“Choose wisely. Then keep your head down and do what you’re told. Time will pass, and we’ll be back for you.”
Audra Copeland is among dozens of newly convicted felons dropped off on the prison planet Rhodon, where she discovers that the women of zone four have a long-standing arrangement with the men. If they hand over six of the new arrivals, the men won’t raid. And Audra has just been drafted.
She can take her chances on her own, or select a guardian. The deal is simple, if barbaric: sex, in exchange for food and safety from the other two hundred men in zone four. It’s a terrifying proposal. The men are violent, filthy degenerates.
Then Audra sees Tyson at the edge of the crowd. A hulking, scarred figure, the other men call him a savage, but his clothes are clean, and he’s holding a freshly caught rabbit. He can clearly protect what’s his.
As compassionate as he is powerful, Tyson ignites something fierce in Audra, and their connection is white-hot. The problem? Every thirty days, she’ll have to pick a new guardian.
Now that he’s found Audra, Ty has every intention of keeping her for himself. Even if he has to destroy the fragile zone four peace treaty to do it.
Sci-fi romance author Emmy Chandler likes tee-shirts and lattes. She firmly believes every woman deserves an arm chair in front of the window, near an outlet close enough to power a mug warmer and charge an e-reader. Her perfect afternoon includes cold weather, thick blankets, warm soup, and a good book.
Emmy has another career under another name.
ABOUT THE PRISON PLANET SERIES:
Rhodon. The Red Rock. Devil’s Eye.
Whatever you want to call it, Universal Authority’s most profitable prison planet is home to more than four million criminals. Convicted murderers await execution. Everyone else gets life—and eventually death—in the open population.
With no guards on the ground and no way off the planet, it’s every inmate for him- or herself…
This was a pale and messy imitation of Hold by Claire Kent.
I was not originally turned off by the fact that this author took inspiration from Hold. I would love to read other stories just like Hold.
But this book literally ripped ideas off to a point that it seemed like a fanfic rewrite to me. It went way too far. Audra and Tyson' s relationship followed every single milestone that Cain and Riana's did. Nothing was a surprise.
Even worse...nothing they did made sense in the context of this story, which wasn't built as artfully as Hold was. Audra was so annoying at first and stupidly mean to Tyson. She was not smart even though we are told she is. Tyson fell in love for no reason at all and joined her in making dumb decisions. He was also remarkablely (suspiciously) unaffected by 15 years on the planet. And I did not believe for a second that they were in love.
The prison planet environment was had some unique details and I did enjoy that it was less restricting than the Hold environment. But the world building wasn't there....everything felt superficial and there was no actual sense of fear. The main characters' backgrounds were barely brushed on.
I would give this 2 stars normally, but the amount of elements lazily stolen from Hold brings it down to 1 star. Honestly, I've loved some rip offs of popular novels before, but this one was done badly.
The following ratings are out of 5: Romance: 💚🖤💙❤️ Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔 World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌎 Character development: 🤓☺️😳🤪🥰 Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙 Narration Type: Dual Narration
The heroine:Audra - She grew up on a farming planet but now finds herself on a prison transport headed for the planet Rhodon, otherwise known as the Devils Eye due to its red oceans and trees. The prison transport takes a week and they are kept in deplorable conditions. However, she finds that things are much worse when they arrive on the planet.
The Hero:Tyson - He is a 6’7” muscular man with a scar on his clean shaven face. He is unlike most of the men in zone four. He is large enough to fight and win against most of the men. Though he has never been chosen by a woman before. Of course he isn’t one of the guys that runs up to the front of the pack to be chosen by the women.
The Story: There is a peace treaty between two settlements in zone four of the prison planet. In order for the cruel and dangerous men from Settlement A to leave the women on settlement B alone, they require a few women from each new batch of prisoners. The women chosen, have to stay with the men until a new batch of women come to be exchanged for them. Audra and the Maci, the girl she befriended ended up in the group sent to Settlement A. They have to choose a guardian, a man to be with for a month, at the end of the month they must choose again. The women have to choose a man that is big and strong enough to protect them, because any man can fight the ‘guardian’ and the winner takes the female.
