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Risdaverse #5
When She Dances - SPECIAL EDITION
I never expected to spend my days as a dancing girl… but it beats the alternative. In the window of a filthy space station cantina, I gyrate my hips and hope for better days.
When I’m bought by the most intimidating alien on Three Nebulas Station, those better days are on their way. Zakoar of the Broken Back is a cyborg who deals in black market prosthetics. He’s terrifying to look at, with a metal jaw and a fearsome demeanor. He intimidates everyone in the galaxy… except me.
Zakoar doesn’t want my name. In fact, he doesn’t want anything from me… except a little bed sport. In exchange for my willingness, he’ll take me to a human-friendly planet where I can live unafraid.
Love isn’t part of the bargain, but every moment that I spend with him, I learn more about the male beneath the metal…
…and I’m suddenly dreaming of a very different happy ever after for myself…
When I’m bought by the most intimidating alien on Three Nebulas Station, those better days are on their way. Zakoar of the Broken Back is a cyborg who deals in black market prosthetics. He’s terrifying to look at, with a metal jaw and a fearsome demeanor. He intimidates everyone in the galaxy… except me.
Zakoar doesn’t want my name. In fact, he doesn’t want anything from me… except a little bed sport. In exchange for my willingness, he’ll take me to a human-friendly planet where I can live unafraid.
Love isn’t part of the bargain, but every moment that I spend with him, I learn more about the male beneath the metal…
…and I’m suddenly dreaming of a very different happy ever after for myself…
174 pages, Paperback
First published October 5, 2020
699 people are currently reading
1356 people want to read
About the author
Ruby Dixon
161 books19.7k followersRuby Dixon is an author of Science Fiction Romance. She likes fated mates, baby-filled epilogues, and cinnamon roll heroes. She also likes to write biographies of herself in the third person, because it feels more important that way.
Ruby also loves coffee and dirty books and will probably be a cat lady at some point. :)
Ruby also loves coffee and dirty books and will probably be a cat lady at some point. :)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 573 reviews
December 29, 2020
1.5
This is probably the first book by Dixon which I wish I never read. There’s bad books and then there’s problematic books. This is the latter.
It didn’t hit the mark.
I didn’t feel any sympathy for the hero. Was it tragic that he was more cyborg than alien? Sure it was. I can imagine the circumstances of him losing most of his body part were horrible BUT he got so wrapped up in his “woe is me”attitude that he suffers from tunnel vision and his problems are the biggest in the world according to him. Basically his biggest redeeming quality is that he wants to fuck a human slave but he also wants her to enjoy it so he tried to make that happen. It feels less rapey like that for him and it makes him feel better as a person.
Out of all the heroes I’ve read about by Ruby, he takes the cake for being the worst. And sure, it might not be all that tragic to some, but remember this book is not a dark romance where I can go along with this. He is also supposed to be a “good” person. And that’s what bothers me. That he truly believes he is morally uncompromised. The dude goes on and on about how “he makes her feel good, so what’s the problem”. I’ll tell you the problem asshole, the problem is that the last thing a slave needs is orgasms. But isn’t he just the perfect owner to impart some of those while he takes what is “rightfully” his cause duh he payed for it. I hate how he is portrayed to be a good guy. Honestly I’d have given this 4 stars if the hero is portrayed as morally promiscuous but then gets to grow throughout the story. I’m not bothered by the storyline even though it’s sad, I’m bothered by the high horse that dude is sitting on.
So we have this dude who is: healthy (considering his body is a machine) he was wealthy, he had a good business and above all he had absolute autonomy over his life. But every chapter we get his idiotic inner musings of how he is ugly and he is just so shallow that he can’t stand pity or revulsion in women’s eyes so he buys a slave and tells her to pretend she’s into him. And then proceeds to keep talking about how his issues are the worst and most tragic. Literally the dude doesn’t even blink an eye at the heroines circumstances. How self involved can you be, that slavery and suffering is nothing to you and you keep going on and on about your small shitty problems.
Now the heroine: She had been a slave for 4/5 years. She was underfed, overworked, abused, treated worse than a house pet (because we actually treasure those). Her life was humiliation and pain but he had the audacity to always go on and on and on about how he’s ugly and no one wants to fuck him. Ugh, I can’t even. And to think that for years he watched her dancing naked in a bar window where she was chained by her previous “owner”. But he was too big of a coward to go buy and rescue her because (I swear these are his reasons) how could she want him. OMG, are you serious?! Are you for real?!
This book was sad and there was nothing in there to make it better.
I prefer a bad guy. I have read more messed up books. But the difference is that in those no one was pretending. No one tried to pretty up the situation. This book was insulting. Are we supposed to empathise with this alien trash or what? Are we supposed to like him? Ugh.
This is probably the first book by Dixon which I wish I never read. There’s bad books and then there’s problematic books. This is the latter.
It didn’t hit the mark.
I didn’t feel any sympathy for the hero. Was it tragic that he was more cyborg than alien? Sure it was. I can imagine the circumstances of him losing most of his body part were horrible BUT he got so wrapped up in his “woe is me”attitude that he suffers from tunnel vision and his problems are the biggest in the world according to him. Basically his biggest redeeming quality is that he wants to fuck a human slave but he also wants her to enjoy it so he tried to make that happen. It feels less rapey like that for him and it makes him feel better as a person.
Out of all the heroes I’ve read about by Ruby, he takes the cake for being the worst. And sure, it might not be all that tragic to some, but remember this book is not a dark romance where I can go along with this. He is also supposed to be a “good” person. And that’s what bothers me. That he truly believes he is morally uncompromised. The dude goes on and on about how “he makes her feel good, so what’s the problem”. I’ll tell you the problem asshole, the problem is that the last thing a slave needs is orgasms. But isn’t he just the perfect owner to impart some of those while he takes what is “rightfully” his cause duh he payed for it. I hate how he is portrayed to be a good guy. Honestly I’d have given this 4 stars if the hero is portrayed as morally promiscuous but then gets to grow throughout the story. I’m not bothered by the storyline even though it’s sad, I’m bothered by the high horse that dude is sitting on.
So we have this dude who is: healthy (considering his body is a machine) he was wealthy, he had a good business and above all he had absolute autonomy over his life. But every chapter we get his idiotic inner musings of how he is ugly and he is just so shallow that he can’t stand pity or revulsion in women’s eyes so he buys a slave and tells her to pretend she’s into him. And then proceeds to keep talking about how his issues are the worst and most tragic. Literally the dude doesn’t even blink an eye at the heroines circumstances. How self involved can you be, that slavery and suffering is nothing to you and you keep going on and on about your small shitty problems.
Now the heroine: She had been a slave for 4/5 years. She was underfed, overworked, abused, treated worse than a house pet (because we actually treasure those). Her life was humiliation and pain but he had the audacity to always go on and on and on about how he’s ugly and no one wants to fuck him. Ugh, I can’t even. And to think that for years he watched her dancing naked in a bar window where she was chained by her previous “owner”. But he was too big of a coward to go buy and rescue her because (I swear these are his reasons) how could she want him. OMG, are you serious?! Are you for real?!
This book was sad and there was nothing in there to make it better.
I prefer a bad guy. I have read more messed up books. But the difference is that in those no one was pretending. No one tried to pretty up the situation. This book was insulting. Are we supposed to empathise with this alien trash or what? Are we supposed to like him? Ugh.
March 5, 2022
Smut fest!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙
Romance: 💛🖤💜
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘
World building: 🌎🌍🌏🌎
Character development: 👽👱🏻♀️👽
The Hero: Zakoar - an alien cyborg who is as much if not more metal than man. He owns a shop where he deals in black market prosthetics that he makes or fixes from parts. He is kind of half mechanical genius and half surgeon and is the best there is in his field. He sees the way people, women in particular look at him and shy away from him in fear and revulsion.
The heroine(s): Tessa - she was kidnapped from Earth four years ago and has been sold at the flesh auctions twice. She is now a dancer at club on Three Nebulas Station. She considers herself lucky that she has fair skin and bruises easily since she just has to dance nude in the window to entice people into the club and she doesn’t have to service the members like the other girls
The Story: While dancing in the club window for 12 hours a day, Tessa likes to daydream. Her favorite daydream is about the man with the metal jaw that works in the shop across from the club. Zakoar likes the way Tessa looks at him while she dances when he is outside his shop, since most women turn away from him.
When Tessa’s owner sells the club and decides to put her and a few of the other women up for auction she is afraid of what will happen to her, since she had a bad experience in the past. However, when she is purchased by Zakoar, she isn’t sure whether her dreams have come true or whether she should be afraid.
The narration on this book was OK but not great. It was done by Mason Lloyd and Jillian Macie. I have said this before and I will keep saying it. I hate it when women voice the male lines and vice versa. I know at the beginning Zakoar was a bit of a grumpy alien, but the voice Jillian Macie used for his lines didn’t sound grumpy it sounded mean and unaffected which I just didn’t like.
I also didn’t really like that this was very smutty with not much of a story at all. I have read a lot of Ruby Dixon’s work and though her books are heavy on the steamy scenes the ones I have read have had more story than this one. I would have liked to know the characters more and had them spend a bit more time getting to know each other over the course of the book. Not saying the steamy scenes needed to wait till the end. I kind of liked that they didn’t wait, I just think there could have been more. However, if a smutty alien read is what you are looking for this was certainly that.
