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Zyrgin Warriors #1
Alien Mine
In a bleak future where government systems are breaking down and lawless bands of men terrorize the country, botanist Natalie Hanson fears for her life and hides in a cave in the Rocky Mountains. When she is captured by human raiders, a fierce alien appears and slays her attackers. Natalie is now held captive in her own cave by the sexy and striking alien commander, Zacar, who informs her that she will be his breeder. Natalie soon realizes that these aliens worship strength. So what will happen when Zacar finds out she has severe asthma?
302 pages, Paperback
First published June 19, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
August 3, 2014
UPDATE!!!!!
This book keeps plaguing my recommended reads on Amazon so I had a look at the Amazon reviews which is why I bought this book in the first place. I find three commonalities in all 29 of the 5 star reviews to be quite disturbing:
1. They all say, "I loved these characters!"
2. They all say, "Storyline was really unique!"
3. Most say, "I hope she makes this into a series!"
All of these reviews are posted in twice a day in a certain time period and there's not one mention in the book or the description that this is going to be a series. So where did that come from? Also, not a one of the 29 reviews are Amazon Verified. That's just weird and suspect, Ms. Dry, I'm just sayin'...
Original Review:
Okay, this book is just complete ridiculousness. And I am a lover of the sci fi/survival/dystopian genre and have no problem with believing made up concepts not based in reality. But I had problems with this book from beginning to end. Expect to be entertained with this review and I'll try not to disparage any of those who loved it, though I have a hard time understanding why. This book is at best a great drinking game though you'd be plastered 30% through.
Author: Either suffers from short term memory loss, is mentally challenged or an opportunist to steal my hard earned money with a completely awfully written book. My gut reaction? Me being bitch slapped by the author who then throws head back, laughs maniacally, calls me a "sucker" and then puts my $2.50 into her pocket and retreats, laughing at my stupidity all the way to the bank. I have a hard time thinking the author even re-read this "book" but clearly she had since there were no grammatical or spelling errors. It's become clear to me that she just made this up as she went alongt and didn't take any time to correct all the inconsistencies in this book.
Inconsistencies: From the beginning 2 pages and never stopped.
1. Chick is FREAKED OUT that a tiny baby bird is dying on the ground. She's crying uncontrollably when a man shows up, grabs her and starts hauling her away to his group. She's completely surprised by the man appearing and while following him, she notices that he has the baby bird on his person and it's flopping against his body as he walks. So apparently this tiny baby bird is the size of a chicken?
2. Upon reaching the camp of bad men, she recognizes them as "Raiders" a traveling group of bandits and are recognizable by the fact they are wearing boots. Oookay... Does she freak out about this group of Raiders? No. she gets FREAKED OUT that they have a camp fire! When fires in the 5 of the small forests remaining on the planet have been outlawed due to their possible decimation of the said forests. What does she do for heat in her cave? Lights a fire, of course. She doesn't get concerned about a gang bang rape until a lot of stereotypical Southern accents take away HER ONLY SHOTGUN/WEAPON and throw her on the ground for rape. 2 chapters later, she grabs her EXTRA SHOTGUN out of the EXTRA CAVE STOREROOM which appeared all of a sudden.
3. Throughout the novel, these band of Raiders started out with a group of 20. Later they turn into a group of hundreds. Still later on they turn out into a group of thousands and closer to the end they turn out to be a whole-world problem of millions. And why these group of Raiders surprised her so as being on her mountain in the first few pages when only 2 months prior, her family home had been burned to the ground by the same raiders as she watched. Soooo, why couldn't she wrap her head around the fact they were on her mountain as she had just seen them two months before?
4. At one point, the aliens cut off her ONLY PAIR OF BOOTS she had until several paragraphs later she retrieves her EXTRA PAIR OF BOOTS.
5. At one point her bathing area consists of an elevated barrel with a spout. Then it becomes an area that's blocked off with a screen and becomes a more sophisticated shower type of deal (before aliens sup it up).
6. Somewhere along the 40%-50% mark, it turns out she has a greenhouse full of vegetables and her baby trees though it was never mentioned before.
7. In a world where most animal species are extinct and they live off of manufactured food, somehow getting sugar to make jam out of mountain berries is no problem.
8. During her first escape attempt when the alien that saved her from the Raiders shows up to her cave, she magically pulls a bat out of her ass to knock him over the head with. Said bat all of a sudden conveniently placed right next to cave opening. But what happened to that EXTRA SHOTGUN? well, that shotgun was not necessary to the plot at the time so it shows up later when it becomes necessary.
9. So, she shows up in this cave where she's been living that only has a small entrance which has mostly been hidden by a huge boulder. A chapter later, all of a sudden there's a built in canvas top to unroll over the opening to keep "heat" in. Later on we find out she heats the cave with the before-forbidden-fire and coals. It just keeps changing as we go along.
9. Her asthma is so bad that every time she freaks out or is doing anything physically exerting she HAS to use it. Then in open air she opens a book and immediately has a major asthma attack. Turns out that asthma is curable but her family has never been able to afford it. She clearly spent a ton of money on phone/ipad/computer thingie (called a TC), a hoverboard and buying black market inhalers as they are obsolete. If they aren't making the inhalers anymore that implies that the asthma cure isn't as expensive as character makes it out to be. And of course, turns out her father had a clearly high paying position for years before deciding to live off the land and when his wife died from same asthma, does he try to get his daughter the cure? No. At the end of the book, she gets abducted by the leader of the Raiders and he spends about 30 minutes beating the shit out of her and she has total freakout (to be suspected) but doesn't have an asthma attack. Why, you ask? Well, it's because her inhaler is back in the cave and the author would have had to kill her off at an inopportune time.
10. The TC device (telephone, ipad, holographic TV/computer thingie) is paid for by minutes though every resident on the planet gets 6 hours per month. The government allows everyone the ability to watch the newsfeeds outside of the 6 hour allotment in order to make sure people are alerted to emergency situations but the user can't access the emergency (911) call if they've used their minutes. Yeaaahhh, that make a lot of sense. BTW, the chick has used all of her 6 hour allotment on an entertainment series called "Space Ranger Walker" which I find a very lazy idea considering "Walker Texas Ranger" is a show for idiots and should have no place among an Earth centuries in the future. Then later on, it's mentioned that the emergency function for calling 911 should work but it wasn't. If she already knew that calling 911 without having the minutes to use it then why is she surprised? Then, later on it turns out it's broken not just out of minutes. MAKE UP YOUR MIND, AUTHOR!!!
11. Her parents: Throughout most of the book, she misses her father tremendously. Further on in the book, she starts to miss her mother all of a sudden with no previous mention of her at all. Father started off in the book as being a recluse who was always stock piling this cave as a means of survival should the worst happen and they needed to retreat. Further on in the book he turns into a former highly paid scientist that worked for the best pharmaceutical company. Later on all of a sudden there are his hidden formulas which he had secretly written and hid from his daughter in the magically appearing cave storage room though she always knew about them. huh? Also turns out that he was working on two specific formulas. The first to be pursued was of biological warfare to cause disease to an individual. Turns out they tested that without even considering to try to produce an antidote at the same time to counter effect the damages. Realll smart.
12. Environmental conditions: At first, it's warm enough to wear a strappy sundress but within an hour, there's a blizzard that forces her to abandon an escape from the mountain and forces her to go back and then toward her mountain cave. Author tells us that Alaska is now a desert atmosphere with really high temperatures and that areas closer to the equator suffer more extremes in cold. So, did the total makeup of our planet including it's rotation around the sun change so drastically- no explanation on that. And completely ridiculous.
13. The chick turns out to have a former fiance' at one point. It is said at first he dropped her like a hot potato because she was too tall and skinny. Dude, I seriously doubt that our culture will change that dramatically in 2 centuries. Later on, she claims he dropped her for another completely ridiculous notion. Further from that, the reason changes once again. And this is not from a change resulting from introspection. The author just changes it at will to fit the particular scene.
