THE BLUTHEN HAVE ONE CONSUMING PASSION: THEMSELVES. IN THEIR EXPANSION ACROSS THE GALAXY, THEY WILL GO TO ANY LENGTHS TO DOMINATE SPECIES THEY ENCOUNTER.
Torn from modern day Earth and stranded on the far side of the Galaxy, Sandrea Fairbairn must use every particle of courage she possesses to adjust to her new life and live for tomorrow.
Eugen Mhartak, a general in the Tri-Race Alliance Army, refuses to bow to the merciless Bluthen. Haunted by the loss of far too many innocent lives he has vowed to drive the ruthless invaders from Alliance space.
The strength and valor of Eugen Mhartak attracts Sandrea as no man ever has, but she struggles to read the enigmatic general’s heart. Determined to help him triumph over the Bluthen she uncovers a diabolical plot against the Alliance.
Drawn by the courage and exotic beauty of Sandrea, Mhartak battles to overcome the barriers of cross-cultural differences that separate them and claim her ardent interest. He must conquer his deepest fears to be the man she needs. When his principles are betrayed by his own government and he is faced with the impossible prospect of taking Sandrea’s life in order to save his home planet, Mhartak desperately searches for a way to keep safe both his world and the magnificent woman who has stolen his heart.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
I first put pen to paper with the intention of writing a fantasy story way back in 1987. And I do mean pen to paper, back then I could find the ‘zone’ more easily by creating the words with my hand as well as my head.
I began the exercise as a hobby and over the next 20 years managed to create a one hundred and fifty thousand word fantasy. Quite some time to write a book, I know, but not finishing never entered my head. How to finish certainly proved something of a challenge.
In 2009 a friend suggested I join the wonderful RWAus (Romance Writers of Australia) group and in 2010 I attended my first conference. The support and inspiration received from the members of this great organisation help me recognise that writing is not only the journey, but the destination as well.
In 2012 I volunteered to contest manage the RWAus STALI (Single Title And Loving It). An interesting experience to say the least. The amount of work that goes on behind the scenes is exceptional and I take my hat off to contest managers everywhere.
First of all, this is a classic example of ‘never judge a book by its cover.’ The creatures described in the story are absolutely nothing like this random dude on the cover. If I were the author, I’d be pissed.
Secondly, this story needs some editing. It’s riddled with repetitive wording, misspellings, and composition errors. You’d think the editors at the publisher would have, you know – done their jobs. In fact, the mistakes were so apparent that I was surprised to discover the book wasn’t self-published. I checked out the publisher’s website and couldn't help but roll my eyes a bit:
Soul Mate Publishing welcomes you to romance, where two become one. We offer high-quality romantic fiction for readers around the world. Our novels, written by only the finest authors, will be available both electronically and in paperback. Whether you enjoy traditional romance or are searching for stories that push the limits, you'll find what you're looking for. We are NOT the same old thing!
The redundancy issues in this story are staggering. There are 24 — TWENTY FOUR — instances of the word “speared” throughout the story. He SPEARED her a look. She SPEARED her gaze. Her eager fingers SPEARED over his collarbones. The quick glance he SPEARED. The thesaurus is a wonderful tool, it really is. There was so much spearing going on, I felt like spearing my tablet. Though on occasion, “speared” was substituted with “sheared” or “arrowed.” At one point we even get “spear” and “arrow” in the same sentence!
-_-
“Erotic shiver” was used multiple times as well. In fact, by the 15th time the word “erotic” was used, I was thoroughly annoyed. Yes, we know it’s erotic. It’s a romance. Erotic actions/reactions don’t actually need to be described as erotic.
Whoah! What an epic adventure! I thought I'd give the first chapter a quick read before I turn in for the night... Couldnt stop! Couldnt put it down!
Alien Mine is the story of earthling Sandrea and... well... alien Eugen who is a Genearl in his army. Eugen basically saves Sandrea but when she wakes up she's been operated on and has a transmitter implanted so she can understand Eugen and his race. This is just the start of the epic journey which covers 312 pages of absolute adventure, thrills and heart-stopping moments.
