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Elian Glinkobia is the youngest son of his family. Born on the planet, Kardalusia, he is the only breeder, the only coração, born to a family full of Kartusian warriors and soldiers. He was born with no other purpose than to be the coração of a marriage group, there to serve them in every manner that they needed. Or so he thinks. Attending his final marriage soiree, Elian believes that he will not be picked by any marriage group and is destined to live his life alone, or as a prostitute. He is beyond shocked to find out that he was chosen by the royal marriage group the year before. He is to be the coração, the heart, of the three kings, Nevin, Corbin, and Gaige.
However, things are not always as easy as they seem. Before Elian can even settle into his position as The Royal Coração, someone attempts to murder him. Placed under lock and key in the palace by his husbands, Elian begins to discover that the gods of the Kartusians gifted him with a lot more than he could have ever expected.
Will Elian's special gifts come in handy when he needs them to save his husbands and their people, or was everyone right about his worthlessness?
However, things are not always as easy as they seem. Before Elian can even settle into his position as The Royal Coração, someone attempts to murder him. Placed under lock and key in the palace by his husbands, Elian begins to discover that the gods of the Kartusians gifted him with a lot more than he could have ever expected.
Will Elian's special gifts come in handy when he needs them to save his husbands and their people, or was everyone right about his worthlessness?
170 pages, ebook
First published May 7, 2013
7 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
Vicktor Alexander
55 books341 followersVicktor Alexander “Vic” wrote his first story at the age of 10 about his youngest sister and her destruction of the world…with her breath. Much to his youngest sister’s dismay the story was a hit and became the first story of a series all dealing with the planets that were destroyed by his siblings and their strange quirks and body odors. Vic now enjoys writing about shifters, humanoids, cowboys, firemen, rent boys, fairies, elves, dancers, doctors, Doms, Subs, and anything else that catches his fancy, all sexy men falling in love with each other and having lots of naughty, dirty, man-on-man sex. Author of the best-selling series, The Tate Pack, Vic is a huge fan of the “happily-ever-after” ending. But while his characters all ride off into the proverbial sunset, all sexually satisfied and in love, they all bear the scars of fighting for that love, just like in real life. Out and proud, Vic does not believe that love only comes in one form, one race, one gender and that not only is gender fluid, by sexuality as well. Vic loves to make people laugh and when he’s not writing, or rather, procrastinating in writing, he’s reading, playing the Sims 3, hanging out with his very supportive adopted family, talking to his adopted daughter, whom he affectionately calls "Chipmunk", seeking the man or men who can handle his crazy, stressful, soap opera-esque life and being distracted from his writing by drooling over pictures of John Barrowman, Scott Hoying, Charlie David and Shemar Moore.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
May 17, 2013
This was all kinds of awful!
The problem with starting your book with highly improbable events for the sole purpose of dramatic tension is that they throw off the plausibility of the rest of the book. The royal marriage group waited a year to claim Elian and didn't do so till 15 minutes before he'd have to turn himself over to a brothel? And despite knowing about Elian for a year, no one in the royal group thought to tell him or his parents that they were going to pick him? They managed to hand out his picture to everyone at the marriage soirée and warn them off, but.... No one told Elian. Ummm, why?? And this was just the first 10 pages or so.
The overall plot had potential, but the book is just so poorly written that it reads like a first effort published on FanFiction(dot)net. It feels like the author wanted certain things or certain scenes to happen and just wedged them in, even if they didn't fit the plot completely or just defied logic. And some stuff just doesn't makes sense.
Ugh.
The problem with starting your book with highly improbable events for the sole purpose of dramatic tension is that they throw off the plausibility of the rest of the book. The royal marriage group waited a year to claim Elian and didn't do so till 15 minutes before he'd have to turn himself over to a brothel? And despite knowing about Elian for a year, no one in the royal group thought to tell him or his parents that they were going to pick him? They managed to hand out his picture to everyone at the marriage soirée and warn them off, but.... No one told Elian. Ummm, why?? And this was just the first 10 pages or so.
The overall plot had potential, but the book is just so poorly written that it reads like a first effort published on FanFiction(dot)net. It feels like the author wanted certain things or certain scenes to happen and just wedged them in, even if they didn't fit the plot completely or just defied logic. And some stuff just doesn't makes sense.
Ugh.
May 12, 2013
I believe in honesty, even when it's not about telling about how great a story is. I read A LOT of fiction. This is not the worst I've ever read, but it is really high up there on my 'I wish I had not bought this' list. I read Tabansi's short story with the MM Romance groups event and found the history of the 'world' and the dynamics interesting (though a bit appalling in some ways with the forced prostitution).
I did not like this 'novel'. For those who don't like spoilers, don't read on because I'm going to poke tons of gigantic fingers in the numerous plot holes and issues.
The info dumps from the 'prophecy' areas pretty much told us the entire plot. That continued throughout the whole story as the author attempted to foreshadow things but ended up completely telegraphing everything. I knew the big AHA moments because of the so called clues given (such as when Elian discovers that the baddies are trying to destroy the whole city/planet with the ancient ritual used to split their planet from the female's planet and Earth and destroy Sodom and Gomorrah)and then he thinks that information to himself ... and then says almost the exact same thing aloud! I don't need the big reveal of the bad guy multiple times as the reader.
That leads me to my irritation in Ingo's role. We know, right off, when the author tells us about Nevin's brothers that Ingo is the odd one that will be the bad guy. Again, more telegraphing. And how exactly is his plot to take over supposed to be real when at the same time he's telling Elian that he's going to set his brothers up one after the other to get rid of them so he can rule without being suspected by the people (What happened to creating the ancient ritual to call down fire on the city/planet????) and get rid of the all the new female babies so they can go back to being a pure male planet... when he has all the brothers rounded up and thrown into prison together IN THE SAME CELL?
Where does the Dark god that Ingo bargains with for power not come in to the story beforehand when they're talking about the bad guy's plans? THAT should have been foreshadowed, but wasn't. It was just thrown in there to explain Ingo's ability to control half-men/half-beasts and to have magic to destroy Elian with some black shrouded misty stuff. Where is Nevin's power supposed to come in as the god promised him when he'd be able to save Elian from the bad things coming?
Which also begs the question ... how did Elian defeat Ingo? Why couldn't he reach his magic all of a sudden when he knew he had it? Where did the light come from that blew everyone up? Why didn't Andalusia tell him what happened like he did every other damn time? What happened to the 'you will have great power' in the aftermath of having the kids? Which, btw, ew... here, please crouch between his legs and talk to the babies, cause otherwise they'll never come out of his asshole and they'll all die. Really? Plus, why is he bathed in this healing light and sleep for a full day with the birth of the triplets... but when he has his son that doesn't happen?
Normally I can find good things to say to balance out the bad, but this story is defying me left and right. I do like some of the plot scenery descriptions, but couldn't stand the way the author gave out character descriptions like dossiers: So and so is this tall, and has this color hair, eyes, and skin. There were, at least, few typos I couldn't ignore in the story so while the line edit was performed reasonably well, whoever beta read/content edited it did not help this author one bit.
This could have been really good. I like polyamory, I like fantasy, and I like the whole size disparity between partners, cliché though it can be. There is such potential in this world, or there was, but between Tabansi's story and Elian's ... it was lost.