This prison planet is about what you would expect. Though if the men are so blood thirsty, I don’t get why they made a peace treaty with the women and only get a few women from each new batch. You would think the men would just be in charge. But this is fiction, so it is what it is.
Settlement A is a place that is more lord of the flies than anything, though they do have some sort of leader, and the truce with the women. If they were smart, they would make a society and laws and their own prison for offenders, then it would be a big huge FU to the people that put them there. Like what they say about the best revenge being to live well. However, they are criminals, so they live like a society of criminals.
The story is told in dual points of view via dual narration and narrated by Aiden Snow and Jillian Macie. I love Aiden Snow’s voice, he is one of my all time favorite male narrators, with a quiet but deep voice. Jillian Macie is good, but sounds a bit older than Audra. The one thing I didn’t like about the story was Audra’s insistence on the fact that she has to pay for everything Ty provides, with her body and she can’t even see how he doesn’t feel that way. That what he wants is for her to come to him willingly.
Zone four is what Neverland would be if the lost boys were all violent criminals and Wendy were a psychotic pimp.
"Guardian" (Prison Planet Book 1) is one book that definitely snuck up on me catching me completely unawares and reeling me in so fantastically. The simple concept behind this story worked for me on every single level; totally satisfying my taste for the slightly unusual I do so enjoy in my reading. I spotted this on Kindle Unlimted and thought it sounded right up my alley so would give it a whirl. I was going in here slightly blind here as have never read anything by this particular author before. Well, hey-ho folks, I am now super invested in this dark delectable sci-fi/romance series. I adored everything about this imaginative offering set on the prison planet Rhodon. This tale is told in dual POV and centres around Audra and Tyson and the events that occur after she selects him as a best-case scenario when needing a guardian to protect her from the other male inhabitants. This was gritty and imaginative with such dark undertones that I found so mesmerising. The chemistry between the two mains gave me such tingles with its profound intensity and at times deeply emotional connection.
His arms encircle me, a warm band of steel, and he brushes hair down my back. “I’ve killed for you, Audra. I’ve gone hungry. I’ve fought. I’ve ripped apart walls, and doors, and a transport shuttle for you. And I would die for you. But I won’t let you go, for anything less than your freedom.”
I also especially adored the addition of Maci Bishop; I believe it's her story next and I am really looking forward to uncovering more of this enigmatic girls past and future. This was such a fantastic experience that I can't recommend more highly. Every so often I get a little gem that I wasn't quite expecting that totally blows me away with its freshness and unique outlook. Guardian was that jewel for me. I'm gonna wrap things up here by saying I loved the old Snake Plissken, Kurt Russel films and this for me was like Escape from New York and LA but played out in space on an entire planet and with more of a romantic sexy element; whats not to love about this. The possibilities with this particular series are endless and as vast as the authors very vivid imagination. I borrowed this one with my Kindle Unlimited subscription. All opinions are entirely my own.
As seems typical with prison planet books, the main characters are a notch above their peers in terms of humanity and lack of dastardly deeds. Which is okay so the romance can play out satisfactorily. Audra and Ty are interesting characters, but I didn't feel a soul-deep connection. Quite a lot focuses on survival, but there are trigger warnings for assault. The inclusion of Maci is integral to the story, moving a lot of the plot for this book and the next.
As noted in the headline, a lot of drama is mined from the perilous situation, but the science fiction elements are very minimal, limited mainly to spare descriptions of a different environment and a couple of tech gadgets.
If you are a fan of Claire Kent's "Hold" or Linda Mooney's "Captive Surrender" then I predict you will enjoy this book. In fact, this book is strongly reminiscent of the former.
Nothing like a good ‘ole prison planet with different battle zones and never-ending action! Put together a wrongly convicted Audra and a giant hunk of a beast Tyson and together they are magic.
