yet it doesn’t seem that Pippa has adjusted her initial assessment of him, still seeing a monster rather than an intelligent creature who has made the best of what life has thrown at him. And when he looks at her and she looks back at him, he smiles. (Sigh…) Will he get through to her what she means to him? Will she give him a chance? Can they find happiness together?

I enjoyed Kodru and the good qualities he exhibits. I found Pippa a bit too haughty, as if she felt she was the superior creature on the planet and he and the other “monsters” will never measure up. Making rash and unfair judgments is one of the more unpleasant aspects of humanity. But I get the feeling that Kodru will patiently guide her through her misconceptions and help her become a decent, caring person.

[78sunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die Story und die Charaktere sind ziemlich flach, aber ich habe schon deutlich schlechteres gelesen. Es geht hier um eine recht taffe, selbstbewusste moderne Frau, die wie viele andere menschliche Männer und Frauen auf einem Wissenchaftsraumschiff unterwegs waren. Ein Unglück führte dazu, dass sich viel mit einzelnen Rettungskapseln überall im Weltall verteilt retten mussten. Pippa, die Heldin dieses Buches, landet direkt im Garten von Kordu, dem Ogre. Er lebt als Einzelgänger auf dem Planeten der Monster. Dieser war einst ein Planet, wo verschiedene Wesen als Sklaven für Kämpfe gehalten wurden. Diese habe aber schon vor einer Weile rebelliert und den Planeten übernommen und nun ihr eigenes System aufgebaut und ihre Unterdrücker vernichtet, verjagt und teilweise unterjocht oder in ihre Gemeinschaft aufgenommen. Ich denke da wird sich in den nächsten Teilen der Reihe noch mehr zeigen. Diese Grundidee finde ich genial und hätte auch richtig viel Potential für weitere Teile mit verschiedenen Wesen gehabt, aber leider habe ich auch einige an Kritik. Vieles war einfach merkwürdig erzählt und ergab keinen Sinn. Kordu war recht simple gestrickt, was aber gut zur allgemeinen Vorstellung eines Ogres passte. Er war der Meinung Pippa wurde ihn von seinem Gott geschickt und ist seine Auserwählte. Das teilte er ihr auch so mit und sie wehrte sich erst vehement gegen die Idee, dann vollzog sie Oral-Sex mit ihm, obwohl es nicht 'nötig' war und dann redete sie plötzlich vom Daten, womit Kodru natürlich nichts anfangen konnte und schwups war sie dann doch mit ihm im Bett. Das alles ergab keinen Sinn. Es wurde nie wirklich erklärt, warum sie so dachte und handelte, zumindest kam es bei mir nicht an. Dann wanderten beide herum und auch da passierten Dinge, die irgendwie nicht so richtig Sinn ergaben oder ich mich fragte, wozu das jetzt sein musste.
Alles in allem war der Schreibstil sehr einfach und streckenweise ungelenk. Nicht so schlimm, dass ich es abgebrochen hätte, aber eben auch nichts, dass mich an eine Story fesselt. Wäre die Grundidee des ganzen nicht so interessant für mich, hätte ich es nicht bis zum Ende gelesen.

Story 2,4/5
Emotionen 2,6/5
Charaktere 2,6/5
Unterhaltung 2,6/5
Schreibstil 2,6/5
Wohlfühlfaktor 2,6/5
Gesamt 2,6/5

[Sherri Leisure · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the imaginary worlds and the intriguing monsters Eden Ember brings to life. With every book she takes me on a wonderful fantastical journey where something new can be found around each corner. I am able to immerse myself so deeply into this world of make believe that nothing else matters to me for the couple of hours I am reading. The heroines are brave, independent, fierce and loyal to their monsters whom they fall in love with. The heroes are protective, caring, nurturing, patient, sweet, loyal and love their humans from the minute they lay their eyes on them. The one who is their destined mate that fate has finally sent them.

Pippa's pod crash lands into Kodru's garden. He finds Pippa asleep and brings her into his home. Once she wakes up there is nothing, but confusion between these two because they speak two different languages. Thank goodness she has a language translator which allows them to communicate. Now all she can think about is finding other humans who may have also crash landed onto Tra'Vek. Kodru is fascinated by his little human and knows Pippa is his fated mate. The only problem with that is Pippa doesn't believe in fate and mate??? Hello, we just met big guy! What ensues between these two is one crazy incredible whirl wind ride that will take Kodru and Pippa by surprise.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Latrice Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pippa is on a space ship with a crew of 200 people traveling the galaxy to find a new planet to live on when the ship starts to fall apart. She leaves by an escape pod where she is put to sleep while the pod tries to find another planet that she is able to live on. She then crashes onto a planet, right into Kodru, the ogre, garden.

