I knew going into this that it was the third book in this series, but I figured because it said it was a stand alone it would be okay that I hadn't read the first two. And it was. This was a quick, hot read that actually even had a story to it. I normally probably wouldn't have given it four stars, but I found myself never wanting to stop reading it.
The world building was interesting and believable, and so were the characters. I loved Jakk's different color eyes though. How that would be considered a genetic defect, I don't know because I've always found that awesome. Jakk and Gav'n were very different personalities, but also not. Because of his eyes, Jakk has always repulsed people so he has built this wall and shut himself off from almost everybody. Gav'n has always gotten attention and more freely gives it, but he always has his brother's back in all things. Despite how it urked me how quickly Mira submits to them, her reactions and decisions were believable. She hates being kept like a pet, but acknowledges her situation. While she does a couple things that aren't all that smart, she doesn't do anything all that stupid either. Which is a nice change from me always asking the characters why they're so fucking stupid.
So as the synopsis says, Mira was aboard her spaceship when it crashed into this alien planet. Instead of killing the women on board, each of them ends up being "fostered out" to different people. Mira is sent to live with twin brothers, Jakk and Gav'n (both of whom have important roles in their society), as the ship killed their sister leaving them to take care of their three nieces. An overwhelming task for them to be sure. The brothers immediately are captivated by Mira, but with the way she's treated it takes her a little longer to feel the same. After all, they may give her pleasure beyond her wildest dreams but they also like to punish her for a variety of offenses and she has pretty much no freedoms. Thrown into the mix of what Mira has to deal with is the three girls. The youngest was easiest to win over, the middle a little harder, but the eldest nearly impossible. Mira does her best to adapt to this new life but she can't help the defiant streak she has that wants to be free and useful. Which gets her into trouble every time. But by the end, she comes to accept what she has there and embrace this family of circumstance.
I only had a couple issues with this story, but they weren't anything huge. First, I'm not sure how cool I was with Mira having to call the guys "master". I mean, if they're supposed to be a family, that doesn't make sense. Even more so if they claim to love her. Second was Mira's conditioning. They kept talking about having the responsibility to condition her to life on their world but what does that even mean? They used it as their reason for a lot of her punishments and why she had to do as they were teaching, but it always revolved around the going-ons in the bedroom. How does that apply to life on that planet in public? I just didn't get it, especially when you consider she's not allowed out in public anyway.
Over all, this was a great book and I'm definitely hoping the first two books go on sale at some point because I would love to check them out as well.
ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.