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First Wave #3
Chasing Dare
Dare Demetrios had spent her life on the run from the Relian’s. Now the worst nightmare of any gifted or hybrid female, has come true for Dare. Drugged and trapped, with no way of escape, she will have to learn to trust more than her instincts if she wants to get out alive.
Balduen Skardard had no idea when he came to Earth that he would find himself drugged and trapped with a mate he never thought to find. Surrounded by the enemy, with little hope of escape, he will have to break thousands of years of Valendran laws to try to save his mate.
With the Relian leaders son determined to make Dare the first breeding success, they will have to adapt in order to survive... and hope the changes won't leave them banished by their people when they return.
Balduen Skardard had no idea when he came to Earth that he would find himself drugged and trapped with a mate he never thought to find. Surrounded by the enemy, with little hope of escape, he will have to break thousands of years of Valendran laws to try to save his mate.
With the Relian leaders son determined to make Dare the first breeding success, they will have to adapt in order to survive... and hope the changes won't leave them banished by their people when they return.
293 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 11, 2014
48 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 18, 2014
This is the third book in the series and not only do we get an alien/hybrid romance like the first two books, we also get an extremely well developed and twisty plot that takes this series to a higher level. This is a 2 parter with a big cliffhanger but the last book is already out so no worries- book #4 is also on KindleUnlimited so a free read if you subscribe. Highly enjoyed this one.
Quick Rundown: Hybrid telekinetic chick gets abducted by her life-long nemesis, the Relians. Relians are one of the alien races secretly on earth hunting a long lost group of Valendrans (a different alien race) who were once thought lost but have actually mated with "gifted" humans and had offspring with them called, hybrids. These hybrids are hunted by Relians because it's been discovered they are sexually compatible with other alien races and Relians are going extinct due to a virus. Valendrans have also come back to Earth for their fallen brothers and offspring- to save them from relentless pursuit by Relians who want them for nefarious means. One such Valendran is our "Dude" in this story and he gets abducted along with our Chick during his attempt to save her. The Dude and Chick are held together and are to be used for experimentation- her for breeding purposes with Relians and him for further study on ways to incapacitate the Valendrans. And here is where the plot thickens and we find ourselves not just in a struggle to see these 2 MC's saved but a long laid plan that's been centuries in the making.
Plot: I read quite a bit of sci-fi romance/erotica/space opera and this book's plot was a lot more than I thought it was at the beginning and that gave this book an extra star from me. I really enjoyed the first two books but they were not this complicated. One does know somewhat early on that the Big Bad in the book is not limited to just a few individuals but as you read along, you find that the Big Bad has been working for a long time and not for the purpose you would think. The author drops some obvious but vague clues so all you really come away with at the end is guesses. The ending with the MC's is somewhat anti-climactic but we do get a few following chapters that draw you back into the larger scope of the plot so there is a cliffhanger. I'll also point out that this is not really erotica. The smexin is on the low scale but because of the situation (and the great story overall), I was not missing it much. I think more sex scenes would have trivialized the story and made is less believable. Still a great romance but this is more of an action based read.
Characters: These characters were very interesting for me. I can't say that they were very well developed because I have very little knowledge of their backgrounds besides facts after reading this. And maybe that was covered in previous books but I just don't remember. They did have personality, though and I really liked how smartly the author wrote them. There was never a single moment where I was telling the character in my head to "do this" and "do that" to get free. The characters analyzed their situation and planned the best course of action. And there was never a moment when I was wondering when they were going to communicate about something. Everything they did was logical which I really appreciated. No "girl-freak-out" moments and no "guy-testosterone-fueled" moments. Was the girl somewhat vulnerable and the guy an alpha? Yes, and the author portrayed those characteristics very well so I felt like I was reading about real people and not caricatures. The dual personalities of some characters was interesting though a bit convoluted at times- can't say more without spoilers. But one of those dual personalities is quite scary; so much so that I'm cringing in anticipation at what it will do in the next book. It creeped me the fuck out! A lot of the secondary characters are from previous novels though I didn't recall them (except for the mountain couple?) but it wasn't really necessary to in order to follow the story. The Big Bad was for the most part, four fold. One of the minor Big Bad's motivation by means of complete crazy was a little far fetched but oh so enjoyable. Another BB's initial portrayal of big, dumb, angry guy morphs into one that is much more clever and scheming. And their end is quite spectacular. The BIG Big Bad came out of left field for me- and in a good way. That BB is going to helm the next novel, I believe and we've already gotten a taste in that things are not as they appear.
Writing: For the most part, the writing is great. What does become a problem is the "editing issues". I rarely point these things out but in this book, around the 50% mark, they become a problem that I couldn't overlook though I did still enjoy the book. Maybe by reading this, you'll be able to overlook them knowing they're going to be there. I also hope the author takes note should she read this and make these much needed changes as I read a lot of reviews by readers who cut a rating down because of bad editing.