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The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙
Romance: 💛🖤💜
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘
World building: 🌎🌍🌏🌎
Character development: 👽👱🏻♀️👽
The Hero: Zakoar - an alien cyborg who is as much if not more metal than man. He owns a shop where he deals in black market prosthetics that he makes or fixes from parts. He is kind of half mechanical genius and half surgeon and is the best there is in his field. He sees the way people, women in particular look at him and shy away from him in fear and revulsion.
The heroine(s): Tessa - she was kidnapped from Earth four years ago and has been sold at the flesh auctions twice. She is now a dancer at club on Three Nebulas Station. She considers herself lucky that she has fair skin and bruises easily since she just has to dance nude in the window to entice people into the club and she doesn’t have to service the members like the other girls
The Story: While dancing in the club window for 12 hours a day, Tessa likes to daydream. Her favorite daydream is about the man with the metal jaw that works in the shop across from the club. Zakoar likes the way Tessa looks at him while she dances when he is outside his shop, since most women turn away from him.
When Tessa’s owner sells the club and decides to put her and a few of the other women up for auction she is afraid of what will happen to her, since she had a bad experience in the past. However, when she is purchased by Zakoar, she isn’t sure whether her dreams have come true or whether she should be afraid.
The narration on this book was OK but not great. It was done by Mason Lloyd and Jillian Macie. I have said this before and I will keep saying it. I hate it when women voice the male lines and vice versa. I know at the beginning Zakoar was a bit of a grumpy alien, but the voice Jillian Macie used for his lines didn’t sound grumpy it sounded mean and unaffected which I just didn’t like.
I also didn’t really like that this was very smutty with not much of a story at all. I have read a lot of Ruby Dixon’s work and though her books are heavy on the steamy scenes the ones I have read have had more story than this one. I would have liked to know the characters more and had them spend a bit more time getting to know each other over the course of the book. Not saying the steamy scenes needed to wait till the end. I kind of liked that they didn’t wait, I just think there could have been more. However, if a smutty alien read is what you are looking for this was certainly that.
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January 16, 2023
1.5 stars only for Tessa. Zakoar gets negative five stars and I'll tell you why.
Zakoar bought a sex slave (Tessa) whom he had been watching dance in a whorehouse window visible from his shop for YEARS, and he USED her as a sex slave offering her freedom if she were to "willingly" sleep with him until "he tired of her" and had successfully "slaked his needs" - which he fucking repeats over and over again (way to make me believe this is the gold standard for a man, I swoon? No, I spit venom) throughout the entirety of this book, and in his mind through his POV we see that he had decided to give her freedom eitherway but did he expressly tell her this? NO. He also additionally forgets her name a billion times while having sex, she has to correct/remind him way too many times AFTER she tells him to please make her feel less like a thing by not calling her "female". Is this supposed to endear me to him? In what universe?
She is terrified at the prospect of being returned to the auction block, she is terrified of displeasing him, she has been treated AS A THING for YEARS and this asshole doesn't for one second think in his POV that no one, I repeat NO ONE wants to be a slave EVER, that they are in these circumstances AGAINST THEIR WILL, and this is NOT the same as willingly entering into prostitution so this story, no matter how Ruby tried to twist the reader's arm through a grateful Tessa's POV, is NOT a love story. He is so focused on his sob story that he can't get his head out of his ass to look at what he's actually doing. He repeatedly calls himself "selfish" for not letting her go and needing her pussy so bad that he just can't do the right thing and tell her she doesn't HAVE to sleep with him but NO, what he's doing cannot be glitter-coated with so simple a word as "selfish", I believe the terms he's looking for are "exploitative" and "slaver".
Does she enjoy having sex with him? Yes - after years of having her body used, the fact that he gives her orgasms if only to make his thrusting into her effortless (fuck you Z) - it's better than what came before ever since her abduction.
I don't care that he enjoys watching her receive pleasure eventually or that he "loves" her eventually, it's the fact that he enjoyed getting her wet because it was fun for him first and foremost in the story is just... Wow. Makes me wonder at what volume Ruby thought a bunch of us readers would slow clap and have heart eyes for this loser.
Buying a sex slave and giving her respect and freedom of choice and legit freedom right off the bat - cool. Using her first over and over again, regardless of whether she's willing (which she is BECAUSE THIS IS BETTER THAN EVERYTHING SHES FACED SO FAR!!!! SO OFCOURSE!!! and she even repeatedly thinks that and it breaks my heart), throwing it on her shoulders to be the sunshine to his "grumpy", warming up to her because she finds him physically appealing, and making them progress friendship-wise because she talks to him and it amuses him - not cool. Not cool. Not a romance. This book is manipulative, and I'm upset.
How hard would it have been to make this a semi-slow burn, humane romance where he gives her freedom the second he gets her alone because slavery is for shitheads and he knows that, offers to take her to the refugee planet, tells her they might have to lay low for a while in his apartment while he secures tickets and what not, talk talk and talk about their history and everything else, and finally have them cut their deliciously thick sexual tension that's been building over a week/two weeks/a month at his home with some filthy hot sex and eventual declarations of love between TWO EQUALS?!? HOW HARD WOULD THIS HAVE BEEN. TELL ME.
Broken men don't have to become slavery apologists just to get a woman to talk to them, to fuck them apparently "willingly", or to assure them that they aren't ugly. It's not the patchwork or the prosthetics that makes someone ugly, it's the slavery.
I'm tired. Don't recommend. It's entertaining, but you'll feel very Stockholm-syndromed and manipulated.
Zakoar bought a sex slave (Tessa) whom he had been watching dance in a whorehouse window visible from his shop for YEARS, and he USED her as a sex slave offering her freedom if she were to "willingly" sleep with him until "he tired of her" and had successfully "slaked his needs" - which he fucking repeats over and over again (way to make me believe this is the gold standard for a man, I swoon? No, I spit venom) throughout the entirety of this book, and in his mind through his POV we see that he had decided to give her freedom eitherway but did he expressly tell her this? NO. He also additionally forgets her name a billion times while having sex, she has to correct/remind him way too many times AFTER she tells him to please make her feel less like a thing by not calling her "female". Is this supposed to endear me to him? In what universe?
She is terrified at the prospect of being returned to the auction block, she is terrified of displeasing him, she has been treated AS A THING for YEARS and this asshole doesn't for one second think in his POV that no one, I repeat NO ONE wants to be a slave EVER, that they are in these circumstances AGAINST THEIR WILL, and this is NOT the same as willingly entering into prostitution so this story, no matter how Ruby tried to twist the reader's arm through a grateful Tessa's POV, is NOT a love story. He is so focused on his sob story that he can't get his head out of his ass to look at what he's actually doing. He repeatedly calls himself "selfish" for not letting her go and needing her pussy so bad that he just can't do the right thing and tell her she doesn't HAVE to sleep with him but NO, what he's doing cannot be glitter-coated with so simple a word as "selfish", I believe the terms he's looking for are "exploitative" and "slaver".
Does she enjoy having sex with him? Yes - after years of having her body used, the fact that he gives her orgasms if only to make his thrusting into her effortless (fuck you Z) - it's better than what came before ever since her abduction.
I don't care that he enjoys watching her receive pleasure eventually or that he "loves" her eventually, it's the fact that he enjoyed getting her wet because it was fun for him first and foremost in the story is just... Wow. Makes me wonder at what volume Ruby thought a bunch of us readers would slow clap and have heart eyes for this loser.
Buying a sex slave and giving her respect and freedom of choice and legit freedom right off the bat - cool. Using her first over and over again, regardless of whether she's willing (which she is BECAUSE THIS IS BETTER THAN EVERYTHING SHES FACED SO FAR!!!! SO OFCOURSE!!! and she even repeatedly thinks that and it breaks my heart), throwing it on her shoulders to be the sunshine to his "grumpy", warming up to her because she finds him physically appealing, and making them progress friendship-wise because she talks to him and it amuses him - not cool. Not cool. Not a romance. This book is manipulative, and I'm upset.
How hard would it have been to make this a semi-slow burn, humane romance where he gives her freedom the second he gets her alone because slavery is for shitheads and he knows that, offers to take her to the refugee planet, tells her they might have to lay low for a while in his apartment while he secures tickets and what not, talk talk and talk about their history and everything else, and finally have them cut their deliciously thick sexual tension that's been building over a week/two weeks/a month at his home with some filthy hot sex and eventual declarations of love between TWO EQUALS?!? HOW HARD WOULD THIS HAVE BEEN. TELL ME.
Broken men don't have to become slavery apologists just to get a woman to talk to them, to fuck them apparently "willingly", or to assure them that they aren't ugly. It's not the patchwork or the prosthetics that makes someone ugly, it's the slavery.
I'm tired. Don't recommend. It's entertaining, but you'll feel very Stockholm-syndromed and manipulated.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 20, 2023
** First Read** 1️⃣
May 5, 2021
⭐⭐⭐⭐
4 stars.
** Reread** 2️⃣
August 26, 2022.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
4 stars.
** Re-read** 3️⃣
November 20, 2023.
⭐⭐⭐
3 stars.
➕ What I liked :
No talk about babies or kids.
(No pregnancies and no talk about future pregnancies…. Or having or wanting kids/babies in the future.)
A tiny bit “older” heroine (near 30 so 28-29?)
Interesting details/world-building around/about the space station (Three Nebulas Station)
➖ What I disliked :
Formulaic in the character description/character choice: small “delicate” human and Huge hulking/buff alien.
