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The Xandari Chronicles #1
Captured
I've been sold.
On my eighteenth birthday, I'm given a present no one would want. I'm sold to three Xandari warriors, merciless aliens with egos the size of Jupiter, and bodies built for battle. Massive brutes who look like gods, with voices like thunder, who will use and enjoy me any way they choose. Barbarians who promise to punish me severely for the tiniest infraction.
My name is Danika, but they don't call me by name. They call me nayna. Slave.
To make matters worse, their world is in the middle of a war with the Rith, a terrifying species out to destroy all that they have. To escape my alien masters means a slow and painful death at the hands of their enemies.
I hate their planet, I loathe them, and I'll fight tooth and nail to get home. If I don't, these ruthless barbarians may not only steal my innocence and my freedom--they may take my heart.
***Captured is the first novel in the Xandari Chronicles. It's a dark alien standalone, and features a reverse harem relationship with an HEA. No cheating, no choosing. Contains D/s elements, MM foreplay, dark themes where a woman has no rights, and three harsh, savage aliens who take what they want.
You've been warned.
On my eighteenth birthday, I'm given a present no one would want. I'm sold to three Xandari warriors, merciless aliens with egos the size of Jupiter, and bodies built for battle. Massive brutes who look like gods, with voices like thunder, who will use and enjoy me any way they choose. Barbarians who promise to punish me severely for the tiniest infraction.
My name is Danika, but they don't call me by name. They call me nayna. Slave.
To make matters worse, their world is in the middle of a war with the Rith, a terrifying species out to destroy all that they have. To escape my alien masters means a slow and painful death at the hands of their enemies.
I hate their planet, I loathe them, and I'll fight tooth and nail to get home. If I don't, these ruthless barbarians may not only steal my innocence and my freedom--they may take my heart.
***Captured is the first novel in the Xandari Chronicles. It's a dark alien standalone, and features a reverse harem relationship with an HEA. No cheating, no choosing. Contains D/s elements, MM foreplay, dark themes where a woman has no rights, and three harsh, savage aliens who take what they want.
You've been warned.
443 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 27, 2019
278 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
About the author
Raven Dark
54 books682 followersAs a young girl Raven Dark dreamed of being abducted by a savage alien warrior, whisked away by a brutal pirate, or rescued by a cape-bearing hero. When none of these men came to claim her, she brought them to life in her stories. Then twenty years ago she met the man of her dreams. He doesn't wear a cape, fly a spaceship, or wield a sword, but sometimes she swears they've mind melded.
Raven lives with her dream man in the Mundane world's version of Ontario, Canada.
Raven lives with her dream man in the Mundane world's version of Ontario, Canada.
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March 29, 2019
ARC received in exchange for an honest review - thank you!
I tried really, really, really hard to like this one. I EXPECTED to like it. In fact, I expected to love it. But it just didn't do it for me.
A huge problem is that I found the protagonist, Danika, incredibly irritating. She's 18, and was a virgin with no life experience, but keeps calling herself a 'woman' dealing with 'her men'; it just didn't feel at all realistic that this was an 18-year-old speaking. A 25-year-old, maybe. But not a teenager.
She's also all talk and no action. Every time the men do something to humiliate/hurt her (and there were a lot of those times), she swears and rages internally that she's going to kill them. But then she never does a single thing about it.
I've read dark romance. I love dark romance. But those, at the end of the day, ARE romances; I came away genuinely feeling the emotion between the characters, and knowing the relationship - however unconventional it is - would thrive. This was not a romance. This felt like I was reading an account of Stockholm Syndrome: the slow, insidious way your captors get inside your head and convince you that you love them. Make you feel grateful for food/water, make you think YOU'RE the bad guy for fighting. If this book had been marketed as a psychological thriller, it would have been perfect. But this was supposed to be romance.
At the 85% mark, one of the heroes tells the heroine that if she ever pulls a knife on him again, he'll kill her. She believes him. So do I. Never mind the fact that she only pulled it the first time because he was menacing her with a sword. Their treatment of her is absolutely awful until around 90% in, when she suddenly decides to save her captors' life and then they think maybe they ought to soften up on her a bit. By that point, I'd already read over 100,000 words of what seems to amount pretty much to psychological torture; it was too little, too late. It also wasn't believable, considering they'd spent the last 90% of the book telling her to 'shut her whore mouth' and keeping her muzzled.
That's another thing: she spends so much time silenced that there's no real way they know her personality, so they can't love her. I don't see it at all. Muzzling, cuffing... all right. But they never show the slightest bit of interest in her as a person, in her thoughts, nothing. How can a romance grow from that? Being told to shut up is all well and good in the beginning, or during sex. But not ALL THE TIME.
The world, and men, is so insanely misogynistic. That's all right; I'm a fantasy and historical romance junkie, I've read countless books with misogynistic backgrounds. I've read plenty of books with misogynistic heroes. But what happens there is that the hero has to change, he has to come to respect the heroine, even if he still doesn't care for the rest of womankind. He just has to love the heroine. But here, none of the men respected her AT ALL until she saved their lives, something I frankly do not understand - no, wait, I do. It was the Stockholm manifesting itself. They kept her in the dark about everything until that moment, then suddenly turned into founts of information. It was like getting whiplash. It felt like they only loved her/saw her as something to value because she'd unexpectedly saved their lives.
They were just so, so awful to her and it didn't let up for one single moment. I want to make it very clear that I'm not kink-shaming Danika; even though I, personally, am not into being 'belted around the face' like she is, I wouldn't mind because she likes that. But this book is just so depressing. The men treat her like an actual animal - not even a sex slave, an animal like their dog - and never seem to transition into seeing her as human (until 90%, by which point it is way too late). Meanwhile the heroine has fallen for them. I would call her pathetic, but I realise Stockholm is a real condition and doesn't mean she's weak. Just that she's a victim.
I love these authors' Saving Setora series like mad, so I really don't know what happened here. But it was more psychological study than romance for me. It went beyond just being about a D/s relationship, it genuinely felt like a warning book about how abusers can convince you that you deserve abusing. They don't change; she does.
[Blog] - [Bookstagram]
I tried really, really, really hard to like this one. I EXPECTED to like it. In fact, I expected to love it. But it just didn't do it for me.
A huge problem is that I found the protagonist, Danika, incredibly irritating. She's 18, and was a virgin with no life experience, but keeps calling herself a 'woman' dealing with 'her men'; it just didn't feel at all realistic that this was an 18-year-old speaking. A 25-year-old, maybe. But not a teenager.
She's also all talk and no action. Every time the men do something to humiliate/hurt her (and there were a lot of those times), she swears and rages internally that she's going to kill them. But then she never does a single thing about it.
I've read dark romance. I love dark romance. But those, at the end of the day, ARE romances; I came away genuinely feeling the emotion between the characters, and knowing the relationship - however unconventional it is - would thrive. This was not a romance. This felt like I was reading an account of Stockholm Syndrome: the slow, insidious way your captors get inside your head and convince you that you love them. Make you feel grateful for food/water, make you think YOU'RE the bad guy for fighting. If this book had been marketed as a psychological thriller, it would have been perfect. But this was supposed to be romance.
At the 85% mark, one of the heroes tells the heroine that if she ever pulls a knife on him again, he'll kill her. She believes him. So do I. Never mind the fact that she only pulled it the first time because he was menacing her with a sword. Their treatment of her is absolutely awful until around 90% in, when she suddenly decides to save her captors' life and then they think maybe they ought to soften up on her a bit. By that point, I'd already read over 100,000 words of what seems to amount pretty much to psychological torture; it was too little, too late. It also wasn't believable, considering they'd spent the last 90% of the book telling her to 'shut her whore mouth' and keeping her muzzled.
That's another thing: she spends so much time silenced that there's no real way they know her personality, so they can't love her. I don't see it at all. Muzzling, cuffing... all right. But they never show the slightest bit of interest in her as a person, in her thoughts, nothing. How can a romance grow from that? Being told to shut up is all well and good in the beginning, or during sex. But not ALL THE TIME.
The world, and men, is so insanely misogynistic. That's all right; I'm a fantasy and historical romance junkie, I've read countless books with misogynistic backgrounds. I've read plenty of books with misogynistic heroes. But what happens there is that the hero has to change, he has to come to respect the heroine, even if he still doesn't care for the rest of womankind. He just has to love the heroine. But here, none of the men respected her AT ALL until she saved their lives, something I frankly do not understand - no, wait, I do. It was the Stockholm manifesting itself. They kept her in the dark about everything until that moment, then suddenly turned into founts of information. It was like getting whiplash. It felt like they only loved her/saw her as something to value because she'd unexpectedly saved their lives.
They were just so, so awful to her and it didn't let up for one single moment. I want to make it very clear that I'm not kink-shaming Danika; even though I, personally, am not into being 'belted around the face' like she is, I wouldn't mind because she likes that. But this book is just so depressing. The men treat her like an actual animal - not even a sex slave, an animal like their dog - and never seem to transition into seeing her as human (until 90%, by which point it is way too late). Meanwhile the heroine has fallen for them. I would call her pathetic, but I realise Stockholm is a real condition and doesn't mean she's weak. Just that she's a victim.
I love these authors' Saving Setora series like mad, so I really don't know what happened here. But it was more psychological study than romance for me. It went beyond just being about a D/s relationship, it genuinely felt like a warning book about how abusers can convince you that you deserve abusing. They don't change; she does.
[Blog] - [Bookstagram]
April 24, 2019
Characters have to have reasons for everything they do, even when those reasons aren’t immediately obvious. This is especially true when their actions are “dark”, even if the understanding comes later. But in this book? In the most critical reading, it’s a mess of the authors going with whatever sounded good in a particular scene, with no consideration as to whether or not those actions made sense overall or were out of character. Even in the most generous reading, where the contradictions might indicate that there was something more going on behind the scenes, the authors never flesh them out, explain them, or wrap them up.
Neither take is good. Both mean the book has problems, and was published several reads too early. The characters come across as inconsistent and the HEA as the result of a deus ex machina (what I’m calling “the switch” for easy reference), after which the men are entirely different people.
To their credit, the authors made an attempt to lay some groundwork so that this wouldn’t simply be a glorification of Stockholm Syndrome. All of the bread crumbs they laid, though, were abandoned in favor of the switch. Exactly what was happening to Danika, and why, is all left unexplained. I want to know where the groundwork was leading, and what the point of including it was if the authors were just going to forget about it.
Another mistake/abandoned plot device involves the translator. When Danika first wakes up, it's broken. She then spends a few chapters having to guess at what the men are saying, and thus deduces what various key words mean, to varying degrees of upset. When the translator is fixed, she’s told only words which do not have a translation to English would come through in Xandari. Simple enough, right? This could have made for an interesting dynamic and later revelations. Malek, in particular, could have been softened a great deal in retrospect. But either the authors abandoned this idea (and failed to clean it up), or else they just made a massive and obvious mistake.
As the book progresses, it becomes clear that the men want, and arguably are waiting for, Danika to accept her new life. It’s even explicitly stated multiple times. So it makes no sense that they are frequently callous jerks for no discernable reason. We could assume it’s some sort of conditioning effort, but if so it is counter-productive at best for them That’s not going to encourage her to stop hating and fearing them. The authors get this on some level, as Danika angsts over it herself. So why have the men do it? Of course, it’s possible that Danika is a bit of an unreliable narrator here, and that what she takes as cruelty or mockery are not intended as such. But since we only get her perspective, all we know is that it hurts and upsets her.
Which leads me to the fact that every single chapter indicates it's from Danika's perspective. That probably sounds...cosmetic, and I'm personally not a big fan of the trend that labels each chapter in terms of point of view--I think that's the sort of thing the reader should be able to pick up on their own. That said, however, if you are going to label the POV, it heavily implies that the POV is going to change . I've never before read a book that bothered with them when the POV remained constant. So the reader is led to believe that eventually there will be a chapter from the POV of one of the men. Something that would, ideally, fill in the holes in the narrative created by Danika's lack of understanding. Early on, there were places where I kept reading solely because of this expectation. But we never get it.
Aside from a lack of editing (please get an editor!), those are the major problems. But there are other, somewhat less distracting, issues, too. An'tanaka’s story, for example, is bizarre, full of holes, and far more complicated than necessary.
The entire encounter with Gwen is also problematic.
There's a completely pointless exchange where Danika asks Raul why she’s there, and says she knows it’s for more than the obvious. Raul tells her she’ll have the answer when they meet his father. If this was supposed to mean something, the authors dropped the ball.
And I know this has got to be minor, but Raul being so uncharacteristically excited to take Danika to meet his mother was disturbing.
And again: Get an editor . This book is full of stupid homophone errors. And misspelled words such as acers for acres. And continuity problems, such as their spaceship changing names at the end from Tanticore to Taricon. This isn't hard to fix, but it is distracting, not to mention unprofessional.
Neither take is good. Both mean the book has problems, and was published several reads too early. The characters come across as inconsistent and the HEA as the result of a deus ex machina (what I’m calling “the switch” for easy reference), after which the men are entirely different people.
To their credit, the authors made an attempt to lay some groundwork so that this wouldn’t simply be a glorification of Stockholm Syndrome. All of the bread crumbs they laid, though, were abandoned in favor of the switch. Exactly what was happening to Danika, and why, is all left unexplained. I want to know where the groundwork was leading, and what the point of including it was if the authors were just going to forget about it.
Another mistake/abandoned plot device involves the translator. When Danika first wakes up, it's broken. She then spends a few chapters having to guess at what the men are saying, and thus deduces what various key words mean, to varying degrees of upset. When the translator is fixed, she’s told only words which do not have a translation to English would come through in Xandari. Simple enough, right? This could have made for an interesting dynamic and later revelations. Malek, in particular, could have been softened a great deal in retrospect. But either the authors abandoned this idea (and failed to clean it up), or else they just made a massive and obvious mistake.
As the book progresses, it becomes clear that the men want, and arguably are waiting for, Danika to accept her new life. It’s even explicitly stated multiple times. So it makes no sense that they are frequently callous jerks for no discernable reason. We could assume it’s some sort of conditioning effort, but if so it is counter-productive at best for them That’s not going to encourage her to stop hating and fearing them. The authors get this on some level, as Danika angsts over it herself. So why have the men do it? Of course, it’s possible that Danika is a bit of an unreliable narrator here, and that what she takes as cruelty or mockery are not intended as such. But since we only get her perspective, all we know is that it hurts and upsets her.
Which leads me to the fact that every single chapter indicates it's from Danika's perspective. That probably sounds...cosmetic, and I'm personally not a big fan of the trend that labels each chapter in terms of point of view--I think that's the sort of thing the reader should be able to pick up on their own. That said, however, if you are going to label the POV, it heavily implies that the POV is going to change . I've never before read a book that bothered with them when the POV remained constant. So the reader is led to believe that eventually there will be a chapter from the POV of one of the men. Something that would, ideally, fill in the holes in the narrative created by Danika's lack of understanding. Early on, there were places where I kept reading solely because of this expectation. But we never get it.
Aside from a lack of editing (please get an editor!), those are the major problems. But there are other, somewhat less distracting, issues, too. An'tanaka’s story, for example, is bizarre, full of holes, and far more complicated than necessary.
The entire encounter with Gwen is also problematic.
There's a completely pointless exchange where Danika asks Raul why she’s there, and says she knows it’s for more than the obvious. Raul tells her she’ll have the answer when they meet his father. If this was supposed to mean something, the authors dropped the ball.
And I know this has got to be minor, but Raul being so uncharacteristically excited to take Danika to meet his mother was disturbing.
And again: Get an editor . This book is full of stupid homophone errors. And misspelled words such as acers for acres. And continuity problems, such as their spaceship changing names at the end from Tanticore to Taricon. This isn't hard to fix, but it is distracting, not to mention unprofessional.
June 19, 2019
Quantity 📚 over Quality and Not A Romance💔
The book is overly long and could really use some humor. It also has a dire need for editing and rewriting because of plot holes and spelling errors.
Danika💃💋 is a young woman sent to be the slave of Raul🐺, the Xandari leader. She also serves two other Xandari🐺 men in a triad arrangement.
The three Xandari🐺 treat her abysmally, even though She is Raul's🐺 fated mate! There is a lot of downright meanness and dubious consent throughout this book. It's just too grim for my tastes.
Danika💃💋 proves she is more than just a human slave💔 when the Xandari🐺 get in a huge war with the Rith👺, an invading alien species.
This book is really not a romance, it's a study in Stockholm Syndrome💔. I just could not find any "love connection💕" between the characters.
ARC Received from Booksprout🌱
I also got this book with KU.
The book is overly long and could really use some humor. It also has a dire need for editing and rewriting because of plot holes and spelling errors.
Danika💃💋 is a young woman sent to be the slave of Raul🐺, the Xandari leader. She also serves two other Xandari🐺 men in a triad arrangement.
The three Xandari🐺 treat her abysmally, even though She is Raul's🐺 fated mate! There is a lot of downright meanness and dubious consent throughout this book. It's just too grim for my tastes.
Danika💃💋 proves she is more than just a human slave💔 when the Xandari🐺 get in a huge war with the Rith👺, an invading alien species.
This book is really not a romance, it's a study in Stockholm Syndrome💔. I just could not find any "love connection💕" between the characters.
ARC Received from Booksprout🌱
I also got this book with KU.
April 13, 2019
Flove!
I love Raven and Jennifer so much as a writing team. Their stories, including this one, has a darkness to them that isn’t disturbing, but arousing. There are dark books out there that are wayyy too much, but these two have an absolute perfect balance.
I love Raven and Jennifer so much as a writing team. Their stories, including this one, has a darkness to them that isn’t disturbing, but arousing. There are dark books out there that are wayyy too much, but these two have an absolute perfect balance.
April 2, 2019
Captured is a wonderfully long book - more than double the length of most reverse harem books I have read in the last year - and I loved it. The length allowed for a complete story, one that kept me entertained from beginning to end. These authors have consistently written the kind of sexy scenes I find the most hot in their books, and Captured is no exception to that, but there is an even more substantial amount of story in between those delicious scenes. Relationship development is my favorite thing in a romance so even though sometimes I wanted to scream, "Move over, girl, I'll be their nayna!" the truth is, I liked that it took that long for her to come around to her new life and her feelings for the hot and dominant aliens, considering how abrupt the change was and how crazily different it was from what she knows on Earth. Plus, the conflict and the way they treat her before is so much hotter than them being nice (snicker). This is listed as a dark sci-fi, and there are trigger warnings in the blurb. If you don't have a black heart like I do (I don't consider it all that dark at all) or you have some triggers you must avoid, make sure you read the warnings before proceeding. I think this is a standalone, with books set in the same world to come based on the note in the back, and I am really looking forward to more of the Xandari.
4.5 Stars
4.5 Stars
August 3, 2019
This was a much darker sci-fi alien romance that I anticipated and I'm still torn with how I feel about it. The fact that I am still thinking about it after I finished is a testament to the excellent writing and the intense story that really pushed my comfort zone and both hard and soft limits. I really struggled with the first half of the book and although I'm not a fan of humiliation, deliberate pain, and cruelty - I can see how this enhanced the dom/sub and master/slave relationship. I just personally struggled with it and even though I finished the book I can say this wasn't a story/trope I particularly enjoy. This is personal preference only. I think many readers will love this book and there's a lot here to consider - wonderfully crafted sci-fi world and plot, plenty of detail, unique situations, etc. I couldn't give less than 4 stars because it is extremely well done.
June 3, 2019
3.8 stars
I actually had trouble setting this one down. Would have been solid 5 stars except for scene and plot errors that could not be overlooked as well as some spelling and grammar errors. The fact I devoured the story despite all these problems says a lot for the overall crafting of this tale.
Danika was a feisty young captive. It was easy to forget her age as her character came across older. I enjoyed her inner musings. She knew her bodies reactions where chemical responses and listening to her arguing with her inner hussy was very entertaining. She was naive but intelligent. She knew when to risk her safety and when to back down to fight another day.
Raul was instantly drawn to her enough that he recognized she was affecting his behavior. I believe that is why he was so distant and cruel with her so much of the time in the beginning. It was never directly explained but it is heavily implied that a perfect matting, instead of just a master-slave relationship, happens because of pheromones. And it seemed they were definitely present for all our cast but more so it seemed for Raul, he was the principal.
Malek, it took me a long time to figure him out. If I ever truly did. control seems to be his kryptonite.
Z'pheer, well he had my heart from the start. Oh don't get me wrong, at times I wanted to knock him out don't doubt that. He was the heart of their group.
Despite the flaws with the story line, this was an engaging and at times pretty intense journey. I loved the little surprises in the story line. I loved the tenacity of our heroine. I enjoyed our heroes, eventually. A lot of action and some suspense made for some edge of your seat moments.
This is a slave story so... it has a lot of non-con and dub-con, degradation and punishment.
It also has scenes of graphic violence, they are at war on their planet.
So if murky waters aren't your normal draw you should probably skip this one.
Its fantasy folks
I need book two!
I actually had trouble setting this one down. Would have been solid 5 stars except for scene and plot errors that could not be overlooked as well as some spelling and grammar errors. The fact I devoured the story despite all these problems says a lot for the overall crafting of this tale.
Danika was a feisty young captive. It was easy to forget her age as her character came across older. I enjoyed her inner musings. She knew her bodies reactions where chemical responses and listening to her arguing with her inner hussy was very entertaining. She was naive but intelligent. She knew when to risk her safety and when to back down to fight another day.
Raul was instantly drawn to her enough that he recognized she was affecting his behavior. I believe that is why he was so distant and cruel with her so much of the time in the beginning. It was never directly explained but it is heavily implied that a perfect matting, instead of just a master-slave relationship, happens because of pheromones. And it seemed they were definitely present for all our cast but more so it seemed for Raul, he was the principal.
Malek, it took me a long time to figure him out. If I ever truly did. control seems to be his kryptonite.
Z'pheer, well he had my heart from the start. Oh don't get me wrong, at times I wanted to knock him out don't doubt that. He was the heart of their group.
Despite the flaws with the story line, this was an engaging and at times pretty intense journey. I loved the little surprises in the story line. I loved the tenacity of our heroine. I enjoyed our heroes, eventually. A lot of action and some suspense made for some edge of your seat moments.
This is a slave story so... it has a lot of non-con and dub-con, degradation and punishment.
It also has scenes of graphic violence, they are at war on their planet.
So if murky waters aren't your normal draw you should probably skip this one.
Its fantasy folks
I need book two!
April 3, 2019
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review
I have to start by saying I DNF'd at 49%, then proceeded to read the ending because I just couldn't take it anymore. Maybe if I had finished it, it would have left me more satisfied, but it just made me really uncomfortable more than it made me hot.
I love both of these authors very much. Their Saving Setora series is one of my favorite, and possibly the only series I've read all 6 books of (and plan to read the 7th when it's out). And with this one, I really tried. I wanted to stop along the way multiple times, and kept going regardless, but even I have a limit.
Heed the warnings before reading this book. It was one of my first dubious consent books and I think with this one I've come to officially realize it's simply not something that I enjoy. I honestly thought differently before reading this book. BDSM is a nice fantasy and it gets me as hot and bothered as the next red-blooded woman, but a world where the slave-master relationship is the norm and a woman is treated like an actual pet is not what my fantasies consist of. I just couldn't get over the fact that she was treated the way I treat my own dogs. I also severely disliked the "masters" enjoying her being treated as such.
I hate leaving bad reviews, especially when the authors clearly stated the necessary warnings, so I'm going to end by saying I may not have enjoyed this one, but I highly recommend the Setora series to anyone with milder tastes. It's similar in that women are considered slaves, but there is a reasonable backstory as to why, and Setora is simply incredible.
I have to start by saying I DNF'd at 49%, then proceeded to read the ending because I just couldn't take it anymore. Maybe if I had finished it, it would have left me more satisfied, but it just made me really uncomfortable more than it made me hot.
I love both of these authors very much. Their Saving Setora series is one of my favorite, and possibly the only series I've read all 6 books of (and plan to read the 7th when it's out). And with this one, I really tried. I wanted to stop along the way multiple times, and kept going regardless, but even I have a limit.
Heed the warnings before reading this book. It was one of my first dubious consent books and I think with this one I've come to officially realize it's simply not something that I enjoy. I honestly thought differently before reading this book. BDSM is a nice fantasy and it gets me as hot and bothered as the next red-blooded woman, but a world where the slave-master relationship is the norm and a woman is treated like an actual pet is not what my fantasies consist of. I just couldn't get over the fact that she was treated the way I treat my own dogs. I also severely disliked the "masters" enjoying her being treated as such.
I hate leaving bad reviews, especially when the authors clearly stated the necessary warnings, so I'm going to end by saying I may not have enjoyed this one, but I highly recommend the Setora series to anyone with milder tastes. It's similar in that women are considered slaves, but there is a reasonable backstory as to why, and Setora is simply incredible.
April 4, 2019
4.5*
First off, the warning for this book is completely accurate. This book is super dark, sexy AF, and is a complete power exchange. Not just a little bit, not just sometimes, THE WHOLE BOOK. If that offends you, this is not the book for you.
This book was something else. I’ve read a lot of dark romances, but Captured is in a category of its own.
I loved the sci-fi aspects of the story. These authors are such great writers and story tellers, so the world building was fantastic! The story is mostly set on an alien planet that was reminiscent of Earth, but had all of these interesting quirks that made it different and unique. The characters visited many different locations on the planet, and it was really interesting to read about the changing landscape and all of the beauty and horrors that went along with it. It made the story adventurous and exotic.
I really loved the main female character, Danika. She is 18 years, but her maturity level is on par with someone in their late-twenties. I found her to be strong and logical, and really likable and relatable. She would use logic think about her situation and come with a plan of attack that promoted her safety and survival. Sure there were times when we didn’t think before she reacted, but for the most part she was able to be rational in difficult situations. Since she was so concerned with not dying, that she was able to make the hard decision of staying with the guys versus leaving, being silent instead of reacting, giving in when it would have been easier to say “no.” She also had a sense of humor that really lightened the mood of the book. This story could have gotten really ugly very fast, but Danika’s witty commentary on any given situation took the edge off of the darkness.
The story was sexy AF. There were some things that even had me blushing! The guys have the bodies of gods and enormous….. egos to go along with it. They were harsh and rough, the image of dominance. If you like super alpha men, then you will love these guys!
There was one thing that didn’t really click with me. I like my power exchange to have a glimmer of hope from the start no matter how small – a light at the end of the tunnel that you can start seeing early on, and slowly gets brighter as the story goes along. It’s that thing that makes the bad situation bearable because you know that something will eventually change. That change is usually either the female main character (FMC) escaping her captors, or her captures changing their harsh ways. Both are equally satisfying for me. I really need that to happen early on in the story to carry me through to the end. It could be the formulation of a plan on how to escape, or perspectives from the guys of their unintentional romantic feelings for the FMS that intensified as the story progresses. There were a few scenes here and there that sort of satisfied this criteria for me, but my delicate heart needed more. The guys were just so alpha that I felt like I wanted something equally as strong to counter it, to balance it out. Danika was certainly strong in mind and spirit – and she needed to be to contend with these guys, otherwise she would have broke immediately – but her strength paled in comparison to her guys. You saw Danika’s feelings for the guys deepen and her resolve shattering, but I felt like I didn’t see enough of that from the guys. There definitely scenes that featured glimpses into the thoughts and feelings of the guys through their words and actions, but I think that for me the story diluted those scenes, which caused the suffering was more in the spotlight than anything else as I read it. At the same time, I’m not sure if that was the point of Danika’s romance with her guys, nor it is the essence of a complete power exchange, which is what this book is in its entirety. Instead of a counterweight, I think that Danika’s personality and the (known) HEA was supposed to carry you through the dark moments, so that you could just sit back and enjoy the ride. But I’m a greedy b*tch, and I want it all! Especially the sentimental romance, which didn’t appear very often in the majority of this book, or at least in the way that I wanted them to. I did get what I want at the end, so I can’t complain too much. And it was oh so satisfying!
In sum, this was a really unique read that I would recommend to anyone who is looking for an erotic adventure that gives no f*cks and will have you sweating from the first page.
First off, the warning for this book is completely accurate. This book is super dark, sexy AF, and is a complete power exchange. Not just a little bit, not just sometimes, THE WHOLE BOOK. If that offends you, this is not the book for you.
This book was something else. I’ve read a lot of dark romances, but Captured is in a category of its own.
I loved the sci-fi aspects of the story. These authors are such great writers and story tellers, so the world building was fantastic! The story is mostly set on an alien planet that was reminiscent of Earth, but had all of these interesting quirks that made it different and unique. The characters visited many different locations on the planet, and it was really interesting to read about the changing landscape and all of the beauty and horrors that went along with it. It made the story adventurous and exotic.
I really loved the main female character, Danika. She is 18 years, but her maturity level is on par with someone in their late-twenties. I found her to be strong and logical, and really likable and relatable. She would use logic think about her situation and come with a plan of attack that promoted her safety and survival. Sure there were times when we didn’t think before she reacted, but for the most part she was able to be rational in difficult situations. Since she was so concerned with not dying, that she was able to make the hard decision of staying with the guys versus leaving, being silent instead of reacting, giving in when it would have been easier to say “no.” She also had a sense of humor that really lightened the mood of the book. This story could have gotten really ugly very fast, but Danika’s witty commentary on any given situation took the edge off of the darkness.
The story was sexy AF. There were some things that even had me blushing! The guys have the bodies of gods and enormous….. egos to go along with it. They were harsh and rough, the image of dominance. If you like super alpha men, then you will love these guys!
There was one thing that didn’t really click with me. I like my power exchange to have a glimmer of hope from the start no matter how small – a light at the end of the tunnel that you can start seeing early on, and slowly gets brighter as the story goes along. It’s that thing that makes the bad situation bearable because you know that something will eventually change. That change is usually either the female main character (FMC) escaping her captors, or her captures changing their harsh ways. Both are equally satisfying for me. I really need that to happen early on in the story to carry me through to the end. It could be the formulation of a plan on how to escape, or perspectives from the guys of their unintentional romantic feelings for the FMS that intensified as the story progresses. There were a few scenes here and there that sort of satisfied this criteria for me, but my delicate heart needed more. The guys were just so alpha that I felt like I wanted something equally as strong to counter it, to balance it out. Danika was certainly strong in mind and spirit – and she needed to be to contend with these guys, otherwise she would have broke immediately – but her strength paled in comparison to her guys. You saw Danika’s feelings for the guys deepen and her resolve shattering, but I felt like I didn’t see enough of that from the guys. There definitely scenes that featured glimpses into the thoughts and feelings of the guys through their words and actions, but I think that for me the story diluted those scenes, which caused the suffering was more in the spotlight than anything else as I read it. At the same time, I’m not sure if that was the point of Danika’s romance with her guys, nor it is the essence of a complete power exchange, which is what this book is in its entirety. Instead of a counterweight, I think that Danika’s personality and the (known) HEA was supposed to carry you through the dark moments, so that you could just sit back and enjoy the ride. But I’m a greedy b*tch, and I want it all! Especially the sentimental romance, which didn’t appear very often in the majority of this book, or at least in the way that I wanted them to. I did get what I want at the end, so I can’t complain too much. And it was oh so satisfying!
In sum, this was a really unique read that I would recommend to anyone who is looking for an erotic adventure that gives no f*cks and will have you sweating from the first page.
October 24, 2019
Agh
I tend to give stars based mostly on things like writing style, world-building, and character development. There’re some books in which I don’t like the characters or I don’t agree with what they do/say, but if they’re well-written I’m capable of being objective and give them a review based on those merits.
That being said, this is the first time I’m giving a well-written book less than 3-4 stars solely based on my dislike of the story.
My problem with this book wasn’t that it was “too dark” or something like that, in fact it was just the opposite. I know a lot of people hate darker themes, and think people who write/read books like that are sick, but I’m not like that. I can take a dark book—I believe that fiction doesn’t need to be PC, it’s fiction it can be whatever it wants to be—what I can’t take is a book that wants to be dark but is too afraid to be dark.
Let’s be honest, the male leads weren’t redeemable, Shelley wasn’t redeemable, the Xandari weren’t redeemable. I get that they have a different culture and see things through different eyes, so, why doesn’t the author see this? She made the guys very very unlikable and in the end they were completely out of character, and it wasn’t even that they changed their ways throughout the book, it just happened out of nowhere.
There’s sexual assault in this book, let’s not sugarcoat it, but the author makes it “okay” by making the female lead enjoy it even though she doesn’t want to. Honestly, I’m sick and tired of authors using situations like this to “justify” the unjustifiable, rape is wrong and if your characters are going to engage in sexual assault because of cultural differences or whatever, then own it, let the heroine hate them, and if you need them to redeem themselves—which you really don’t ‘cause it’s dark romance and Stockholm syndrome is a big part of it—maybe develop your characters into realizing why what they did was wrong even though their culture says it isn’t.
A big thing with darker romances is that the “hero” treasures the female character in their own sick way—which doesn’t make it okay but it’s what calls to readers—here she was just plain abused and they couldn’t give two sh.. about her. And she “hates” them but other than ridiculous petty rebellions she doesn’t do anything about her situation, we read and read how much she won’t give in and she won’t take it, and then she just...does.
In the end it’s all love and appreciation out of nowhere, the book is eternal and 60% of it is her saying she hates them just for her to suddenly love them and seeing they were just giving her what she needed *facepalm* I think the character itself wanted to go a completely different direction than where the authors took her.
I’m just sick of authors not knowing how to craft darker stories without resorting to cheap tricks to make everything “okay” when we all know that the main premise of dark romance is that things Are most definitely not okay, they are toxic and twisted but full of passion and conflict, and I can tell you this book lacked all of it.
I tend to give stars based mostly on things like writing style, world-building, and character development. There’re some books in which I don’t like the characters or I don’t agree with what they do/say, but if they’re well-written I’m capable of being objective and give them a review based on those merits.
That being said, this is the first time I’m giving a well-written book less than 3-4 stars solely based on my dislike of the story.
My problem with this book wasn’t that it was “too dark” or something like that, in fact it was just the opposite. I know a lot of people hate darker themes, and think people who write/read books like that are sick, but I’m not like that. I can take a dark book—I believe that fiction doesn’t need to be PC, it’s fiction it can be whatever it wants to be—what I can’t take is a book that wants to be dark but is too afraid to be dark.
Let’s be honest, the male leads weren’t redeemable, Shelley wasn’t redeemable, the Xandari weren’t redeemable. I get that they have a different culture and see things through different eyes, so, why doesn’t the author see this? She made the guys very very unlikable and in the end they were completely out of character, and it wasn’t even that they changed their ways throughout the book, it just happened out of nowhere.
There’s sexual assault in this book, let’s not sugarcoat it, but the author makes it “okay” by making the female lead enjoy it even though she doesn’t want to. Honestly, I’m sick and tired of authors using situations like this to “justify” the unjustifiable, rape is wrong and if your characters are going to engage in sexual assault because of cultural differences or whatever, then own it, let the heroine hate them, and if you need them to redeem themselves—which you really don’t ‘cause it’s dark romance and Stockholm syndrome is a big part of it—maybe develop your characters into realizing why what they did was wrong even though their culture says it isn’t.
A big thing with darker romances is that the “hero” treasures the female character in their own sick way—which doesn’t make it okay but it’s what calls to readers—here she was just plain abused and they couldn’t give two sh.. about her. And she “hates” them but other than ridiculous petty rebellions she doesn’t do anything about her situation, we read and read how much she won’t give in and she won’t take it, and then she just...does.
In the end it’s all love and appreciation out of nowhere, the book is eternal and 60% of it is her saying she hates them just for her to suddenly love them and seeing they were just giving her what she needed *facepalm* I think the character itself wanted to go a completely different direction than where the authors took her.
I’m just sick of authors not knowing how to craft darker stories without resorting to cheap tricks to make everything “okay” when we all know that the main premise of dark romance is that things Are most definitely not okay, they are toxic and twisted but full of passion and conflict, and I can tell you this book lacked all of it.
April 22, 2019
I am a huge fan of dark reads, which most of the time means triggers. So if you have a trigger than you may want to be cautious reading this book. However if you do not, please read this book. If you are a fan like myself of these two, meaning if you like hot alpha males that take, no matter what! Read this book! Another nice thing about this, is that it is complete. No cliffhangers, which there is nothing wrong with that, it is just nice to read a full length no cliffhanger story sometimes. That being said, the alien males are all alpha, bossy, and can drive you mad. Danika is a touch cookie, she is stubborn, almost to the point of just give in already, but hey. She was kidnapped and held against her will. So, if you like alien syfy stories that keeps you entertained, definitely check out Captured!
December 5, 2019
Good story with cringe worthy fetishes
I liked that there was an actual story here with interesting world building, and pressing conflicts.
However, I really didn't like the whole relationship dynamics between Danicka and her masters. They honestly treated her so badly that it really bothered me and made Danicka's reactions seem bazaar, and that really frustrated me.
Maybe this is because I do not appreciate some of the fetishes here. For instance, this entire book uses humiliation very heavily as a fetish. Two of Danicka's masters call her "shleta." It is a word in their language that corresponds to a word in English that starts with a "W" and rhymes with "oar." If you've figured out what that means , then you know this is very demeaning and not at all sexy.
I do believe this is a fetish where people like to be treated like trash. Where they are used, abused and debased both physically and verbally.....and even mentally, with no regard to their feelings.
However, I don't like it, and I don't understand it. It was one of the things in this book that just turned my stomach, frustrated me, and in general made me extremely uncomfortable. In my mind this is abuse, and it's not sexy at all.
Another thing was the breath play. There were a few times when Dannicka's airways were deliberately cut off by Raul without her permission, consent, or prior knowledge of his intention. She was just expected to endure and that really bothered me. Again, not sexy, just scary and abusive, but this brings me to the final issue, which is the complete and utter exchange of power. Dannicka was even told multiple times that she didn't own anything, not her body, not her thoughts, not even her own breath.
It just didn't sit right with me. All of this happened for 90% of the book, and towards the end things start to lean towards everybody loving each other, but at that point it felt more like Stockholm Syndrome than real love.
I just don't think this was for me. If you are into complete and utter power exchange, humiliation and breath play, then I think you will love this book, because all that aside, the story is interesting. However, I just couldn't get past all of that. Not for me.
I liked that there was an actual story here with interesting world building, and pressing conflicts.
However, I really didn't like the whole relationship dynamics between Danicka and her masters. They honestly treated her so badly that it really bothered me and made Danicka's reactions seem bazaar, and that really frustrated me.
Maybe this is because I do not appreciate some of the fetishes here. For instance, this entire book uses humiliation very heavily as a fetish. Two of Danicka's masters call her "shleta." It is a word in their language that corresponds to a word in English that starts with a "W" and rhymes with "oar." If you've figured out what that means , then you know this is very demeaning and not at all sexy.
I do believe this is a fetish where people like to be treated like trash. Where they are used, abused and debased both physically and verbally.....and even mentally, with no regard to their feelings.
However, I don't like it, and I don't understand it. It was one of the things in this book that just turned my stomach, frustrated me, and in general made me extremely uncomfortable. In my mind this is abuse, and it's not sexy at all.
Another thing was the breath play. There were a few times when Dannicka's airways were deliberately cut off by Raul without her permission, consent, or prior knowledge of his intention. She was just expected to endure and that really bothered me. Again, not sexy, just scary and abusive, but this brings me to the final issue, which is the complete and utter exchange of power. Dannicka was even told multiple times that she didn't own anything, not her body, not her thoughts, not even her own breath.
It just didn't sit right with me. All of this happened for 90% of the book, and towards the end things start to lean towards everybody loving each other, but at that point it felt more like Stockholm Syndrome than real love.
I just don't think this was for me. If you are into complete and utter power exchange, humiliation and breath play, then I think you will love this book, because all that aside, the story is interesting. However, I just couldn't get past all of that. Not for me.
April 1, 2019
Petra Knox and Raven Dark have done it again. They have given us a dark book that is so compelling that you just can't help get sucked into it and devoured by it, even if you get mad at the various characters and kind of want to strangle them sometimes. Ok, maybe a lot of times. That's what kind of books Captured is. And that's what kind of characters Malek, Raul, and Z'pheer are.
Danika has just turned 18 and now she's off to have an audition for the biggest nightclub owner in her town. Everyone at the Xandar home, where she's lived for the past 4 years, has told her that she has an excellent voice, so this is her big break. Only, well, it's not the kind of break that she might think she's getting.
Raul, Malek, and Z'pheer are Xandari men who have just gotten to have their very own nayna, or slave. And guess who who is the "lucky" girl? If you guessed Danika, you just won! Yay you!
The book is all from Danika's POV, so we only even know what she knows, so as she's learning what's going on, so are we. I think that it was a great way to handle the situation. I think anything else would've ruined the book and the tension. There's a lot of tension in this, because of course there would be. I mean, after all, they had a young woman kidnapped from Earth to be their toy.
Oh, I totally hated the guys a lot of the time. I think that the authors wrote them for us to hate them, at least part of the time. Then I kind of hated to love them and loved to hate them. Before I started liking them, I disliked Z'pheer least of all. I disliked Malek most of all, and I was never quite sure what to think of Raul.
I mostly like Danika. I think the parts that I didn't necessarily like were partly the fact that she was young, and was still seeing things the way that young people do. I didn't really get frustrated with her or anything, but sometimes I had to wonder why she would do something in particular.
Altogether, I wish that I could give this book more stars than I can. I think it's dark, delicious, and fantastic. I can't wait to see what comes next!
Danika has just turned 18 and now she's off to have an audition for the biggest nightclub owner in her town. Everyone at the Xandar home, where she's lived for the past 4 years, has told her that she has an excellent voice, so this is her big break. Only, well, it's not the kind of break that she might think she's getting.
Raul, Malek, and Z'pheer are Xandari men who have just gotten to have their very own nayna, or slave. And guess who who is the "lucky" girl? If you guessed Danika, you just won! Yay you!
The book is all from Danika's POV, so we only even know what she knows, so as she's learning what's going on, so are we. I think that it was a great way to handle the situation. I think anything else would've ruined the book and the tension. There's a lot of tension in this, because of course there would be. I mean, after all, they had a young woman kidnapped from Earth to be their toy.
Oh, I totally hated the guys a lot of the time. I think that the authors wrote them for us to hate them, at least part of the time. Then I kind of hated to love them and loved to hate them. Before I started liking them, I disliked Z'pheer least of all. I disliked Malek most of all, and I was never quite sure what to think of Raul.
I mostly like Danika. I think the parts that I didn't necessarily like were partly the fact that she was young, and was still seeing things the way that young people do. I didn't really get frustrated with her or anything, but sometimes I had to wonder why she would do something in particular.
Altogether, I wish that I could give this book more stars than I can. I think it's dark, delicious, and fantastic. I can't wait to see what comes next!
May 26, 2020
This was a spectacular story! I loved every bit of it.
Captured: The Xandari Chronicles Book 1
Danica was struggling to survive on the streets at age 12 after her mother's death. She is rescued by the Xandar Home for girls. She and the other girls at the home are well looked after there. They are educated and all their health needs are taken care of. When they turn 18 they must leave the home. Some find lost relatives to stay with, others find jobs. Danica has a voice like a nightingale. So, on her 18th birthday she auditions for a famous club owner and hopes to be able to sing in one of his clubs.
There are two men in the booth watching her and listening to her sing, the club owner and another tall gorgeous man. After she sings, she is told that she is hired. Meanwhile, the gorgeous man has disappeared. While in the limo going out to celebrate, the head of the school jabs her with a needle in her arm, She wakes up on a space ship.
Thus begins the adventure. She has been captured by Rual, the leader, Malek, Raul's bodyguard, and Z'pheer, Rual's personal physician. The four of them have many scares, battles, and trials. They face enemies within Xandar and a devastating enemy seeking to destroy their entire planet,
But this is really about 4 people learning to trust Danica and growing to love her and she them.
** warning: there are scenes of spanking and one of non-consensual relations. ** If that does not scare you away, then you are likely to really enjoy this well developed adventure and love story with a HEA! I gave it 5 stars and hope to see the next book in the series SOON.
Captured: The Xandari Chronicles Book 1
Danica was struggling to survive on the streets at age 12 after her mother's death. She is rescued by the Xandar Home for girls. She and the other girls at the home are well looked after there. They are educated and all their health needs are taken care of. When they turn 18 they must leave the home. Some find lost relatives to stay with, others find jobs. Danica has a voice like a nightingale. So, on her 18th birthday she auditions for a famous club owner and hopes to be able to sing in one of his clubs.
There are two men in the booth watching her and listening to her sing, the club owner and another tall gorgeous man. After she sings, she is told that she is hired. Meanwhile, the gorgeous man has disappeared. While in the limo going out to celebrate, the head of the school jabs her with a needle in her arm, She wakes up on a space ship.
Thus begins the adventure. She has been captured by Rual, the leader, Malek, Raul's bodyguard, and Z'pheer, Rual's personal physician. The four of them have many scares, battles, and trials. They face enemies within Xandar and a devastating enemy seeking to destroy their entire planet,
But this is really about 4 people learning to trust Danica and growing to love her and she them.
** warning: there are scenes of spanking and one of non-consensual relations. ** If that does not scare you away, then you are likely to really enjoy this well developed adventure and love story with a HEA! I gave it 5 stars and hope to see the next book in the series SOON.