-1. Quotation Marks: If you need to quote multiple paragraphs (same person speaking in multiple paragraphs) then you start every paragraph with a quote but not the end of every paragraph until that person has stopped talking. This author puts end quotes at the end of every paragraph so you think the next quote is the other character responding when in fact, it is meant to be a continuation of the first person talking. This author is too good to be making such an elementary mistake.
-2. Direct Address: When a character is directly addressing another, you place a comma before the name. Example: "Stop dropping comma's, Mikayla!" is correct while "Stop dropping comma's Mikayla" is not correct.
-3. Unneeded commas and semicolons: direct quote from book, "If those young ones think, your anger is a threat..." This comma makes no sense and should not be there. Several semicolons also used on occasion that should never be there.
*these errors seem to be more prevalent in the second half of novel but it may be that they just got more annoying for me at that point. Still a great book despite them. No need to point out any of my editing errors as I'm just a reader who reviews and not a published writer:)
Overall: Great book and I've already snatched up the last one and so glad I don't have to wait to read it! While I think you could start this series with this book, I'd recommend to read them in order as I enjoyed the previous ones very much.
-Spuffed, "Half stars are for pansies and one gif is plenty."
Quick Rundown: Hybrid telekinetic chick gets abducted by her life-long nemesis, the Relians. Relians are one of the alien races secretly on earth hunting a long lost group of Valendrans (a different alien race) who were once thought lost but have actually mated with "gifted" humans and had offspring with them called, hybrids. These hybrids are hunted by Relians because it's been discovered they are sexually compatible with other alien races and Relians are going extinct due to a virus. Valendrans have also come back to Earth for their fallen brothers and offspring- to save them from relentless pursuit by Relians who want them for nefarious means. One such Valendran is our "Dude" in this story and he gets abducted along with our Chick during his attempt to save her. The Dude and Chick are held together and are to be used for experimentation- her for breeding purposes with Relians and him for further study on ways to incapacitate the Valendrans. And here is where the plot thickens and we find ourselves not just in a struggle to see these 2 MC's saved but a long laid plan that's been centuries in the making.
Plot: I read quite a bit of sci-fi romance/erotica/space opera and this book's plot was a lot more than I thought it was at the beginning and that gave this book an extra star from me. I really enjoyed the first two books but they were not this complicated. One does know somewhat early on that the Big Bad in the book is not limited to just a few individuals but as you read along, you find that the Big Bad has been working for a long time and not for the purpose you would think. The author drops some obvious but vague clues so all you really come away with at the end is guesses. The ending with the MC's is somewhat anti-climactic but we do get a few following chapters that draw you back into the larger scope of the plot so there is a cliffhanger. I'll also point out that this is not really erotica. The smexin is on the low scale but because of the situation (and the great story overall), I was not missing it much. I think more sex scenes would have trivialized the story and made is less believable. Still a great romance but this is more of an action based read.
Characters: These characters were very interesting for me. I can't say that they were very well developed because I have very little knowledge of their backgrounds besides facts after reading this. And maybe that was covered in previous books but I just don't remember. They did have personality, though and I really liked how smartly the author wrote them. There was never a single moment where I was telling the character in my head to "do this" and "do that" to get free. The characters analyzed their situation and planned the best course of action. And there was never a moment when I was wondering when they were going to communicate about something. Everything they did was logical which I really appreciated. No "girl-freak-out" moments and no "guy-testosterone-fueled" moments. Was the girl somewhat vulnerable and the guy an alpha? Yes, and the author portrayed those characteristics very well so I felt like I was reading about real people and not caricatures. The dual personalities of some characters was interesting though a bit convoluted at times- can't say more without spoilers. But one of those dual personalities is quite scary; so much so that I'm cringing in anticipation at what it will do in the next book. It creeped me the fuck out! A lot of the secondary characters are from previous novels though I didn't recall them (except for the mountain couple?) but it wasn't really necessary to in order to follow the story. The Big Bad was for the most part, four fold. One of the minor Big Bad's motivation by means of complete crazy was a little far fetched but oh so enjoyable. Another BB's initial portrayal of big, dumb, angry guy morphs into one that is much more clever and scheming. And their end is quite spectacular. The BIG Big Bad came out of left field for me- and in a good way. That BB is going to helm the next novel, I believe and we've already gotten a taste in that things are not as they appear.
Writing: For the most part, the writing is great. What does become a problem is the "editing issues". I rarely point these things out but in this book, around the 50% mark, they become a problem that I couldn't overlook though I did still enjoy the book. Maybe by reading this, you'll be able to overlook them knowing they're going to be there. I also hope the author takes note should she read this and make these much needed changes as I read a lot of reviews by readers who cut a rating down because of bad editing.
-1. Quotation Marks: If you need to quote multiple paragraphs (same person speaking in multiple paragraphs) then you start every paragraph with a quote but not the end of every paragraph until that person has stopped talking. This author puts end quotes at the end of every paragraph so you think the next quote is the other character responding when in fact, it is meant to be a continuation of the first person talking. This author is too good to be making such an elementary mistake.