I did not like this 'novel'. For those who don't like spoilers, don't read on because I'm going to poke tons of gigantic fingers in the numerous plot holes and issues.
The info dumps from the 'prophecy' areas pretty much told us the entire plot. That continued throughout the whole story as the author attempted to foreshadow things but ended up completely telegraphing everything. I knew the big AHA moments because of the so called clues given (such as when Elian discovers that the baddies are trying to destroy the whole city/planet with the ancient ritual used to split their planet from the female's planet and Earth and destroy Sodom and Gomorrah)and then he thinks that information to himself ... and then says almost the exact same thing aloud! I don't need the big reveal of the bad guy multiple times as the reader.
That leads me to my irritation in Ingo's role. We know, right off, when the author tells us about Nevin's brothers that Ingo is the odd one that will be the bad guy. Again, more telegraphing. And how exactly is his plot to take over supposed to be real when at the same time he's telling Elian that he's going to set his brothers up one after the other to get rid of them so he can rule without being suspected by the people (What happened to creating the ancient ritual to call down fire on the city/planet????) and get rid of the all the new female babies so they can go back to being a pure male planet... when he has all the brothers rounded up and thrown into prison together IN THE SAME CELL?
Where does the Dark god that Ingo bargains with for power not come in to the story beforehand when they're talking about the bad guy's plans? THAT should have been foreshadowed, but wasn't. It was just thrown in there to explain Ingo's ability to control half-men/half-beasts and to have magic to destroy Elian with some black shrouded misty stuff. Where is Nevin's power supposed to come in as the god promised him when he'd be able to save Elian from the bad things coming?
Which also begs the question ... how did Elian defeat Ingo? Why couldn't he reach his magic all of a sudden when he knew he had it? Where did the light come from that blew everyone up? Why didn't Andalusia tell him what happened like he did every other damn time? What happened to the 'you will have great power' in the aftermath of having the kids? Which, btw, ew... here, please crouch between his legs and talk to the babies, cause otherwise they'll never come out of his asshole and they'll all die. Really? Plus, why is he bathed in this healing light and sleep for a full day with the birth of the triplets... but when he has his son that doesn't happen?
Normally I can find good things to say to balance out the bad, but this story is defying me left and right. I do like some of the plot scenery descriptions, but couldn't stand the way the author gave out character descriptions like dossiers: So and so is this tall, and has this color hair, eyes, and skin. There were, at least, few typos I couldn't ignore in the story so while the line edit was performed reasonably well, whoever beta read/content edited it did not help this author one bit.
This could have been really good. I like polyamory, I like fantasy, and I like the whole size disparity between partners, cliché though it can be. There is such potential in this world, or there was, but between Tabansi's story and Elian's ... it was lost.
May 11, 2013
Reviewed on Hearts On Fire... http://heartsonfirereviews.com/
When I pick up a book that has male pregnancy in it I know that it's time to suspend all beliefs that I have because reality has been tossed out the window. That said, I enjoyed this first book in The Marriage Groups series. The world building took up a lot of space in this story so I'm hoping that the next book will dig into the meat of the series. I felt the spin put on the old Sodom and Gomorrah myth was a good jumping off place for this piece of polyamorous fantasy. Keep in mind that this story is fantasy fiction used as an escape for a while and not high literature. The god Andalusia was a bit of a bother but then the royal marriage group weren't exactly the sharpest knives in the draw so perhaps they did need Andalusia's constant guidance. Nevin, Corbin, Gaige are very likable characters but also very cliche as hot but dumb gay men. I felt that being the rulers of the planet, the trio would have been afforded a little more intelligence especially since they had the wisdom of the prophesy in their hands. Elian was a much more forgivable character in that his schooling and experiences were lacking. The way that he used his position to make some changes in society was well done. Elian was really the brain of the group when it came down to taking action. I am still not sure why Andalusia decided to mingle the two sexes now when they had been doing fine for thousands of years. Again, this is escapism fantasy fiction so try not to take this story too seriously. When you boil it all down and overlook some flaws, this was quite an enjoyable read and a good beginning to what I hope is a much better series.
When I pick up a book that has male pregnancy in it I know that it's time to suspend all beliefs that I have because reality has been tossed out the window. That said, I enjoyed this first book in The Marriage Groups series. The world building took up a lot of space in this story so I'm hoping that the next book will dig into the meat of the series. I felt the spin put on the old Sodom and Gomorrah myth was a good jumping off place for this piece of polyamorous fantasy. Keep in mind that this story is fantasy fiction used as an escape for a while and not high literature. The god Andalusia was a bit of a bother but then the royal marriage group weren't exactly the sharpest knives in the draw so perhaps they did need Andalusia's constant guidance. Nevin, Corbin, Gaige are very likable characters but also very cliche as hot but dumb gay men. I felt that being the rulers of the planet, the trio would have been afforded a little more intelligence especially since they had the wisdom of the prophesy in their hands. Elian was a much more forgivable character in that his schooling and experiences were lacking. The way that he used his position to make some changes in society was well done. Elian was really the brain of the group when it came down to taking action. I am still not sure why Andalusia decided to mingle the two sexes now when they had been doing fine for thousands of years. Again, this is escapism fantasy fiction so try not to take this story too seriously. When you boil it all down and overlook some flaws, this was quite an enjoyable read and a good beginning to what I hope is a much better series.
May 11, 2013
2.5 Hearts
Review written for MM Good Book Reviews
http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/
Well I must admit that there has been quite some imagination put in this story. The author has created a world, a planet called Kardalusia that is inhabited only by men. They society is different from what we’ve seen so far as the Kartusians are meant to form Marriage Groups of four, one would represent the body of the family, another the mind, the third the soul and the last would represent the heart that keeps them all together; the coração. As the God Andalusia has said, the heart will be the most important and cherished of them all, for he is to be the breeder, the one to bind them all. However with the passing of millennia things are bound to change and what was once cherished now is looked down upon and somehow scorned. The God in his know it all has given the prophecy that one day, one special coração will come to change it all, not only the status of all coraçãos in the planet, but the planet itself. But as we all know, when one good prophecy is made, a dark one rises to overthrow it.
In all honesty I kind of liked the idea of this world, and let’s face it, I’m a sucker when it comes to ménage or foursomes. So a world created only for men, not two or three but four, it was fun. A man though being the breeder and having babies, now that was something to cringe about yet that was explained somehow by the magical nature of the Kartusians, as each and every one of them has some level of magic given by the Great Andalusia himself.
However the story or plot if you will didn’t manage to keep that level of interest for long. I suppose when you create a world you need some space to stretch things out and time to make things stick. There were many mistakes made throughout the story that not only gave way to too much but in some places contradicted what had previously been told.
When the story starts Elian comes off as a very insecure being. He feels scorned for being only a coração, especially since he has no other attribute that would give him some more purpose. He also has yet to find a Marriage Core and if he doesn’t by the end of the night he’ll be faced turn himself to prostitution or remain a spinster and care for others. It is like this that we see how awful a coração’s life could be if left unclaimed, since he doesn’t have the choice to choose or keep searching for however long he wants.
But then the impossible happens and he get claimed by the Royal Marriage Core and in a blink of an eye his entire life changes and he becomes King. We also notice some kind of spirit there since he stands up for himself and doesn’t let people step on him just because he’s a coração. However this comes and goes and Elian is at some point intimidating and secure and the next incapable to even speak. He is possessed by the God himself, has been told over and again by the God that he is special, he has powers, he can do whatever he wants in the sphere of magic, but he fails to make use on them except twice and to be honest both those times were not so significant comparing to the life-threatening event in the end which we totally missed because he fainted, hence we don’t know how or why he was saved.
We are also being told in the very beginning that the Marriage Group of the special one would be special. They would be strong enough to help and protect their coração. Again that got lost during the play of the story. Beside the fact that the marriage group was the royal one there was no real display of strength or powers. I was somehow disappointed by Nevin, he was supposed to be the head King coming from the royal bloodline and the strong one, the leader, but somehow we never saw him leading. In addition his domineering nature was poorly displayed and in my opinion the only bdsm-y scene involved was completely lost and unnecessary. Perhaps it was to display the trust Elian had in him, but as I said it failed to do so. Corbin was the man in between that I never fully understood his purpose or his specialty and last there was Gaige. Now Gaige has the potential to be majestic due to his Zevinxian heritage. He had magic cursing in his blood from the very beginning and the ability to shift. Did we get to see that? No. All that potential lost and in frankly I don’t understand why. What was the point of having this incredible world and not take full advantage of. I know my imagination went wild and I was definitely expecting the powers implied to come crashing in an epic of battles, so I was really disappointed when that didn’t happen.
As for the villain of the story I don’t understand what happened there, Gaige was supposed to have revealed his identity two months prior the main scene when Elian gave birth to the triplets, I expected that they would be onto him by that point so when all chaos broke the only thing that surprised me was the fact that while in previous chapter the Kings talked about it, in the “chaos” chapter it came as new information.
Anyway, as I said previously the story had great potential that was left unexploited. The plot many holes that didn’t help the books case. The bad guy and the final ending scene was almost ludicrous. The giving birth thing was something that had me cringing and my insides churning no matter how much it was justified by magic, it simply didn’t appeal to me. I did love the intimate scenes, well most of them, but in the end I felt like this book needed more time and more work for as it is, it’s lacking.
Thommie
Review written for MM Good Book Reviews
http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/
Well I must admit that there has been quite some imagination put in this story. The author has created a world, a planet called Kardalusia that is inhabited only by men. They society is different from what we’ve seen so far as the Kartusians are meant to form Marriage Groups of four, one would represent the body of the family, another the mind, the third the soul and the last would represent the heart that keeps them all together; the coração. As the God Andalusia has said, the heart will be the most important and cherished of them all, for he is to be the breeder, the one to bind them all. However with the passing of millennia things are bound to change and what was once cherished now is looked down upon and somehow scorned. The God in his know it all has given the prophecy that one day, one special coração will come to change it all, not only the status of all coraçãos in the planet, but the planet itself. But as we all know, when one good prophecy is made, a dark one rises to overthrow it.
In all honesty I kind of liked the idea of this world, and let’s face it, I’m a sucker when it comes to ménage or foursomes. So a world created only for men, not two or three but four, it was fun. A man though being the breeder and having babies, now that was something to cringe about yet that was explained somehow by the magical nature of the Kartusians, as each and every one of them has some level of magic given by the Great Andalusia himself.
However the story or plot if you will didn’t manage to keep that level of interest for long. I suppose when you create a world you need some space to stretch things out and time to make things stick. There were many mistakes made throughout the story that not only gave way to too much but in some places contradicted what had previously been told.
When the story starts Elian comes off as a very insecure being. He feels scorned for being only a coração, especially since he has no other attribute that would give him some more purpose. He also has yet to find a Marriage Core and if he doesn’t by the end of the night he’ll be faced turn himself to prostitution or remain a spinster and care for others. It is like this that we see how awful a coração’s life could be if left unclaimed, since he doesn’t have the choice to choose or keep searching for however long he wants.
But then the impossible happens and he get claimed by the Royal Marriage Core and in a blink of an eye his entire life changes and he becomes King. We also notice some kind of spirit there since he stands up for himself and doesn’t let people step on him just because he’s a coração. However this comes and goes and Elian is at some point intimidating and secure and the next incapable to even speak. He is possessed by the God himself, has been told over and again by the God that he is special, he has powers, he can do whatever he wants in the sphere of magic, but he fails to make use on them except twice and to be honest both those times were not so significant comparing to the life-threatening event in the end which we totally missed because he fainted, hence we don’t know how or why he was saved.
We are also being told in the very beginning that the Marriage Group of the special one would be special. They would be strong enough to help and protect their coração. Again that got lost during the play of the story. Beside the fact that the marriage group was the royal one there was no real display of strength or powers. I was somehow disappointed by Nevin, he was supposed to be the head King coming from the royal bloodline and the strong one, the leader, but somehow we never saw him leading. In addition his domineering nature was poorly displayed and in my opinion the only bdsm-y scene involved was completely lost and unnecessary. Perhaps it was to display the trust Elian had in him, but as I said it failed to do so. Corbin was the man in between that I never fully understood his purpose or his specialty and last there was Gaige. Now Gaige has the potential to be majestic due to his Zevinxian heritage. He had magic cursing in his blood from the very beginning and the ability to shift. Did we get to see that? No. All that potential lost and in frankly I don’t understand why. What was the point of having this incredible world and not take full advantage of. I know my imagination went wild and I was definitely expecting the powers implied to come crashing in an epic of battles, so I was really disappointed when that didn’t happen.
As for the villain of the story I don’t understand what happened there, Gaige was supposed to have revealed his identity two months prior the main scene when Elian gave birth to the triplets, I expected that they would be onto him by that point so when all chaos broke the only thing that surprised me was the fact that while in previous chapter the Kings talked about it, in the “chaos” chapter it came as new information.
Anyway, as I said previously the story had great potential that was left unexploited. The plot many holes that didn’t help the books case. The bad guy and the final ending scene was almost ludicrous. The giving birth thing was something that had me cringing and my insides churning no matter how much it was justified by magic, it simply didn’t appeal to me. I did love the intimate scenes, well most of them, but in the end I felt like this book needed more time and more work for as it is, it’s lacking.
Thommie
July 3, 2015
Dnf 59%
This was my first Vicktor Alexander book and most likely my last. I hate to leave negative reviews, please only take note of this if you follow my reviews and have similar opinions.
My first issue with this book is that it is the most expensive kindle book I have purchased to date. When something has a higher price tag on it, I expect to be getting my moneys worth. This book did not deliver. My top ten favourite books are all free online reads, so to pay over $8 for this did not leave me happy.
As far as content goes it ticked all my boxes- m/m, polyamory, bdsm, fantasy and mpreg. The story telling just fell flat for me. It was similar to reading an old high school textbook. It didn't flow, I found myself constantly confused as the book went from one scene into another with no segue.
I like a story that plays with my emotions that connects me with the characters. The only emotions this book evoked was annoyance and not because there was a well written arrogant or obnoxious character, but just because it was not well written.
I don't recommend this, it's too expensive and poorly told. The concept sounds great it just didn't translate to the page.
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Just as a side note, I think its a bit douche to rate a book poorly because the author rated his own book. Who cares? It's not like he did it under an alias.
This was my first Vicktor Alexander book and most likely my last. I hate to leave negative reviews, please only take note of this if you follow my reviews and have similar opinions.
My first issue with this book is that it is the most expensive kindle book I have purchased to date. When something has a higher price tag on it, I expect to be getting my moneys worth. This book did not deliver. My top ten favourite books are all free online reads, so to pay over $8 for this did not leave me happy.
As far as content goes it ticked all my boxes- m/m, polyamory, bdsm, fantasy and mpreg. The story telling just fell flat for me. It was similar to reading an old high school textbook. It didn't flow, I found myself constantly confused as the book went from one scene into another with no segue.
I like a story that plays with my emotions that connects me with the characters. The only emotions this book evoked was annoyance and not because there was a well written arrogant or obnoxious character, but just because it was not well written.
I don't recommend this, it's too expensive and poorly told. The concept sounds great it just didn't translate to the page.
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Just as a side note, I think its a bit douche to rate a book poorly because the author rated his own book. Who cares? It's not like he did it under an alias.
January 9, 2014
This was quite poorly written and a pain to read.
And the characters seemed to be inordinately stupid, repeatedly surprised by the same obvious facts.
The sex wasn't bad, if a bit mechanistic. And the fantasy world and rules were almost as exciting as the sex. But all the errors and poor writing made it more painful than anything else to read.
And the characters seemed to be inordinately stupid, repeatedly surprised by the same obvious facts.
The sex wasn't bad, if a bit mechanistic. And the fantasy world and rules were almost as exciting as the sex. But all the errors and poor writing made it more painful than anything else to read.
May 24, 2013
EDIT:
THE AUTHOR ACTUALLY RATED THEIR OWN BOOK! I downgraded my stars as a result as I don't believe an author should ever rate their own book. Add it, give a glimpse of your feelings on it, thats all fine. But do not rate your own work. Will change my rating when the author removes their rating.
This was just okay, and a tad to expensive for just being okay. The writing was fair, the plot interesting, but the characters fell flat. I literally felt zilch for them, and as a result I couldn't really enjoy the book.
THE AUTHOR ACTUALLY RATED THEIR OWN BOOK! I downgraded my stars as a result as I don't believe an author should ever rate their own book. Add it, give a glimpse of your feelings on it, thats all fine. But do not rate your own work. Will change my rating when the author removes their rating.
This was just okay, and a tad to expensive for just being okay. The writing was fair, the plot interesting, but the characters fell flat. I literally felt zilch for them, and as a result I couldn't really enjoy the book.
May 12, 2013
A fun read, Elian may not be a literary work of art, but it does fulfill its promise of entertainment and successfully gives readers an all around good feeling.
In this first book of The Marriage Groups Series, Elian Glinkobia is the youngest son of his family. Born on the planet, Kardalusia, he is the only breeder, the only coração, born to a family full of Kartusian warriors and soldiers. He was born with no other purpose than to be the coração of a marriage group, there to serve them in every manner that they needed. Or so he thinks. Attending his final marriage soiree, Elian believes that he will not be picked by any marriage group and is destined to live his life alone, or as a prostitute. He is beyond shocked to find out that he was chosen by the royal marriage group the year before. He is to be the coração, the heart, of the three kings, Nevin, Corbin, and Gaige.
However, things are not always as easy as they seem. Before Elian can even settle into his position as The Royal Coração, someone attempts to murder him. Placed under lock and key in the palace by his husbands, Elian begins to discover that the gods of the Kartusians gifted him with a lot more than he could have ever expected.
Will Elian's special gifts come in handy when he needs them to save his husbands and their people, or was everyone right about his worthlessness?
A word of warning, this series contain male pregnancy and some Biblical references with a twist. So, for those who have strong religious beliefs and ideals, this may not be the best book for you.
On that note, Elian is set in the fictional world of Kardalusia where marriage groups of four men are the norm as a result of the machinations of their god Andalusia after he had destroyed the Earth cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The prophecy of female Kartusian children to be born out of the union of four prophesied males after centuries had passed has given rise to a fanatical and violent opposition. Elian, the prophesied coração, or bearer of children, finds his life in constant danger. Only his three husbands can protect him.
Or so they thought.
Elian, instead, becomes the hand of Andalusia. He finds himself to be more powerful than anyone ever seen, dreamed or thought. However, Andalusia's possession of Elian leaves him exhausted and losing some memories. As he answered when asked how he felt whenever he was possessed, he felt powerful and yet so helpless. It was like he was just a tool that Andalusia used.
And this is exactly why Elian is so powerful. As their god's tool, he finds himself doing things and perceiving things in a whole different manner. This is the reason why Elian is a difficult character to understand.
I have read through some of the reviews and have noticed that many could not appreciate the lack of character development. I must confess that their opinion was right on target and yet I find myself also understanding the fact that Vicktor Alexander wrote Elian as someone who did not really know who or what he was. As he was only taught the rudiments of being a coração, Elian could do nothing else but speculate about himself.
I think that Elian or Andalusia will finally reveal all in the next installments. Or I think they will?
I see that this book is considered the first book, so I must speculate that there are more books to follow that will finally shed light on the mystery that is Elian.
I loved the ending. Elian's thanking his god for all of his mercies and blessings was a fitting tribute to the world's loving and present god.
This was an entertaining read and I cannot wait for the next installments.
Other books in the series include Steamy, Tabansi's story.
Purchase Link
In this first book of The Marriage Groups Series, Elian Glinkobia is the youngest son of his family. Born on the planet, Kardalusia, he is the only breeder, the only coração, born to a family full of Kartusian warriors and soldiers. He was born with no other purpose than to be the coração of a marriage group, there to serve them in every manner that they needed. Or so he thinks. Attending his final marriage soiree, Elian believes that he will not be picked by any marriage group and is destined to live his life alone, or as a prostitute. He is beyond shocked to find out that he was chosen by the royal marriage group the year before. He is to be the coração, the heart, of the three kings, Nevin, Corbin, and Gaige.
However, things are not always as easy as they seem. Before Elian can even settle into his position as The Royal Coração, someone attempts to murder him. Placed under lock and key in the palace by his husbands, Elian begins to discover that the gods of the Kartusians gifted him with a lot more than he could have ever expected.
Will Elian's special gifts come in handy when he needs them to save his husbands and their people, or was everyone right about his worthlessness?
A word of warning, this series contain male pregnancy and some Biblical references with a twist. So, for those who have strong religious beliefs and ideals, this may not be the best book for you.
On that note, Elian is set in the fictional world of Kardalusia where marriage groups of four men are the norm as a result of the machinations of their god Andalusia after he had destroyed the Earth cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The prophecy of female Kartusian children to be born out of the union of four prophesied males after centuries had passed has given rise to a fanatical and violent opposition. Elian, the prophesied coração, or bearer of children, finds his life in constant danger. Only his three husbands can protect him.
Or so they thought.
Elian, instead, becomes the hand of Andalusia. He finds himself to be more powerful than anyone ever seen, dreamed or thought. However, Andalusia's possession of Elian leaves him exhausted and losing some memories. As he answered when asked how he felt whenever he was possessed, he felt powerful and yet so helpless. It was like he was just a tool that Andalusia used.