14. Starts off that she lives near this mountain forest and is paid by the government to plant trees and rebuild it as it is only one of 5 on the planet and is extremely small. Later on it turns out that her family owns this land. So, why is the government allowing her to own the mountain and better yet, paying her to manage and grow it?
15. That's only a few of them. This book is loaded with inconsistencies.
Characters: Alien names and language was not only confusing but ridiculous. "Zyrrgghnnnn" is the name for a group of warriors. Their nickname is "Zyrgin" for some reason which appears many chapters later. "Zgaaaachrrr" is the main alien's name whose name suddenly becomes "Zacar" later on and his father is named "Zyghrczryn" What the fuck ever. The use of all these "z's" and "r's" and "n's" becomes exhausting to read and really hard to differentiate.
Best of the Worst Quotes of this book:
Coming in at...
5. Regarding the diseased face of the Big Bad Leader that came from him being the test subject of chick's father's experiment of a drug that incurs disease. Heroine's response: "No, I think it's the evil in your heart, taking shape on your face". Uhhh, no. It's the result of being injected with the ability to contract any known disease (see discrepancies listed above).
4. "[Being tall and thin] had been one of Andre's biggest complaints about her, probably the main reason they were no longer engaged." Yeah, as the novel progresses, she reveals other reasons as the main reason why Andre left her ass. Again, made up as the author wrote.
3. "Maybe I should move to Alaska. It's always sweltering hot there.." no, no, no, don't explain how the Earth shifted it's axis to make this possible.
2. After many discussions and implications about her being a breeder for their species, she later on says in her inner dialogue, "And what had Zacar meant when he called her a breeder?" Dude, do you not know what the words mean? You've been discussing this with him about you being a breeder for chapters now. It only occurred to you now to think about it????
1. Licking my stomach makes me orgasm every time *snark*; "When he flicked his tongue over her stomach and hipbones again, she screamed in pleasure but didn't speak." Then she explodes into orgasm. Oookay, what the fuck ever.
What to make this a drinking game? Go ahead, here are the rules"
1. Take a shot every time something which character has only ONE of then suddenly grabs her EXTRA one.
2. Take a shot every time she freaks out about something really insignificant in the scheme of things.
3. Take a shot every time they discuss her being a breeder or call her a breeder before she stops asking herself, "what do they mean about me being a breeder?".
4. Take a shot every time the Raiders grow in size. At first they're a local band, then they become hundreds, then thousands and then millions.
5. Take a shot at nonsensical asthma attacks and sensible asthma attacks that never take place.
The ONLY entertaining part of this book was the birth of the "little warriors". But I sure as hell wouldn't have paid $2.50 for just that scene. That's the only thing that gave this book 1 star.
Overall, this author wrote this novel out her ass as she went along. She made no attempt at consistency and I feel Book Raped!!!!
-Spuffed, "Half stars are for pansies and one gif is plenty."
This book keeps plaguing my recommended reads on Amazon so I had a look at the Amazon reviews which is why I bought this book in the first place. I find three commonalities in all 29 of the 5 star reviews to be quite disturbing:
1. They all say, "I loved these characters!"
2. They all say, "Storyline was really unique!"
3. Most say, "I hope she makes this into a series!"
All of these reviews are posted in twice a day in a certain time period and there's not one mention in the book or the description that this is going to be a series. So where did that come from? Also, not a one of the 29 reviews are Amazon Verified. That's just weird and suspect, Ms. Dry, I'm just sayin'...
Original Review:
Okay, this book is just complete ridiculousness. And I am a lover of the sci fi/survival/dystopian genre and have no problem with believing made up concepts not based in reality. But I had problems with this book from beginning to end. Expect to be entertained with this review and I'll try not to disparage any of those who loved it, though I have a hard time understanding why. This book is at best a great drinking game though you'd be plastered 30% through.
Author: Either suffers from short term memory loss, is mentally challenged or an opportunist to steal my hard earned money with a completely awfully written book. My gut reaction? Me being bitch slapped by the author who then throws head back, laughs maniacally, calls me a "sucker" and then puts my $2.50 into her pocket and retreats, laughing at my stupidity all the way to the bank. I have a hard time thinking the author even re-read this "book" but clearly she had since there were no grammatical or spelling errors. It's become clear to me that she just made this up as she went alongt and didn't take any time to correct all the inconsistencies in this book.
Inconsistencies: From the beginning 2 pages and never stopped.
1. Chick is FREAKED OUT that a tiny baby bird is dying on the ground. She's crying uncontrollably when a man shows up, grabs her and starts hauling her away to his group. She's completely surprised by the man appearing and while following him, she notices that he has the baby bird on his person and it's flopping against his body as he walks. So apparently this tiny baby bird is the size of a chicken?
2. Upon reaching the camp of bad men, she recognizes them as "Raiders" a traveling group of bandits and are recognizable by the fact they are wearing boots. Oookay... Does she freak out about this group of Raiders? No. she gets FREAKED OUT that they have a camp fire! When fires in the 5 of the small forests remaining on the planet have been outlawed due to their possible decimation of the said forests. What does she do for heat in her cave? Lights a fire, of course. She doesn't get concerned about a gang bang rape until a lot of stereotypical Southern accents take away HER ONLY SHOTGUN/WEAPON and throw her on the ground for rape. 2 chapters later, she grabs her EXTRA SHOTGUN out of the EXTRA CAVE STOREROOM which appeared all of a sudden.
3. Throughout the novel, these band of Raiders started out with a group of 20. Later they turn into a group of hundreds. Still later on they turn out into a group of thousands and closer to the end they turn out to be a whole-world problem of millions. And why these group of Raiders surprised her so as being on her mountain in the first few pages when only 2 months prior, her family home had been burned to the ground by the same raiders as she watched. Soooo, why couldn't she wrap her head around the fact they were on her mountain as she had just seen them two months before?
4. At one point, the aliens cut off her ONLY PAIR OF BOOTS she had until several paragraphs later she retrieves her EXTRA PAIR OF BOOTS.
5. At one point her bathing area consists of an elevated barrel with a spout. Then it becomes an area that's blocked off with a screen and becomes a more sophisticated shower type of deal (before aliens sup it up).
6. Somewhere along the 40%-50% mark, it turns out she has a greenhouse full of vegetables and her baby trees though it was never mentioned before.
7. In a world where most animal species are extinct and they live off of manufactured food, somehow getting sugar to make jam out of mountain berries is no problem.
8. During her first escape attempt when the alien that saved her from the Raiders shows up to her cave, she magically pulls a bat out of her ass to knock him over the head with. Said bat all of a sudden conveniently placed right next to cave opening. But what happened to that EXTRA SHOTGUN? well, that shotgun was not necessary to the plot at the time so it shows up later when it becomes necessary.
9. So, she shows up in this cave where she's been living that only has a small entrance which has mostly been hidden by a huge boulder. A chapter later, all of a sudden there's a built in canvas top to unroll over the opening to keep "heat" in. Later on we find out she heats the cave with the before-forbidden-fire and coals. It just keeps changing as we go along.
9. Her asthma is so bad that every time she freaks out or is doing anything physically exerting she HAS to use it. Then in open air she opens a book and immediately has a major asthma attack. Turns out that asthma is curable but her family has never been able to afford it. She clearly spent a ton of money on phone/ipad/computer thingie (called a TC), a hoverboard and buying black market inhalers as they are obsolete. If they aren't making the inhalers anymore that implies that the asthma cure isn't as expensive as character makes it out to be. And of course, turns out her father had a clearly high paying position for years before deciding to live off the land and when his wife died from same asthma, does he try to get his daughter the cure? No. At the end of the book, she gets abducted by the leader of the Raiders and he spends about 30 minutes beating the shit out of her and she has total freakout (to be suspected) but doesn't have an asthma attack. Why, you ask? Well, it's because her inhaler is back in the cave and the author would have had to kill her off at an inopportune time.
