Cosmic Crush

Galactic Gems #2

by Clio Evans

Book 2 in the Galactic Gems Series

Genres: Romance, Aliens, Science Fiction, Fantasy, BDSM, Monsters, Westerns

200 pages, Paperback

First published November 16, 2023

Reviews

[DIVINITY🌙]

This looks weird but good..sign me up 🤭

[Poppy || Monster Lover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can we say meet disaster? Raider was a space cowboy outlaw veering into morally gray territory with kidnapping, but still all about that consent. He was tender with Mari, even though he tended towards hardheadedness. Mari was the definition of a girly girl, loving all things sparkly and bright and I am always here for the girls that ARE like other girls because girls are amazing. She and Raider had their instalove whirlwind romance involving a lot of kinky safe sexy time. I’ve enjoyed that this series has been pro you don’t have to give up your dreams and if someone really loves you they won’t ask you to. Some of the climax of the book was a bit awkward, but it was well done over all.

Spice: 5/5

Triggers: kidnapping, discussion of murder (not gory), family estrangement, dubcon from power differential - MMC kidnapped FMC but enthusiastic consent was given, gun fight, mentions of imprisonment, envenomation, loss of consciousness

[Cat H · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.4 stars.
Hot, hot, Hot. Holy Hell.
The whole ‘Cowboy’ thing was super fuckin hot.
The boots!🫣 Oh my god. Everyone in the reviews were in fact correct. That was a really fucking hot scene.

Plus they were super cute together. I loved the sassiness and bickering in the beginning and the playful teasing throughout the rest.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clio wrote this for me & for me only 🤠

[suonnahbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow

[Kate V · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - 4 stars!

Clio coming in hot with the erotic and kinky! This series has been fun and I enjoyed Raider and Mari's story. Mari is a galactic star and is kidnapped by Raider who intends to use her to clear his name. However, he isn't prepared for Mari being his true mate.

These two get hot and heavy and work together to not only clear Raider's criminal record but to be together forever!

“You’re mine,” I said. “I can’t let you go, Mari. I never want to let you go.”

If you like alien romances with a bit of a western feel and plenty of kinky debauchery this is your next read for sure!

[Malli (Chapter Malliumpkin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

✨ Cosmic Kiss 4.5 ⭐

Content/Trigger Warnings: Anxiety, loneliness, explicit sex scenes, BDSM, breeding kink, mentions death & murder (recounted), gun use, violence, blood

"Just because you shared blood with someone didn't mean they were family. It was those that cared for you, loved you, supported you, and celebrated you that were."

Wow, okay, this is definitely something I wasn't expecting Evans to write. Did I have Clio Evans writing a space cowboy, western romance on my bingo card? Nope, no I did not. This was fun, steamy, at times a little cheesey especially that freaking duel, and it was just a fun little time. As with the first book, Madam Moonie, I love her and I need her to have her own book, ASAP! I thought the chemistry between Mari and Raider was really well done and the fact that they like to do matching outfits had me in a fit of giggles.

My only complaint with this book was the brothers. Our male lead is named Raider and the twin brother's name is Rider. Now this may just be a me thing, but while reading this novella, due to their names being similar and close in pronunciation, a lot of times it came off as the same name being said. It almost felt like a very easy way to avoid being creative with names or even trying to avoid making the two brothers stand apart from each other as individuals. Which was such a surprise because this isn't the first time the author has wrote about twin brothers and in that book they were both different as individuals, and stood out as their own selves. So it was odd that we didn't see much individualism here with the two twins outside of one is a good guy and the other is a bad guy dynamic.

Overall, I still had a fun time with this read despite the names throwing me for loops. There were some really great quotes about family and love in this novella that I highlighted so fast. It was a lot of fun! I think I'm most excited for the third book in this series to come out because it takes place on forest planets and I'm ready to see if Max will take the stage, see new planets, meet new aliens species, and just continue with this fun time. I'm also a lover of Mass Effect so are we really surprised that I'm excited about these books and this series? Still hoping for that Madam Moonie story!


All thoughts, feelings, experiences, and opinions are honest and my own.


Instagram|Ko-fi|Throne

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raider and Mari were a fast paced fun time featuring a whole host of kinky fun times and some very sweet moments as they work together to clear his name


3/5 stars

[Ra! ʕ •̀ ω •́ ʔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed 'Cosmic Love' and was so hyped to see this world explored more in this sequel!

The Good
The plot in this book is much more connected to the main characters and more interesting than that of the first book. I actually cared about its conclusion and how Mari and Rider were going to move forward. There was seemingly much more smut too which was a bonus!

Tropes:
—Western Themed
— Alien romance
— Size difference

Horn Level: 5/5🌶️
Format: Ebook

The Rating
I give this book a 4/5🌟 rating. I can't wait for the next book in this series!!

Check out my socials here for more reviews!

[S89L5 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Call me a prude or whatnot, but surely I can't be the only one who found the boot scene spew-worthy? Guess degradation just isn't my kind of brew.

