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Kwarq

I only came to this planet for a scavenger hunt, a ridiculous child's game, arranged by my twin brother to celebrate our birthday. From the moment we step from our pod, I'm not impressed. Humans are kind of miserable, which is hard for a species like mine that thrives on giving and receiving pleasure. This makes it even more shocking when I catch the sweet scent of the woman on the bus. The flashing glimpse of her beautiful, brown face beneath a halo of curling hair. If I were foolish, I would deny that the woman of my heart could exist on such a planet, but I am not a fool. No, from the moment I see her, I am a Lyqa on a mission. And I'm not leaving this planet without her.

237 pages, ebook

First published October 8, 2017

272 people are currently reading
455 people want to read

About the author

Nikki Clarke

38 books191 followers
Nikki Clarke is a poet and writer who’s always loved a good love story in books and on film. Her favorite on screen love declarations in no particular order are: Darius and Nina under the viaduct, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth in the field (Knightley and MacFadden version), and Dwayne and Whitley at the wedding. Nikki doesn’t mind a little weird (or raunch) mixed in with her romance and hopes to contribute to more happily ever afters of all shades and styles.

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5 stars
323 (46%)
4 stars
213 (30%)
3 stars
137 (19%)
2 stars
23 (3%)
1 star
6 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
Profile Image for hea booktubes.
1,709 reviews381 followers
December 26, 2020
Really unique take on alien romance. I enjoyed the blending of black culture and a made up alien culture. I didn’t love the many misunderstandings.
Profile Image for Poppy || Monster Lover.
1,861 reviews543 followers
August 5, 2024
I really enjoyed the first half of the book that had the culture clash and rough meeting each other. Amina was an interesting character and relatable in a lot of ways. She was cautious and able to roll with the punches. Kwarq was great in the first half of the book. He was awkward, smitten, and had difficulty communicating. But the second half of the book was rough. The moment she felt devastated because of something he did was frustrating because she basically gaslit herself into agreeing that what he did was just a culture difference thing. She was so quick to forgive and repeated this several other times. And he pissed me off because he kept saying she was being irrational when she had perfectly valid concerns. So basically the second half of the book was gaslighting central.
I did enjoy the author’s writing style and the story flowed well. I just wasn’t feeling the love story.

Spice: 4/5

SPOILERS IN TRIGGER WARNINGS

Triggers: accidental pregnancy, near miscarriage, birthing, cheating - MMC makes out with previous lover because it’s “rude” to not kiss her back, mention of absent parent (side character’s ex husband)
Profile Image for Coco.V.
50k reviews135 followers
Want to read
October 2, 2018
💝FREE on Amazon today (10/2/18)!💝

Blurb:
Kwarq

I only came to this planet for a scavenger hunt, a ridiculous child's game, arranged by my twin brother to celebrate our birthday. From the moment we step from our pod, I'm not impressed. Humans are kind of miserable, which is hard for a species like mine that thrives on giving and receiving pleasure. This makes it even more shocking when I catch the sweet scent of the woman on the bus. The flashing glimpse of her beautiful, brown face beneath a halo of curling hair. If I were foolish, I would deny that the woman of my heart could exist on such a planet, but I am not a fool. No, from the moment I see her, I am a Lyqa on a mission. And I'm not leaving this planet without her.
Profile Image for LowBrowReader.
302 reviews11 followers
October 13, 2017
3.5 points

Not badly written but I have to confess to a bit of an aversion to the first person present tense writing so I am probably wrong person to review this. It grates on me, always seems like a bit shallow and easy way out. I have read VERY few books in that style that I have actually added to the "Keeper" pile.

This one will remain firmly in "Okay-ish but won't be re-reading" stack.

The alien is very much human-looking, only faster and stronger and bigger of course. Cause why would an earthling ever fall for a male that is smaller, weaker & slower....

There is the fated mates/instalove theme - also not my favorite.

What there isn't much of is a plot, sadly. Alien lands, stalks, has a lot of conversations, a lot of nookie etc. You can see from far away that next books in series are planned and who are going to be the heroes.

There is a big anti-racism theme (heroine is black). Addressed in a bit aggressive and talking-not-showing manner but kudos to author for addressing it at all!

All in all I would have given about 2.5 stars but I am adding an extra star because the hero (big speedy alien) is not an aggressive alphole but is coming from culture where openness, touch and intelligence are valued above physical prowess.
Profile Image for Lisette.
617 reviews43 followers
June 29, 2022
Who knew aliens were where it's at???
This was so unexpected. I loved how funny, lighthearted but then deep and sweet this story was. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. I needed a reading partner while reading this because there were way too many moments where I laughed out loud or covered my face blushing and wished I had someone to share these moments with. Absolutely loved it.
Profile Image for Kathryn.
632 reviews15 followers
February 15, 2023
This was an interesting story. However, Amina got on my last nerve. I know Kwarq was an alien, but her constant second-guessing every situation got a little annoying after a while.
Profile Image for Symone.
115 reviews11 followers
November 26, 2025
3.75 ⭐️
This was my first alien romance, and it was cute. I enjoyed Kwarq and Amina’s story. It was a great journey from their meeting to when Amina discovered he was an alien, and how they worked through their differences. I can’t wait to continue the series.
Profile Image for Lindaisa.
545 reviews61 followers
July 2, 2020
Well, that was...interesting!

Some of my favorite book genres are:
- Fantasy
- Urban Fantasy
- Paranormal Fantasy
- Contemporary Romance
- Black Contemporary Romance
As you can see, my favorite genres are dominated by some form of fantasy - and my hope is to find solid authors who write Fantasy (not YA) that features Black Characters. It's tough out here in these streets! So I'm on a quest if you will...to find these books. To find the equivalent of the Mercy Thompson series or the Kate Daniels series, that features characters that look like me. Which is why when I saw Kwarq I had to give it a shot!

Kwarq and his twin brother Bati find themselves on Earth, in the Windy City of Chicago, on a Ta'ani Maul (scavenger hunt) to celebrate their birthday. Initially, Kwarq is annoyed at his brother for bringing him to a place that feels so drab and around humans who collectively seem to be down and unhappy with life–for what is supposed to be a birthday celebration. That is until he feels an intense pull of energy that overwhelms the drab and dreadful aura of the humans around him. Sweet energy that feels like everything he's never had the imagination to dream up. Tender energy pulling at him from a moving bus. The source? A woman who he's never met but suddenly has every desire to get to know, protect, love, and cherish... Amina–His future, his heart-beat, his leht

I will say...while Kwarq didn't fully hit all of the marks for me (exposition, character development, world-building, relationship building, tertiary character development, etc.) it toed the line in executing just enough on each of those things that I was able to genuinely enjoy the story at its most basic level.

Clarke didn't go into too much about who Amina and Kwarq were before they met each other–the only thing I definitively know about Amina outside of who she is in her relationship with Kwarq, is that she likes to go to the movies–but Clarke did provide just enough insight into who Amina was as a character that I cared about what happened to her in the story. Similarly, Clarke didn't really build out the world of Lyqa much beyond surface-level descriptions, but she gave just enough in terms of the different customs and cultures, that I could easily picture a different world than Earth when those scenes came about. We were given just enough information and insight into some of Kwarqs family and friends to pique an interest in carrying on in the series, but not enough to feel like you HAVE to read the subsequent books.

Overall, this book was really just a story that, featured a fast-paced whirlwind romance facilitated by physiological chemical changes causing heightened feelings between Kwarq and Amina, packed the events of several novels into one, and barely escaped being labeled a PWP for me (my fan-fic peoples know what that is - google it if not 😉).

And maybe this is a preference thing! I'm fully okay with owning that the issue in this case might be ME and not the book. Because I liked it! I laughed, I got heated, I was confused at times, and I was invested. But I just wanted more. In my fantasy books, I prefer a high level of detail and focus on world-building and exposition. I'm perfectly fine with authors taking their time to flesh out characters and settings before even thinking about delving into romance.

Oh, you want to spend the entire first book on exposition? HAVE AT IT! You want to devote several chapters to providing back story on the main character that will explain their actions and how they perceive the world they live in? BRING IT ON! And as i'm writing this...i'm thinking that this series being called the "Planet Lovers" series, might have clued me in on the fact that this story was going to lean more on the romance side than the fantasy side...

But nah though...I said what I said! lol. And I said all of that to say, i'm 85% sure i'm going to read at least the next two books in this series because while this story wasn't everything I wanted it to be, I still enjoyed everything that was. 😊
Profile Image for Bri The Shameless Romance Reader.
323 reviews35 followers
February 24, 2023
3.25 stars. This book has a lot of the familiar alien tropes sci-fi readers like myself love. You get soulmate tropes, miscommunications, getting familiar with each other’s culture, an extremely loving MMC and the FMC living on a new planet. I liked this book. The only downside was I didn’t love the FMC. She annoyed me at times. Early on a lot of her hesitance/ overthinking panicking was understandable, but further into the book it was just plain annoying. This book left me wanting more. I’m really interested in the MMC’s older brothers story and his coworker’s story.
607 reviews7 followers
April 14, 2023
Yeah not a huge fan but points for originality
Profile Image for Joque Bookreviewer.
329 reviews14 followers
February 13, 2026
So sweet & earnest

I'm a huge sci-fi romance fan & I can't believe this author hasn't ever been shown to me B4 now. Look at that cover art, & it's made by human! Say less, I'm sold. Thankfully I saw it on one of my fav authors pages (Elizabeth Stephens) & took the leap. Worth it!

Vibes:
Fated Mates but more intense, powerful aliens who revere love & family, and a non-creepy $talk ur soulmate til she relents vibe lol. Can standalone and the spice was spicing. The humor and culture clashes were on point too.

This alien romance was so sweet and creative. I loved the alien world and culture the author built, I imagined it so clearly and wished I could experience it. How the family loved each other so hard, and respected others. Honestly, the way the aliens viewed everything was so refreshing & uplifting. And the rich descriptions of skin colors & hair textures (especially the blue black, red black, were so hot). I also enjoyed the realistic way the FMC was portrayed. She had real reactions and fears that most of us wld have. How women have to stay on guard on earth, & they must act tough and be independent so they're never let down again. Yet also acknowledging a fine man and when he treats you right, letting him earn a place. Also how ppl treat skin color or hair texture like it's a circus act or disease, and how other planets think it's ridiculous. Very memorable & likable characters, from the main to the side cast. My favorite had to be our MMC he was such an earnest alien who craved to love & be loved. He was so doting and sweet, and literal at times that made it hilarious.

I will def continue the series, and hope to see some animal companions in future books. If you love earnest aliens who revere women, want her happiness above all, hv huge 🍆 & long 👅, plus the best found family & uplifting yet real vibes- I think you'll love this book. It has similar vibes to Ursa Dax Cowboy Brides series except there's more culture & skin shades represented in this one.

Life's short, read whatever makes you happy fellow book lovers! Then tell me about it lol.
Profile Image for OneDayI'll.
1,606 reviews42 followers
January 26, 2023
Miscommunication station

Amani is a single woman who enjoys seeing movies. Kwarq is new to humanity altogether, being an alien and all. But he scents her while visiting and suddenly the treasure hunt he'd planned with his brother became a different kind of treasure hunt as he started following her. It took him 2 months to speak to her, one night to bind with her, and it will take them a lifetime to learn how to communicate.

Spoilers ahead.
So parts of this were adorable and some were enough to make you want to rip out your hair. Some of the misunderstandings were so contrived. The guy could send a text across the galaxy so her mom and sisters didn't worry but couldn't remember to text his ex? And honestly, the brother came back home without him, probably explained, at the very least, that Kwarq had met his beat and was wooing her. Two months he was gone. His beat answers the door smelling like him. They're supposed to have super senses. She couldn't smell it? She couldn't hear 2 hearts beating in sync? There were a couple scenes similarly done that didn't match the abilities they were supposed to have. And human anatomy isn't designed to stretch so fast so quickly. Pregnancy strains the body, and a uterus is designed to expand. But not several month's worth in a couple week span. Skin tears during a normal pregnancy. It would darn near rupture during what she went through. She wouldn't have gotten the protein she'd need as only veggies were mentioned for food, no legumes or such. No super medical lotion mentioned to help prevent skin pulling apart during a doubly expansive pregnancy done in a third of the normal timespan. I can't express my joy at not once reading about some body part or another being described as creamy, though. I loved the no touchy my hair dress down, too. Although, no one told him how to care for natural hair for during her long sleeps. Unless that was filled under learning via YouTube, too? I have to think on this one some. Like I said, there's things I loved about it. But there's things that didn't add up, too.
Profile Image for Teeyah ✨.
71 reviews1 follower
June 5, 2025
Wow......just wow

That was a wild ride. I went into this book blind and I've never read this author's work before. I'll tell you one thing for certain, I did not expect ANYTHING that happened in this book. Still processing and shook. I teared up at the end too. What an insane unserious ride.
Profile Image for Tasha P..
575 reviews3 followers
August 7, 2019
Sweet

This was an amazing love story. I really enjoyed reading this book and couldn't put it down. If your interested in something different and new, I highly recommend this book.
Profile Image for JazzReads .
1,107 reviews33 followers
February 1, 2025
Good story

This book was a book club pick and I enjoyed this book. I read a couple of books by this author and I look forward to reading more books by this author.
226 reviews3 followers
January 29, 2018
Unexpectedly good...

I was not expecting a lot from this book, but I was surprised by how good it read. There were minor grammatical errors but the story was enjoyable.
Profile Image for Stacie.
2,583 reviews274 followers
February 15, 2026
This was mostly really fun. Kwarq is the sweetest sweetheart. Amina had her moments when she really got on my nerves. She had a tendency to jump to negative conclusions but overall I enjoyed this story a lot! I'll be on to book 2 very soon.
12 reviews3 followers
December 28, 2025
Heavy cheating with no consequences!

Literally in the book while Amina is pregnant she walks in on Kwarq making out with his ex lover. Full on tongue kissing and groping. The excuse he gives Amina is "I didn't want to insult her by turning down her advances."

Before anyone thinks of the excuse "well maybe he didn't know better because he's an alien" Kwarq's brother literally asked him if he studied human dating customs and if he knew what he did was wrong beforehand. Kwarq says he did study and he WAS aware making out with an ex was wrong. But he did it anyway!

He barely apologizes to Amina. He basically just says "Sorry. I just didn't want to hurt my ex's feelings."

And then Amina is like "you know what? I was being dramatic. I'm heartbroken but what else could you have done in that situation?" And they move on. It's so annoying. After that scene Kwarq reminded me of a narcissist who love bombs and manipulates instead of the "sweetheart" he portrays himself to be.

It seems like a good number of people don't care about the cheating. However if you are a reader who can't stand cheating men and women who let themselves be walked all over because they are too afraid of being single, I suggest you avoid this book. Hesitantly I would recommend avoiding this author. It's a red flag that Amina got over the betrayal when Kwarq told her that he only cheated so he wouldn't be rude to his ex. I'm forced to believe that this is likely normalized in this authors writing.

Again. If you hate reading about cheating men and women who are doormats about it, AVOID. AVOID. AVOID.
Profile Image for Abena Karikari.
21 reviews12 followers
May 27, 2022
This was my very first alien romance and I saw it recommended on TikTok by blackromanceconnoisseur (she gives great recs by black indie authors 👌🏾). If you’ve never read alien romance but are curious I highly suggest you start off with this book because it really comes across as a light easy intro into the genre. The main female character is Amina, a black woman living in Chicago who becomes the”lehti” (soulmate) of Kwarq, an alien. What made this easy to accept was that the author basically mimicked the Lyqa after humans but taller and bigger , if you get what I mean 😂, with some differences here and there. Overall I think the author did a good job with setting this up as an intro to alien romance in general and the rest of the series. Now I’m curious about the rest of the books in the series which follow Kwarq’s brothers and I’m hoping to get more detailed descriptions of the Lyqa planet and their culture.
72 reviews
June 20, 2021
My first

I love paranormal, but this is my first book that doesn’t have a werewolf, vampire or some other preternatural character. I wasn’t sure about aliens, but I would go to lycas and not come back since they are all gorgeous and they are nice people. I loved the insecurities that Amina had regarding her personal safety and her trusting of men. I liked that Quarq was opposite of what she expected, although I was not sure what was going on when his ex showed up and he acted as if Amine was not even there. Ms. Clarke did an excellent job of making her heartbreak palpable both times. It felt like the only thing that kept her from completely fall apart was because she hadn’t surrendered to their love because she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I recommend this book
Profile Image for Amber.
171 reviews7 followers
February 7, 2021
if you’re into a little sci fi romance, I truly recommend it.
Kwarq finds his soulmate on Earth (in Chicago) while out for a birthday trip. He instantly knows Amina is his true love and spends the book proving it to her. Amina is an anxious woman who has been hurt in the past and has some trust issues with being seen as desirable as a Black woman. It’s interesting to see how Clarke mixed Black culture with Lyqa culture. Kwarq loves her wholeheartedly and makes sure that Amina wants for nothing. It has a happily ever after and is incredibly sweet.
Can’t wait to read the stories about the brothers. :)

What would you do if you found your perfect man but he wasn’t from this world?
Profile Image for Courtnee Howell.
509 reviews1 follower
April 1, 2022
Relatively Realistic

Kwarq comes to earth for a scavenger hunt, but finds Amina instead. Amina finds Kwarq to be a little weird, but will she also find love?

First off, I have always been BlackGirls/Anybody, so aliens are right up my alley. I also like that Kwarq’s family is phenotypically black, because I don’t know what the sci-fi situation is in Black Romance but more black leads is always a good idea to me.

That being said, I felt some of those conflicts were too easily worked through. I would have liked some more world-building, but this is the first in the series.

If you think that there should be more black sci-fi Romances, this is definitely for you.
48 reviews
December 9, 2022
What a good read.

The author combined IR and Aliens in a realistic way. Yes, Amina was freaked out and reacted like most AA women would, that is on point. I like the promise of a world where love is important and valued like this. A place where empathy and apology for hurt is the norm. I wish I could go there. I loved the emotional growth of the characters and the complete acceptance the Lyqa had for Amina even in her very American way of distrust and cynicism. Already bought the next book. Great job.
58 reviews
November 24, 2022
Consent is sexy y'all

Consent, respect, kindness are a sexy trifecta encased in the perfect speciman that is Kwarq, but he is not alone, born on a planet were all these things and all matter of compassion and social good are valued, all the man wants to do is make Amina, his Li'aht, happy, to provide for her, to protect her, to make her laugh, he is breath of fresh air in a genre overwhelmed by those alpha "romantic" male leads brimming with toxicity. 
I enjoyed this book, I enjoyed the characters and I am on my way to read the second installment.
Profile Image for Tiera.
48 reviews
March 6, 2023
This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. The only think I didn't like was the miscommunication issue more then once. I loved seeing a women like me in an alien romance and that is didn't include the slave situation like so many alien romances. I love the detail of the characters and surrounding which really help me to picture everything. On to the next book!
6 reviews1 follower
July 7, 2019
I loved this book.


I enjoy such romance. I was great to find one with one that had a Black female as the lead, that was real. I also loved the way the story wasn't rushed or just about the sex. I can't waiting to read the next book in this series.
2 reviews
October 17, 2024
I LOVED IT

The story was great, the characters endearing and the love as INTENSE! This writer has made a FAN! I'm so glad black girls are picking up the pen and making fantasies for US!
118 reviews
October 29, 2018
Cute Read

It’s your basic alien romance. The protagonist is an African American woman. It’s fairly well written and an entertaining read.
Profile Image for Allum.
55 reviews9 followers
March 20, 2022
LOVE LOVE LOVE

I absolutely loved this book. Black woman being loved cherished and protected is exactly what I wanted to read and this delivered.
Profile Image for Genevieve D. Rounds.
37 reviews
October 22, 2023
Finally!

This story is one I’ve been waiting to find for a long time! It’s nice to see more black girls in space! I’m most definitely going to read the complete series!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews

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