10. The TC device (telephone, ipad, holographic TV/computer thingie) is paid for by minutes though every resident on the planet gets 6 hours per month. The government allows everyone the ability to watch the newsfeeds outside of the 6 hour allotment in order to make sure people are alerted to emergency situations but the user can't access the emergency (911) call if they've used their minutes. Yeaaahhh, that make a lot of sense. BTW, the chick has used all of her 6 hour allotment on an entertainment series called "Space Ranger Walker" which I find a very lazy idea considering "Walker Texas Ranger" is a show for idiots and should have no place among an Earth centuries in the future. Then later on, it's mentioned that the emergency function for calling 911 should work but it wasn't. If she already knew that calling 911 without having the minutes to use it then why is she surprised? Then, later on it turns out it's broken not just out of minutes. MAKE UP YOUR MIND, AUTHOR!!!
11. Her parents: Throughout most of the book, she misses her father tremendously. Further on in the book, she starts to miss her mother all of a sudden with no previous mention of her at all. Father started off in the book as being a recluse who was always stock piling this cave as a means of survival should the worst happen and they needed to retreat. Further on in the book he turns into a former highly paid scientist that worked for the best pharmaceutical company. Later on all of a sudden there are his hidden formulas which he had secretly written and hid from his daughter in the magically appearing cave storage room though she always knew about them. huh? Also turns out that he was working on two specific formulas. The first to be pursued was of biological warfare to cause disease to an individual. Turns out they tested that without even considering to try to produce an antidote at the same time to counter effect the damages. Realll smart.
12. Environmental conditions: At first, it's warm enough to wear a strappy sundress but within an hour, there's a blizzard that forces her to abandon an escape from the mountain and forces her to go back and then toward her mountain cave. Author tells us that Alaska is now a desert atmosphere with really high temperatures and that areas closer to the equator suffer more extremes in cold. So, did the total makeup of our planet including it's rotation around the sun change so drastically- no explanation on that. And completely ridiculous.
13. The chick turns out to have a former fiance' at one point. It is said at first he dropped her like a hot potato because she was too tall and skinny. Dude, I seriously doubt that our culture will change that dramatically in 2 centuries. Later on, she claims he dropped her for another completely ridiculous notion. Further from that, the reason changes once again. And this is not from a change resulting from introspection. The author just changes it at will to fit the particular scene.
14. Starts off that she lives near this mountain forest and is paid by the government to plant trees and rebuild it as it is only one of 5 on the planet and is extremely small. Later on it turns out that her family owns this land. So, why is the government allowing her to own the mountain and better yet, paying her to manage and grow it?
15. That's only a few of them. This book is loaded with inconsistencies.
Characters: Alien names and language was not only confusing but ridiculous. "Zyrrgghnnnn" is the name for a group of warriors. Their nickname is "Zyrgin" for some reason which appears many chapters later. "Zgaaaachrrr" is the main alien's name whose name suddenly becomes "Zacar" later on and his father is named "Zyghrczryn" What the fuck ever. The use of all these "z's" and "r's" and "n's" becomes exhausting to read and really hard to differentiate.
Best of the Worst Quotes of this book:
Coming in at...
5. Regarding the diseased face of the Big Bad Leader that came from him being the test subject of chick's father's experiment of a drug that incurs disease. Heroine's response: "No, I think it's the evil in your heart, taking shape on your face". Uhhh, no. It's the result of being injected with the ability to contract any known disease (see discrepancies listed above).
4. "[Being tall and thin] had been one of Andre's biggest complaints about her, probably the main reason they were no longer engaged." Yeah, as the novel progresses, she reveals other reasons as the main reason why Andre left her ass. Again, made up as the author wrote.
3. "Maybe I should move to Alaska. It's always sweltering hot there.." no, no, no, don't explain how the Earth shifted it's axis to make this possible.
2. After many discussions and implications about her being a breeder for their species, she later on says in her inner dialogue, "And what had Zacar meant when he called her a breeder?" Dude, do you not know what the words mean? You've been discussing this with him about you being a breeder for chapters now. It only occurred to you now to think about it????
1. Licking my stomach makes me orgasm every time *snark*; "When he flicked his tongue over her stomach and hipbones again, she screamed in pleasure but didn't speak." Then she explodes into orgasm. Oookay, what the fuck ever.
What to make this a drinking game? Go ahead, here are the rules"
1. Take a shot every time something which character has only ONE of then suddenly grabs her EXTRA one.
2. Take a shot every time she freaks out about something really insignificant in the scheme of things.
3. Take a shot every time they discuss her being a breeder or call her a breeder before she stops asking herself, "what do they mean about me being a breeder?".
4. Take a shot every time the Raiders grow in size. At first they're a local band, then they become hundreds, then thousands and then millions.
5. Take a shot at nonsensical asthma attacks and sensible asthma attacks that never take place.
The ONLY entertaining part of this book was the birth of the "little warriors". But I sure as hell wouldn't have paid $2.50 for just that scene. That's the only thing that gave this book 1 star.
Overall, this author wrote this novel out her ass as she went along. She made no attempt at consistency and I feel Book Raped!!!!
-Spuffed, "Half stars are for pansies and one gif is plenty."
July 11, 2014
3.5 stars....teetering on 4. Tempted to re-read it immediately.
New concept in the Mars-Needs-Women. I liked it. It was kind of sad in certain aspects, but I think that added to the fullness of the story. Good heroine, a thinker instead of a whiner or hot-head.
Hero and the other warriors were likable too.
I thought it was so cute that they took turns getting hurt on purpose so Natalie would fuss over them.
Dystopian on Earth as government structure is about to fail and because the warriors aren't there to "make friends".
Erotica because there was some good goodlovin in this book. Woo...it would almost be worth it to live in a cave.
HFN ending & I am seriously hoping the author makes this into a series.
New concept in the Mars-Needs-Women. I liked it. It was kind of sad in certain aspects, but I think that added to the fullness of the story. Good heroine, a thinker instead of a whiner or hot-head.
Hero and the other warriors were likable too.
I thought it was so cute that they took turns getting hurt on purpose so Natalie would fuss over them.
Dystopian on Earth as government structure is about to fail and because the warriors aren't there to "make friends".
Erotica because there was some good goodlovin in this book. Woo...it would almost be worth it to live in a cave.
HFN ending & I am seriously hoping the author makes this into a series.
June 28, 2016
1 Sad Star...
Look I know many of you might have liked this book... Not my case.
Where to begin???
Summary>
Natalie is a botanist, who ventures into the mountains in her daily work to protect and ensure the forest and animals prosper as they are in the brink of extintion. Raiders invade, cut trees, make a fire, eat puny birds and capture her. In comes alien assassin/warrior hero saves her from evil raiders. She runs like a deer frightened from both things obviously... Seeks refuge in her personal cave, then decides to leave again... Comes back cause winter came. Surpise! Alien is at her doorstep she hits him and ties him up. Goes on with her life afraid alien dood will do something terrible... Alien eventually frees himself after eternal staring competition. He looks at her silent for days she tries to communicate. No such luck for our heroine.
Going to stop before I trip on spoilers....
This read was pure agony for me. The hero was cave warrior alfa, which was fine. He had more personality than any of the characters in this story.
But the herione...
OMG! I just wanted her to stop reading her thoughts and conclusions. And her dialogues... I wanted her to dissapear. Period!
She was so irritating and dumb! As I've said in my status updates... She kept asking the same questions over and over again. Even if they were answered in her same language, she did not get it! The first half of the book she's always like...
Things are explained. But still she's like...
And goes on not understanding! Anything really...
She has a memory of a fly... She's alway lost and shivering! Which is irritating...
I can get the fact she doesn't grasp the alien's action and customs. But some things were just ridiculous...
To add to the list of why I can't stand this woman... Is how badly constructed her personality and character is. If you don't kill to eat and preserve wild life and greens, live in the mountain alone.... You have to be aware of basic survival skills. Plus author should think of better ways to describe or transmit her profesion so we at least respect that part, even if she is dumb.
In little details... That frankly made my brain explode in frustration. Like> how can she eat canned meet if she can't stand to see a dead bird being eaten? Also... How can she accuse bad people of being animals?
Synonyms people!!!!! She compared her attackers with animals!!!! Here are a few words to use> Monsters, beasts, abominations...
Who needs good backgrounds and personality? Screw that! Let's just use titles at random and forget about the rest!
It would have so much better, if she was just a regular clueless gal who got lost in the forest and got attacked and saved.
I would have loved to read the kinky dirty parts if I could have ignored these details... But I can't!
Scifi factor: Non existent... Except for the fact that hero is an alien with alien warrior buddies and some tech.
Romance: Meh...
Sex: Good. I would have enjoyed so much more, if I liked the protagonist even a little. Plain and all. But they were just all wrong!
Sincerely... except the sex. Everything about this book, from the characters, setting and plot was bad. Lame really.
Storyline/plot: Turned boring and didn't move me. From the moment they reach the cave. It's lifeless. No thrill. Boring to the point "I wan't stop reading and forget I ever found you or touched you!", kind of feeling.
Almost a DNF...
Conclusion: Disaster read. I bid you farewell and future reads are better.
Look I know many of you might have liked this book... Not my case.
Where to begin???
Summary>
Natalie is a botanist, who ventures into the mountains in her daily work to protect and ensure the forest and animals prosper as they are in the brink of extintion. Raiders invade, cut trees, make a fire, eat puny birds and capture her. In comes alien assassin/warrior hero saves her from evil raiders. She runs like a deer frightened from both things obviously... Seeks refuge in her personal cave, then decides to leave again... Comes back cause winter came. Surpise! Alien is at her doorstep she hits him and ties him up. Goes on with her life afraid alien dood will do something terrible... Alien eventually frees himself after eternal staring competition. He looks at her silent for days she tries to communicate. No such luck for our heroine.
Going to stop before I trip on spoilers....
This read was pure agony for me. The hero was cave warrior alfa, which was fine. He had more personality than any of the characters in this story.
But the herione...
OMG! I just wanted her to stop reading her thoughts and conclusions. And her dialogues... I wanted her to dissapear. Period!
She was so irritating and dumb! As I've said in my status updates... She kept asking the same questions over and over again. Even if they were answered in her same language, she did not get it! The first half of the book she's always like...
Things are explained. But still she's like...
And goes on not understanding! Anything really...
She has a memory of a fly... She's alway lost and shivering! Which is irritating...
I can get the fact she doesn't grasp the alien's action and customs. But some things were just ridiculous...
To add to the list of why I can't stand this woman... Is how badly constructed her personality and character is. If you don't kill to eat and preserve wild life and greens, live in the mountain alone.... You have to be aware of basic survival skills. Plus author should think of better ways to describe or transmit her profesion so we at least respect that part, even if she is dumb.
In little details... That frankly made my brain explode in frustration. Like> how can she eat canned meet if she can't stand to see a dead bird being eaten? Also... How can she accuse bad people of being animals?
Synonyms people!!!!! She compared her attackers with animals!!!! Here are a few words to use> Monsters, beasts, abominations...
Who needs good backgrounds and personality? Screw that! Let's just use titles at random and forget about the rest!
It would have so much better, if she was just a regular clueless gal who got lost in the forest and got attacked and saved.
I would have loved to read the kinky dirty parts if I could have ignored these details... But I can't!
Scifi factor: Non existent... Except for the fact that hero is an alien with alien warrior buddies and some tech.
Romance: Meh...
Sex: Good. I would have enjoyed so much more, if I liked the protagonist even a little. Plain and all. But they were just all wrong!
Sincerely... except the sex. Everything about this book, from the characters, setting and plot was bad. Lame really.
Storyline/plot: Turned boring and didn't move me. From the moment they reach the cave. It's lifeless. No thrill. Boring to the point "I wan't stop reading and forget I ever found you or touched you!", kind of feeling.
Almost a DNF...
Conclusion: Disaster read. I bid you farewell and future reads are better.
June 14, 2016
Not a very smart book. Not much to offer. Barely a romance. There is angst, yes. But not a whole lot of love. The HEA is a huge stretch, and not really happy. Damn kindle sales!
The "hero" is a blank slate, expressionless and emotionless alien. Protective, uber-alpha, mates-for-life and mysteriously attractive to the heroine. So no problems there- excellent fodder for a typical romance.
My issue is with the heroine.Even after reading, I don't know how I would describe except in relation to things that happen to her, and the few people she knows. What is her personality? Why should we care about her? The three words that best describe her? (I would say, "character in book","living human female", or "asthmatic alien captive".) This is very much a tell-not-show kind of book, and even then we only get vague, oddly imprecise descriptions of the heroine and brief, not fully fleshed out references to her past and present.
Here's an example. Reading the book blurb after finishing, I was surprised to hear that the heroine is apparently a botanist! (I think the only type of tree mentioned in the whole book is pine, but it is used far more often in reference to the hot pine-fresh scent of her alien lover/captor. The closest activity we get to anything resembling botany or forestry is jam-making.)
The heroine lives in the Rockies and her mission in life is to plant trees to regrow the badly destroyed forest. I don't think she ever mentions this dream out loud, or takes any action to study plants or save the forest in the course of the story. She demonstrates no knowledge, expertise, or skills related to botany. Instead she has a greenhouse (containing berry "shrubs" for jam-making) and thinks two or three times about how she would like to plant more trees and regrow the forest.
This is just the tip of the ice berg with the weird, careless writing going on in this book. But, bad writing I can get over if the romance is good. It's not - and the bar in this genre is looooow. The romance is just as weird and unsatisfying. I have a hard time categorizing it as a romance, because the heroine is so passive and the hero so truly emotionless.
The "hero" is a blank slate, expressionless and emotionless alien. Protective, uber-alpha, mates-for-life and mysteriously attractive to the heroine. So no problems there- excellent fodder for a typical romance.
My issue is with the heroine.Even after reading, I don't know how I would describe except in relation to things that happen to her, and the few people she knows. What is her personality? Why should we care about her? The three words that best describe her? (I would say, "character in book","living human female", or "asthmatic alien captive".) This is very much a tell-not-show kind of book, and even then we only get vague, oddly imprecise descriptions of the heroine and brief, not fully fleshed out references to her past and present.
Here's an example. Reading the book blurb after finishing, I was surprised to hear that the heroine is apparently a botanist! (I think the only type of tree mentioned in the whole book is pine, but it is used far more often in reference to the hot pine-fresh scent of her alien lover/captor. The closest activity we get to anything resembling botany or forestry is jam-making.)
The heroine lives in the Rockies and her mission in life is to plant trees to regrow the badly destroyed forest. I don't think she ever mentions this dream out loud, or takes any action to study plants or save the forest in the course of the story. She demonstrates no knowledge, expertise, or skills related to botany. Instead she has a greenhouse (containing berry "shrubs" for jam-making) and thinks two or three times about how she would like to plant more trees and regrow the forest.
This is just the tip of the ice berg with the weird, careless writing going on in this book. But, bad writing I can get over if the romance is good. It's not - and the bar in this genre is looooow. The romance is just as weird and unsatisfying. I have a hard time categorizing it as a romance, because the heroine is so passive and the hero so truly emotionless.
December 20, 2018
2.5 Stars
Natalie Hanson has a whole host of problems:
1. The government is breaking down – there’s no reliable law enforcement, the planet has basically been denuded of trees and animals and food and water is hard to come by.
2. Her house has been burnt down and all her belonging stolen and the only place she has to go is a cave in the Rocky Mountains.
3. There’s a huge alien she has tied up in said cave and she has no idea who he is, or what he wants.
I’m so torn about this book! I fully expected to love it as I seem to love most the alien books I pick up. And Alien Mine isn’t just a sci-fi alien romance, it’s also one set on a dystopian Earth, which just makes it that little bit more interesting. But, as much as I liked the setting and the idea of the book, it didn’t quite hit the spot.
The aliens themselves were imposing warriors, of the ‘definitely not human’ variety with their red eyes, green/gold skin and ridged faces. Intriguing. They were also aggressive and combative and happily killed anyone who got in their way. Luckily their targets were the ever increasing hoard of men who were moving across the country killing and raping as they went. However, despite feeling a bit of a righteous thrill that they were killing such evil men, they weren’t exactly lovable.
Which, bring us to the romance and the main issue I had with this book. Zacar, our alien hero didn’t treat Natasha very well. It wasn’t even that he was keeping her captive, it was more his general attitude towards her. It rubbed me the wrong way. Not that he didn’t have his gentler moments, because he did and he had softened by the end of the book. However, I left the book with the feeling that it wasn’t a grand romance, where they both overcame their cultural and physical difference to be together. But rather Natasha stayed as it seemed like the only viable option. Where else would she go? Hardly the stuff that romance is made out of.
I will try the next book in the series, as there were aspects I enjoyed. Maybe Alien Mine is just suffering from a few teething problems that you can get in the first book of a series.
Natalie Hanson has a whole host of problems:
1. The government is breaking down – there’s no reliable law enforcement, the planet has basically been denuded of trees and animals and food and water is hard to come by.
2. Her house has been burnt down and all her belonging stolen and the only place she has to go is a cave in the Rocky Mountains.
3. There’s a huge alien she has tied up in said cave and she has no idea who he is, or what he wants.
I’m so torn about this book! I fully expected to love it as I seem to love most the alien books I pick up. And Alien Mine isn’t just a sci-fi alien romance, it’s also one set on a dystopian Earth, which just makes it that little bit more interesting. But, as much as I liked the setting and the idea of the book, it didn’t quite hit the spot.
The aliens themselves were imposing warriors, of the ‘definitely not human’ variety with their red eyes, green/gold skin and ridged faces. Intriguing. They were also aggressive and combative and happily killed anyone who got in their way. Luckily their targets were the ever increasing hoard of men who were moving across the country killing and raping as they went. However, despite feeling a bit of a righteous thrill that they were killing such evil men, they weren’t exactly lovable.
Which, bring us to the romance and the main issue I had with this book. Zacar, our alien hero didn’t treat Natasha very well. It wasn’t even that he was keeping her captive, it was more his general attitude towards her. It rubbed me the wrong way. Not that he didn’t have his gentler moments, because he did and he had softened by the end of the book. However, I left the book with the feeling that it wasn’t a grand romance, where they both overcame their cultural and physical difference to be together. But rather Natasha stayed as it seemed like the only viable option. Where else would she go? Hardly the stuff that romance is made out of.
I will try the next book in the series, as there were aspects I enjoyed. Maybe Alien Mine is just suffering from a few teething problems that you can get in the first book of a series.
April 29, 2015
Alien Abuduction Romances should be a guilty pleasure of mine but I don't feel guilty.
I accept the premise that the hero or heroine who has been abducted can't freak out for the entire story. I just sort of go with this ridcullous because I love the class of cultures so much.
There is a lot of silliness along those lines in this book and some loose annoying trings (like a purple alien running around--who is that? Sure, we find out in the next book but .... lame)
But this is fun Alien Candy. I like the hero and I like the heroine. The Post Apoc world is contrived and we open with a typical near rape from "wild lawless men" but I enjoy the romance and the progression towards comprimise and I read the second book the next day. So, you know I enjoy it.
Thanks to Kindles and Wine for the Giveaway! Sometimes, I get lucky!
I accept the premise that the hero or heroine who has been abducted can't freak out for the entire story. I just sort of go with this ridcullous because I love the class of cultures so much.
There is a lot of silliness along those lines in this book and some loose annoying trings (like a purple alien running around--who is that? Sure, we find out in the next book but .... lame)
But this is fun Alien Candy. I like the hero and I like the heroine. The Post Apoc world is contrived and we open with a typical near rape from "wild lawless men" but I enjoy the romance and the progression towards comprimise and I read the second book the next day. So, you know I enjoy it.
Thanks to Kindles and Wine for the Giveaway! Sometimes, I get lucky!
July 2, 2014
Spectacular sci-fi romance! Loved the fine mix of savagry and gentle reverance found in the alien hero of this story. While brute strength was a basic requirement to the alien race, the hero's acceptance of the frailties and weaknesses of his chosen mate became more of a religious devotion. In many ways, the hero had as many weaknesses emotionally as he had perfection physically. The drama of the story always seemed to have a sharp edge to it making for a practically unstoppable read. The ending was somewhat awkward, and the reader was not prepared for it at all. Other than this, this has become one of my favorite sci-fi romances!
August 13, 2014
I liked the idea of where Earth was in it's own path and then these aliens sort of happened upon us who are born conquers of worlds but, they are not mindless and they assess the situation. They could do as they plan when they arrive but, seem to have some scruples about them. I found it an entertaining read and would pick up another by this Author.
June 19, 2014
It the time of a bleak future where the government systems are breaking down and the lawless terrorize the country. Botanist Natalie Hanson fears for her life, as I am sure anyone would . She hides herself in a cave deep in the Rocky Mountains , but her reprieve is short lived as she is captured by human raiders, ready to take her back to their leader the truly awful and vile Murdock.
But it gets worse, fierce alien, Zacar , appears as if from no where and slays her kidnappers and then drags her off with him. But sexy Zacar wants Natalie for one thing and one thing only, she is to be his breeder. The problem ? These aliens worship strength and Natalie has severe asthma and so that pretty much counts her out as the perfect candidate, right ?
This was a very well written book with really strong characters. I will admit I found it unusual when the dots started connecting and I became aware that the aliens want to breed with the human race in order to form the a group of warriors who will be ready to fight anything and anyone at the drop of a command. I have not come across this "we will conquer the earth through means of sex" idea before, and as I said I found it unusual but simply because I could never have imagined it.
But it totally worked perfectly! The read is filled with lots of " Oh no that did not just happen!" moments and some so remarkably well written I could feel the fear running through Natalie.
The book is also filled with stunning action scenes and I mean the full on "Wow!" now that 's what I call kick ass action and not the a little drops of I kick you , he hits me , we fight here and there kind of action that is so very often found in paranormal books. It takes a true talent to bring action ,romance, suspense and a good plot all in line to blow the reader away, am more than happy to say this author nailed it , all of it !
But don't for one minute think the action and suspense is alone, there is some serious hot sex in this read, pages going up in flames does not even come close to a proper description. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this read and I recommend it for all fans of paranormal reads.
If you can handle hot sex and not feel as if your mother would keel over if she saw you reading it, and if you don't mind the odd crude word here and there, and love a good action packed read filled with lots of good paranormal twists then this book if for you!
4.5 star review
" He wants her to breed his warrior army, all she wants is for him to be her warrior"
But it gets worse, fierce alien, Zacar , appears as if from no where and slays her kidnappers and then drags her off with him. But sexy Zacar wants Natalie for one thing and one thing only, she is to be his breeder. The problem ? These aliens worship strength and Natalie has severe asthma and so that pretty much counts her out as the perfect candidate, right ?
This was a very well written book with really strong characters. I will admit I found it unusual when the dots started connecting and I became aware that the aliens want to breed with the human race in order to form the a group of warriors who will be ready to fight anything and anyone at the drop of a command. I have not come across this "we will conquer the earth through means of sex" idea before, and as I said I found it unusual but simply because I could never have imagined it.
But it totally worked perfectly! The read is filled with lots of " Oh no that did not just happen!" moments and some so remarkably well written I could feel the fear running through Natalie.
The book is also filled with stunning action scenes and I mean the full on "Wow!" now that 's what I call kick ass action and not the a little drops of I kick you , he hits me , we fight here and there kind of action that is so very often found in paranormal books. It takes a true talent to bring action ,romance, suspense and a good plot all in line to blow the reader away, am more than happy to say this author nailed it , all of it !
But don't for one minute think the action and suspense is alone, there is some serious hot sex in this read, pages going up in flames does not even come close to a proper description. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this read and I recommend it for all fans of paranormal reads.
If you can handle hot sex and not feel as if your mother would keel over if she saw you reading it, and if you don't mind the odd crude word here and there, and love a good action packed read filled with lots of good paranormal twists then this book if for you!
4.5 star review
" He wants her to breed his warrior army, all she wants is for him to be her warrior"
July 15, 2014
This is ok. It was sweet witnessing the heroine's and hero's love blossom but there were far too many plot holes.
The alien race is meant to be highly advanced but they can't seem to find a means to their problem with regards to procreating? Surely clones or test tube babies would be a given?
Also they live for centuries but the hero (despite being 30 years old) still hasn't had any kids since then? Even though it only takes 5 earth years for him to become an adult.
Then there's other plot holes which I can't get into or it'll be a spoiler but some of the dates and years don't match up andin some instances they're and advance race and in others very primitive.
Then there's the callous disregard to weakness. Even the heroine has this when she sneers at the homeless men who became part of a gang of "raiders". I don't particularly like this group either but if they're homeless and there's loads of them then surely it's more than them being "mean" and something to do with a terribly dystopian system.
It's an ok read. Not erotica or anything with bdsm etc. But a light-hearted dystopian romcom.
The alien race is meant to be highly advanced but they can't seem to find a means to their problem with regards to procreating? Surely clones or test tube babies would be a given?
Also they live for centuries but the hero (despite being 30 years old) still hasn't had any kids since then? Even though it only takes 5 earth years for him to become an adult.
Then there's other plot holes which I can't get into or it'll be a spoiler but some of the dates and years don't match up andin some instances they're and advance race and in others very primitive.
Then there's the callous disregard to weakness. Even the heroine has this when she sneers at the homeless men who became part of a gang of "raiders". I don't particularly like this group either but if they're homeless and there's loads of them then surely it's more than them being "mean" and something to do with a terribly dystopian system.
It's an ok read. Not erotica or anything with bdsm etc. But a light-hearted dystopian romcom.
March 15, 2017
I've seen this book several times and always scrolled past it. Honestly, the cover is off-putting, but after finally reading the blurb, I was interested. As soon as I started, I was hooked. This kind of book falls under the 'Guilty Pleasure' category for me. I didn't mind that some things felt out there, it was a fun, enjoyable read. I also understand how different Zacar's upbringing was, but you could really see him trying with Natalie. He wanted to understand and make her happy. I was bummed that we didn't get to see more from his point of view besides a couple short moments in the beginning. I would have liked to delve into his mind a little more. Overall, a good read that had me sucked in.
October 17, 2014
This book wasn't what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be just another steamy romance (which i actually enjoy often), but it was more about cultural differences (human/alien) and falling in love.
The book wasn't steamy at all, but it was quite enjoyable if you like slow books. This is a slow book. 40% into the book and we were still in the awkward meeting part. The writing style was enjoyable enough that I kept on going, but it's also true that I felt like quitting a couple of times.
The book wasn't steamy at all, but it was quite enjoyable if you like slow books. This is a slow book. 40% into the book and we were still in the awkward meeting part. The writing style was enjoyable enough that I kept on going, but it's also true that I felt like quitting a couple of times.
October 12, 2015
I really enjoyed this book, but it was missing something that I couldn't put my finger. I think I would've like it if the heroine's character was more aggressive.
March 12, 2018
Audio book
3.75 Stars for the story & 4.25 Stars for the narrator
Culture clash between a Alien H & human h. This was a semi-slow burn romance.
The writing was good. I was never bored listening to the book. The narrator did a good job with emotional inflections & with narrating the male voices especially the H.
The story is told in 3rd pov with 95% of it was from the h perspective. I would of loved this book if there was more H perspective. I needed to understand him more. I needed more discussion between the MC about certain events.
The HEA is fantastic. You will have No doubt that the h is everything to the H. Very heart warming ending for the MC. The 2nd book focuses on a different couple.
The H never physically abuses the h He’s not emotionally cruel by the standards of his culture. But his values are very different than humans.
Sex scenes-medium heat
I received a free audio book in an exchange for an honest review.
3.75 Stars for the story & 4.25 Stars for the narrator
Culture clash between a Alien H & human h. This was a semi-slow burn romance.
The writing was good. I was never bored listening to the book. The narrator did a good job with emotional inflections & with narrating the male voices especially the H.
The story is told in 3rd pov with 95% of it was from the h perspective. I would of loved this book if there was more H perspective. I needed to understand him more. I needed more discussion between the MC about certain events.
The HEA is fantastic. You will have No doubt that the h is everything to the H. Very heart warming ending for the MC. The 2nd book focuses on a different couple.
The H never physically abuses the h He’s not emotionally cruel by the standards of his culture. But his values are very different than humans.
Sex scenes-medium heat
I received a free audio book in an exchange for an honest review.
July 19, 2017
Surely, somewhere out there, is well-written and entertaining Sci-Fi Erotica...but you won't find it here.
According to the blurb, this story seemed to have the perfect ingredients: dystopian future, hot aliens, and a feisty heroine. Sadly, I just couldn't make myself read far enough to discover if the alien really was hot....and I figured out very early on that the heroine was absolutely TSTL -- making stupid choices and random decisions.
But it was the writing that did me in -- numerous continuity errors where story elements aren't consistent, as well as the characters' own thoughts and actions...where you're left wondering WTF????
One of these days I'll learn....check out the GR ratings before I buy. And....at least Amazon refunded my money.
According to the blurb, this story seemed to have the perfect ingredients: dystopian future, hot aliens, and a feisty heroine. Sadly, I just couldn't make myself read far enough to discover if the alien really was hot....and I figured out very early on that the heroine was absolutely TSTL -- making stupid choices and random decisions.
But it was the writing that did me in -- numerous continuity errors where story elements aren't consistent, as well as the characters' own thoughts and actions...where you're left wondering WTF????
One of these days I'll learn....check out the GR ratings before I buy. And....at least Amazon refunded my money.
December 6, 2018
Natalie Hanson has a whole host of problems:1. The government is breaking down – there’s no reliable law enforcement, the planet has basically been denuded of trees and animals and food and water is hard to come by.
2. Her house has been burnt down and all her belonging stolen and the only place she has to go is a cave in the Rocky Mountains.
3. There’s a huge alien she has tied up in said cave and she has no idea who he is, or what he wants.
I’m so torn about this book! I fully expected to love it as I seem to love most the alien books I pick up. And Alien Mine isn’t just a sci-fi alien romance, it’s also one set on a dystopian Earth, which just makes it that little bit more interesting. But, as much as I liked the setting and the idea of the book, it didn’t quite hit the spot.
The aliens themselves were imposing warriors, of the ‘definitely not human’ variety with their red eyes, green/gold skin and ridged faces. Intriguing. They were also aggressive and combative and happily killed anyone who got in their way. Luckily their targets were the ever increasing hoard of men who were moving across the country killing and raping as they went. However, despite feeling a bit of a righteous thrill that they were killing such evil men, they weren’t exactly loveable.