She's still sleep when she lands and he takes her to his cave. Finally when she wakes up, he instantly knows that they are fated to be together but she tells him that she doesn't believe in fate. After a few days of being together she starts having feelings for him. I like how she tries to explain how human relationships on Earth works and she gave him his first BJ!

Pippa and Kodru travel to a nearby city to find see if they can find any of her crew but they do not find any but there is word that they are on the planet. She ends up getting pregnant while with Kodru and at the end of the book she has the baby.

This was a cute monster story where he falls first and its pretty much instant for Pippa.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Karen Nastasio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick and enjoyable book and it took me a while to warm up to the main characters after everything they both went through. Pippin is one of the 200 that is on the spaceship Magellan that goes through a worm hole which causes serious problems and everyone is now in escape pods and she cash lands on a strange planet with strange monsters and she was rescued by an huge Orge who’s cave she has now woken up in and she panic’s at first. Kodru is an Orge that was kidnapped into slavery but is fee now and just wants to live an easy life farming when a pod crashes on his farm and he rescues the gorgeous female inside and takes her to his home where he looks after and when she wakes up and freaks out and he has to try and claim her but they don’t under stand each other at the moment till the translator kicks in. It takes a while till they start working together and their feelings start to grow and soon they are steaming up the sheets so to speak. The only thing I didn’t like was their connection wasn’t what you would think of as a new couple falling in love. Overall a great book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ann Hupe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed. Too short. End was very rushed. There was much more to write, I think. It's like she became bored and just finished things up super-fast. Wouldn't buy this book. Would have to be able to read the next one for free first to see if she does better. In trying to find this title to write on Goodreads, I see she has write scads of other monster books. Not sure about those, either. We'll see what KU can do for now.

Ratings (out of possible 5)
Character building: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
World building: 🌎 🌎 🌎
Relationship building: 💓 💓 💓 💓
Romance: 💋 💋 💋
Heat/steam: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
Drama: 👀 👀
Action: 🍿 🍿
Suspense: 💣
Dark: 💀
Triggers: Only if you can be attacked by dinosaur-like patiodactyls.
POV: Multiple (2)
Ending: Too rushed and over. Not satisfactory. I cannot blame the page count as I have read authors who did a lot better with even less.
Length: Approximately 99 pages
Recommend: Meh... Not totally avoiding the next book but it'll have to be on KU or for free.

[Tallyho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I'm so glad my first thought was totally wrong. The opening of the book is very reminiscent of Last Hour of Gann, and this book is so far from that one, that it's laughable. (LHoG is great, but a whole different vibe) So, if you start and think, oh....been there....keep going! LOL

Anyhow, I enjoyed the golden retriever energy of the MMC, he's trying his best to do everything to keep her safe and make her happy. The push to find the other escape pods is not something I think I'd be overly concerned about if the OGRE that lived on the planet was like...yeah, the neighbors are not so nice. But, you know...that's how the story goes. LOL.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Nina Diab · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Great world building and wonderful characters. I thought Kodru was really sweet and I liked how easily he and Pippa got along even after their first meeting. It was a quick read. The only thing that really bothered me was that she kept thinking of him as, and referring him to, a monster despite his being kind from the start and the first thing he did was smile at her. I love monster romance, but unless the monsters refer to themselves that way, it just feels like a negative term for him. Like she's better than him.

'I can’t help but smile as I am having a civilized conversation with a monster.'

But 'monster' is used throughout the book and that feeling went away as I continued reading.

4 stars

[Emily Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A twisted survival story

I enjoyed the way the story played out. I love that the ogre was defying her preset monster tale prejudice. There was one thing that bothered me in this otherwise enjoyable read, and that was the way the heroine kept referring to the ogre and even the kind orcs, as monsters. It wasn't cute, especially when he obviously understood it to be less than complimentary. I loved the action of the story and the way the ogre came through for her....like she even implied that she was an intellectual and not a savage, after he just told her he was also an engineer on his home planet. So I loved the story but did not care for the heroine.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The space ship Pippa is on breaks up. She escapes in a stasis pod and crash lands on a planet of monsters. She is rescued by an ogre who is not at all like the scary legends. In fact, he thinks she is his fated mate.

I liked Kodru, the ogre. He's sweet, intelligent, caring and protective. Pippa, however, seems like kind of a jerk. The writing doesn't flow smoothly, especially in the section where Pippa gets lost in the storm. It's not unreadable, but I don't feel like I would want to continue the series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Goddess of Chaos · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...the Terran Exploration Group sent out Magellan to discover more life."

Pippa set out on a mission of exploration, but an accident finds her in an escape pod headed out of the planned into survival territory.

Kodru is happy living on his own -- until fate delivers Pippa and everything changes.

This done in one Kindle unlimited quick read is a fun story about looking beyond the surface, beyond expectations and assumptions, coupled with dealing with the twists and turns life throws our way and trying to find a way to pull the pieces together to build our own happily ever after.

[La'Jacinth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is simple and to the point with the angst being trapped on an alien planet with a lovable and protective ogre.

Kudro is more than lovable and I totally see how Pippa falls quickly all because he truly wears is heart on his chest for you to see. He was lonely and acepted his place until her...he will go where she goes. Pippa was trying to leave until she realized her heart wouldn't let her.

Great intro the series and I am looking forward to each interaction adding to the the world arc.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Andi Downs · Rating 5 out of 5]

So enjoying these books by this author. The covers for the new collections grabbed my interest and as a collector of her books, I was only too happy to get lost into these new worlds and characters. This did not disappoint. :D I'm loving these new beings to fall in love with as they work towards their happy ever afters.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ciru · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 Stars.

The book was sweet. Not so spicy. Loved that the language barrier aspect of landing in a new planet was taken care of, then all we had to navigate were the nuances of human speech.

Loved that Pippa was on a mission to find her fellow survivors and that even though they were feeling each other, Kordu had his end goal and Pippa had hers.

[Lisa Bing · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Pippa awakens out of her pod, she sees Kodru, an ogre, smiling at her. He feels that fate has brought her to him but it takes some work to convince her of that. With a language barrier to work through, their chemistry began to build. Expect a sweet fated mates romance with some steam to keep you glued to your reader :D

[Vedece Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay.

It's very fast-paced with low angst.
He was brought to the planet he now calls home as entertainment.
She's an explorer who's pod crashes in his garden. He pulls her out and takes care of her.
They get along well from the beginning and soon fall in love.
I felt like it could have been more but it was okay.

[Samantha Goforth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and syrupy sweet

If you're in the mood for a quick read full of insta-love and a romance that blossoms quickly this is for you. If you like struggle and grit then this isn't what I would recommend. No triggers in this at all.

[Between pages · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love how Kudro the Ogre was portrayed as a big monster with a tender, caring heart. He was very gentle to Pippa, and she is such a sport with her new situation. She adapted to her new home and did care for Kudro. But I've got to be honest; I don't feel the chemistry between them.

[ajscenic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pippa crash landed in a pod on a planet after her ship had a nuclear meltdown.
Kodru rescues her. They are both cultured and engineers on their home planet. I wish Pippa would recognise that though.
Overall this is a good romance with two interesting main characters.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was wooed by the cover and the blurb. This is normally the type of story I enjoy, but this book needs a good edit for continuity and the communication between the characters was very choppy. So much telling and little action to support it.

[Leticia Bushong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great

This was a great short read instant love from the beginning I can't wait for the next book in this series.

[Shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute sci-fi. I love these.

[Teddy Bear on "dazzle blue" crochet book blanket.]

[Julie Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

I really enjoyed this short read. It had enough info to let you enjoy the book characters and the story line.

[HI.loves.books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this this little novella. Our MMC is a sweetheart and I'm always down for a cinnamon roll.

[Magenta Phoenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

I judged this book by it's cover and I'm so glad I did!

I will admit when I saw the cover of this book I was instantly hooked and couldn't wait to read this! I am so glad I didn't pass up the opportunity to buy this! If you're looking for a sweet sci-fi fantasy monster romance this is definitely the book for you! I love the characters and the world building that this author creates within such a short story but a fully enjoyable one. I will definitely be stalking this author and reading all of her creations! Five stars is not enough to rate this book!

[JackaayReadsallday · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve just recently found this author of everything that I’ve read I have absolutely loved! I love when big tough guys are giant teddy bears. This short story was super sweet & you gotta love the instant love of mates. I’m so looking forward to the second book. I want to see what couple we get to meet next!