This book is dirty, not necessarily in steam (although that is hot too) but it’s a planet where there are no showers, no clean clothes, and everyone has to fight for every single thing. It’s barbaric and filthy. Audra is given the advice to “choose wisely” which means nothing to her until she is brought into zone four.
Recommended for those who liked the Riddick movies Hold and The Hunger Games (but for adults). For sensitive folks, read the tiggers before starting.
This was... an ok read. I can't say it was boring, at least! It caught and kept my attention throughout the entire story. The setting was fascinating, and it was cool reading about how the planet and prison systems worked. The only reason I chose to read this was because I wanted to read the next book in the series, "Hunter," and wanted full context on the world setting and the heroine of the next book, Maci. I'm glad I read this, but it's definitely not my favorite story in this series.
This is the story of Audra, a prisoner who gets dropped off alongside a bunch of other female convicts to the prison planet of Rhodon. Audra quickly befriends the quiet young girl Maci, and feels responsible for taking her under her wing. When they arrive to Rhodon, Audra and Maci get drafted to be sent to the male convicts in Zone Four. The drafted women have to choose a guardian who will protect and provide for them, in exchange for sex. If they don't choose wisely, they'll get stuck with an abusive evil man. Audra chooses Tyson, who originally wasn't even volunteering to take a woman on. She also pushes for Maci to belong to Tyson as well, in order to ensure the young girl is protected. While Tyson is built like a tank and is surprisingly gentle towards the two girls, a big target is placed on their group because Tyson took two beautiful women from the "dating" pool.
Audra, our heroine: I never really got a good grip on Audra's personality. The most consistent thing was that she felt responsible and motherly towards Maci. I found myself kind of annoyed with her, although she wasn't as bad as many of the other sci fi survival heroines I've read about. It's understandable that she'd complain a lot or be irritable considering her situation, but when I compare her with Maci, she comes off as whiney. I also wasn't super keen on the push / pull she had going on with Tyson, and how she kept waffling between accusing him of using her for prostitution sex and lamenting that he's not attracted to her and wanting to touch her 🙄.
Tyson, our hero: Again, I was "meh" about Tyson. He was a gentle giant, but only to women. I found him a bit too beta and skittish. I understand he was worried about being called a rapist and didn't want to keep being reminded of the prostitution arrangement between him and Audra, but that just made the sex scenes suuuper awkward and stilted. It ain't sexy when he keeps asking and pestering about whether she consents before engaging in coitus. Realistically, that's nice for him to do, but in a romance erotica, I just want them to rip those panties off and get to it, y'know what I mean? Also, MAJOR MINUS POINTS that he was actually gonna let Audra have a forced one night stand with Jaime so they could leave. Callum from the second book would never have been ok with that. And it's all supposed to be ok because he was gonna just stand outside the door and listen in as his girl got fucked by another guy to "make sure she was ok"? So he wouldn't have done anything if Jaime didn't try to do buttsex?🤦♀️ Where was his jealousy and possessiveness?? I also was NOT into the weird OW stuff with that female guard cougar. The fact that he admitted he worshipped that OW and she was his whole world, who shared romantic moments with him and taught him how to pleasure a woman... I was just like, "ick, no thank you." It's not like I expect the male convicts to be celibate virgins or anything, but that was a bit too much OW drama and history. Especially since they met and saved the OW later on, and she seemed to genuinely have feelings for him and made him feel guilty that he didn't save her from being raped.
All in all, it was an entertaining read to see how they survived, but the next book in the series is much better.
