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The desert holds twenty-seven ways to die. Today, I discover number hallucination-induced cliff diving.

When a golden-eyed alien hunter tracks me to my cave, I assume I’ve finally cracked—until he throws me to the ground and light erupts where our skin touches.

He doesn’t speak. Doesn’t kill me.
Instead, he drops a butterfly earring—my missing sister’s earring—between us like a challenge.

Now I have to
1. Trust this glowing stranger who smells like desert storms and moves like a predator.
2. Stay here and let the creatures of the dark finish what the Xyma started.

Survival just got a hell of a lot more complicated.

(First-contact sci-fi romance with forced proximity, survival stakes, and a possessive alien hero who really doesn’t like human screaming.)

348 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2025

349 people are currently reading
154 people want to read

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A.G. Wilde

40 books589 followers

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5 stars
374 (40%)
4 stars
326 (35%)
3 stars
189 (20%)
2 stars
35 (3%)
1 star
4 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
Profile Image for Jen ♥.
1,749 reviews964 followers
October 3, 2025
Hmmm, idk how to feel about this, tbh. It was okay, but it also felt so long even though it's only 300-something pages.

There was nothing much happening between Jacqui and Tharn in the story. Sure, they were stuck together; after all, he was sent out to look for her. But then, since they couldn't communicate and were only observing each other to understand what the other was trying to convey, it took these two quite a while to get on the same wavelength.

They were struggling to survive while facing monsters in that place, and at the same time, a bond (mate bond) was beginning to form between them. But nothing really changed because Tharn was being such a gentleman, and Jacqui was just too confused to grasp what was going on between them. I’m okay with a slow burn if the plot or MCs keep the tension going, but I mostly just felt bored here. 🫣 The pace is really dragging, slower than a snail.

And when they finally got together, idk, I thought it would be monumental or something, but I didn't feel that. Probably because the author decided to slowly hint at what’s in store for the upcoming books. Idk, I just wanted to read more about the MCs. After all that slow build-up, I really just wanted to see them as a couple instead of meeting a bunch of new characters.

Anyway, overall I still did enjoy it. But I just wished this was shorter. I honestly think this story could've been told in 200+ pages and still delivered the same impact. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Then I remember this is exactly how I felt after finishing the first one. Both books' premise was interesting, but I don't think it needs to be this long.


Book info:
- Alien x Human
- Mates
- No cheating, OM/OW, separation
- V MMC, No info on FMC (but I think she's experienced)
- HEA? (They're mated, so...)


PS. I thought it was really cool how these aliens' bodies transform to fit what their mates need and want. 🤭
Profile Image for Poppy || Monster Lover.
1,799 reviews498 followers
September 24, 2025
Tharn was growly and possessive, but determined to give Jacqui choices. Jacqui was determined and dedicated to finding her sister. She and Tharn had to work through the language and cultural barriers while surviving in a hostile world that she had no defenses against. I liked that we get more understanding of why the aliens are so utterly clueless about women.

Spice: 3/5

Triggers: dehydration, heat stroke, near death experiences, animal attack, buried alive/suffocation, hunting, blood, references to crash, mention of historical misogyny, grief
Profile Image for Jenni.
6,381 reviews78 followers
November 4, 2025
4 stars

Tharn's Hunt is the second sci-fi book in the fun Barbarians of the Dust series by AG Wilde. What they signed up for was not what they got. Kidnapped by alien creatures, only to find themselves abandoned on an alien planet. Before their time is up, she strikes out to find her sister, who went for help. Finding a golden alien one she can't communicate with is when the fun begins. Together, they find something they thought would never be possible, and that is a connection with each other in the face of uncertainty and danger.

This romance tale has a little tension, drama, angst, danger, suspense, a bit of wit, and a lot of spice. It had me laughing at times and enjoying the ride. Tharn's Hunt is an enjoyable read and a series that should not be missed.
Profile Image for Ceacea.
211 reviews24 followers
September 8, 2025
Genre: Sci-fi Romance
⭐️ 4/5
🌶 2/5
🧠 3/10
Noteworthy: Book 2 in an incomplete interconnected standalone series. No major triggers. Available on KU.

I think I will read anything A.G. writes. This series has a fun little twist involving genetics that sets it apart a bit. I enjoyed both main characters, but Tharn was a great MMC. If you like the worshipping, sacrificing, she before me type of MMC, then this book is for you!

Definitely read book 1 first, though. I'm invested in the overarching plot here. What is really going on with this planet?
Profile Image for M.M. Wakeford.
Author 23 books53 followers
September 20, 2025
Disappointing

This one didn't land well for me, and the second half really dragged. I found the female protagonist's excess of prudery quite irritating, with lots of conversations going round in circles with no resolution. The plot? What plot? As for the epilogue? Told in the POV of two new characters, obviously queuing up the next book in the series. No, sorry. The epilogue is supposed to be about the two main characters of the story, giving us a glimpse into their HEA. These are basic expectations in the romance genre, leaving this reader sadly let down.
Profile Image for Jenny From The Bog.
856 reviews1 follower
September 6, 2025
Just communicate!

The characters' inability and/ or refusal to communicate information to each other was frustrating as heck. Explain to your sister how the bond works and what to expect. Explain to the aliens how babies are made. Half my time reading this book was me frowning at it and wondering why grown adults had such trouble explaining simple biology.
Profile Image for Theresa.
38 reviews1 follower
October 6, 2025
not as good as the first

The first was so engaging, but this just felt like a more boring rinse and repeat. I had no idea why Justine wouldn’t just explain the way the bond worked to her sister.

Series had a lot of potential, but I won’t be continuing
Profile Image for Erin Pfeiffer.
23 reviews
September 11, 2025
Okay so honest review…

What the fuck was that?

The first book good enough that I was excited and waiting for the second for it to be that piece of crap?

The storyline was the Walmart version of the first. She’s missing in the dust and he finds her. Blah blah blah. Been there done that. Get a new plot.

It was rushed and lacking in many ways. I only rated it 3 stars because I’m a sucker for an alien romance. The next book hopefully will be better or forget about reading the series.
Profile Image for JML.
1,297 reviews24 followers
September 28, 2025
4&1\2 terrific🌟's for Tharn 's Hunt🔥🌟💖

A.G. Wilde writes some of my favorite books. Her characters are beautifully written and storylines keep me hooked. This new universe is no exception. Stranded on a Fiery dessert planet JACQUI set off to look for her sister. She was not going to let anything take away the Only family she had left. As the days go by the heat starts to run havoc on JACQUI's body and she is just about certain she's going to die before she can find her sister when Tharn finds her. Justine made it back to the others at the end of book one only to find out her beloved sister took off too look for her . Justine and her mate send Tharn to look for her and bring her back to camp. Tharn doesn't know what to make of these new comers these females. He only knows that he wants upbeat his clan brother has found. But first he must find the missing sister of his clan brother. As he. searches high and low he is amazed at the trial he finds. She is strong and will not go out without a fight. When he finds her JACQUI is on the Bri k of death. He hates that he can't communicate with her they way he wants to but he will find a way to build trust and GRT her back safely to her sister. The dangers on this journey are great they learn to trust one another despite the lack of true understanding. Trust builds slowly but once it starts it grows Exponentially! Can they make it back to the others before the cli.ate or wildlife kills them. Wi!l love grow between them and burn hotter than the twin suns? You'll need to read and find out. Fantastic story I highly recommend and I can't wait for boom three to come out!💖🌟🔥🌟💖🔥🌟💖🔥🌟💖🔥🌟💖🔥🌟💖🔥
27 reviews
September 14, 2025
I'm still loving this series! I think I've finally crossed the line where I will read anything A.G. Wilde puts out.

Tharn was a your typical broody yet ultra protective MMC who falls head over heels for his lady. It's the exact kind of hero I read these types of books for. The FMC starts out not very confident and a bit of a damsel in distress, but by the end, she really comes into her own. Yes, these are common tropes, but I look at these books as comfort reads, and it delivered on that aspect 100%.

I like that we learn more about the Drakvir and their lore. I wish we would have gotten more of that but maybe by the third book we will.

The one issue I have is that the plot didn't feel as strong as the first. It actually was a little too similar to book 1 in that it was essentially girl meets alien that she can't communicate with and they trek across the desert planet in search of help while their relationship slowly develops. By the middle of the book, the story slows down a little too much but picks up again soon, and the plot begins to finally deviate more from the first book. I don't say any of that like it's all a bad thing! It was still very enjoyable, and the writing and characters were great. This is just an observation I made. If you were reading the first and second book back to back, you miiiight get a little bored.
Profile Image for Merry Berry.
85 reviews6 followers
November 18, 2025
Wonderful, suspenseful and engaging characters. So why the 3 stars?

Well.

Here goes what (I imagine) might be one of the most annoying ugh-just-shove-it-up-ya-ass-there-nancy complaints a reviewer can make from an author’s perspective if the reviewer claims to enjoy slow burn romance:

It was so loooooooooooong.

Unnecessarily so.

A. G. Wilde is so good at building these complex, emotionally charged interactions in a Dune-like backdrop where every day is a fighting-for-survival adventure of epic proportions…but for some reason chooses to pull the characters back from the emotional closeness they achieve during these larger than life scenes as soon as things are past the SOS mode. Then it’s back to acting like this is some random alien dude and what-does-he-want-from-me waaaaaaa

This happens over and over and over and over…

Which is why I stopped reading at 66%.

I appreciate the angst, I swear I do! But I would also like to learn more about these people’s personalities along the way so that I can distinguish the characters when I look back at different books in the series. There’s a lot of crazy stuff that happens TO them, but I still walk away not remembering anything unique about them.
Profile Image for anonymous.
261 reviews
November 2, 2025
Man these humans sure do cling to life for a loooong time and cover some serious miles while severely dehydrated and starving to death. Impressive. And so impossibly unlikely.

This one had fewer plot points that didn’t make sense to me but it was also so slow.

Justine and Rok not explaining everything to everybody as soon as they could was annoying af. Why is Justine keeping everything so close to the chest when it would benefit EVERYONE if she just laid it all on the table.

Also drove me nuts that the girls were sooo immature about the sex and explaining human reproduction to their men. Come onnnnn. We’re not 12.

Why didn’t the humans and aliens intermingle at all yet? So awkward and uncomfortable that there’s zero interaction between everyone… like why?

Interesting discovery about the daughters of ain potentially having multiple men each, and I wonder how that will play out.

I also anticipate the rival clan will end up joining Kol’s clan soon and that one of them found Hannah in the desert. And I guess eventually Xyma will come back for them or something.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
36 reviews
October 2, 2025
Awesome series!

I really love this series so far- it's a unique spin on the kidnapped by aliens trope that's so popular- this is more abandoned by bad aliens and saved by good ones, lol. I like how loving and honorable the men are- like knights of old- and the love story part isn't just a sex-a-thon, lol, there's a lot of genuine, melt your heart, make you cry moments that put these books a cut above the rest🥰 The FMC's in both are pretty great, though I do find it strange that 34 year old women can't explain human reproduction without blushing and stammering like 12 year olds, ugh😂 It was nice to get a more thorough back story in this one, and I can't wait to see everyone's pairings develope through the series. I hope the wait time between books is super short!😍 I would definitely recommend these to anyone who likes sci fi/ alien romance, they are among the top books I've read in that category 😍
Profile Image for Paula.
167 reviews
October 5, 2025
This book follows Jacqui, the younger sister of Justine, the female lead from the first book. It has a similar premise, but unlike the very slow first book, this one moves slightly faster since it doesn’t require as much setup. It’s still a bit slow, though, as the characters need time to understand each other and eventually get together. This is definitely not for readers who can’t stand slow-paced stories or slow-burn romance.

What annoyed me was how both women failed to explain things properly. They should have communicated more clearly with the other ladies and the alien natives, sharing what they knew and had figured out so far. I also found it odd that these grown women acted so childish when it came to explaining sex and how babies are made. It shouldn’t be that hard to give a straightforward, educational explanation instead of avoiding the question or making things more confusing.
Profile Image for Alana Bowman.
196 reviews
September 12, 2025
Great series

I tried to review the first book, "Rok's Captive," but the Kindle app kept returning an error.

This series reminds me a lot of the theme of "Ice Planet Barbarians."

The FMCs in each book are strong, independent, and pretty funny/sarcastic.

Desperate for rent money they sign up for an adaptation experiment that pays really well. They didn't read the fine print. Next thing they know, they are stranded on a hot planet with miles and miles of desert sands.

The first book is about Justine, the older sister. This book is about Jacqui.

Both are very good reads, and I highly recommend. There's some very nice spice, too.
Profile Image for Madellen Cunningham.
105 reviews
October 9, 2025
Not as good as the first one. There were a lot of frustrating elements.
The girls constant embarrassment over sex gets really boring after a while. They’re adults, not teenagers. Surely they can have adult conversations about sex and reproduction?
Justine’s poor communication when she realises what’s going on with Jacqui is also frustrating. It’s not complicated. You’ve already been through this. Explain it to help your sister.
I like the pretence for these books but the two FMCs could grow up a bit.
Profile Image for Anne Jackson.
4 reviews
November 30, 2025
I know that for some this book has no plot/ it's a slow burn. But for me the shenanigans and miscommunication is really funny. Jacqui is really funny for me, especially the quirky titles of each chapter. At least the plot is going forward with the mystery of the creation of the Drakav. Although I kinda expected more for the epilogue and I kinda felt that it was kinda rushed. AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR MIKAELA AND SARVEN'S STORY!!!! But all in all, this was very entertaining and the romance is top notch (ifykyk)💗🌷
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
5 reviews
September 3, 2025
Pretty good! This series is very desert adventure so I think if you’re looking for a cookie cutter scifi romance where hardly anything goes wrong, this ain’t it. Jacqui & Tharn go through a lot and it’s tough to read how much they are suffering. It makes them a lot stronger and moves the world story along. Interesting plot and I will read the next one. I would probably rate it 4.5/5 but I rounded up.
Profile Image for Molls R.
93 reviews2 followers
September 26, 2025
Excited for the rest of this series! Actually made me invested in an alien series for the first time in a while and this was my intro to A.G. Wilde so I can't wait to continue exploring her other works :) been a hot minute since I found an author I cared to continue reading after one or two books.