Which, bring us to the romance and the main issue I had with this book. Zacar, our alien hero didn’t treat Natasha very well. It wasn’t even that he was keeping her captive, it was more his general attitude towards her. It rubbed me the wrong way. Not that he didn’t have his gentler moments, because he did and he had softened by the end of the book. However, I left the book with the feeling that it wasn’t a grand romance, where they both overcame their cultural and physical difference to be together. But rather Natasha stayed as it seemed like the only viable option. Where else would she go? Hardly the stuff that romance is made out of.
I will try the next book in the series, as there were aspects I enjoyed. Maybe Alien Mine is just suffering from a few teething problems that you can get in the first book of a series.
*Reviewed by Suzanne❤ ♡ Don't want to miss any of our posts? Subscribe to our blog by email! ♡ ❤
July 17, 2016
Earth is totally messed up. Animals and plants have died off, government has disintegrated, technology has stagnated, and bands of “raiders” terrorize the populace.
Enter the Zyrgin, an alien warrior race whose goal is to conquer the planets they encounter. They land on Earth by mistake (their ship malfunctions), but decide to stay because the women on their planet have died off and Earth offers a plethora of good “breeders.”
Natalie, the daughter of a survivalist father, is in the mountains planting trees, when she is attacked by the raiders – and then rescued by Zacar, a Zyrgin, who promptly claims her as his breeder and keeps her captive in her cave. (Her father had stocked it, and she hid there after raiders burned down her house).
I personally found the Zyrgin to be appealing romantic heroes. They’re tough, warrior conquerors. Honor is a big thing to them – honor in battle and also honor in how they care for their women.
Natalie fears Zacar at first, but comes to love him. However, while Zacar treats her well, he takes “strong, silent type” to the nth degree. He isn’t one to share his feelings or express any emotion, and Natalie begins to fear that he is merely using her as a breeder for the little warriors he wishes to produce.
Until about ¾ of the way through this book, I wanted more from Zacar’s POV. I was okay with him acting emotionless (it is actually part of his charm!) and Natalie fearing he didn’t really care for her, but I wanted some internal dialogue from him that showed his true feelings. However, by the end of the book, I changed my mind. I liked that the author didn’t show us his feelings early on – because it made for swoon-worthy end when he finally did confess his feelings. (I hope this isn’t a spoiler. It’s a romance, people. You have to know there’s going to be an HEA).
I grew up reading romances that were told solely in the heroine’s POV, and the heroine never learned how the hero really felt until the end when he professed his undying love. This book followed that format, and I liked it. (Hello, old friend!).
I started this series by reading book 3 (I found it first), and now I’m off to read book 2. I hope there’s a book 4 in the works, because I’m hooked.
Enter the Zyrgin, an alien warrior race whose goal is to conquer the planets they encounter. They land on Earth by mistake (their ship malfunctions), but decide to stay because the women on their planet have died off and Earth offers a plethora of good “breeders.”
Natalie, the daughter of a survivalist father, is in the mountains planting trees, when she is attacked by the raiders – and then rescued by Zacar, a Zyrgin, who promptly claims her as his breeder and keeps her captive in her cave. (Her father had stocked it, and she hid there after raiders burned down her house).
I personally found the Zyrgin to be appealing romantic heroes. They’re tough, warrior conquerors. Honor is a big thing to them – honor in battle and also honor in how they care for their women.
Natalie fears Zacar at first, but comes to love him. However, while Zacar treats her well, he takes “strong, silent type” to the nth degree. He isn’t one to share his feelings or express any emotion, and Natalie begins to fear that he is merely using her as a breeder for the little warriors he wishes to produce.
Until about ¾ of the way through this book, I wanted more from Zacar’s POV. I was okay with him acting emotionless (it is actually part of his charm!) and Natalie fearing he didn’t really care for her, but I wanted some internal dialogue from him that showed his true feelings. However, by the end of the book, I changed my mind. I liked that the author didn’t show us his feelings early on – because it made for swoon-worthy end when he finally did confess his feelings. (I hope this isn’t a spoiler. It’s a romance, people. You have to know there’s going to be an HEA).
I grew up reading romances that were told solely in the heroine’s POV, and the heroine never learned how the hero really felt until the end when he professed his undying love. This book followed that format, and I liked it. (Hello, old friend!).
I started this series by reading book 3 (I found it first), and now I’m off to read book 2. I hope there’s a book 4 in the works, because I’m hooked.
August 17, 2014
Complicated Steamy Romance with an Interesting Twist
Complicated Steamy Romance with an Interesting Twist
Fabulous debut novel by Marie Dry, who managed to pull me into the story and did not let me go until I finished reading it. If that is not the sign of a good writer, I do not know what is! I particularly enjoyed reading about the interactions between aliens and humans, the communication challenges, cultural and physical differences. Those areas were very well explored and described. The romance was very sensual and and like a dream come true, at least for Natalia. Her love is pure and she is a strong female character everyone would like. The aliens were not anthropomorphized and that made the book so powerful. I laughed and I cried while reading. The ending was so sweet. I am dying to read a sequel.
Complicated Steamy Romance with an Interesting Twist
Fabulous debut novel by Marie Dry, who managed to pull me into the story and did not let me go until I finished reading it. If that is not the sign of a good writer, I do not know what is! I particularly enjoyed reading about the interactions between aliens and humans, the communication challenges, cultural and physical differences. Those areas were very well explored and described. The romance was very sensual and and like a dream come true, at least for Natalia. Her love is pure and she is a strong female character everyone would like. The aliens were not anthropomorphized and that made the book so powerful. I laughed and I cried while reading. The ending was so sweet. I am dying to read a sequel.
December 27, 2014
There are so many problems with this book. Most of them involving the 'heroine'. Just a few...At the start of the book she's captured by the bad guys, "Murdoch's Raiders", who actually say the name of their leader but she doesn't realize who they are until she notices their army boots, which Murdoch orders them to wear. She's not bothered about being held captive but *gasp* they lit a fire. There are several times when things that were said to be the "only" one the h had were later replaced with "extra" ones that were found around her tiny/multi room cave. The h's asthma was another thing, it came & went with not rhythm or reason. Fear, exercise, tenseness, book dust all cause a reaction but oddly enough a beating by the head baddie she was breathing easy through out. The Raiders number changed too 100s, 1000s, 100,000s and possibly more. Pick a number and stick with it!
April 21, 2015
I’ve been tentatively taking a foray into the science fiction world by trying sci-fi stories within a genre I already like, namely romance. I am so happy I gave this author/series a chance!
Okay, how about this for a first: there is not one thing that I disliked about Natalie, the heroine. I liked how she seems weak and vulnerable at the start of the book, and then as the story progresses, her grit comes out. I liked how her rational mind tries to make sense of this alien who seems to appear out of nowhere during her attack at the start of the book. But my favorite aspect of Natalie was...
Read my full review on Kindles & Wine HERE
Rating: A-
Note: Review copy courtesy of the author.
Okay, how about this for a first: there is not one thing that I disliked about Natalie, the heroine. I liked how she seems weak and vulnerable at the start of the book, and then as the story progresses, her grit comes out. I liked how her rational mind tries to make sense of this alien who seems to appear out of nowhere during her attack at the start of the book. But my favorite aspect of Natalie was...
Read my full review on Kindles & Wine HERE
Rating: A-
Note: Review copy courtesy of the author.
July 12, 2014
Reading Alien Mine reminds me that I don't read enough sci-fi anymore.
After my childhood faves, my first real author love was Frank Herbert. Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Philip K Dick. I crunched these guys in until I met Anne Rice at 15. I kinda miss it....
I digress. Alien mine is not heavy science fiction. But there are aliens, and I liked I think Dry was brave to make them different enough from us to feel alien, and good at her craft to then make us cheer for them. It's generally human nature reject what is different so well done.
Again. That makes the book sound heavy and its not. In fact it had me snickering with some of the culture clashes and dry humour.
I believe there may be a book 2 coming....if its the alien I think it might be then I am definitely look forward to it :)
After my childhood faves, my first real author love was Frank Herbert. Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Philip K Dick. I crunched these guys in until I met Anne Rice at 15. I kinda miss it....