(Would have been/Would be really interesting to maybe see much more variety in the character descriptions/character choices.)
The the MMC/”hero” did not help or “save “the heroine sooner.
(He had the power and money to do so… and was supposedly against slavery.)
The big power imbalance in the relationship.
(How the MMC/”hero” sees the heroine more like a object in the beginning and not a person with feelings and wants/needs etc. And the almost Stockholm Syndrome situation between the main characters.)
Rushed/lacking romantic build-up and chemistry.
The dub-con vibes (And it is not intended to be a dub-con)
Kind of a dark/darkish romance.
Other then the details of the space station the plot was somewhat thin and rushed.
More depth and background on both main characters was needed.
****Note to self: Do Not re-read this book again.****
October 16, 2020
While I think this was a pretty well executed version of the kind of story being told, I just found the enslavement aspect too prominent to allow myself to get fully swept away in the story
November 29, 2020
FYI: I wrote this review while reading and did not wait until I was finished. I was a wary going into this book. I knew it was going to be a book about a stripper who is forced to have sex and wasn't looking forward to it. But because it was Ruby Dixon, I gave it a try.
Tessa used to be forced to have sex in the back rooms. Now, she is forced to dance in the window to bring in customers. Her leg is chained so she can't be stolen so she is kind of protected but she knows that once her wow factor wears off, she will go back to the rooms. She broke my heart. She was so accustomed to being badly treated and forced into sex, she had no self worth or expectations. She was very desperate, willing to obey, willing to do whatever it took to survive.
I HATED Zakoar. He knew Tessa was a sex slave and admired her from afar but made no effort to help her. He had even had thought of maybe spending money for an hour of her time but didnt want her to look on him with horror or disgust! W.T.F! He knowingly allowed her to be a sex slave! Also, why would he want a successful business that would draw a-hole customers and rapists to a planet with sex slavery? He even used his shop to help slave owners with his ability to make prosthetics! He pretty much enabled people to rape and hurt sex slaves!
He only decided to do something to help her when Tessa was going to be sold at auction and he wanted to "Dangle a prize that will make her pretend to be a willing bed partner." 20% in and I detest this guy / slave owner. He overlooks sex slavery but feels sorry for himself because the sex slaves flinch at his looks.. Maybe if he was continuously abused and raped he would have a better perspective. He is obviously successful, rich, and had power due to his work. Yet he did NOTHING in the past but help the slavers! Lucky for Tessa, he wanted to screw her or he never would have helped her.
Then he is surprised when he buys her and she is scared?! He "expected the little human to be grateful. That she would toss me those sultry looks of hers and smile at me. That I would take her to my bed and slake my needs on her, and everything would be fine. Pleasant, even." GRRRRRR. I.can't.even. He then tells Tessa if she willingly has sex with him, he'll send her to a refuge for humans. I don't get how in his warped mine, this is cool. She has no choice to say yes. She fears if she says no and doesn't go with flow, he will return her to the auction block. I want to quit the book which is surprising for this author.
Unfortunately, I kept going and the sex scene was horrible. Zakoar gets pissed when he sees Tessa is not showing open desire about being intimate. So, Tessa forces herself into her fantasies to cope. She pretends desire, and happiness and escapes reality while dancing for him. Then he screws her. He hurts her at first because she wasn't wet enough.. She fingers her clit and eventually gets into it. Then she orgasms and in her warped sense of reality, she is happy.. Okay, let's get this straight, people who are raped can have orgasms. And, this WAS forced. She was willing because she had no choice. In my mind, he forced her. It brought tears to my eyes at how Tessa's esteem was so low, she just accepted it. It brought anger to me what an asshole Zakoar was. I just can't go on. I feel disgusted. DNF 37% I couldn't even bring myself to skim it. It makes me not want to read Ruby for awhile which is sad because is one of my go to faves...
Tessa used to be forced to have sex in the back rooms. Now, she is forced to dance in the window to bring in customers. Her leg is chained so she can't be stolen so she is kind of protected but she knows that once her wow factor wears off, she will go back to the rooms. She broke my heart. She was so accustomed to being badly treated and forced into sex, she had no self worth or expectations. She was very desperate, willing to obey, willing to do whatever it took to survive.
I HATED Zakoar. He knew Tessa was a sex slave and admired her from afar but made no effort to help her. He had even had thought of maybe spending money for an hour of her time but didnt want her to look on him with horror or disgust! W.T.F! He knowingly allowed her to be a sex slave! Also, why would he want a successful business that would draw a-hole customers and rapists to a planet with sex slavery? He even used his shop to help slave owners with his ability to make prosthetics! He pretty much enabled people to rape and hurt sex slaves!
He only decided to do something to help her when Tessa was going to be sold at auction and he wanted to "Dangle a prize that will make her pretend to be a willing bed partner." 20% in and I detest this guy / slave owner. He overlooks sex slavery but feels sorry for himself because the sex slaves flinch at his looks.. Maybe if he was continuously abused and raped he would have a better perspective. He is obviously successful, rich, and had power due to his work. Yet he did NOTHING in the past but help the slavers! Lucky for Tessa, he wanted to screw her or he never would have helped her.
Then he is surprised when he buys her and she is scared?! He "expected the little human to be grateful. That she would toss me those sultry looks of hers and smile at me. That I would take her to my bed and slake my needs on her, and everything would be fine. Pleasant, even." GRRRRRR. I.can't.even. He then tells Tessa if she willingly has sex with him, he'll send her to a refuge for humans. I don't get how in his warped mine, this is cool. She has no choice to say yes. She fears if she says no and doesn't go with flow, he will return her to the auction block. I want to quit the book which is surprising for this author.
Unfortunately, I kept going and the sex scene was horrible. Zakoar gets pissed when he sees Tessa is not showing open desire about being intimate. So, Tessa forces herself into her fantasies to cope. She pretends desire, and happiness and escapes reality while dancing for him. Then he screws her. He hurts her at first because she wasn't wet enough.. She fingers her clit and eventually gets into it. Then she orgasms and in her warped sense of reality, she is happy.. Okay, let's get this straight, people who are raped can have orgasms. And, this WAS forced. She was willing because she had no choice. In my mind, he forced her. It brought tears to my eyes at how Tessa's esteem was so low, she just accepted it. It brought anger to me what an asshole Zakoar was. I just can't go on. I feel disgusted. DNF 37% I couldn't even bring myself to skim it. It makes me not want to read Ruby for awhile which is sad because is one of my go to faves...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2021
Go jump into the sun, dude
~ I'm a laid-back reader and I can put up with a lot, but this novella just drained joy from my spirit and made me feel yucky ~
Trigger warnings: dubious consent, hero treats heroine like a mindless fuckdoll (but he also postures as a good guy, blergh)
I rarely have strong feelings of hatred for a hero in romance ... but I do in this case.
This guy is so, so awful. He shouldn't even be alive awful. He could have easily been the villain. He could get a job in a concentration camp, if that's how he treats someone he supposedly cares about.
He's been watching the poor, brave heroine for years and never gave enough fucks to consider how she might feel about dancing naked in a window and being groped.
When he does end up buying Tessa (circumstances forced him to do it and he has full intentions of fucking her brains out), he doesn't ask for her name. She tells him and he FORGETS. She tells him again and he FORGETS IT AGAIN. She has to tell him 4 times. Unforgivably rude and inconsiderate and horrible. Oh, and he's angry she doesn't melt into a grateful horny puddle at his feet the second he drags her into his home, naked and terrified.
Yeah, he can go jump into the sun.
On top of the complete lack of respect he has for Tessa, he also throws a constant pity party. As if his mechanic limbs and ridiculous amount of cash are a worse fate than years of sex slavery, he never even asks about her past. Tessa always asks about everything and sympathises with this complete piece of shit.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dickwad never ever puts himself in Tessa's shoes. She's just a pretty vagina to him. I hope he chokes on his self pity and dies. I don't want to read about how upset he is about (insert bs reason).
~ I'm a laid-back reader and I can put up with a lot, but this novella just drained joy from my spirit and made me feel yucky ~
Trigger warnings: dubious consent, hero treats heroine like a mindless fuckdoll (but he also postures as a good guy, blergh)
I rarely have strong feelings of hatred for a hero in romance ... but I do in this case.
This guy is so, so awful. He shouldn't even be alive awful. He could have easily been the villain. He could get a job in a concentration camp, if that's how he treats someone he supposedly cares about.
He's been watching the poor, brave heroine for years and never gave enough fucks to consider how she might feel about dancing naked in a window and being groped.
When he does end up buying Tessa (circumstances forced him to do it and he has full intentions of fucking her brains out), he doesn't ask for her name. She tells him and he FORGETS. She tells him again and he FORGETS IT AGAIN. She has to tell him 4 times. Unforgivably rude and inconsiderate and horrible. Oh, and he's angry she doesn't melt into a grateful horny puddle at his feet the second he drags her into his home, naked and terrified.
Yeah, he can go jump into the sun.
On top of the complete lack of respect he has for Tessa, he also throws a constant pity party. As if his mechanic limbs and ridiculous amount of cash are a worse fate than years of sex slavery, he never even asks about her past. Tessa always asks about everything and sympathises with this complete piece of shit.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dickwad never ever puts himself in Tessa's shoes. She's just a pretty vagina to him. I hope he chokes on his self pity and dies. I don't want to read about how upset he is about (insert bs reason).