-2. Direct Address: When a character is directly addressing another, you place a comma before the name. Example: "Stop dropping comma's, Mikayla!" is correct while "Stop dropping comma's Mikayla" is not correct.
-3. Unneeded commas and semicolons: direct quote from book, "If those young ones think, your anger is a threat..." This comma makes no sense and should not be there. Several semicolons also used on occasion that should never be there.
*these errors seem to be more prevalent in the second half of novel but it may be that they just got more annoying for me at that point. Still a great book despite them. No need to point out any of my editing errors as I'm just a reader who reviews and not a published writer:)
Overall: Great book and I've already snatched up the last one and so glad I don't have to wait to read it! While I think you could start this series with this book, I'd recommend to read them in order as I enjoyed the previous ones very much.
-Spuffed, "Half stars are for pansies and one gif is plenty."
June 1, 2014
I thought this was witty and fun. I'm waiting on the next . Good read
March 18, 2018
A good story spoilt!
This story had a cliff hanger which the first two didn't. In addition to that (a horror in itself) there does t seem to have been any proofreading done! It is filled with missed words, incorrectly used words (e.g. lay instead of lie), bad grammar and changed tenses within sentences and paragraphs! It completely breaks up the story! Putting an apostrophe in the wrong place may not seem important until you realise that the sentence doesn't make sense and you ha e to go back and reread it. The next book is a continuation of this one which was pretty dark in places so I'll wait before saying anything more. The a foregoing is why I'm only giving this two stars!
This story had a cliff hanger which the first two didn't. In addition to that (a horror in itself) there does t seem to have been any proofreading done! It is filled with missed words, incorrectly used words (e.g. lay instead of lie), bad grammar and changed tenses within sentences and paragraphs! It completely breaks up the story! Putting an apostrophe in the wrong place may not seem important until you realise that the sentence doesn't make sense and you ha e to go back and reread it. The next book is a continuation of this one which was pretty dark in places so I'll wait before saying anything more. The a foregoing is why I'm only giving this two stars!
January 19, 2020
I didn't mind the first two books in this series, but the direction the story is going and the new characters that the future books will be based on don't capture my interest. The horribly evil 'bad' aliens are going to get their turn at life changing romance and I while I am a big believer in people being able to overcome their mistakes and redeeming themselves, having individuals who have killed thousands of people find romance and love isn't something I am interested in unless I am specifically reading a 'dark romance' genre.
March 28, 2018
Very good continuation of series
I read the first couple of the Second Wave series before I realized that there were earlier books that needed to be read. It's kind of neat to go back and read the beginning. The doctor's assistant proves to be completely crazy. The baby beast can kick some butt. Love this series.
I read the first couple of the Second Wave series before I realized that there were earlier books that needed to be read. It's kind of neat to go back and read the beginning. The doctor's assistant proves to be completely crazy. The baby beast can kick some butt. Love this series.
November 17, 2018
Chasing Dare
Exciting, interesting, at times humorous and at times heartbreaking. I am enjoying this series and find it very suspenseful to read.
Exciting, interesting, at times humorous and at times heartbreaking. I am enjoying this series and find it very suspenseful to read.
August 3, 2019
Great
Love this series. Writing improves with each book. But this series is so unique it doesn't detract from the world building.
Love this series. Writing improves with each book. But this series is so unique it doesn't detract from the world building.
January 3, 2015
Chasing Dare was a lot better than the last two books in the series. It is best If you read them in order.
Wow what a cliffhanger at the end, the mystery of what is going on, the twist in the story really puts you on the edge of your seat to find out what is going to happen next. It does keep you guessing and I am looking forward to reading the next book.
Wow what a cliffhanger at the end, the mystery of what is going on, the twist in the story really puts you on the edge of your seat to find out what is going to happen next. It does keep you guessing and I am looking forward to reading the next book.
November 4, 2015
Villains winning & cliffhangers suck
Villains winning & cliffhangers suck
I'm really not understanding all of the high star reviews on this one. I skimmed a lot when the author began turning the villains into heroes. Yuck
Villains winning & cliffhangers suck
I'm really not understanding all of the high star reviews on this one. I skimmed a lot when the author began turning the villains into heroes. Yuck
January 1, 2017
This was Dare and Baulden's book and if you (like me) are into your alien love story every once in a while then this is a MUST read !!
You will not be disappointed !!
5 Take me to the stars Stars from me !
You will not be disappointed !!
5 Take me to the stars Stars from me !
September 20, 2014
Kindle Prime loan
April 10, 2017
suggest read series in order. another shocking pregnancy and mating. cliff hanger ending. Good enough to re-read in april, 2017.
December 1, 2014
Love it, love it, love it!!!!
January 30, 2015
Very good, do not miss this one.
August 2, 2022
Loved it!
October 29, 2016
Started off well but then just seemed to get boring, sloppy and setting up for the next book. I did find the grandchildren's way of dealing with granddad pretty funny.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews