Prowl

Femme Metal #1

by Nathalie Gray

On the Femme Metal, a tough, ugly-as-hell ship, Alex prowls deep space procuring males. Human or alien. She doesn’t much care. As long as they generate profit. And nothing will stop her from supplying her wealthy customers with top-grade male specimens for their brothel ships. Not even the seven-foot, blue-skinned, silver-haired wonder her customer very specifically requested. Unfortunately for Alex, she hadn’t counted on the sexy Yithian being a bounty hunter of his own.

Sekmeth Meroh always gets his prey. For an exorbitant fee, he will catch anyone, of any race, on any world. He’s the best of his kind—a Hunter. Sekmeth’s latest assignment—capture Alexandra Novona and her all female crew for a brothel ship near his own home world.

One little problem… Neither Alex nor Sekmeth can keep their hands to themselves.

Warning: contains violence and sexual content

This book was previously published as Femme Metal

Genres: Erotica, Science Fiction, M F Romance, Aliens, Romance, Science Fiction Romance

161 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Mother, spouse, older sister, writer, ex-soldier, high school drop-out, dog owner (or dog owned), half couch potato, half intermittent jogger, wannabe renovator and avid reader who watches too much television, sinks too much money in clothes, likes animals more than humans, recycles, wore braces, never downloads copyrighted stuff, was a nerd without the grades, has a belly laugh that turns heads in theaters, can't stand bullying, is mother hawk more than mother hen, votes even if candidates aren't that great and thinks formal education is highly overrated (probably because she has none).

Reviews

[soda · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Warning: may contain spoilers*

I love any book that takes place in space, plus this had strong leading women so I'm happy it was a good book with a semi happy ending ( I say semi happy b/c unfortunately some of Alex's crew do die and the youngest member of the crew endured some trauma, but does pull it together and actually becomes a weapons creator).

Alexandra Novona (Alex) and her fellow female crew of the Femme Metal (Love that name for a ship) kidnap and sell men and women of all species into slavery. Alex was just about to quit when she gets the largest contract of her life: 200,000 credits for one bad ass and super hot Yithian male. Turns out he's a Hunter, and also has a contract for her.

As the tables are turned and she and her crew are sold into slavery, the Yithian male, Sekmeth grows a conscious and a heart, which is why his new "prized tattoo" is a lotus flower over his heart...hhmmmmm. I kinda like that metaphore ;)

**What I really Love about this books is that Yithian males prefer a woman in her "2nd cycle", and not "perfect", with a few scars to show for their life experience(s). Sekmeth even says he does not understand human males who want a childlike, stick figure with no life experience. Yup, it's a given that a real man who doesn't want that ISN'T human!! **

As Sekmeth wins Alex back, he buys back her crew in an attempt to make her happy, but ends up learning the error of his ways overall, as does she. Of course she never gets her 200K credits, but you could say she ends up getting more in the end. He, also, looses more than he initially got paid for all the women, but again, he ended up getting more in return.



A nice read :)

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was vacillating between 3 and 4 stars for this one - but I'll round up for the sheer fun and attention grabbing story that it is. Lots of interesting alien/human differences as well has some fun alien sex toys.

What frustrated me a bit (or maybe it just made me feel guilty) was the fact that both protagonists were slave traders until they met each other and decided to leave the slave trading life behind. No mention at all was made about righting the wrongs done, or actively working to change the system in any way. Yes, I admit to guilt as I rooted for their HEA. What about the other people who's lives were completely changed because of what Alex and Sekmeth had done? But it is a fantasy, and not a treatise on the evils of slave trading. And it is a good fantasy with an interesting world created by the author.

So if you don't mind deeply flawed, somewhat amoral heroes and heroines, this book is worth reading. I did not realize there were two other books after this one, the second (and next) book is about Kim and is one of Ellora's Cave's values from the vault. I just might have to continue the fun and grab Hot Target.

[Mary Dallenbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book for free and thought eh what the heck I like space romances. I was pleasantly surprised by the story. I liked the main character though she was a hard ass. I loved that she was an older woman. Reading about teenagers gets so old after a while. The male character was luscious, and the story carried me all the way through. I like that Natalie went a little taboo (if that's the right word) with her steamy encounters. The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because she left one major point hanging. That and I like to have a little more of a closure when two characters are so opposed in the beginning. I am looking forward to reading the next two books to see if Natalie expounds on these two sticking points.

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nathalie Gray is just fun to read! Femme Metal is an all-female-crew slave ship, captained by ex-veteran Alexandra Novona, who tells herself its okay to capture and sell males to the highest-paying brothel ship, until the tables are turned and she finds that she and her entire crew are captured by an alien Hunter. The book is fun and engaging, and my only complaint was that our blue-skinned alien action hero reminded me a little too much of Dr. Manhattan from The Watchmen, which was a little of a turn off.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, action-oriented futuristic plot. Neither the hero nor the heroine are particularly admirable to start - they both kidnap people for money - but they do grow over the course of the book. I thought the 'foreign' culture was handled rather well - enough info to see his viewpoint without trying to do Yithian Culture 101. And if tall tattooed blue guys do it for you, this is the hero for you!

Femme Metal series:
Femme Metal
Hot Target
Cold Fusion

[Mandeep’s reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This probably qualifies as an erotic romance. But it doesn't fail in the Sci-fi story dept. I thought the overall world building and storyline was well done. Well written older tough heroine. Different alpha alien male, with a kind of soft spot for said female. I will read more from this author.

[Kimchi · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was a very good book, I liked it from start to finish. All of the characters grew and chose the sides that led to either their salvation or demise. I love books, i like how the the story plays on emotions and feelings. Also the spicy sex scenes are a bonus. two thumbs up.

[Mya · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love it it was so nice