October 19, 2020
One of the best smut I’ve ever read!
Loved everything in it- the story, the hero, heroine, dialogues, alien world etc.
This was a scorching hot too.
Safe virgin hero, recommended.
Loved everything in it- the story, the hero, heroine, dialogues, alien world etc.
This was a scorching hot too.
Safe virgin hero, recommended.
July 13, 2022
3.5 🌟
September 8, 2022
# When she Dances
Preface
I could not over look the slavery aspect. It felt more like Stockholm Syndrome than the h developing genuine feelings for the H. He was rather selfish and I didn’t like the way he viewed the heroine at the beginning. I recommend skipping this book. It’s full of heavy topics and complex relationships that were just brushed over for the sake of a “happy and light” read. If that were the case, I think it should have been handled something closer to what Varrik did to Milly (In Pretty Human). It’s a bit astounding that a spoiled lord knew what do to when this H, who was an outcast and suffered from similar disappointments, did not.
————————————————————————————
RATINGS:
Plot :1 📚 Dust in the wind.
World Building(Immersion): 2 🌎🌎 Dipped half my body.
Angst : 2 👹👹 Having your arm pinched.
(The hero was an idiot, there heroine was broken beyond compare).
Funniness: ❎ No funny moments.
Scariness: ❎ Not scary.
Romance: ❎ No romance.
(It wouldn’t call it romance, I would call it a serious case of insanity!)
Spice: 3.5 🌶🌶🌶💫 Blushing potential
(Objectively speaking, I was not even entertained due to the disgust and unease lodged in my stomach).
Goriness: ❎ No gore.
(Just a very ugly looking hero in the inside and out).
Sadness:❎ No sadness.
Overall star rating :1 ⭐️- I hate it.
————————————————————————————
🚨🚨🚨MILD SPOILERS 🚨🚨🚨
The Good Place:
▫️Risda, the farming planet.
▫️Lucy was adorable on this one! I wish she could have been like that on her own book.
The Bad Place:
▪️The hero. He watched the heroine debase herself (knowing that she was probably being abused and such) and waited 4 years to do something (that was because he realized he wouldn’t be able to watch her anymore if she were sold to someone else).
▪️He buys her to use her body. In exchange, he will take her to Risda, a safe haven for former slaves and kidnapped humans. Of course, he tries to make this a transaction, she needs to sleep with him willingly. He never mentions that he would have taken her to Risda even if she refused (which makes it not an exchange but coercion by omission). The heroine agrees (why wouldn’t she? After all she is his slave and he holds all the power over her).
▪️He gets mad when it seems like she so afraid of him. It was not what he wanted because when she was in the cantina it seemed like she was taunting him. I mean, she was playing a part! She was trying to get out of there! It was not real. Nothing really was real in my eyes due to the power imbalance.
▪️He is not understanding of her trauma. They don’t even talk about it in depth. Only about the hero’s past and how he got his prosthetics and how he is still a virgin.
▪️The heroine falls in love with the guy because he is kind (for a slave owner) and makes her come (dude literally said that is made better for him so why not? It wasn’t about her at first, but she still thanks him for the favor 😐 and never mind that she began screwing him for her freedom).
▪️In the end of the book she refuses Risda, marries this guy AND gets his name tattooed around her throat so everyone knows not to mess with her and that she is the H’s property. 🥴
————————————————————————————
Preface
I could not over look the slavery aspect. It felt more like Stockholm Syndrome than the h developing genuine feelings for the H. He was rather selfish and I didn’t like the way he viewed the heroine at the beginning. I recommend skipping this book. It’s full of heavy topics and complex relationships that were just brushed over for the sake of a “happy and light” read. If that were the case, I think it should have been handled something closer to what Varrik did to Milly (In Pretty Human). It’s a bit astounding that a spoiled lord knew what do to when this H, who was an outcast and suffered from similar disappointments, did not.
————————————————————————————
RATINGS:
Plot :1 📚 Dust in the wind.
World Building(Immersion): 2 🌎🌎 Dipped half my body.
Angst : 2 👹👹 Having your arm pinched.
(The hero was an idiot, there heroine was broken beyond compare).
Funniness: ❎ No funny moments.
Scariness: ❎ Not scary.
Romance: ❎ No romance.
(It wouldn’t call it romance, I would call it a serious case of insanity!)
Spice: 3.5 🌶🌶🌶💫 Blushing potential
(Objectively speaking, I was not even entertained due to the disgust and unease lodged in my stomach).
Goriness: ❎ No gore.
(Just a very ugly looking hero in the inside and out).
Sadness:❎ No sadness.
Overall star rating :1 ⭐️- I hate it.
————————————————————————————
🚨🚨🚨MILD SPOILERS 🚨🚨🚨
The Good Place:
▫️Risda, the farming planet.
▫️Lucy was adorable on this one! I wish she could have been like that on her own book.
The Bad Place:
▪️The hero. He watched the heroine debase herself (knowing that she was probably being abused and such) and waited 4 years to do something (that was because he realized he wouldn’t be able to watch her anymore if she were sold to someone else).
▪️He buys her to use her body. In exchange, he will take her to Risda, a safe haven for former slaves and kidnapped humans. Of course, he tries to make this a transaction, she needs to sleep with him willingly. He never mentions that he would have taken her to Risda even if she refused (which makes it not an exchange but coercion by omission). The heroine agrees (why wouldn’t she? After all she is his slave and he holds all the power over her).
▪️He gets mad when it seems like she so afraid of him. It was not what he wanted because when she was in the cantina it seemed like she was taunting him. I mean, she was playing a part! She was trying to get out of there! It was not real. Nothing really was real in my eyes due to the power imbalance.
▪️He is not understanding of her trauma. They don’t even talk about it in depth. Only about the hero’s past and how he got his prosthetics and how he is still a virgin.
▪️The heroine falls in love with the guy because he is kind (for a slave owner) and makes her come (dude literally said that is made better for him so why not? It wasn’t about her at first, but she still thanks him for the favor 😐 and never mind that she began screwing him for her freedom).
▪️In the end of the book she refuses Risda, marries this guy AND gets his name tattooed around her throat so everyone knows not to mess with her and that she is the H’s property. 🥴
————————————————————————————
April 29, 2024
Updated review:
Reading this again makes me see that Ruby is the best !! Who doesn’t love a scarred hero? Tessa has had such a hard time these last 4 years on 3 Nebulas and unfortunately it’s about to get worse. What happens when the life you’ve known since your abduction is about to change and you’re going to be taken again.
In Tessa’s defense he is a Messakah and they are big bold sexy MF’s who love their women. The mechanic is dangerous, intense and he might just be exactly what she needs. Ooh and he is kind of a bad boy billionaire cyborg.
Baby this was amazing and he just wanted to take care of her so she would smile again. Imagine being saved just because someone wants to make you smile and blow your back candle style !!
I love, love, loved this !!
Old review
I took my time with this one because I wanted to savor it. I must always have a title by Ruby on deck. I am very excited to read book 6 in this series.
As always for my romance readers
-past trauma (both slaves)
-scarred hero
-virgin hero
-no cheating/no ow/OM
-alpha hole
- epilogue
-lots of kinky smexy times
Reading this again makes me see that Ruby is the best !! Who doesn’t love a scarred hero? Tessa has had such a hard time these last 4 years on 3 Nebulas and unfortunately it’s about to get worse. What happens when the life you’ve known since your abduction is about to change and you’re going to be taken again.
In Tessa’s defense he is a Messakah and they are big bold sexy MF’s who love their women. The mechanic is dangerous, intense and he might just be exactly what she needs. Ooh and he is kind of a bad boy billionaire cyborg.
Baby this was amazing and he just wanted to take care of her so she would smile again. Imagine being saved just because someone wants to make you smile and blow your back candle style !!
I love, love, loved this !!
Old review
I took my time with this one because I wanted to savor it. I must always have a title by Ruby on deck. I am very excited to read book 6 in this series.
As always for my romance readers
-past trauma (both slaves)
-scarred hero
-virgin hero
-no cheating/no ow/OM
-alpha hole
- epilogue
-lots of kinky smexy times
October 26, 2020
Ich liebe Ruby Dixons Alien/Mensch-Romances einfach soooo. Gut gestrickt, sprachlich solide, inhaltlich heiß und soooo schön albern 🥰
March 28, 2021
Este fue el librito que menos me gustó hasta ahora de Risdaverse
•Mi opinión puede contener Spoilers
•Esta destinada a ser un descargo personal no para que alguien más lea pero si lo haces y te ofende, me disculpo porque sé lo que es que te guste un libro y otros lo critiquen
When She Dances de Ruby Dixon Serie Risdaverse libro 5
Argumento:
Nunca esperé pasar mis días como bailarina... pero es mejor que la
alternativa. En la ventana de una sucia cantina de la estación espacial, giro las caderas y espero días mejores.
Cuando soy comprada por el alienígena más intimidante en la estación Tres Nébulas, esos mejores días están en camino. Zakoar of the Broken Back es un cyborg que comercia con prótesis del mercado negro. Es aterrador de ver, con una mandíbula de metal y un comportamiento temible. Intimida a todos en la galaxia... excepto a mí.
Zakoar no quiere mi nombre. De hecho, no quiere nada de mí... excepto un pequeño ejercicio de cama. A cambio de mi predisposición, me llevará a un planeta amigable con humanas donde pueda vivir sin miedo.