And this is exactly why Elian is so powerful. As their god's tool, he finds himself doing things and perceiving things in a whole different manner. This is the reason why Elian is a difficult character to understand.
I have read through some of the reviews and have noticed that many could not appreciate the lack of character development. I must confess that their opinion was right on target and yet I find myself also understanding the fact that Vicktor Alexander wrote Elian as someone who did not really know who or what he was. As he was only taught the rudiments of being a coração, Elian could do nothing else but speculate about himself.
I think that Elian or Andalusia will finally reveal all in the next installments. Or I think they will?
I see that this book is considered the first book, so I must speculate that there are more books to follow that will finally shed light on the mystery that is Elian.
I loved the ending. Elian's thanking his god for all of his mercies and blessings was a fitting tribute to the world's loving and present god.
This was an entertaining read and I cannot wait for the next installments.
Other books in the series include Steamy, Tabansi's story.
Purchase Link
August 10, 2016
Wildly imaginative fantasy in a setting so unlike our own it will make you blink? Check. Interesting concepts in terms of religious, spiritual, and societal background? Check. Characters who need to learn how to think for themselves rather than accept what has been “handed down”? Double check. Add a truly evil villain, some major surprises as the story unfolds, and a richly woven setting with lots of pomp and circumstance, and you’ve got the basic elements of this novel. I have to say, this world has made great strides since I got my first glimpse of it in the connected free short story (‘Steamy’, featuring Tabansi, Elian’s best friend) and even though I still didn’t think everything made sense in the traditional way we are used to in our universe, I was quite happy to suspend my disbelief and be swept away into this polyamorous adventure which includes magic, shapeshifters, and male pregnancy.
Elian is the lead character, and as the only curaçao born with just the breeder birthmark on his hip, he is clearly meant for great things. He does not see it that way, and his lack of self-confidence is significant before he finally meets and marries his three royal husbands. But he soon begins to learn, and the more he finds out, the clearer the picture becomes. I loved finding out things as he did, and was happy for him to have found three such wonderful men who would do anything for him. Talk about a Cinderfella story!
Nevin, the king, and his two husbands Corbin and Gaige have a lot to learn as well. Nevin and Corbin may never have questioned the status quo, but Gaige has a deep and damning secret which he is afraid to reveal. All three of them are determined to protect Elian, but need to accept that Elian will not be set aside as someone who “just gives birth”. That was one of the interesting aspects about this all-male society, to see some of the prejudice we have on Earth replicated – if for slightly different reasons.
The attempts on Elian’s life, the unrest on the planet Kardalusia, and the appearances of their god, Andalusia, made for a great adventure story in a fairy tale setting. If you like fantasy that is “way out there”, if you enjoy polyamorous situations where four men have to figure out how they all fit, and if you’re looking for an unusual and imaginative story, then you will probably like this novel.
NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
Elian is the lead character, and as the only curaçao born with just the breeder birthmark on his hip, he is clearly meant for great things. He does not see it that way, and his lack of self-confidence is significant before he finally meets and marries his three royal husbands. But he soon begins to learn, and the more he finds out, the clearer the picture becomes. I loved finding out things as he did, and was happy for him to have found three such wonderful men who would do anything for him. Talk about a Cinderfella story!
Nevin, the king, and his two husbands Corbin and Gaige have a lot to learn as well. Nevin and Corbin may never have questioned the status quo, but Gaige has a deep and damning secret which he is afraid to reveal. All three of them are determined to protect Elian, but need to accept that Elian will not be set aside as someone who “just gives birth”. That was one of the interesting aspects about this all-male society, to see some of the prejudice we have on Earth replicated – if for slightly different reasons.
The attempts on Elian’s life, the unrest on the planet Kardalusia, and the appearances of their god, Andalusia, made for a great adventure story in a fairy tale setting. If you like fantasy that is “way out there”, if you enjoy polyamorous situations where four men have to figure out how they all fit, and if you’re looking for an unusual and imaginative story, then you will probably like this novel.
NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
November 26, 2014
Yay! There were babies!
I finally got to read about the pregnancy, the birth, and the babies *does a happy dance*
So, this was a fabulous world, I loved the history.
I loved how it was written, though there were parts I had to re-read to get them to sink in, like the people called Kartusians in the city of Kartas in the state of Kardalas in the country of Kandalus on the planet of Kardalusia... that's a lot of "K" words to wrap my head around and get in the right order.
I loved that the author didn't shy away from the icky topics (a difference in birthing genders).
There was magic, wonderful magic and things that got explained that I don't normally see explained in other stories.
It was just everything I've wanted from an m-preg story.
FABULOUS!
I finally got to read about the pregnancy, the birth, and the babies *does a happy dance*
So, this was a fabulous world, I loved the history.
I loved how it was written, though there were parts I had to re-read to get them to sink in, like the people called Kartusians in the city of Kartas in the state of Kardalas in the country of Kandalus on the planet of Kardalusia... that's a lot of "K" words to wrap my head around and get in the right order.
I loved that the author didn't shy away from the icky topics (a difference in birthing genders).
There was magic, wonderful magic and things that got explained that I don't normally see explained in other stories.
It was just everything I've wanted from an m-preg story.
FABULOUS!
September 6, 2015
So, I always look over good and bad reviews before I write my own. I do put a lot of my personal preferences into my review. (I have no problem with an author reviewing their own work.) I LOVED reading this story. Yes, I admit the "bad guy" wasn't hard to figure out but so what! No one said this was a mystery. I enjoyed the characters and how the author worked in the bounds of the "world" that was created. The "world" in this book was so interesting and well planned out. Loved how the author added in informational history and blended it to create a realistic world. Fun story. I know the story won't be for everyone but for me loved it:)
August 9, 2016
3.5* Review written for Love Bytes Reviews.
After reading this book I did something I don’t usually do before starting a review; I sat for a couple of hours and just let myself process. I find myself, even several hours later, conflicted. There were parts of the story I liked yet there were other parts that didn’t work so well for me and while there are parts of the story that I can definitively place in one category or the other, I’m still struggling to quantify the book as a whole. That very rarely happens to me.
Let me start with the things that I liked. I don’t read poly books all that often, not because I don’t like them, but because I rarely find a blurb that interests me enough to pick it up. This one I liked. I liked the idea of the marriage groups and how they’re structured and the explanation of why this system came about was interesting. While I am personally not a huge fan of religion as a whole, I did appreciate the author’s unique approach in using it here, specifically the story of Sodom and Gomorrah; it was an interesting idea and worked for me. Each of the men had very distinct personalities and appearances and combined with their individual chapters, it was easy to get to know them all and to keep them all separate in my mind as I was reading. The sex between them was also varied, which was nice, and while there was a lot of it, it didn’t ever really feel overwhelming. Overall the story was easy to read and the way the chapters were structured made it easy to start and stop as necessary if unable to just read the book through.
Now for what I didn’t care for. The religious aspect of the book was a bit overbearing for me for the first third of the story; it kind of felt as though I were being smothered in it at times though I’m happy to say it evened out farther along. Things also moved along at odd intervals; the story would speed up and then slow down and pace normally for a while before speeding up again. There were some time skips that I do understand were necessary so as not to bog the story down with things that quickly could’ve become monotonous but I never really felt as though the pacing worked…it just felt off. The thing that bothered me most, however, was with the bonding of the marriage group itself.