I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptive language, the flow of the story, the characters and the adventure I was taken on. It's more than just a love story, it's an epic love story full of interesting characters and vivid descriptions. It was very fast paced, something was always happening and my interest was 100% captured. I don't read many Alien/futuristic/SciFi type stories but this has been highly recommended and I can see why. From the gripping opening scene thru till the very end I couldn't not stop reading.
A definite page turner that is thrilling right thru till the last page. I would highly recommend to anyone who loves this genre or who is willing to take up the challenge of reading something different - you wont be sorry.
Awesome enjoyed the hell out of this book!! Great romance. Heroine a riot, maybe a little too... Proficient at too many things but loved her! And she is an Aussie so that rocks heheh, oh and flyball was mentioned so win again!!
The author was good at fleshing out characters; they felt real, and I did like both characters, but there was so much wrong with this book.
The first of which being the poor description of the setting. I had a hard time picturing the places. For instance, "lab-like empty room." I've seen many science labs. They all looked different. Some drastically different This generalization is not specific. Was it new, bright, shiny, dark, tarnished? How was it? What was the atmosphere of the room? Empty how? Empty of people? because we got that when the MC snuck in there. Or empty of lab equipment?
Another question was what was the MC doing in a room full of restrained prisoners? Why would the enemy just let her sit there instead of putting her in a cell or something?
As for the enemy, I never found out what they looked like. All I know is that they have grey skin and clawed hands. Poor description, indeed.
As for the MC, her background is very confusing. She's what, some sort of spacial puzzle genius, home trained marksman, and amateur astronomer? As she's pulling these skills out of her ass, I begin to doubt the author. Who was she on Earth? What was her life's ambition? We never actually get to know the character, only that she felt passionate about taking down the enemy (and avenging her dead dog).
As for the plot itself, it had potential but most of it was the MC running and hiding, running and hiding, etc... It got really repetitive after a while.
As for the two MCs in a romantic relationship, I refuse to believe they'd both fall in love with each other at first sight when neither has seen the other's species before.
Aahh... INSTALOVE at its finest.
The one thing I loved in this book was the pet lizard. Makes me wish I had one too.
While, yes, the author was good at conveying genuine emotion (we could believe that the main characters loved each other, but instalove wrecked that), but the rest of the elements of the story needed heavy work.
Helloooo lovelies! Finished this book recently and here's the drill
Points to consider if you are to take this book in your hands and commune with it... So to speak.
a) Blurb is blurry... So let me give a quick intro on it. Sandrea is a human who wakes up in a ship that apparently belongs to Gray aliens. In the hopes of escaping, she helps other prisoner aliens unlike herself, who look like reptile humanoids. And thus begins her journey...
Allow me to ilustrate Gray Aliens in case you aren't familiar with them. Although in the book they're called Bluthen. Sounds like some sort of medicinal drug... Or something like that...There are different versions anyway.
b)The cover of the book is very deceiving... Almost as blurry as the blurb. Lol! Anywho...The alien on the cover should look somewhat like this.
c) The plot is mildly satisfying and the secondary characters give it more life than our main characters. d) The world around our heroine is vague and there isn't a solid world building. Just facts thrown at you. Descriptions are enough to give a dimension of the circumstances and events, but do not expect a rich world.
e)The main characters...OMG! I had a tough time truly getting to know and like these two... But in the end, sadly, they didn't sink and were totally unreachable and very one dimensional.
Sandrea, our heroine, begins as a normal gal stranded in space, to evolve into this know it all, do it all kick ass heroine. She's a 'too good to be true' kinda of girl... I like strong worthy to read heroines. But she was overboard, too much to accept kind of character. She has a quick adaptability and lots of strengths, but she lacks the essence to really capture the reader. Its like a superheroe with a blurry background. There is no real explanation or compelling history to make me understand why she is the way she is. Nothing that could help the reader understand and like her. It pissed me off!
Mharta'k on the other hand, is so flat. So cardboard one dimensional, that he he falls into the list of forgettable characters. His brother, is ten times more interesting as a character.And his first name is Eugen for GOD SAKES! Where is the alien essence in that name???? And the other alien names...it got worse, so let's just leave it there...
d) Good pace. But the characters made this read a living hell for me. So reach your own conclusions.
e)To summarize, this book contains, romance, an acceptable not over-the-top story, explicit sex, adventure/action and slight humor. I would say the action and plot were the things that truly saved it from becoming a total disaster and some of the humor packed dialogues. I could have of easily given it a 2 star, if it lacked those things.