El amor no es parte del trato, pero cada momento que paso con él, aprendo más sobre el hombre debajo del metal...
...y de repente estoy soñando con un feliz para siempre muy
diferente para mí...
Mí humilde opinión:
Siempre intento leer todo lo que saca Ruby Dixon, me encantan sus historias de aliens y siempre anhelo saber que pasará con la próxima pareja humana/mesakkah o alguna otra raza interesante pero este no me gustó tanto lamentablemente.
Uno de mis problemas con esta serie es el tema de compra de esclavas sexuales y todo lo que las heroínas tienen que padecer durante su cautiverio hasta que logran su libertad. Cada vez que RD tiene algo así en sus historias me molesta pero siempre espero ver la superación de la heroína y su HEA.
Pero los protagonistas no fueron lo que esperaba.
Zakoar fue un personaje que apareció en un libro anterior de la serie y de inmediato por parecer un cyborg, ya que el mesakkah tiene la mayor parte de su cuerpo cubierto de metal, me llamó mucho la atención y obviamente quería conocer su historia. Lo hice aquí pero...
No pude superar que compre a Tessa solo para sacarla de su sistema. Para usarla sexualmente tras prometerle que cuando se canse de ella la llevará al planeta agrícola donde liberan a las esclavas humanas, me pareció terrible!
Él había dicho que estaba en contra de la esclavitud de las mujeres y hasta quería liberar a todas y le hace esa propuesta a Tessa? Por más que le iba a dar la libertad, él estaba haciendo lo mismo que sus captores al fin de cuentas.
Y encima que Tessa le diga que es amable por hacerle la propuesta y que hará lo que sea por él? WTF!? No creo que ese tipo de traumas y abuso se supere con tanta facilidad y que ella se enamore tan pronto e Zakoar luego de proponerle semejante cosa? No podía creer la mayoría de los pensamientos de esta mujer.
A decir verdad ambos personajes principales me desconcertaban, no sé dónde estuvo el honor del héroe y el orgullo de la heroína.
Sin embargo, aunque ciertas cosas no me gustaron esta es una lectura fácil de leer, rápida y dentro de todo no estuvo mal, todo mejora mientras se avanza en la lectura.
Se centro en la pareja, hubo mucha escena picante hasta que ellos se encariñan, sin mucha complicación en la trama y todo termina con un HEA.
Esperé más del epílogo que solo un intercambio de cartas entre Tessa y Lucy.
November 4, 2024
Where are all these spurs at?
They need to exist in the real world 🤣. Plus, we have an obsessed cyborg male? Who only wants the h and is a v? Count me in 😈
Tessa’s (29 ish) a human who dances in the window of, a cantina (basically, it’s a brothel). She’s basically a slave here, abducted from her home/planet years before. Because she’s human, her skin is too sensitive for some of the clientele (🙄) at the cantina, which is why she only dances. There’s a male cyborg that has starred in her dreams many many times 👀. Every time she sees this cyborg male come up to the window when she’s working, she can’t help but flirt with him 👀 and this male likes what he sees 😉.
Zakoar (30+ ish) of the Broken Back is always mesmerized by the human dancer in the window of the cantina. He knows he’ll never have a chance with her since he’s a cyborg and considers himself ugly because of all the different parts that make up his body ☹️. Now only has his body been affected by bombs, but he’s also been affected by warfare and the effects of it ☹️. He’s in the black market of prosthetics, many of which she’s used on himself.
When he finds out that the owner of a Cantina is selling the girls, he makes sure to be the first in line so he can have the human that has been obsessing his dreams 👀. Maybe if you finally answer, he’ll stop thinking about her and he’ll be able to focus on work 😅.
Or maybe she’ll wanna keep her forever 👀.
What I liked/loved: possible spoilers
—how sweet and obsessed Zakoar is 😉. The things he does to make sure Tessa feels safe 🫶
—the 🔥. Ufffff. I love me a male that takes direction well 😮💨 because he’s a v, he has to learn, and learn he does 😉
—the teaching about things and kissing 😅. I just love this world. The males don’t know what kissing is, so they always need to learn how to do it well, and it just makes me 🫠 and when Zakoar learns what a c is? Uffff 😮💨 Zakoar is a quick study 🥵
—ringing her bellllllllll 🥵 with his fingers and tongue 😉
—spurs and piercings and bumps oh my 🔥🫠
—how protective he is ❤️. He might be a scary cyborg, but when it comes to Tessa, he’s a marshmallow 🥹
—giving her options 🫶. He always ensures she feels safe and secure, even if it means she’ll be elsewhere ❤️
—how JP he is 👀. Yup. Don’t nobody touch his female
—the epilogue ❤️. I love the letters between Tessa and Lucy 👏🏻 I need to read her book. I also love the glimpses into Tessa and Zakoar’s lives ❤️
What I didn’t like: potential spoilers
—the premise made me feel 🥴. I’m so glad that Zakoar is inexperienced 👏🏻 because I was about to DNF 😬
—more in the epilogue 😭 while I loved what we got, I wanted more 🤣
Overall, I enjoyed this
⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no cheating/sharing/owd/omd*
-the h is a slave/captive and is surrender by women who are being forced to dance/be prostitutes
-experienced h/virgin H
-condom (plas film)/ then none. She’s clean
-HEA/epilogue/months later
They need to exist in the real world 🤣. Plus, we have an obsessed cyborg male? Who only wants the h and is a v? Count me in 😈
Tessa’s (29 ish) a human who dances in the window of, a cantina (basically, it’s a brothel). She’s basically a slave here, abducted from her home/planet years before. Because she’s human, her skin is too sensitive for some of the clientele (🙄) at the cantina, which is why she only dances. There’s a male cyborg that has starred in her dreams many many times 👀. Every time she sees this cyborg male come up to the window when she’s working, she can’t help but flirt with him 👀 and this male likes what he sees 😉.
Zakoar (30+ ish) of the Broken Back is always mesmerized by the human dancer in the window of the cantina. He knows he’ll never have a chance with her since he’s a cyborg and considers himself ugly because of all the different parts that make up his body ☹️. Now only has his body been affected by bombs, but he’s also been affected by warfare and the effects of it ☹️. He’s in the black market of prosthetics, many of which she’s used on himself.
When he finds out that the owner of a Cantina is selling the girls, he makes sure to be the first in line so he can have the human that has been obsessing his dreams 👀. Maybe if you finally answer, he’ll stop thinking about her and he’ll be able to focus on work 😅.
Or maybe she’ll wanna keep her forever 👀.
What I liked/loved: possible spoilers
—how sweet and obsessed Zakoar is 😉. The things he does to make sure Tessa feels safe 🫶
—the 🔥. Ufffff. I love me a male that takes direction well 😮💨 because he’s a v, he has to learn, and learn he does 😉
—the teaching about things and kissing 😅. I just love this world. The males don’t know what kissing is, so they always need to learn how to do it well, and it just makes me 🫠 and when Zakoar learns what a c is? Uffff 😮💨 Zakoar is a quick study 🥵
—ringing her bellllllllll 🥵 with his fingers and tongue 😉
—spurs and piercings and bumps oh my 🔥🫠
—how protective he is ❤️. He might be a scary cyborg, but when it comes to Tessa, he’s a marshmallow 🥹
—giving her options 🫶. He always ensures she feels safe and secure, even if it means she’ll be elsewhere ❤️
—how JP he is 👀. Yup. Don’t nobody touch his female
—the epilogue ❤️. I love the letters between Tessa and Lucy 👏🏻 I need to read her book. I also love the glimpses into Tessa and Zakoar’s lives ❤️
What I didn’t like: potential spoilers
—the premise made me feel 🥴. I’m so glad that Zakoar is inexperienced 👏🏻 because I was about to DNF 😬
—more in the epilogue 😭 while I loved what we got, I wanted more 🤣
Overall, I enjoyed this
⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no cheating/sharing/owd/omd*
-the h is a slave/captive and is surrender by women who are being forced to dance/be prostitutes
-experienced h/virgin H
-condom (plas film)/ then none. She’s clean
-HEA/epilogue/months later
October 6, 2021
Закор (мессакаш) и Теса (човек)
Закор е един от най-влиятелните мъже на станцията Трите Небюли. Той върти незаконен бизнес с киборг части и подобрения, давайки нови технични крайници или органи на хора, нуждаещи се от нови протези. Покрит с белези, метал и протези, той знае че е грамаден, грозен и застрашителен и не го интересува какво мислят другите за него. В сънищата и мечтите му обаче е красивата човешка робиня, танцуваща гола на прозореца на единствената кантина на станцията. Когато един ден той вижда, че жената, която винаги го е гледала с омагьосващ и приканващ поглед, вече не е на прозореца, а кръчмата е затворена, той решава да разбере какво се случва, и щом научава, че собственика смята да продаде всичките си робини, Закор е обсебен от идеята да открие жената, да я вземе и да я направи своя, с надеждата да си я избие от главата и след това да я изпрати на планетата Рисда 3, която е безопасно убежище за човешките жени.
Теса е пленница от 4 години. Началото на живота й в извънземната станция е трудно, като на всички робини, след време обаче, собственика й осъзнава, че една човешка жена привлича повече клиенти, а нежната й кожа не може да понася грубите извънземни докосвания и се покрива с грозни синини, затова Теса е извадена от задните стаички, където клиентите задоволяват най-низките си нужди, и изложена на показ зад голям прозорец в предната част на кантината, където Теса танцува по цял ден гола, привличайки клиенти в заведението. Така изминават няколко години,. Единственият проблем на Теса са изтощените крака в края на работният ден. За да избяга от реалността тя мечтае, че някой ден, мъжа на мечтите й ще дойде и ще я откупи. Точно срещу кантината се намира магазина на един грамаден, покрит с белези и метал Мессакаш, който винаги излиза за малко пред магазина си, за да гледа танца на Теса и малко по-малко тя започва да мечтае, че точно той е мъжа, който ще я спаси. Когато собственика на кантината е принуден да затвори, Теса и другите робини се оказват на пазара за роби, и тогава мечтата й се сбъдва и най-после Закор идва, за да я спаси.
Книжката както винаги е супер сладка, супер романтична и доста порочна. Закор го познаваме от предишната книга
, където смени кибернетичната ръка на Джерок. Тук видяхме, колко е успял, как всички изпитват голям респект към него примесен с известна доза страх, което беше странно, защото той беше същинска душичка. В крайна сметка, за мен той е не друго, а лекар. Сменя крайници и органи, които сам сглобява и то без да има схеми или насоки. Абсолютно гениален, с добро сърце. Купувайки Теса от робовладелеца, той бе решен да й се наслади, и да спре да мисли за нея. Обаче колкото повече беше с нея толкова повече не можеше да се насили дори да мисли, че може да се разделят. Теса е преживяла много в миналото, но все пак това не й пречеше да бъде весела, закачлива и да се влюби в Зокар почти веднага. Той бе толкова чувствителен на тема външност, че дори не можеше да си представи, че тя би искала да има нещо общо с него. Двамата заедно бяха толкова сладка двойка. Начина по който малко по малко изградиха рутина, беше чудесен. Естествено, като почти всяка книга в поредицата Рисдавърс, и тук Много обичам историите тип Красавицата и Звярът, и наистина се насладих на тази, беше чудесна.
Тук се запознахме и с нова двойка. Луси, която е една доста бъбрива землянка, имаща ферма на Рисда 3, и началника на "полицията" или там какъвто й е еквивалента, Ректар, който е мессакаш. Ректар няма никаква идея, че Луси точи лиги по него, а тя се опитва всячески да го накара да я забележи. Руби ни обещава, че тяхната книга ще дойде през декември и ще е новела... чакам я с нетърпение.
Закор е един от най-влиятелните мъже на станцията Трите Небюли. Той върти незаконен бизнес с киборг части и подобрения, давайки нови технични крайници или органи на хора, нуждаещи се от нови протези. Покрит с белези, метал и протези, той знае че е грамаден, грозен и застрашителен и не го интересува какво мислят другите за него. В сънищата и мечтите му обаче е красивата човешка робиня, танцуваща гола на прозореца на единствената кантина на станцията. Когато един ден той вижда, че жената, която винаги го е гледала с омагьосващ и приканващ поглед, вече не е на прозореца, а кръчмата е затворена, той решава да разбере какво се случва, и щом научава, че собственика смята да продаде всичките си робини, Закор е обсебен от идеята да открие жената, да я вземе и да я направи своя, с надеждата да си я избие от главата и след това да я изпрати на планетата Рисда 3, която е безопасно убежище за човешките жени.
Теса е пленница от 4 години. Началото на живота й в извънземната станция е трудно, като на всички робини, след време обаче, собственика й осъзнава, че една човешка жена привлича повече клиенти, а нежната й кожа не може да понася грубите извънземни докосвания и се покрива с грозни синини, затова Теса е извадена от задните стаички, където клиентите задоволяват най-низките си нужди, и изложена на показ зад голям прозорец в предната част на кантината, където Теса танцува по цял ден гола, привличайки клиенти в заведението. Така изминават няколко години,. Единственият проблем на Теса са изтощените крака в края на работният ден. За да избяга от реалността тя мечтае, че някой ден, мъжа на мечтите й ще дойде и ще я откупи. Точно срещу кантината се намира магазина на един грамаден, покрит с белези и метал Мессакаш, който винаги излиза за малко пред магазина си, за да гледа танца на Теса и малко по-малко тя започва да мечтае, че точно той е мъжа, който ще я спаси. Когато собственика на кантината е принуден да затвори, Теса и другите робини се оказват на пазара за роби, и тогава мечтата й се сбъдва и най-после Закор идва, за да я спаси.
Книжката както винаги е супер сладка, супер романтична и доста порочна. Закор го познаваме от предишната книга
, където смени кибернетичната ръка на Джерок. Тук видяхме, колко е успял, как всички изпитват голям респект към него примесен с известна доза страх, което беше странно, защото той беше същинска душичка. В крайна сметка, за мен той е не друго, а лекар. Сменя крайници и органи, които сам сглобява и то без да има схеми или насоки. Абсолютно гениален, с добро сърце. Купувайки Теса от робовладелеца, той бе решен да й се наслади, и да спре да мисли за нея. Обаче колкото повече беше с нея толкова повече не можеше да се насили дори да мисли, че може да се разделят. Теса е преживяла много в миналото, но все пак това не й пречеше да бъде весела, закачлива и да се влюби в Зокар почти веднага. Той бе толкова чувствителен на тема външност, че дори не можеше да си представи, че тя би искала да има нещо общо с него. Двамата заедно бяха толкова сладка двойка. Начина по който малко по малко изградиха рутина, беше чудесен. Естествено, като почти всяка книга в поредицата Рисдавърс, и тук Много обичам историите тип Красавицата и Звярът, и наистина се насладих на тази, беше чудесна. Тук се запознахме и с нова двойка. Луси, която е една доста бъбрива землянка, имаща ферма на Рисда 3, и началника на "полицията" или там какъвто й е еквивалента, Ректар, който е мессакаш. Ректар няма никаква идея, че Луси точи лиги по него, а тя се опитва всячески да го накара да я забележи. Руби ни обещава, че тяхната книга ще дойде през декември и ще е новела... чакам я с нетърпение.
January 17, 2022
Zakoar of the Broken Back and Tessa get their chance to find a little happiness in this crazy universe. Zakoar is...well, he's a sweetheart. A cyborg with an intimidating demeanor who does quality prosthetic work, he's A COMPLETE MARSHMALLOW on the inside. His procurement of Tessa keeps her from becoming the property of someone who might use and abuse her and he fiiiiights his emotional attachment to her something fierce.
Because, you know, who would want an ugly cyborg like him?
Turns out the answer is Tessa. Tessa would want an ugly cyborg like him. Except she doesn't think he's ugly at all and she sees into the heart of his soft, gooey center.
Do they have a few speedbumps? OF COURSE. Because Tessa's a slave trying desperately not to get attached to her newest master since the probability of being sold off again is high and Zakoar is not gifted in being sociable. Which means sharing how he feels is...well, it's a big bump for them. A big one. But they make it work. Eventually.
I have to say (as I always do) that I adore these aliens who seem so different on the surface, but are just looking to be loved. Tessa and Zakoar! YES!
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
Because, you know, who would want an ugly cyborg like him?
Turns out the answer is Tessa. Tessa would want an ugly cyborg like him. Except she doesn't think he's ugly at all and she sees into the heart of his soft, gooey center.
Do they have a few speedbumps? OF COURSE. Because Tessa's a slave trying desperately not to get attached to her newest master since the probability of being sold off again is high and Zakoar is not gifted in being sociable. Which means sharing how he feels is...well, it's a big bump for them. A big one. But they make it work. Eventually.
I have to say (as I always do) that I adore these aliens who seem so different on the surface, but are just looking to be loved. Tessa and Zakoar! YES!
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
August 5, 2021
'I really need to stop fantasizing, when the world keeps reminding me that everything is shit.'
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Can't believe we got such a toxic presentation of slavery so haphazardly disguised under "romance" when really the heroine didn't care that she was being used and the guy thought nothing he did was wrong. Very bad views in here and I guess as much as I like this author's universe and stories, there's still a few that just aren't right . . . especially when she CAN and HAS done a much better job presenting such topics like this. He could have bought her to free her and fallen in love with her throughout the journey to the safe haven planet . . . not bought her to use her and then free her?? nope nope nope
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Can't believe we got such a toxic presentation of slavery so haphazardly disguised under "romance" when really the heroine didn't care that she was being used and the guy thought nothing he did was wrong. Very bad views in here and I guess as much as I like this author's universe and stories, there's still a few that just aren't right . . . especially when she CAN and HAS done a much better job presenting such topics like this. He could have bought her to free her and fallen in love with her throughout the journey to the safe haven planet . . . not bought her to use her and then free her?? nope nope nope
August 14, 2021
"I'm dying. I've been killed by dick."
Pffft. What did she saaayy. I actually had a lot of fun with this one, plus I'm totally down with a grumpy cyborg H. Also, I thought the slave/owner dynamic would bug me too much from the previous book- but all in all it worked for me in a weird way.
Check it out on KU.
October 14, 2020
I still love this world but this was a simple plot with a simple conflict and just not as enjoyable as her some of her previous work. I still enjoyed it (mostly) and I'm still looking forward to the next one.
October 19, 2020
5 stars...
Well honestly this short, sweet novella was so surprisingly awesome.
And it seems like I love aliens so much..