Nothing crazy special about the book but Tharn and Jacqui were sweet and endearing plus the mystery behind the Daughters of Ain was v intriguing!!
113 reviews1 follower
November 5, 2025
Never Disappointed

A. G. Wilde books are a sure thing. When I buy one I know I'm not going to be disappointed. She can't write them fast enough to suit me. This series is reminiscent of what other authors have done but A. G. has upgraded the theme with her own personal touches and very creative back story to keep you pursuing the mysteries of this desert planet and its sexy hunters.
174 reviews2 followers
November 19, 2025
4.75✨
This is the second in the series but the first that I have read because the plot interested me, and I really enjoyed it. Well written and engaging, good idea and well executed - I loved our main couple, and the set up of ongoing series potential is good. I’m intrigued and will likely read more, I may even go back now and read the first book.
I really love an alien race that loves, cares about, and listens to the women that they meet 🙌 *chef’s kiss* !!
Profile Image for Alex.
326 reviews4 followers
November 21, 2025
3.75/5 stars. This had a really similar vibe to the first book, but I felt the characters had a little more depth. I ended up liking this book a lot more than the first and really enjoy how the series is shaping up to continue.

I love the humor of the writing especially when mixing in human cultural differences. This was a super solid read for the fated mates trope minus required pregnancy. Though they still get a nod to that potential issue which might develop in future books.
Profile Image for Liz.
692 reviews15 followers
Currently reading
September 4, 2025
This is not a relaxing sfr. It's non-stop survival and suffering from the beginning. It's giving slight Outlaw vibes (would love it if she re-visited that world! 🙏) except the MMC is all-in possessive and devoted to the FMC before he even finds her almost.
Profile Image for Kit .
7 reviews
September 5, 2025
I was so excited for this book! It DID NOT disappoint!

I love the new addition to this series and hope the author keeps going with it. I love our golden boys~
FMC is so freaking funny and relatable and I love where our human girls are at by the end of the story. #godisawoman#nospoilers
1 review
September 8, 2025
Great Book!

I love this series. The world building is just detailed enough without getting bogged down. The concept of “mind speak” is so original and interesting. I also like the gentle connection between the love interests. This second book was even better than the first. The male lead was so heartwarming and devoted!!!! Can’t wait for the next book!
51 reviews1 follower
September 8, 2025
Love this series

I know we are still at the beginning, but book 2 was JUST as amazing as Book 1! So many books lose gusto the further into a story goes. Less details, jumping chapters, weird story changes. This one has stayed true and is just absolutely amazing. From the details and to the emotions it invokes. I will continue to look forward to the next book in this series.
Profile Image for Romance Read Along .
134 reviews1 follower
September 9, 2025
If you're into Ruby Dixon and Ice planet Barbarians this book will work for you. The MMC is more gruff than in book one and action happens quicker probably because the author doesn't feel like as much setup is necessary. I prefer a softer mmc but I will still read book 3. I look forward to more lore drop as a lot of questions as to what is going on still remain.
Profile Image for Maddie.
781 reviews3 followers
September 11, 2025
This book felt very similar to the first one… where they are in the desert and all that crap and they don’t know what is going on. But it really felt longer than it needed too because the end introduced new stuff, which is great but I wasted so much time in the beginning that I just want the book to end…
Profile Image for Hippo.
118 reviews6 followers
September 28, 2025
Not quite as good as book one it felt more disjointed and seemed to drag on a bit more. I also found Jacqui to be a little annoying so she grated on me more as the story went on.

I’m hopeful for the next one though and some interesting things developed towards the end of the book. It just seemed like a slog to get there.
Profile Image for Serina.
1,249 reviews25 followers
November 12, 2025
The author has quick wit and humor. I really wish she would have leaned more heavily into it though. Jackie is wandering the desert looking for her sister. Tharn finds her and protects her. They all refuse to talk about s3x even though it's extremely important. Overall decent but eye roll worthy too
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews

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