Safety: * Heroine is NOT a virgin. Was in one relationship with a selfish boyfriend, who was her only previous experience with sex. * Hero is NOT a virgin, and is very experienced. Was taught how to pleasure the ladies by a prison guard cougar. He then bartered and exchanged goods and sex with other female prisoners, making sure they enjoyed it and got pleasure as well. * No cheating, although they almost had the heroine have forced sex with the leader of the male prison sector. * No real OM drama - the heroine keeps almost getting raped by other prisoners, but gets saved. She is almost forced to have sex with male prison sector leader, but is saved at the last moment when the hero stops it because the leader got too violent. Heroine also used to have a boyfriend before becoming a prisoner, but only had negative things to say about him being a selfish lover. * Some OW drama - the hero was in a sex-for-goods relationship with a female guard, who taught him sex techniques. He admits to having worshipped her and that she was his whole world, until she decided to abandon him and leave. There are multiple mentions of his fond memories and moments with her. He also is mentioned to have exchanged sex for goods with other female prisoners, before meeting heroine. * No condoms or protection, since all female prisoners get sterilized. As a result, no babies. * HEA, no epilogue
Guardian totally shocked me and Emmy Chandler is now on my Sci-Fi / Dystopian list of authors to watch out for.
I love me a good Dystopian read, but the thing with these books it can’t be too depressing, but it also can’t be boring. Guardian had the right balance of good verse evil that I was highly entertained from the first to the last page.
In this world, the criminals are sent to another planet and this planet is just filled with criminals. Both male and female criminals inhabit the planet, but they are broken into different sections and settlements.
The men and the women are in different areas, but that doesn’t mean they can’t cross paths and when Audra is picked to become one of the six sex slaves for the male side, well, you can’t help but feel for her.
I really liked the concept of the book. I felt bad for Audra, because she is used by the guys, but I do like the rules they place. Each girl is with a guy for a month and they are only there between one to six months depending when there will be a fresh set of new prisoners.
Audra picks Tyson to be her Guardian. He is to provide for her and take care of her, but at any time any man can challenge him and take her away.
I was seriously on pins and needles throughout the whole book. I never knew what was going to happen and how the book will end. Every book is about a different couple so this is a standalone.
I liked the chemistry between Audra and Tyson. Tyson is such a great guy, but he’s a recluse. He has no friends and likes it like that. Audra hates being a sex slave and makes sure that she doesn’t owe any favors for Tyson.
There’s a lot of politics and rules where Tyson lives and I really liked reading about that. The guys are so ruthless and I kind of wanted to see more “good” guys, but you really root for Tyson.
Overall, give this book a try, I highly enjoyed it.
DNF @ 75%. How do I even start to explain how bad this book is? I seriously can’t believe that I’ve continued for as long as I have. The heroine is quite possibly one of the worst characters ever. She’s selfish and stupid, and makes horrible decisions that get other people in trouble constantly. She doesn’t appreciate the hero, always thinks the worst of him. She’s truly someone who doesn’t deserve the hero, who seems to be some kind of mythical creature in comparison to all the other men. The unicorn among the pigs. I kept waiting for the story to get better, but it just kept getting worse and worse and worse. I am not even a fan of the hero at this point, they both have communication issues and a good chunk of the plot is built on them being unable to simply speak to each other. Ick. I’m done.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I just felt the story was kind of depressing for a romance, the couple’s situation at the end did not seem like it would get any better so I had trouble feeling good about the story. Otherwise, it was okay. The story the author set up was imaginative but I don’t plan on reading any more of the series because they all seem to take place on this planet which was pretty bleak. There was also a decent amount of violence, which makes sense for a “prison planet” but was more than I enjoy reading about.
This book is often compared to Hold by Claire Kent, because it shares a similar premise (prison planet setting, trading sex for protection), but to me they felt like very different stories. Guardian was a lot darker, and took prisoner mentality and violent anarchy to a more extreme. Be prepared to feel very anxious while reading!
I thought the romance itself had a nice balance between grittiness and sweetness (!?), as Audra and Tyson’s relationship shifted from transactional to real feelings.
Points off for the third act though, which had a lot going on and felt a little rushed (but was setting up the next book). I’m not sure I’m ready for more anxiety, so it’ll probably wait a while before continuing this series. 😅
Really enjoyed Guardian! The beginning really hooked me in and I could just imagine the nastiness they had to deal with while in those cramped cages. When it came down to it later while on the prison planet, Audra got lucky picking someone who just happened to be strong, but also kind. I really loved Tyson. He was sweet, understanding, but was definitely no push over. No one messed with him.
You don’t find out what they did to be committed here until later in the book, and even then, neither of them really committed a crime deserving of this place. You kind of wonder how messed up this government is to send someone to life for something so minor, especially at a young age.
There are some high stress moments which are expected for a book like this and the environment they are now living in. It’s a nightmare. Again, super lucky to have Tyson, though Audra isn’t someone to cower in fear.
Looking forward to Maci’s book! I’m curious about her as she was a big part of this book as well, though we didn’t find out anything about her except that she’s young and kind, and from the sneak peek, her guy is going to be killer!
(On a side note, for some reason, every time I look at the cover, the male is how I pictured Jaime and not at all how I pictured Tyson, lol)
I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. I had just finished Hold by Claire Kent so I was expecting pretty much the same thing. That's not a bad thing, I enjoyed Hold. I think it's the difference between a novel and a novella. The characters are more layered, the world is more complex. The drama and how their relationship develops is complicated and believable. Dual POV is used so well and each character has a distinct voice. Color me hooked.
I really liked this one. Hero and heroine charged with crimes and sent to a prison planet for the rest of their lives. Women used as sex slaves - heroine forced to pick a man - and hero turns out to be a decent good guy. They have to fight off bad guys and try to find their way out of the zone they are in. i really liked the heroine.
This was an interesting read. It felt like an adult version of the Hunger Games and the rest of the books give off a similar vibe. I'm definitely going to check out the next one.
Guardian had a strong start. Unfortunately, the last third of the book fizzled out for me. I'm all for survival situations, it's one of my favorite things to read about; pair that with a dramatic & intense romance and it should be literary gold to me. This had all the makings of a new obsession, but the story somehow managed to lose my attention towards the end.
I think the general set-up of the romance is decent. It's the world building that felt a tad muddled. My suspension of disbelief was stretched past its limits at times, especially with certain reveals. As I kept reading, I realized that I really couldn't focus on the characters because of all my questions about how the "prison planet" worked. Maybe things are explained better in the rest of the series? I just don't care enough to continue.
I do have to admit though, I was entertained for a good chunk of the book. It passed the time well enough. This wasn't a new favorite or anything, so I settled with an average rating.
Guardian is book 1 in the Prison Planet series, and it's my first book by this author but definitely not my last. I really enjoyed this story from beginning to end. Audra is sent to the prison planet Rhodon for a crime she didn't commit. When she arrives in Zone 4 she finds out that the woman have an agreement with the men that whenever new woman arrive they get sent 6 for 60 days and they promise not to take supplies from the rest. Unfortunately after 30 days the woman must choose a different guardian for another 30 days. Audra is chosen to go and is horrified when she finds out what is expected of her. I loved Audra, she's smart, resilient and I loved how she looked through the crowd for a Guardian. She didn't just choose, she listened to Wendy's advice and chose wisely. As soon as she saw Tyson she knew that he was the best choice. Tyson is a loner, the men call him savage and stay away from him. I loved Tyson, while he is on the Planet for a crime and has killed to survive. He is also caring, protective and possessive. I loved how he protected Audra and Maci and I loved the relationship that developed between him and Audra. The ending left me very excited to read Maci's story.
I really enjoyed this! For some forgotten reason, I soft-DNF'd this way back in December 2020, but I'm so glad I gave it another shot.
Both MCs were likeable and pragmatic. Given their hellish environment, they were sometimes almost too virtuous, but I loved their resourcefulness and resilience. The FMC also had some philosophical thoughts on morality that I enjoyed, even if those ideas were luxuries she couldn't really afford.