[☾⋆⁺ Nurse After Dark · Rating 4 out of 5]

BEBC April 2024

I’d been prepared to wrangle a host of problems with my plan, but kidnapping a burlesque star who was my mate was not one of them.

We took a bit of a break between books 1 and 2, but I'm glad we finally picked up this fun, alienxcowboy story! While most of the plot and worldbuilding in this series has been pretty surface level, this book worked for what it was and I enjoyed Mari and Raider's time together. Some of their interactions were fun, like when Raider heard her stomach grumble and thought they were being attacked!

I sniffled. “Why aren’t you mad at me? I ran away.”
“Because you could have died and I think that’s enough."

Ooooh, normalizing the 'alpha males' giving out a little maturity and level-headedness! This might've been my favorite part in the whole read. This story was super low angst + some fun CE spice which was a good combination!

Max tilted his head to the side as he continued to make notes, his star earrings twinkling in the room lights. He wore a shimmering shirt with stars on it too, his eyes glittering with orange chromatic shadow.
Eventually, I’d have to give him up to the stage. I’d seen the way he longed to be up there performing.

I really look forward to Max's story in Cosmic Heat next!

[Romancing the Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rootin’ tootin’ good alien fun

📕 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Cosmic Crush by Clio Evans

📙 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: The Galactic Gems series. Currently two books, with more to come.

📗 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: E-book on Kindle. Free on KU.

📘 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Sci-fi Romance

📔 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: Monster romance, extra spicy, fated mates, heats, power dynamics, cowboy romance

📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: In an effort to clear his name, outlaw Raider kidnaps Mari - or Little Miss Mercury. But before he can hold her hostage he figures out she’s his mate, and he immediately changes to trying to keep her with him.

🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: I’ve said this before, but I’d just love to live inside Clio Evans’ brain.

Where she came up with an alien burlesque show is beyond me. The first book was a solid start, but this glitter burlesque star Mari and a cowboy, gunslinging bug-like alien with two… little ponies? I mean, come on.

But Clio Evans always proves she knows what she’s doing. I loved these two and their connection. And the spice made me want to launch myself into space to find this guy. Highly recommend this series!

🪄 𝗙𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝗲: If you’re versed in monster erotica you’ll be fine. If not, I’d recommend starting with Clio’s Creature Cafe series.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹: 4.5/5 🌶🌶🌶🌶

🆓️ on KU

[Tegan Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am absolutely adoring exploring space with burlesque brilliance and aphrodisiac in the form of aliens you wanna climb like trees.

And this bad boy has continued the run. Mari and Raider are brilliant, smouldering, on the run after a kidnapping with the intention to clear their name like a brilliant story from the wild west.

This book has it all.
Including, but not limited to:
- Rope
- Boot licking
- Cleanup of the creme ala Raider
- Multiple Appendages
- A VERY fun tail
- Some beautiful BDSM
- Rimming
- Milking of certain appendages
- Heat

I am obsessed and I cannot wait to read the next book in this series after the first two were this incredible.

[Crazy4bookscruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, smutty and hot

I'm in love with this series so far! I love the humans alien relationships.
Mari and Raider were the hottest so far with all the fun dynamics their relationship demanded. I never wanted to meet a 4 armed alien so bad in my life til now 😂😂
Other than the hottest spice scenes around these here parts 😉 the charming connection between the two was amazing.

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

Clio Evans is always a sweet spicy read to pull me back on track, but oddly I struggled to get into this one. I just wasn't feeling the chemistry between these two and the real lack of domesticity was pulling me out of it when they were bursting with love confessions. But other than that, this had all the sheer respect for consent that I really value and I did like that the alien was very alien-y

[Catie McIntosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Mari and Raiders story so much! When you are trying to fight for yourself and may make a rash decision to steal your twin brother’s crush, turns out she is your mate. Raider just wanted to clear his name but Mari was an unexpected treat to happen upon. The way they fall for one another is so fucking cute

[Logan (loganslovelylibrary) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute and hot but westerns just aren’t my cup of tea! The plot was face paced though, I just didn’t really connect to any of it. 3.5 rounded up.

[jas ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️
These are always fun. Space cowboys are my new favourite 🤠

[Sam VanSantvoord · Rating 4 out of 5]

Repetitive on certain words and phrasing but overall pretty fun!

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful

I think I liked book 1 better, but the suspense was everything. Eager to hop into book 3 to find out what happens next.

4.25 stars

[✨ Just Another Bookwyrm ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, pretty spicy, and low stakes fun 🥰.

[Naiara Chiquetto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clio is a confort author for me and this book was delightful.

Mari is such a badass and her relationship with Raider is sweet and funny - and very much spicy, of course.

I'm even more intrigued about THE Madam Moonie, and I think Mr. Mysterious Captain will have something to add to her story.