I was like... f) The only scene I totally loved was the entire wood journey when Sandrea was running away from the Bluthen and she was with the general's brother. There was such chemistry there. It was infintely more interesting than the whole book. So it's a good and a bad thing!
So it's a 3.0 star for this book, for not being a total disaster! Though I would read other books from the author, because she has an easy going and appealing style of writing. So I bid you farewell and may your next reads be fabulicious! I'm out!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was soooooo much more amazing than I was expecting... and that's why I was up until four am... with a fever, and needed to be up at 630ish to skeedadle to work.... Yeah, I came home sick the next day as well and slept and slept and medicated and woke and worked and medicated and slept and slept and now I feel mostly better!
Awesome book with the amazing power to override my good judgement (not hard to do though XD). The one main quibble I had was the will-she-won't-he lasted far beyond my tolerance and I was ready to slap a wide variety of individuals. The other one was that the author still seems like she hasn't quite yet settled into the golden age of her craft, but that's cool because she can totally PRACTICE ON THE NEXT BOOK OF THE SERIES!!! Which is when, now? XD Seriously would love more books in the series if you didn't pick that up... XD
ALIEN, MINE by author debut Sandra Harris is a Soulmate Publishing release for June 2013.
Sandrea Fairbairn is taken away from the only world she knew as her home to another planet. She is lost, went through so much trauma and now she is attracted to one the alien, General Eugen Mhartak.
The General is pulled toward her because of her strength and courage in the face of adversity. Could their love last? Would they have their happy ever after?
ALIEN, MINE is a fantastic futuristic story. Author Sandra Harris has built a world whereby you could actually visualize the story unfolding.
Highly recommended for lovers of science fiction and romance.
It has all the right ingredients for a great scifi fantasy, great H and h who is very smart but not too sassy or feisty. She is quite an academic and thankfully doesn't turn in to a prat. So why didn't I like it more? I think it had too much detail here and there, so I skipped pages to get to the more interesting (to me) interactions. I would buy this author again, just to see if I am being a bit harsh. I did like the how her characters.
This sat on my limbo land shelf forever meaning I started it and either got bored or needed a genre change and moved on to another book. I didn't find anything boring about it so it must have been the latter. This book was pretty fast paced and interesting but there were a few significant problems with it that bothered me throughout which I will note below.
Quick Rundown: Super Mary Sue Chick finds herself abducted by aliens somehow who are horribly cruel and finds herself rescued by another alien race that are pretty much the big dogs of the Alliance of planets in a galaxy far, far away but give her a map of all known and unknown galaxies and she'll be able to find it for you, for sure! A lot of battle/action scenes occur where she out bests even the strongest and deadliest beasts, or makes them her pet, falls in insta love with a hot commander and then saves a bunch of people. She's like Taylor Swift in Space. Literally can do no wrong and is super successful at EVERYTHING! Bitch.
Characterization: Okay, so while I enjoyed the Chick enough she was the most outstanding example of a Mary Sue I have ever read and I read a book or two a day so... and I believe the first time I have ever had to mention it in a review- she was that bad, I mean, good. So, you'll just have to accept that she's just a normal girl from Australia who happens to know where Earth is and what our galaxy and the galaxy next to ours looks like so she can read alien maps, also knows how to use high powered alien death cannons, is an expert shot with a laser pistol (remember she knows how to use all kinds of alien weaponry, not just big death cannons), can tame extremely dangerous animals into pets, can escape prison tunnels, pick locks (again, alien locks), run super fast, swim really well, reads alien's minds, well... you get the picture. Dude was done pretty well but in recalling all the Chick's many virtues, I can't seem to recall much about him anymore. Secondary characters were done well enough though there were several that participated in battle scenes and I kept getting them confused. The Big Bad just didn't quit. Literally, they were pouring out of the woodwork. You couldn't take 2 steps without running into one of those fuckers.
Plot: Nothing terribly new here but it was interesting. There were soooo many fight/battle scenes and one right after another so I had a hard time remembering who was where and lost "visual" of the scene itself. But, action packed is always good in my book but I got to a point where I was wondering when they were going to catch a break. The conflict between the characters made sense and was done well. Relationship progression wasn't too fast though I usually don't mind that. Sexual tension was top notch while sex scenes were just mediocre. The ending was sufficient but again, we miss out on a relationship conflict because Chick's a mind reader.