● CW for some disturbing scenes. Also transactional dubcon, but I felt like that dynamic shifted pretty quickly. ● Story ends in what I would consider ● Childfree—this is not a spoiler; it's mentioned early that all female inmates are sterilized after sentencing. (Actually I think most of the books are, but I can only guarantee the first three I've read.) ● Free on KU ● Audiobook free on Hoopla, narrated by Jillian Macie and Aiden Snow, who are always great.
Also, I just gotta say that claiming Guardian is a copycat of Hold is absurd. Just because two stories have some similar ingredients doesn't mean one is stealing—that's simply not how art works. And reckless accusations are harmful to both authors and readers.
Listen, I am 0% outraged that one dystopian prison romance has some common elements with another dystopian prison romance. Speaking as a fan (on a purely sociological level ofc) of this sub-sub-genre, that's sort of what I was counting on 😏.
This was a fun start to the series! If you've read Hold by Claire Kent and want something similar, definitely pick this up! I'm a sucker for a prison planet set-up, as well as a "sex in exchange for X" set-up, so this hit the spot for me. I'm definitely interested to continue with book 2, as we spent some time with that heroine in this book and I'm both nervous and excited to see what happens to her and how she gets her own HEA of sorts.
If this book was Taylor Swift lyrics:
"I got a bad boy persona, that's what they like You love it, I love it too 'cause you my type You hold me down and I protect you with my life"
At first, I had a hard time to get into the story, I'm not even sure why. Maybe I just had to get used to the author's writing style. Then the story got better and interesting and I really enjoyed it. It ended up with a HFN, which I liked and I hope the author will get back to this couple to continue their story—whether in the next couple's book or in their own again—but to be honest, I can't see HEA happening in this series. That planet is too fucked-up for them to be believable.
Great plot with a couple that you can’t help but love. Sci-if romance is my favorite genre. Guardian was more of a galactic, colonization, survival of the fittest romance, which made for a very interesting read. There were some futuristic concepts, but the prison planet reminded me of how Mars would be if it was ever terraformed. The cover doesn’t do much for me, but the blurb did draw me in. I was recommended this book from an author friend of mine, and I’m so glad she did. I absolutely loved it. My only complaint was the contradiction in Audra’s character at the beginning. Leyda was trying to befriend her, but Audra was cold toward Leyda, brushing her off. Now I do understand Audra’s logic of everyman fighting for themselves with the situation that they were in. The problem I had was that Audra was thinking these thoughts, yet she was doing the same thing with Maci, attempting to befriend her. That made a big character contradiction. Audra was just introduced and I was just getting to know her, so that left a bad taste in my mouth. Unless Leyda’s going to be used in a later book, I think it would’ve been better if she wasn’t mentioned. Or Leyda being introduced could’ve been presented in a way that didn’t make Audra seem two-faced. However, besides that character flaw at the beginning I really liked Audra. She’s fearless, smart, doesn’t hold her tongue, and was will to fight for what she loved. This book had the right balance of heated romance and a steady paced plot that kept me turning pages—well swiping the screen. Tyson was a very likable guy that any woman could fall for. It was refreshing that Tyson wasn’t all that handsome, but he had the ripped body to make up for it, and a heart of gold. His protectiveness over Audra and Maci, and the way he took care of them could make any woman fall for him. Audra and Tyson had great chemistry, yet they kept you on your toes because they didn’t always get along. That made for an interesting couple to root for. This book is not for skittish people. There’s violence and sizzling romance that was right up my alley. The way it was written made it believable that this could happen in real life. The ending of this book was suspenseful, and I liked how book 2 will be told from Maci’s POV. My guess is that Tyson and Audra will be side characters again at some point. I’m glad that I gave this book a chance. It’s one of the best I’ve read this year. I can’t wait to find out what happens next.
The book “Guardian” in the Prison Planet series by Emmy Chandler was a nice pastime. It had a good foundation but was too light and lacked sci-fi components.
The story was interesting, but lacked action, suspense and angst. Which I would have expected on a prison planet.