This was officially my first read about them.
And it was totally a winner.
Rwirth reading.
I really injoyed it
Well honestly this short, sweet novella was so surprisingly awesome.
And it seems like I love aliens so much..
This was officially my first read about them.
And it was totally a winner.
Rwirth reading.
I really injoyed it
May 17, 2024
3.5 stars✨ I think this story could’ve been a full length book instead of a novella. Both of the characters have been through some shit and could’ve been more fleshed out to work through them.
January 13, 2024
3.5 stars! When She Dances is a novella part of the Risdaverse series. This one was a bit longer than the other novellas in the series, about 170 pages. Tessa is a human slave and dancer at a local club, every night she dances she dreams of one day getting free and leaving. A constant feature of her dreams is Zakoar, the local business owner who watches her every time, and she fantasies will one day come and rescue her. One day Tessa finds out the owner of the club is closing business and she is going up for auction. Zakoar finds out and decides he’s going to step in and purchase Tessa, he’s thinking he can maybe get her out of his system for once.
He’s scarred, isolated, put together with metal parts, and doesn’t think he’s pleasant to look at or be around. Their arrangement begins as a “let’s get one another out of systems” type of hookup with an expiration date from the start, of when he’ll drop her off at the farming planet Risda III. Of course, they both catch feelings along the way! This was a little slower going for liking the characters, but I did in the end. I also liked seeing how Tessa was interested in his work, cares for him in her small ways, and they both fall for one another. It was also fun seeing her letters at the very end, back and forth with Lucy (heroine of When She’s Bold).
He’s scarred, isolated, put together with metal parts, and doesn’t think he’s pleasant to look at or be around. Their arrangement begins as a “let’s get one another out of systems” type of hookup with an expiration date from the start, of when he’ll drop her off at the farming planet Risda III. Of course, they both catch feelings along the way! This was a little slower going for liking the characters, but I did in the end. I also liked seeing how Tessa was interested in his work, cares for him in her small ways, and they both fall for one another. It was also fun seeing her letters at the very end, back and forth with Lucy (heroine of When She’s Bold).
October 16, 2020
Aww I loved Zakoar!!! He was the meanest baddest looking mofo out there and ended up being a lonely sweet virgin. I'm glad he was able to save Tessa and they found happiness and freedom in each other.
November 1, 2025
I've been listening to the shorter unread Dixon books this summer (respectfully, I have noticed her longer works get a little repetitive and draggy in audio, which I don't clock reading with my eyes, so I save the longer ones for that). I haven't really been reviewing them, but this one was so different I had some thoughts. This review is going to refer to the entire not-Hoth universe.
The entire basis of the whole IBP/IH/IC/R world is that human women (mostly) were kidnapped from earth and sold as toys and pets. In IPB the women have been on a transport ship, and abused there, but crashed on not-Hoth before being sold into slavery. As the not-Hoth population universe expanded, we saw Gail, an older woman who had been kept for years for bed purposes, but who didn't like to talk about details, and has an "only looking forward, good vibes only" attitude. My favorite book of that series is Bek/Ellie, Ellie was kept as a novelty animal, basically (not bed purposes at all) and is mentally and emotionally scarred by her time as a slave. This is really the book that explores the ethics and effects of the human abduction/slavery issue, as Bek perpetuates it and has to learn better.
Once we get to the Corsairs and the Risda books, humans are coming out of years of slavery in some cases, and have nearly all been used in bed purposes and/or highly abused. Dixon touches more on PTSD and recovery once the humans are rescued, including what it looks like to have (voluntary) relationship with someone for the first time in years. These books touch on some tough stuff, but don't generally dwell.
In Dances, It's clear Tessa has been used for bed purposes plenty in the five years since she was kidnapped. She hasn't been treated well, has been abused, and basically been a thing, given protein bars instead of food, kept unclothed, etc. This is the first Dixon book I can recall that shows the actual, ongoing, on-page situation of the kidnapped human, the Dark History that's only been hinted at before. Tessa dances naked 12 hours a day in a cantina, and has been sent out on client calls in the recent era. She has no autonomy at all. When it's announced she is being sold, she knows what she'll be bought for.
So she's bought by Zakoar, the scarred guy with a shop near the cantina who watches her dance every day. This feels like Dixon's foray into dark romance/deeply transactional relationship (bedsport for life and safety, basically). Unlike almost any Dixon hero I've read, he is not a great guy, is not immediately taken with his human, and does not go into this with any kind of good intention. I'm going to argue that until well into the 60-70ish% of this book he's not a romance hero at all. He hears about the auction and decides to buy her to use her for bed purposes. He plans to just use her as much as he wants, and justifies it by saying if she presents as willing, he'll send her to Risda to be free when he tires of her.
And for at least the first half of the book he does just that. She's deeply terrified when he buys her, that he won't keep her and she'll be much worse off if she displeases him. They have a LOT of intimacy in the first few days he owns her, on his schedule and to his needs. In the beginning he refuses to learn her name, saying it's unnecessary, and refers to her as a bedslave. He feeds her actual food, and tends to her wear and tear from heavy use (and she climaxes for the first time since kidnapping) but she is very much there for his use and his pleasure. He also keeps her naked (as her previous owner did).
Even once they start to connect it's still an owner/slave relationship. Their intimacy is still on his schedule and frequency. He wakes her for it in the early morning when he gets up, she starts going to work with him to provide general comfort, but also a midday service. She's comfort on demand, and there is no instance on page of her refusing him or given a consent option. Even after their relationship includes more affection and caretaking (he buys her clothes, she makes sure he's comfortable in other ways as well) it's all on his terms. When he tells her it's time for her to go, she's under the impression he has, in fact, tired of her and she has no opportunity to discuss it or weigh in on a desired outcome. Throughout this entire relationship (until maybe the setting change in the very end) he has all the power in the relationship, even as feelings engage. She may be more comfortable and may be enjoying their intimate times physically, but she still has no autonomy at all. She cannot communicate honestly, she cannot consent or withhold consent, she doesn't initiate and doesn't refuse.
It's also interesting that this, the darkest of the Dixon books I've read has the first detailed description of the Threshian (spelling? It was audio) war. Throughout the universe, anyone who fought in the war definitely came out with PTSD, and Zakoar is the first with the terrible details.
I felt very compelled by this book. It's so unlike any other Dixon book I've read. The Corsairs met their humans under similar or worse circumstances and were immediately drawn to them as mates. The residents of Not-Hoth, of course, resonate and are completely gone for their mates, and even other Risda relationships have an almost immediate attraction. In this, Zakoar is motivated by the service he'll receive for a lot of the story. And he doesn't think of her as anything but his possession for the majority of the book, and in his POV throughout doesn't reference her feelings or desires at all. He doesn't like the idea of her with others, and wants her to be happy in the end, but it doesn't seem to rise to the "My Mate" levels we've seen with every other Dixon hero. It never occurs to him to consult her, seek her consent, or communicate with her as two autonomous people, and SHE, the one who is completely vulnerable in the relationship in every way, is the one who has to be emotionally vulnerable in the end to get to an HEA.
Five stars for being a big swing by the author, and for trying something completely different.
October 2025 reread: Look, the situation is worse on a reread (the book remains fantastic). Although characters assert that he "hates slavery" he really is just taking Tessa whenever and wherever he wants "she's a slave, it's my right." And she has ZERO say in the matter, something they don't even address in the "no I love YOU so much" ending. Like I really think it would have been good to have an on-page acknowledgment of how little agency and power she had and how unbalanced their relationship is. Rereading so soon because I realized everything from When she Purrs to Bethiah is best read in order
The entire basis of the whole IBP/IH/IC/R world is that human women (mostly) were kidnapped from earth and sold as toys and pets. In IPB the women have been on a transport ship, and abused there, but crashed on not-Hoth before being sold into slavery. As the not-Hoth population universe expanded, we saw Gail, an older woman who had been kept for years for bed purposes, but who didn't like to talk about details, and has an "only looking forward, good vibes only" attitude. My favorite book of that series is Bek/Ellie, Ellie was kept as a novelty animal, basically (not bed purposes at all) and is mentally and emotionally scarred by her time as a slave. This is really the book that explores the ethics and effects of the human abduction/slavery issue, as Bek perpetuates it and has to learn better.
Once we get to the Corsairs and the Risda books, humans are coming out of years of slavery in some cases, and have nearly all been used in bed purposes and/or highly abused. Dixon touches more on PTSD and recovery once the humans are rescued, including what it looks like to have (voluntary) relationship with someone for the first time in years. These books touch on some tough stuff, but don't generally dwell.
In Dances, It's clear Tessa has been used for bed purposes plenty in the five years since she was kidnapped. She hasn't been treated well, has been abused, and basically been a thing, given protein bars instead of food, kept unclothed, etc. This is the first Dixon book I can recall that shows the actual, ongoing, on-page situation of the kidnapped human, the Dark History that's only been hinted at before. Tessa dances naked 12 hours a day in a cantina, and has been sent out on client calls in the recent era. She has no autonomy at all. When it's announced she is being sold, she knows what she'll be bought for.
So she's bought by Zakoar, the scarred guy with a shop near the cantina who watches her dance every day. This feels like Dixon's foray into dark romance/deeply transactional relationship (bedsport for life and safety, basically). Unlike almost any Dixon hero I've read, he is not a great guy, is not immediately taken with his human, and does not go into this with any kind of good intention. I'm going to argue that until well into the 60-70ish% of this book he's not a romance hero at all. He hears about the auction and decides to buy her to use her for bed purposes. He plans to just use her as much as he wants, and justifies it by saying if she presents as willing, he'll send her to Risda to be free when he tires of her.