Writing: Here is where I had another problem. The writing style is very pretentious. Overload of descriptors and adjectives and I found myself rereading sentences cause they didn't seem to make any sense. Casual use of very large and obscure words that I had to look up and that's rare for me to have to do. At times I felt like the author was too educated, maybe? Or maybe like she was writing Alien Abduction porn for astro physicists? I'll just sum it up as pretentious. Weird complaint that the writer seemed too smart but there ya go. So don't feel bad if some of the language escapes you. Also, because some of the descriptors were on overload, contrariness came into play. For instance, Dude has scaly skin over tight, dense muscles yet she further describes touching him felt like molten gold under satin. Huh? I've held lizards and snakes and poured molten metals before so not seeing the connection there. Okay, enough nit picking.
Overall: I enjoyed it. It was very fast paced and action packed and I'll probably read more from this author. I just hope she tones it down a bit so it's a little more easy to read. It is Alien Porn, after all:)
Hmmm. I liked this book better while I was reading it then when I finished.
It was hard going the first chapters because the heroine's brain has been messed with and she is recovering from massive trauma.
The characters are compelling as is the basic plot line. I love reptile aliens so that helps.
However, so much is dangling in the writing and makes little sense and then there is the uneeded angst and the creepy fact that the heroine's and author's names are too close. Eww. Fan fiction about yourself? No.
To give you all the things that don't make sense would be spoiling things such as they are.
However, why the hell is the heroine so amazing? What was her job back in home?
Also, the use of some Aussie words was very hard to figured out from context.
And I can keep complaining because there was something I liked about the book--the hero when he was actually communicating, the friendships the heroine created, her bravery-- so all the flaws are that much more annoying.
A terrific debut novel. Scifi alien romance /erotica. Sandrea is one tough lady. Surviving being kidnapped and tortured by the Bluthen, being stranded far from home in an alien culture, she meets it head on. Eugen Mhartak is a hero I would love to meet. He may be a big scary alien but he has a heart of gold. I loved these characters and the world the author built. I really hope she is planning more in this world because as soon as I finished this one I went to look and see if there was a sequel- but it was sad day for me. This is Ms. Harris' first book! If you enjoy your scifi with a side of erotic adventure get this book!
I don't have the appropriate adjective to describe this story. It's better than "good," but not quite "fantastic." Quite good, perhaps.
I thought that having the heroine be a surviving captive of the Bluthen was brilliant. It gave her a "legitimate" reason to be strong and fiesty instead of her just being a brat. She comes at situations from a place of strength because circumstances have forced her to. It was a bit much for me at times that she was superintelligent, superfit, and super-handy-with-rifle-type-weapons. AND she swims, does yoga, runs for an hour in the morning and seems to have a special affinity to animals. She's not perfect, but she's pretty close.
Our hero is not so perfect. Sure, he's hot in alien lizardman sort of way, but the confidence he needed to make it to the rank of General takes a vacay when it comes to this woman. Come on, man! You've dealt with aliens before! Act like you've been there!
Anyway, aside from Sandrea's near perfection, this book carried me along with nary a hiccup. It also managed to convince me that sex with an alien lizardman could quite possibly be hot. Good job on that, seeing as how lizards are unsexy to me. I prefer my anthropomorphic sex objects to be feline in nature. ;-)
If I see another book by this author, I will probably check it out. If you're into sci-fi fantasy with a smattering of erotic romance thrown in, I would recommend you check this one out.
This wasn't too bad a read. I was expecting a fairly run of the mill alien romance and instead got a fairly kick butt heroine.
There was a hiccup for me early on (and I'm still not sure if it's the book or me) where the character I thought our heroine had that insta-attraction to was the one she rescued. But then that turned out to be someone else. This bugged me a little but didn't detract from the story.
I liked the idea that humans were being used as the hard-drive for weapons by one set of aliens against another.
I looked to see if there were other books in this world by this author but couldn't find any at this time.