It mostly focused on how to survive in the given environment but it fell short in reference that it wasn’t important in the end or played any vital role. The male character spends most of his time, building a secure “home” to be leaving it anyway in the end. Of course we have some generic characters who don’t deserve to be on a prison planet in general. Still it worked. The romance was nice but lacked a good development in the sparks and attraction department. I liked the characters very much but there wasn’t enough room given to make the romance bloom and believable. It was a nice foundation but left out to much which could have been explored more. The sci-fi part is reduced to a few tech tools and a colour change of the environment and that is practically all. The story started out interesting, the struggle and survival is also not bad, although predictable. At this point I would have given the book a solid 3 stars. Till we come to the end part where they need to leave the colony. Mostly all previous efforts are in vain, the main characters discover their sudden love for each other, which puts their previous rational and pragmatic character traits to shame and no one knows what happens to them afterwards. The story ends in a cliffhanger in my perspective, leaving me dissatisfied with an open end and lots of unanswered questions. Yet, the following books involve different main characters.
I think the writing is good but the characters were terrible.
Maci was a useless idiot and her role made no sense. When only 6 women are forced into the male's prison there's just no way they would have allowed one man to have two women to himself just because he wanted to, especially when they preferred younger women. Why would they break the rules for Ty when even the head honcho guy had to follow them? Nope nope nope. That was such an eye roll moment.
Then Ty was such a cardboard cut out male. He had no personality whatsoever except to be the women's savior. I honestly hate that he's meant to be this angelic moral man amongst all these evil awful men. I know it's a common trope in prison romances to make the heroes not actually criminals but I hate it, it just comes across as too convenient and makes you question the entire setting and world. It would just be so much more interesting if he was more of a grey character, not a saint.
The heroine was also incredibly annoying with her pseudo-philosophical spiel at the weirdest of times. I liked her at first because she seemed street-smart and cautious but then she randomly attached herself to Maci, the walking liability, and then slapped the main guy (he honestly should have slapped her back, I can't stand when writers make the villains inconsistent, like they're happy to commit violence to every women apart from the heroine character, give me a break) and it went downhill from there.
The prison world setting was good and the concept of giving 6 women to the inmates was an excellent one, but I just wasn't sold on the actual romance or the people involved.
I picked this up because my favorite author, Ruby Dixon, recommended it. It was a winner. In the future, criminals found guilty of crimes deserving a life sentence are sent to a desolate planet, the Devil's Eye.
It's a free-range prison--no walls, or prison bars. But there's no way off the planet, and the prisoners have created a type of society, sick and twisted though it is. The female tribe has an arrangement with the male tribe. They will send six women, new arrivals, to the male tribe to be whored out in order to keep the peace and keep the male tribe from attacking. Audra and Maci are two of the lucky chosen.
Audra's not given many choices on this planet, but she does have the ability to choose the man and barters her services in exchange for food, shelter, and protection from the other men. Because if your man can't protect you, another may steal you. But if she chooses a jerk, he can use his strength to beat her. She sees one man in the back holding a rabbit he killed. He's taller than the other men, and very strong. She sees he can feed her and gambles that he's not cruel.
This story had all the feels. I loved that the author didn't sugar coat things. It's often a tale of the lesser of two evils in an impossible situation. It made the story more real for me.
I can't wait to read the next book. Recommended for fans of the Blue Barbarians.
7/7/23: I read this because it sounded really similar to Claire Kent's Hold which I absolutely loved. Tbh I wasn't expecting much with this one, and I honestly thought it was going to be a knockoff version of Hold bc the entire premise is pretty much exactly the same, and they both include an extremely similar series of events. However, this one is actually so good in its own right! It was a more in-depth, fleshed out version with more characters, more backstories, and more world building. The only negative thing I have to say is that I wish we were given some kind of explanation about Maci's sixth sense/power/whatever it is that enables her to predict the timing and location of things. It was such an important factor for all three of the main characters and I kept waiting for it to be explained but it never was. Anyway I'm so glad I picked this up and I definitely have to read more from this author.