You don’t get to see a lot of time outside of the bedroom while the men are getting to know one another and, as a result, the declarations of love between Elian and his husbands felt fake. I didn’t feel it, at all. Affection, sure, but love? No. Then there was Gaige. Poor, sweet Gaige. While I really liked his character and felt a lot could’ve been done with him, he felt like a last minute addition at times. You don’t get as many chapters from his point of view as you do all the other main characters and while Nevin and Corbin get one on one time with Elian, Gaige doesn’t. That was extremely disappointing and further solidified the feeling that he was a spare tire instead of one of the set.
There are a few things that might squick people out that I’ll mention here for the sake of being fully informed since they didn’t fall into my like or dislike scale in any noticeable way. There is one very mild instance of bdsm that didn’t even really blip my radar but there is also mpreg included with a birth scene. I don’t usually see that much and while I may not have cared for the manner of the birth, it didn’t bother me overmuch. Other people’s levels of tolerances vary, however.
Even with the list of problems I had with the book, I did enjoy the story as a whole, just not nearly as much as I thought I would and while things could be read as either a happy for now or a happily ever after, I’m content with where the book ended if the author never continues with the series. I honestly don’t know if I’ll read this one again…I’m still left feeling somewhat disappointed even hours later though most of that is due to the problems I had with the use of Gaige, I think. *shrugs* If you enjoy poly stories, don’t mind mpreg and are looking for something different, this could be something you’d enjoy. If you want something with more of an emotional connection or if the idea of mpreg gives you hives, however, I’d probably look for something else.
*In a final note, there is a free short story in this series (its labeled as #1.5) that features one of the secondary characters in Elian; I read it after initially finishing my review and enjoyed it quite a bit.
http://lovebytesreviews.com/2016/08/0...
After reading this book I did something I don’t usually do before starting a review; I sat for a couple of hours and just let myself process. I find myself, even several hours later, conflicted. There were parts of the story I liked yet there were other parts that didn’t work so well for me and while there are parts of the story that I can definitively place in one category or the other, I’m still struggling to quantify the book as a whole. That very rarely happens to me.
Let me start with the things that I liked. I don’t read poly books all that often, not because I don’t like them, but because I rarely find a blurb that interests me enough to pick it up. This one I liked. I liked the idea of the marriage groups and how they’re structured and the explanation of why this system came about was interesting. While I am personally not a huge fan of religion as a whole, I did appreciate the author’s unique approach in using it here, specifically the story of Sodom and Gomorrah; it was an interesting idea and worked for me. Each of the men had very distinct personalities and appearances and combined with their individual chapters, it was easy to get to know them all and to keep them all separate in my mind as I was reading. The sex between them was also varied, which was nice, and while there was a lot of it, it didn’t ever really feel overwhelming. Overall the story was easy to read and the way the chapters were structured made it easy to start and stop as necessary if unable to just read the book through.
Now for what I didn’t care for. The religious aspect of the book was a bit overbearing for me for the first third of the story; it kind of felt as though I were being smothered in it at times though I’m happy to say it evened out farther along. Things also moved along at odd intervals; the story would speed up and then slow down and pace normally for a while before speeding up again. There were some time skips that I do understand were necessary so as not to bog the story down with things that quickly could’ve become monotonous but I never really felt as though the pacing worked…it just felt off. The thing that bothered me most, however, was with the bonding of the marriage group itself.
You don’t get to see a lot of time outside of the bedroom while the men are getting to know one another and, as a result, the declarations of love between Elian and his husbands felt fake. I didn’t feel it, at all. Affection, sure, but love? No. Then there was Gaige. Poor, sweet Gaige. While I really liked his character and felt a lot could’ve been done with him, he felt like a last minute addition at times. You don’t get as many chapters from his point of view as you do all the other main characters and while Nevin and Corbin get one on one time with Elian, Gaige doesn’t. That was extremely disappointing and further solidified the feeling that he was a spare tire instead of one of the set.
There are a few things that might squick people out that I’ll mention here for the sake of being fully informed since they didn’t fall into my like or dislike scale in any noticeable way. There is one very mild instance of bdsm that didn’t even really blip my radar but there is also mpreg included with a birth scene. I don’t usually see that much and while I may not have cared for the manner of the birth, it didn’t bother me overmuch. Other people’s levels of tolerances vary, however.
Even with the list of problems I had with the book, I did enjoy the story as a whole, just not nearly as much as I thought I would and while things could be read as either a happy for now or a happily ever after, I’m content with where the book ended if the author never continues with the series. I honestly don’t know if I’ll read this one again…I’m still left feeling somewhat disappointed even hours later though most of that is due to the problems I had with the use of Gaige, I think. *shrugs* If you enjoy poly stories, don’t mind mpreg and are looking for something different, this could be something you’d enjoy. If you want something with more of an emotional connection or if the idea of mpreg gives you hives, however, I’d probably look for something else.
*In a final note, there is a free short story in this series (its labeled as #1.5) that features one of the secondary characters in Elian; I read it after initially finishing my review and enjoyed it quite a bit.
http://lovebytesreviews.com/2016/08/0...
May 12, 2013
Okay let me start with really liking the premise of this story, even though it reeks of religious connotations. Don't worry they're not hard to find so I won't point them out and they don't really bother me. Four men make up a marriage group. One represents the body, who cares for the family physically. One is the mind, in charge of education and mental growth ( though those are the same to me). One is the groups soul who looks out for their spiritual well-being. And last but not least, is the Coracao. The families heart, responisible for their emotional foundation and for the job of childbearing.
Sounds great right? Well it could be, but it didn't quite make it. Except for the Coracao, and the author telling you who held what place in the marriage group, the characters personalities didn't correspond. There were many, many problems. Editing for one. There were a great deal of misspelled words, changes in POV (going from third person to first, though I only noticed that once near the end.), tenses and repetivness.
In the end the groups lives are condensed into the epilogue, Corbin's children, then Gaige's, along with new laws and what I believe will be two men for the next marriage groups story. All in all it wasn't terrible, but so much could have been done to make this a great story.
In a final note, I find it awkward to have an author rating their own work. They are simply, in my opinion, too invested to see it clearly, rating it more than it actually is, or are too hard on themselves.
Sounds great right? Well it could be, but it didn't quite make it. Except for the Coracao, and the author telling you who held what place in the marriage group, the characters personalities didn't correspond. There were many, many problems. Editing for one. There were a great deal of misspelled words, changes in POV (going from third person to first, though I only noticed that once near the end.), tenses and repetivness.
In the end the groups lives are condensed into the epilogue, Corbin's children, then Gaige's, along with new laws and what I believe will be two men for the next marriage groups story. All in all it wasn't terrible, but so much could have been done to make this a great story.
In a final note, I find it awkward to have an author rating their own work. They are simply, in my opinion, too invested to see it clearly, rating it more than it actually is, or are too hard on themselves.
December 21, 2016
At first, I should tell you that this book has been clearly inspired by The Left Hand of Darkness. There are so many similarities here and there, but unfortunately, it can't hold a candle to it. My Fair Captain is another book that might have had some influences on this story too. In this case, I should highlight that I have enjoyed Elian better.
There are some good points that I can recall about this story:
- The world that the author had been created was brilliant.