And for at least the first half of the book he does just that. She's deeply terrified when he buys her, that he won't keep her and she'll be much worse off if she displeases him. They have a LOT of intimacy in the first few days he owns her, on his schedule and to his needs. In the beginning he refuses to learn her name, saying it's unnecessary, and refers to her as a bedslave. He feeds her actual food, and tends to her wear and tear from heavy use (and she climaxes for the first time since kidnapping) but she is very much there for his use and his pleasure. He also keeps her naked (as her previous owner did).
Even once they start to connect it's still an owner/slave relationship. Their intimacy is still on his schedule and frequency. He wakes her for it in the early morning when he gets up, she starts going to work with him to provide general comfort, but also a midday service. She's comfort on demand, and there is no instance on page of her refusing him or given a consent option. Even after their relationship includes more affection and caretaking (he buys her clothes, she makes sure he's comfortable in other ways as well) it's all on his terms. When he tells her it's time for her to go, she's under the impression he has, in fact, tired of her and she has no opportunity to discuss it or weigh in on a desired outcome. Throughout this entire relationship (until maybe the setting change in the very end) he has all the power in the relationship, even as feelings engage. She may be more comfortable and may be enjoying their intimate times physically, but she still has no autonomy at all. She cannot communicate honestly, she cannot consent or withhold consent, she doesn't initiate and doesn't refuse.
It's also interesting that this, the darkest of the Dixon books I've read has the first detailed description of the Threshian (spelling? It was audio) war. Throughout the universe, anyone who fought in the war definitely came out with PTSD, and Zakoar is the first with the terrible details.
I felt very compelled by this book. It's so unlike any other Dixon book I've read. The Corsairs met their humans under similar or worse circumstances and were immediately drawn to them as mates. The residents of Not-Hoth, of course, resonate and are completely gone for their mates, and even other Risda relationships have an almost immediate attraction. In this, Zakoar is motivated by the service he'll receive for a lot of the story. And he doesn't think of her as anything but his possession for the majority of the book, and in his POV throughout doesn't reference her feelings or desires at all. He doesn't like the idea of her with others, and wants her to be happy in the end, but it doesn't seem to rise to the "My Mate" levels we've seen with every other Dixon hero. It never occurs to him to consult her, seek her consent, or communicate with her as two autonomous people, and SHE, the one who is completely vulnerable in the relationship in every way, is the one who has to be emotionally vulnerable in the end to get to an HEA.
Five stars for being a big swing by the author, and for trying something completely different.
October 2025 reread: Look, the situation is worse on a reread (the book remains fantastic). Although characters assert that he "hates slavery" he really is just taking Tessa whenever and wherever he wants "she's a slave, it's my right." And she has ZERO say in the matter, something they don't even address in the "no I love YOU so much" ending. Like I really think it would have been good to have an on-page acknowledgment of how little agency and power she had and how unbalanced their relationship is. Rereading so soon because I realized everything from When she Purrs to Bethiah is best read in order
January 5, 2024
Should have read the reviews before I picked this one up, I wanted a nice Ruby Dixon palate cleanser, but this one was not it.
October 14, 2020
Quick(ish) Review
I’d loved the last couple of Risdavwrse romances because they delved more into the emotional fallout of the kidnapping and abuse the characters went through. This is a much lighter, smuttier kind of story and there’s nothing wrong with it. If you love Ruby Dixon’s big blue aliens, I think this fits more in the lighter side of the spectrum. I liked it even if I wasn’t blown away by it.
I’d loved the last couple of Risdavwrse romances because they delved more into the emotional fallout of the kidnapping and abuse the characters went through. This is a much lighter, smuttier kind of story and there’s nothing wrong with it. If you love Ruby Dixon’s big blue aliens, I think this fits more in the lighter side of the spectrum. I liked it even if I wasn’t blown away by it.
February 18, 2022
Come and save me, I tell him. Come and take me away from all this. He never does, though… All I can do is survive until the next trauma comes up.
I loved Tess so much. I also loved Zakoar of the Broken Back. I was fascinated by him in Jerrok’s book. I wanted his story. I’m so glad I got it. Zakoar is a cyborg who has lived a very hard life. Hence, being a cyborg. It wasn’t by choice. He’s also a genius medic who helps others. I was excited to find out Tessa was the dancer with sad eyes mentioned in other books. I never expected these two but they definitely stood out and I’m so happy I got this story. I think I already said that.
It was also very steamy. Like on fire. The whole time. It was a short read with lots of sexy times.
I loved Tess so much. I also loved Zakoar of the Broken Back. I was fascinated by him in Jerrok’s book. I wanted his story. I’m so glad I got it. Zakoar is a cyborg who has lived a very hard life. Hence, being a cyborg. It wasn’t by choice. He’s also a genius medic who helps others. I was excited to find out Tessa was the dancer with sad eyes mentioned in other books. I never expected these two but they definitely stood out and I’m so happy I got this story. I think I already said that.
It was also very steamy. Like on fire. The whole time. It was a short read with lots of sexy times.
April 3, 2022
I think out of all the Risadaverse stories this one and the story before it with Jerrok are my favorites. Tessa has to be my favorite Ruby Heroine that I’ve read of all time. She’s so incredibly confident and unashamed over her body. I loved her, and I thought she was a perfect match for Zakoar who could learn a thing or two about self love. I love this couple so much and wouldn’t have minded it being longer. I could read about them forever. Can’t wait to read Lucy’s story though.
Virgin H
Former S slave fmc
No ow
And as always happy ending.
Virgin H
Former S slave fmc
No ow
And as always happy ending.
August 30, 2021
So, normally I enjoy Ruby Dixon.
Harmless, silly, fun, easy read.
Not this time.
There needs to be more education on the understanding of rape. What it is, what makes it so, and why it's so devastatingly wrong.
I get it, this is fiction, and maybe it's somebodies fantasy kick. But if so, it needs to come with serious content warnings, and qualifications regarding what is acceptable in the fantasy world, versus the real world.
Bluntly, if a person is not free to say no, than they can't consent, and it's rape.
Orgasm is not a form of consent.
There are very good reasons why doctors, therapists, and those in positions to be considered saviours, are not legally allowed to have sexual relations with clients, patients, and those in their care.
Good grief, could you get a more text-book case of transference?
She was even having panic attacks and constant anxiety symptoms at the though of disappointing him.
Terrified of being sent away, content to remain a slave so long as she got to be with him.
Ick, Ick, Ick!
Seriously, you 'buy' a person, tell them they can 'earn' their freedom through sex, and call it free consent?
That is a line that can never be uncrossed.
I repeat, if this is your fantasy, I will not pass judgement, but make sure it stays in the fantasy world.
There are too many vulnerable individuals in the world, and those too eager to take advantage of them.
The only way to honestly protect all, is to make sure everyone is aware of the laws, why they are what they are, and is willing to speak out when they are broken.
No excuses, no justifications, no exceptions!
Why did I finish this?
I kept hoping he would set her free so they could figure out where her feelings were honestly coming from. Still would have disliked-hated all of this, but would have breathed easier at the characters recognition of how wrong all of it was.. At an attempt to set things right, and show how it's not just the body that is enslaved and needs to be set free.
Truly, I wasn't expecting some in depth, psychological analysis or lecture.. just the cheesy, if you love em, set em free, let em stand on their own so they know they can. So that they make a free choice, not a fearful one.
Harmless, silly, fun, easy read.
Not this time.
There needs to be more education on the understanding of rape. What it is, what makes it so, and why it's so devastatingly wrong.
I get it, this is fiction, and maybe it's somebodies fantasy kick. But if so, it needs to come with serious content warnings, and qualifications regarding what is acceptable in the fantasy world, versus the real world.
Bluntly, if a person is not free to say no, than they can't consent, and it's rape.
Orgasm is not a form of consent.
There are very good reasons why doctors, therapists, and those in positions to be considered saviours, are not legally allowed to have sexual relations with clients, patients, and those in their care.
Good grief, could you get a more text-book case of transference?
She was even having panic attacks and constant anxiety symptoms at the though of disappointing him.
Terrified of being sent away, content to remain a slave so long as she got to be with him.
Ick, Ick, Ick!
Seriously, you 'buy' a person, tell them they can 'earn' their freedom through sex, and call it free consent?
That is a line that can never be uncrossed.
I repeat, if this is your fantasy, I will not pass judgement, but make sure it stays in the fantasy world.
There are too many vulnerable individuals in the world, and those too eager to take advantage of them.
The only way to honestly protect all, is to make sure everyone is aware of the laws, why they are what they are, and is willing to speak out when they are broken.
No excuses, no justifications, no exceptions!
Why did I finish this?
I kept hoping he would set her free so they could figure out where her feelings were honestly coming from. Still would have disliked-hated all of this, but would have breathed easier at the characters recognition of how wrong all of it was.. At an attempt to set things right, and show how it's not just the body that is enslaved and needs to be set free.
Truly, I wasn't expecting some in depth, psychological analysis or lecture.. just the cheesy, if you love em, set em free, let em stand on their own so they know they can. So that they make a free choice, not a fearful one.
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