[Katie Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a super fun mash-up of alien and Western romance! The spice had more of the classic Clio Evans vibes but the romance was super sweet. Gotta love a cowboy outlaw with a heart of gold.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC review

Had such fun reading this sweet and spicy alien romance. I absolutely loved how sassy Mari, our heroine, is. I'm not really a cowboy girl, but I found Raider to be absolutely charming and I honestly need me a man like him. The devotion to pleasuring his mate was 😚👌

Smut was absolutely amazing. I was drenched.

[Natalie]

This was an incredibly mid read for me from Clio Evans. Usually I love her works, but this one was just okay.

I think the main contributing factor was that I wasn’t really into the kinks the main characters were into. I don’t mind reading about them, but it makes the whole experience “meh” for me.

I also thought the pacing of this one felt very off. Most of Clio Evans’ work that I’ve read has a pretty fast pace because they’re so short…but I felt like this one was lacking plot which made it a bit of a struggle to get through. I felt no true urgency and thought too much time was spent with Mari and Raider in the caves just fully on their own. It just felt like a whole bunch of nothing happened and the characters couldn’t convince me of the “trouble” with just words.

Truly wish I had liked this one more, but I simply didn’t.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very similar to the first book in terms of plot, so if you want a different book with lots of plot development, this is probably not for you. If you want a smutty book that has lots of alien sex that you can finish in a night, then read away! Definitely did enjoy, it just wasn't one of my favorites!

[Yara flores · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo he dejado al 74 %

Me gustó mucho pero simplemente me olvide que estaba ahí, en algún momento lo leeré de nuevo y ya dare alguna reseña

[Venus Dott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The glitter-gun slinging hussy, Mari has nothing on the rugged, used to fighting his own battles, Raider. He is determined to use her to clear his good name, well that is before he stings her during his planned kidnapping, and the result was… not what he expected. Now they are bound together, mated thru the cosmic fates, and must find a way to work together to clear Raider’s name of the wrongful accusations and find happiness.

I found myself really likening Mari and her sassy personality, I almost wish there had been just a bit more snark from her, if only to annoy her mate and be a brat.
Raider became quite likable as well, rather quickly. He’s eager to please his mate, fiercely protective and a little bit of a dork. Almost a winning combo.
I think their Dom/Sub dynamic works well for their characters, and i really like how well balanced the power play was, and how often Raider was checking on Mari. We love an attentive Dom.
The scene where Mari is “topping” or more technically “power bottom service subbing” while having Raider tied to their bed was just fantastic; it left me wanting to see more of the side of Raider that submits to Mari, and equally wanting to see how Mari torture him in the best way as a dom.
I really liked that there was more tension in the plot of this book, compared to the first in the series. Also really enjoy the little snippet we get from Madame Moonie in the very beginning, I’m really hoping that she will eventually get her own story.

⭐️5/5 🌶️5/5 🍬4.5/5

[Anya Z. · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨️ ARC Review ✨️

Raider & Mari's story starts with a kidnapping on stage during her headlining burlesque routine. Mari is whisked away off to hideaway caves by a chap wearing, four arms, alien cowboy. He is desperate to clear his name from his evil twin brother's ongoing machinations by blackmailing him with Mari.To say the meet-cute for Clio Evans' Cosmic Crush (2nd in the Galatic Gems Series) is a bit different... would be correct. Cosmic Crush is a wild west, alien, wicked sëxy römp!! Different is SO very good with Raider & Mari. Raider has four arms, a tail with a stinger, 2 *very girthy* pëëṅś & a rod devoted to one singular action - to s🪷ck. Clio writes to every person's type of fantasy with their stories. 🥵🔥💋 I am 100% here for all of it. 😉 As with all of Clio's stories - she has TWs listed, so definitely check them out. The cave & shower on the ship scenes will live rent free in my head. 🥰 Clio is always so very next-level genuis creative in her sëx scënës in each of her stories...but also balances it out with beautiful, heartfelt emotions. 💗 Everything Clio writes is an instant auto-read for me!

[Alfie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐️ Alien Romance. Insta-lust. Fast burn. Dual POV. Burlesque Star x Alien Cowboy. Spiced

It’s only right for me to have a guilty pleasure smutty read every month. Because who else am I to turn to when I need well descriptive and effective spice scenes if it’s not Clio Evans?
I’ve read the first book of the series Cosmic Kiss around the time it first came out last year, and what sold me was the GORGEOUS art. Now I am back with Cosmic Rush, which follows Mari and Raider.
An alien cowboy… weird but interesting. Oddly interesting because now imma think all aliens have cowboy accents. LOL
I’m not opposed to fast burns if they make sense, and Cosmic Rush made sense. I mean if you’re stranded with someone for says, you’re bound to fall in love with them if they’re a hot alien.
The plot was okay. I thought more could’ve been done with it, even if the author wanted it remain at 22 chapters. But I did enjoy the love between Mari and Raider. It was so sweet. Like can an alien come love on me like this?
The spice scenes were creative and nice to read. The boots? I fear I make never look at books the same. Talk about a kink!
Looking forward to the next book!