- Elian, the protagonist, was an intelligent person who could stand for his rights and make a better world, in spite of his fragility and weaknesses.
- Gaige was an interesting character in this book and I wished he had had some more roles in the story.
Although these good qualities had given me joy while I was reading this book, the flaws of the story kept me from having the sense of satisfaction. I can name some of these weak points:
- The clichés were so prevalent in this book: from the accentuation of virginity to the idea of having a suppressed race in the society.
- There were some major plot holes. For example, .
- In a medieval world, we suddenly had such things as telephones and DNA, which were so out of place. This characteristic of the book reminded me of My Fair Captain and how I disliked it.
Overall, it’s a 3-star book for me and I really wish that the story will continue in future releases in the series. Maybe the author can compensate the flaws of this book and make the plot better.
On a final note, the publisher couldn't choose a worse cover for this book. It is so cheap in my opinion.
There are some good points that I can recall about this story:
- The world that the author had been created was brilliant.
- Elian, the protagonist, was an intelligent person who could stand for his rights and make a better world, in spite of his fragility and weaknesses.
- Gaige was an interesting character in this book and I wished he had had some more roles in the story.
Although these good qualities had given me joy while I was reading this book, the flaws of the story kept me from having the sense of satisfaction. I can name some of these weak points:
- The clichés were so prevalent in this book: from the accentuation of virginity to the idea of having a suppressed race in the society.
- There were some major plot holes. For example, .
- In a medieval world, we suddenly had such things as telephones and DNA, which were so out of place. This characteristic of the book reminded me of My Fair Captain and how I disliked it.
Overall, it’s a 3-star book for me and I really wish that the story will continue in future releases in the series. Maybe the author can compensate the flaws of this book and make the plot better.
On a final note, the publisher couldn't choose a worse cover for this book. It is so cheap in my opinion.
April 10, 2014
This book just did nothing for me. There were many places that for me where I would re-read a page thinking I could not just read what I did. There is always a suspension of belief for fantasy and mpreg stories but this one has some really over the top stuff in it. It wouldn't be so bad except this story takes itself to seriously. There is very little humor in this book and I get the feeling its trying to hard to be a serious fantasy book revolving around a guy giving birth and m-m-m-m sex.
There are tons of info dumps in this book and subtly isn't really part of them. These characters spend alot of time thinking back to their past. Flashbacks are a staple of the info dump of world building for this book. We get hit over the head with the prophecy of the birth of girl children. Surprisingly other than the "bad guys" nobody in the kingdom really seems to care about the epic moment in time. At least everything goes on as normal and Elian is more into caracao's rights than anything relating to the changes that are suppose to be taking place. The others are out taking care of the kingdom without much of an explanation about what they are doing.
As for the four's relationship other than the sex we don't get alot of the dynamics between the four. They all want to protect and nail Elian to the wall and that's about it. I was really hoping for more interaction between them outside of sex but the book speeds through Elain's two pregnancies with very little in the way of relationship building. The book is pretty much wrapping up before the epic "I love yous" come into play. I'm thinking the guy has already bore you a child shouldn't we already be past this? I also have no idea were the BDSM came from. The scene itself was quick and there was no follow up or even foreshadowing that it was going to be there. It really felt thrown in.
For me I was really looking forward to this book since it sound like an interesting mpreg book. There are some interesting ideas but the plot felt jumbled and with way to many way outside of believe things that jarred me out of the book.
There are tons of info dumps in this book and subtly isn't really part of them. These characters spend alot of time thinking back to their past. Flashbacks are a staple of the info dump of world building for this book. We get hit over the head with the prophecy of the birth of girl children. Surprisingly other than the "bad guys" nobody in the kingdom really seems to care about the epic moment in time. At least everything goes on as normal and Elian is more into caracao's rights than anything relating to the changes that are suppose to be taking place. The others are out taking care of the kingdom without much of an explanation about what they are doing.
As for the four's relationship other than the sex we don't get alot of the dynamics between the four. They all want to protect and nail Elian to the wall and that's about it. I was really hoping for more interaction between them outside of sex but the book speeds through Elain's two pregnancies with very little in the way of relationship building. The book is pretty much wrapping up before the epic "I love yous" come into play. I'm thinking the guy has already bore you a child shouldn't we already be past this? I also have no idea were the BDSM came from. The scene itself was quick and there was no follow up or even foreshadowing that it was going to be there. It really felt thrown in.
For me I was really looking forward to this book since it sound like an interesting mpreg book. There are some interesting ideas but the plot felt jumbled and with way to many way outside of believe things that jarred me out of the book.
August 31, 2014
NOTE: this review is not meant to be a comprehensive, point-by-point run-down of what's good or bad about this story - I decided to speak to the points that stood out for me. Any editing or writing issues raised by other reviewers were certainly noted, but did not ruin this story for me.
====
Wonderful escapism reading, and a very creative premise (and hooray for a multi-cultural set of MCs!!). I tried to read Elian with an open mind and no expectations, and I actually enjoyed it. Of course, the idea of a marriage group kinda demanded it. *grin*
I thought the POV switches between the 4 MCs was brilliant and kept the flow fresh...as soon as I started wondering how another character felt, or what they thought - boom - we were in their head for the next chapter. This was also a great way to learn about the marriage group members' individual backgrounds. Although the narrative centered around Elian (and rightly so), Gaige was the one character I wanted to learn even more about. I'm very glad the kings were interesting and diverse as individuals.
Next, the pre-ordained roles of each member of a Kardalusian (or was it Kartusian?) marriage group was established in the beginning, and appeared to be of some significance...but it didn't seem to matter much when we shifted focus to Elian's marriage group (were we expected to guess or figure out who was in which role? (excluding Elian, of course) And from a plot perspective - did this really matter anyway?)
As another reviewer noted - the use of foreshadowing and the subsequent fulfillment later in the story seemed a little too pat. There was no surprise or mystery with some of the developments later in the story because they were too plainly revealed at the beginning (ex. the identity of the bad guy, the prophecy concerning Elian, etc.) Still, I enjoyed it immensely. I wasn't looking for a Sherlockian mystery anyway - too much thought involved.
====
Wonderful escapism reading, and a very creative premise (and hooray for a multi-cultural set of MCs!!). I tried to read Elian with an open mind and no expectations, and I actually enjoyed it. Of course, the idea of a marriage group kinda demanded it. *grin*
I thought the POV switches between the 4 MCs was brilliant and kept the flow fresh...as soon as I started wondering how another character felt, or what they thought - boom - we were in their head for the next chapter. This was also a great way to learn about the marriage group members' individual backgrounds. Although the narrative centered around Elian (and rightly so), Gaige was the one character I wanted to learn even more about. I'm very glad the kings were interesting and diverse as individuals.
Next, the pre-ordained roles of each member of a Kardalusian (or was it Kartusian?) marriage group was established in the beginning, and appeared to be of some significance...but it didn't seem to matter much when we shifted focus to Elian's marriage group (were we expected to guess or figure out who was in which role? (excluding Elian, of course) And from a plot perspective - did this really matter anyway?)
As another reviewer noted - the use of foreshadowing and the subsequent fulfillment later in the story seemed a little too pat. There was no surprise or mystery with some of the developments later in the story because they were too plainly revealed at the beginning (ex. the identity of the bad guy, the prophecy concerning Elian, etc.) Still, I enjoyed it immensely. I wasn't looking for a Sherlockian mystery anyway - too much thought involved.
March 1, 2017
This entire book is fluff. Painful, gruesome FLUFF. It's not even well written fluff.
I will sum up:
"You're amazing! I love you."
"What? You love me? I'm so surprised!"
"Of course I love you, you're so amazing and wonderful and I'm lucky to have you!"
"No, you're the amazing one. You're so strong and handsome and only you can do what you did. I don't know how you had the courage to do it, but you amaze me. I love you. Did I mention you're talented and I love you?"
"You're so beautiful and wonderful! Even your personality is beautiful. How could I have lived my whole life without you? I'm a changed person because of you, but for the better. I still can't believe you don't hate me for speaking up for my basic rights. I love you so much!"
*sexy times*
"We should get back to the plot"
"ok"
*plot-ish*
"Wow! You're so amazing! And strong. You're better than you think you are. You have the ability to do anything. I love you."
*cries bc the moment is just. that. touching. (not)*
*sexy times*
BLEG. There is only so much I can take. And it goes on and on and on.
An actual building in the book: the Joy & Laughter Performing Arts School --I mean, wtf is that? So dumb.
I don't know how I had the ability to finish this. I was groaning the entire time because of just how dumb and fluff-filled it is. If you like that sort of nonsense, be my guest and read it. But if you're like me and want to start screaming if a moment is too sugary, then walk away.
I will sum up:
"You're amazing! I love you."
"What? You love me? I'm so surprised!"
"Of course I love you, you're so amazing and wonderful and I'm lucky to have you!"
"No, you're the amazing one. You're so strong and handsome and only you can do what you did. I don't know how you had the courage to do it, but you amaze me. I love you. Did I mention you're talented and I love you?"
"You're so beautiful and wonderful! Even your personality is beautiful. How could I have lived my whole life without you? I'm a changed person because of you, but for the better. I still can't believe you don't hate me for speaking up for my basic rights. I love you so much!"
*sexy times*
"We should get back to the plot"
"ok"
*plot-ish*
"Wow! You're so amazing! And strong. You're better than you think you are. You have the ability to do anything. I love you."
*cries bc the moment is just. that. touching. (not)*
*sexy times*
BLEG. There is only so much I can take. And it goes on and on and on.
An actual building in the book: the Joy & Laughter Performing Arts School --I mean, wtf is that? So dumb.
I don't know how I had the ability to finish this. I was groaning the entire time because of just how dumb and fluff-filled it is. If you like that sort of nonsense, be my guest and read it. But if you're like me and want to start screaming if a moment is too sugary, then walk away.
October 14, 2014
Great concept for a book. An explanation of what happened after Sodom and Gomorrah. However it seems to have an identity crisis going in general.
* Is it fantasy or Scifi?
* is Elian male or female? (Hint: At times it was very difficult to tell)
* Is it multiple partners or just one partner that's the key (At times either works)
* What is the history of the persecuted Z folks and why do they attack if its not what they want?
I'll admit it took me a long time to warm up to this and the best I got was lukewarm. It was so improbable without explanation. There is no explaining why they didn't tell Elian sooner and this just doesn't make sense. The sex was hot enough but too plentiful. I didn't really buy them as parents so much and the real paranormal pieces just felt strange. Beings speaking God Like - but it was sort of SciFi. Then you have phones but horses. It just didn't mesh well and wasn't explained exactly what this society looked like - how they lived. On one hand there was this medieval flavor and the other it seemed like a current day Palace in England or something.
It's a 2 at best - I did finish it but the coherence just wasn't there. I did enjoy the manly protection of the mate stuff. That's all hot for me. Sex amongst alpha's was also pretty decent here -but then again no one guy seemed more alpha than the other which threw me off - too many leaders or too many soldiers masking as leaders...but none stood out as primary and I think that might have anchored the book for me a bit better.
* Is it fantasy or Scifi?
* is Elian male or female? (Hint: At times it was very difficult to tell)
* Is it multiple partners or just one partner that's the key (At times either works)
* What is the history of the persecuted Z folks and why do they attack if its not what they want?
I'll admit it took me a long time to warm up to this and the best I got was lukewarm. It was so improbable without explanation. There is no explaining why they didn't tell Elian sooner and this just doesn't make sense. The sex was hot enough but too plentiful. I didn't really buy them as parents so much and the real paranormal pieces just felt strange. Beings speaking God Like - but it was sort of SciFi. Then you have phones but horses. It just didn't mesh well and wasn't explained exactly what this society looked like - how they lived. On one hand there was this medieval flavor and the other it seemed like a current day Palace in England or something.
It's a 2 at best - I did finish it but the coherence just wasn't there. I did enjoy the manly protection of the mate stuff. That's all hot for me. Sex amongst alpha's was also pretty decent here -but then again no one guy seemed more alpha than the other which threw me off - too many leaders or too many soldiers masking as leaders...but none stood out as primary and I think that might have anchored the book for me a bit better.
August 25, 2013
I liked the uniqueness of the story and universe, but the editing left quite a bit to be desired. (Missing words, misspellings, missing punctuation, same word used twice close together in the same sentence, etc.)
The story sometimes telegraphed itself or revelations came out of left field .
There was more sex than I needed, though I did expect that much--it's 4 newly married men after all. Some of the scenes seemed gratuitous though. Maybe they were intended to establish how they were getting to know each other, but it felt mostly like insta-love
Despite all of that, I am curious about the setup for future stories in this series.
The story sometimes telegraphed itself or revelations came out of left field .
There was more sex than I needed, though I did expect that much--it's 4 newly married men after all. Some of the scenes seemed gratuitous though. Maybe they were intended to establish how they were getting to know each other, but it felt mostly like insta-love
Despite all of that, I am curious about the setup for future stories in this series.
May 12, 2013
The backstory gives enough history to thoroughly explain the what and why of the book, with a plot that flows smoothly from beginning to end. The sex is hot enough to scorch the page, and the sheer variety is enough to satisfy anyone. The author has a style of writing that is quirky, humorous, but also has more than its share of drama, danger, betrayal, and loyalty. I REALLY enjoyed reading this unique book with a HEA ending that I can definitely reccommend to anyone looking for something different to past the time.
Trish's 4 1/2 sweet pea review originally appears on May 13, 2013 at http://mrsconditreadsbooks.com/index....
Trish's 4 1/2 sweet pea review originally appears on May 13, 2013 at http://mrsconditreadsbooks.com/index....
July 28, 2014
3.75 Stars
May 11, 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed the world building in this book. The biblical references were interesting and added a nice twist to the story. I missed Tabanasi's story and will be looking it up.
June 18, 2013
I. Need. More. Right. NOW!
May 12, 2013
3.75 Stars
May 21, 2013
I for one enjoyed this FANTASY world. Great story telling and it kept me interested and invested in this series. Hope there's more to come!
March 25, 2015
I really enjoyed this. It was fun and interesting and I'm looking forward to more.
January 11, 2014
love it
February 15, 2015
4.5 stars...Very interesting world and I really enjoyed it! I wasn't sure how it would work with four of them but surprisingly it did.
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