I digress. Alien mine is not heavy science fiction. But there are aliens, and I liked I think Dry was brave to make them different enough from us to feel alien, and good at her craft to then make us cheer for them. It's generally human nature reject what is different so well done.
Again. That makes the book sound heavy and its not. In fact it had me snickering with some of the culture clashes and dry humour.
I believe there may be a book 2 coming....if its the alien I think it might be then I am definitely look forward to it :)
December 4, 2014
I really disliked this book!! Didnt fully push me into hate territory but it got me pretty darn close! I applaud the authors writing skill because the book flowed quite well but after zarac broke his bonds the book just sort of went downhill for me! Which especially sucked because I feel like it was one of the only books ive read where the girl wasnt completely ruled by the guy to the point of losing her own beliefs but the fact that he was so controlling and she didnt really put up a huge fight drove me mad!! I can see why it is a fairly popular book but I just have too many things that are too big for me to pass up so I just cant like it!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2024
I was disappointed with the ending. I thought Zacar would agree to do some things the earth way, especially when it came to raising their young. Natalie is pretty naive, believes Z when he tells her that he doesn't want to invade/overthrow earth. She is his breeder but all I see is her as his sex slave and incubator. He does profess to love her but I don't think he understands what love is. The fact that the kids were raised his way -Natalie basically left out of their rearing- he has no concept of it. His parents should have been a cautionary tale of how not to treat your mate, but Z didn't learn the lesson good enough for me. There were a few editing issues, but I'd give this a 3/3.5*
October 25, 2015
2.5 stars and that's only because the heroine Natalie was an idiot. Who lives in a cave, doesn't get paid for months on a government job and lives in a world were raiders have taken over and not realize your government has gone to shit and that you are lucky to have an alien who will protect you at all cost? Miss goody - goody feel sorry for herself was beyond annoying. Had the heroine been different in this story, this would have been a 5 star book. Hopefully book 2 has a more enlightened and tolerable heroine.
July 26, 2016
This was an interesting take on the alien romance. the idea that the babies were born fully functioning was a little odd but interesting. Would possibly read more.
not-going-there
February 17, 2015If the major conflict in this book is that the bitch has asthma, I'm not going to bother.
July 30, 2014
h not able to enjoy her sons being children is sad
June 19, 2016
3.5 stars
January 7, 2019
First read by this author and first in series
In a dystopian future, where marshal law is in place, Natalie lives in a cave in the mountains. The daughter of survivalists...her house burnt down by raiders. The same raiders who attack and beat her up until they fall to their grizzly deaths at the hands of an alien.
Zacar is the leader of an exposition, accendentally sucked into a black hole and lead to earth. He and his crew are on a mission and in search of breeders.
Ok... I’m gonna be frank. I wanted to love this book... but I didn’t... it was ok. I get that there were cultural differences but there were too many times in this book where instead of getting answers, Natalie was egnored or blinked by zacor.
I get there has to be angst in a book, but damm making the aliens totally emotionless cold fish throughout the whole of the book until the last 5% when suddenly he can express love just didn’t sit or feel right to me. Yes it’s a story and not real but I like and enjoy some realism to my stories.
I also normally love a gruff grumpy hero but Zacar...he just didn’t hit my book boyfriend button.. most of the book I wanted to know what he was thinking because the snapshots from his perspective we got just weren’t long enough or informative enough.
Whilst I’m talking about characters, I actually can’t say that there was any that stood out to me as, normally in a series.. I find a secondary charachter who will peak and tease my interest...but I didn’t in this book. I don’t know if it’s because they were so emotionless or cold or disparaging of the human race or because the word ‘breeder’ was used so much... but I didn’t even find myself liking Natalie.
Ultimately this story is fantastic conceptually but it just didn’t come together for me which is a real damm shame. Anyone who knows me or has read my other reviews knows that I adore sci fi romance and normally campions it with a passion.
In a dystopian future, where marshal law is in place, Natalie lives in a cave in the mountains. The daughter of survivalists...her house burnt down by raiders. The same raiders who attack and beat her up until they fall to their grizzly deaths at the hands of an alien.
Zacar is the leader of an exposition, accendentally sucked into a black hole and lead to earth. He and his crew are on a mission and in search of breeders.
Ok... I’m gonna be frank. I wanted to love this book... but I didn’t... it was ok. I get that there were cultural differences but there were too many times in this book where instead of getting answers, Natalie was egnored or blinked by zacor.
I get there has to be angst in a book, but damm making the aliens totally emotionless cold fish throughout the whole of the book until the last 5% when suddenly he can express love just didn’t sit or feel right to me. Yes it’s a story and not real but I like and enjoy some realism to my stories.
I also normally love a gruff grumpy hero but Zacar...he just didn’t hit my book boyfriend button.. most of the book I wanted to know what he was thinking because the snapshots from his perspective we got just weren’t long enough or informative enough.
Whilst I’m talking about characters, I actually can’t say that there was any that stood out to me as, normally in a series.. I find a secondary charachter who will peak and tease my interest...but I didn’t in this book. I don’t know if it’s because they were so emotionless or cold or disparaging of the human race or because the word ‘breeder’ was used so much... but I didn’t even find myself liking Natalie.
Ultimately this story is fantastic conceptually but it just didn’t come together for me which is a real damm shame. Anyone who knows me or has read my other reviews knows that I adore sci fi romance and normally campions it with a passion.
September 20, 2017
I have mixed thoughts about this book.
The story itself was good and I like that the aliens here were so.. well, alien like, for the lack of a better word. You could definitely see the otherworldliness in their behavior and their thought process and that is quite rare in sci-fi books these days.
Zacar was like a walking contradiction and I still can't decide if I like him or if he annoys me. Probably a bit of both. It was really hard to care for his character, there was never a time where a would think "oh, he's sweet". He's not. He's a fucking unemotional machine. He did start to show something resembling "caring" toward the end, but it was still done in an alien sort of way.
That's why I wanted more of the story to be from Zacar's perspective, to have at least some grasp on what he's thinking. I'll definitely read the next book just for the chance to learn more about his race, they kind of remind me of Spartans.
Now about Natalie. Okey so, I get that we're all different people and react to things differently, but I can guarantee you that if I were in her shoes and was about to be gang raped, I would not be thinking "oh god, they've started a fire, what will happen to the forest?". Girl, who cares about the forest, you're about to be raped!
So, yeah, we did not connect, me and Natalie. Every time she thought that she loved Zacar I was like "dear God, why? he's like a robot".
Yeah. Liked the world and am curious about the aliens, but still not sure how I feel about all of the characters.
But again, I'm planing to read more of the series.
The story itself was good and I like that the aliens here were so.. well, alien like, for the lack of a better word. You could definitely see the otherworldliness in their behavior and their thought process and that is quite rare in sci-fi books these days.
Zacar was like a walking contradiction and I still can't decide if I like him or if he annoys me. Probably a bit of both. It was really hard to care for his character, there was never a time where a would think "oh, he's sweet". He's not. He's a fucking unemotional machine. He did start to show something resembling "caring" toward the end, but it was still done in an alien sort of way.
That's why I wanted more of the story to be from Zacar's perspective, to have at least some grasp on what he's thinking. I'll definitely read the next book just for the chance to learn more about his race, they kind of remind me of Spartans.
Now about Natalie. Okey so, I get that we're all different people and react to things differently, but I can guarantee you that if I were in her shoes and was about to be gang raped, I would not be thinking "oh god, they've started a fire, what will happen to the forest?". Girl, who cares about the forest, you're about to be raped!
So, yeah, we did not connect, me and Natalie. Every time she thought that she loved Zacar I was like "dear God, why? he's like a robot".
Yeah. Liked the world and am curious about the aliens, but still not sure how I feel about all of the characters.
But again, I'm planing to read more of the series.
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