Alien, Mine was so much fun to read!! Fast paced, exiting and as steamy as a boiling kettle!! And while I agree with some reviewers that the the character of Sandrea appears sometime to be a bit of a superwomen(hence the loss of one star - I do have an issue with characters who, to paraphrase Mary Poppins, are :"Practically perfect in every way"), to see her boss around a big alien was sheer delight. Considering it is her first book, Sandra Harris did a fantastic job and I would love to see more from her. P.S I LOVED, LOVED Dexter!!
Started out good, thought it wasn't perfect but could be a 4 star book. Second half fell apart. The main character seemed to have all kinds of unbelievable abilities but no exclamation on how she got them. Her Alien companions seemed too human in their dialog. Everything in the last half just seemed unbelievable.
Fun story! Sandrea is a great character - tough, blunt, willing to go after what she wants/needs. The plot takes unique twists and turns and you're going to love Dexter! Great read :)
I really enjoyed this one...like more than I thought I would. the characters were fun and engaging but also serious when they needed to be and the world building was intense... it starts out very dark and there are a lot of very dark moments because the Bluthen, which are the ultimate enemy of everyone else in the series are some fucked up guys and the author wants the reader to understand that... the only thing I struggled with really was some of the slang used because the author is Australian and she used terms and phrases from her region. I am American so some of them kinda went over my head.. but for the most part with the surrounding context I was able to figure it out. the relationship between Sandrea and Eugene is a very slow burn sort of formation so if u like those you'll love this story. the cultural and species differences get in the way a lotttt but when they learn to communicate with each other it goes much more smoothly and when Sandrea realizes that Eugene always tries to do what he Thinks she wants instead of talking to her first and takes matters into her own hands lol. anyways... I definitely recommend this one and will probably be getting the next one soon.
Interesting premise: earth woman abducted by grey aliens, survives mistreatment and is rescued by reptile aliens too far away from Earth to ever get back. How do you manage life, love, war, pets and friendships in a very different world with very different cultural expectations. Yes, it's an alien human love story but with enough hard science fiction to make it enjoyable for sci-fi aficionados.Alien, Mine
She's abducted from Earth by bad aliens that experiment on her. She survives and later manages to save another free other aliens from the bad guys. The good aliens that she rescues take her with them. Sandrea is introduced to a whole new Universe of beings but no one knows where Earth is located so she has to learn to live in this new to her world.
Very good story line where the Human Woman is the heroine. She manages to save others as well as herself several times. I enjoyed this book!
Sandrea has been abducted by grey aliens, tortured and then left to starve. She comes across some other captives and helps free them just before they are rescued. Eugen is their leader. There is a lot of action but a lot of head shaking. This woman is an immediate expert in everything she does.
Actual rating: 2.5 stars It was okay, just okay. The plot was alright and the characters as well but somehow it all just felt 'okay', not good or horrid but simply okay. The author did a good job as the story was somewhat engaging and there maybe improvement in the stories so.. I will be reading the next entry in this series
Wonderful World building. The intelligence behind the book was astounding. It captures you from the beginning to the end. One of the best books I’ve ever read. And according to my library I have read over 100,000 books Not including Kindle unlimited. Thank you Sandra Harris for a book that I’m able to read over and over again and enjoy different nuances each time.
Alright, who gave this child a thesaurus and let them publish this rubbish?
The author "Sandra Harris" named her bloody character *Sandrea* my word... The author basically wrote herself into the book, and just made her better, the best at everything, she's obnoxiously a know it all, and just can't do no wrong. It's barf inducing.
The h was a Mary-Sue character but I have no complains about the rest of the book.
The h and H were both super strong characters. The plot was engaging and there was comedic relief. The book wasn't graphic and didn't go into details of her trauma - but it conveyed everything that it needed to.
Loved the characters and how they were fully fleshed out people not just a backdrop for the main characters.great job bringing them to life. Unique storyline . Definitely look forward to more from this author.
Not my fav alien romance. It was a bit too wordy and I do not like it when the aliens get multiple names. I'm already having a tough time because the names are alien and now I have to keep up with the first, last, and nickname.
The heroine doesn't make stupid relationship mistakes like alot of other stories. The hero lifts up the heroine and her accomplishments and is repeatedly her cheerleader. I love the animals. I can't wait to read more in this universe.
The beginning was disjointed since we're following heroin's narrative and her mind was broken by captivity. I liked what followed and the story was interesting.