April 6, 2020
this was very hard for me to read the first 30 - 40% of the book. all that Danika had to go thru just broke my heart it was so hard to see her struggle the way she did. and the male characters in this story didn't make it easy on her at all. i almost gave up on this book, i struggled with it that much. finally i did something i don't ever do. i went to goodreads and read the reviews posted by other people to see what they thought of it. most of it was bad reviews but i read them anyways. after that i thought okay so this book isn't what i thought it was gonna be. so i went back to it with a mind set that the book wasn't actually a romance that it should have been listed as something else.
and i noticed at about the half way point that the story started to change and that it was indeed a romance story. a dark 1 but a romance story none the less. and i also noticed that a lot of the reviews i had read were all wrong. they obviously didn't read the whole story. they just skipped thru it and missed a lot of the story in doing so. they didn't notice where it started to change because they skipped that part so they got it completely wrong. a lot of the points they are pointing out in the story that they didn't like or understand they got it completely out of sequence and entirely missed what lead up to that scene happening so they had no understanding of it or why it made sense in the story.
this is a beautiful love story. and i hope nobody misses out on it because of misleading bad reviews.
and i noticed at about the half way point that the story started to change and that it was indeed a romance story. a dark 1 but a romance story none the less. and i also noticed that a lot of the reviews i had read were all wrong. they obviously didn't read the whole story. they just skipped thru it and missed a lot of the story in doing so. they didn't notice where it started to change because they skipped that part so they got it completely wrong. a lot of the points they are pointing out in the story that they didn't like or understand they got it completely out of sequence and entirely missed what lead up to that scene happening so they had no understanding of it or why it made sense in the story.
this is a beautiful love story. and i hope nobody misses out on it because of misleading bad reviews.
February 20, 2022
Dnf 30%
Ive read a shit ton of alien books. I normally love alien capture books. I love rh. I dont mind dub con. But this book is cold n callous and so all the above isn't erotic, its not titillating its a complete turn off. Add in the muzzle she has to wear virtually all the time, the collar n leash, the handcuffs and these aliens come across as heartless bastards.
Then at 24% we have to contend with Danikas rape. Yes it was a full on rape. It was horrid. Yes many of us like dub con fantasies, but this wasn't dub con it was a cold, callous, painful rape with zero regards for her virginity, the pain, time to adjust to his size etc.
Seriously I'm not enjoying this book at all. Not even sure I'm going to continue. Nothing erotic or romantic about this book. Nothing so far to redeem these aliens.
I'll try a couple more chapters. Sigh
Ok 30%, they are still in the case, how can I be almost a 3rd of the way in the book and they've virtually done nothing n gone nowhere!! Just pages n pages of dribble.
Nope I cant be bothered anymore, im bored stiff. Add in we dont know what they're saying to her due to a broken translation chip and I find im just frustrated with this book.
Nope not for me. There's slow and there's dying a death.
Not erotic, not romantic, not exciting, not interesting, not great world building. Not great characters, not a great plot......
Need I say more?
Ive read a shit ton of alien books. I normally love alien capture books. I love rh. I dont mind dub con. But this book is cold n callous and so all the above isn't erotic, its not titillating its a complete turn off. Add in the muzzle she has to wear virtually all the time, the collar n leash, the handcuffs and these aliens come across as heartless bastards.
Then at 24% we have to contend with Danikas rape. Yes it was a full on rape. It was horrid. Yes many of us like dub con fantasies, but this wasn't dub con it was a cold, callous, painful rape with zero regards for her virginity, the pain, time to adjust to his size etc.
Seriously I'm not enjoying this book at all. Not even sure I'm going to continue. Nothing erotic or romantic about this book. Nothing so far to redeem these aliens.
I'll try a couple more chapters. Sigh
Ok 30%, they are still in the case, how can I be almost a 3rd of the way in the book and they've virtually done nothing n gone nowhere!! Just pages n pages of dribble.
Nope I cant be bothered anymore, im bored stiff. Add in we dont know what they're saying to her due to a broken translation chip and I find im just frustrated with this book.
Nope not for me. There's slow and there's dying a death.
Not erotic, not romantic, not exciting, not interesting, not great world building. Not great characters, not a great plot......
Need I say more?
March 31, 2019
So many good things
First here’s my warning in case you for some reason missed it. This is a DARK book. She is kidnapped! Taken against her will, put into slavery. If you are not ok with that or it’s “not your cup of tea” that’s great! Just don’t read this book.
Now with that said, there are so many amazing things about this book. For one, it’s freaking huge! And not full of fluff. The whole book is full of action, suspense, super hot, like on fire, sexy times. Another thing that’s great about this book is that it’s a whole freaking story!! I have nothing against cliffhangers, they keep us coming back for more but it’s so nice to pick up a book sometimes and get the entire story in one book.
Now let’s talk about these aliens. Holy spaceman! They are big, beautiful, growly, bossy warriors. You want to hate them so bad but you just can’t.
Danika, she a stubborn one. Almost to the point I wanted to scream at her to give in already!!! These characters were perfectly written for each other and it wouldn’t have worked any other way. Fantastic job by these two amazing authors. Can’t wait to read Laura’s story.
First here’s my warning in case you for some reason missed it. This is a DARK book. She is kidnapped! Taken against her will, put into slavery. If you are not ok with that or it’s “not your cup of tea” that’s great! Just don’t read this book.
Now with that said, there are so many amazing things about this book. For one, it’s freaking huge! And not full of fluff. The whole book is full of action, suspense, super hot, like on fire, sexy times. Another thing that’s great about this book is that it’s a whole freaking story!! I have nothing against cliffhangers, they keep us coming back for more but it’s so nice to pick up a book sometimes and get the entire story in one book.
Now let’s talk about these aliens. Holy spaceman! They are big, beautiful, growly, bossy warriors. You want to hate them so bad but you just can’t.
Danika, she a stubborn one. Almost to the point I wanted to scream at her to give in already!!! These characters were perfectly written for each other and it wouldn’t have worked any other way. Fantastic job by these two amazing authors. Can’t wait to read Laura’s story.
June 20, 2019
This creative & entertaining book was rather long at 478 pages on GP but thankfully there was a HEA instead of a cliffhanger. However, I think a lot of the mental monologues could have been trimmed away to make a 5 star story because the characters & plot were interesting, and there was certainly plenty of steam.
Despite enjoying this book, I have a few *spoiler* questions:
If it took 2 years to get to Xander from Earth, then how could Shelley go back and forth every few months?
Why didn't Danika point out to Malek that he was partly to blame for telling her they would never love a slave? The whole transition to love drama could have been condensed quite a bit.
Why didn't she use the wish she was granted by the order? She could have obviously asked to be their equal instead of their slave.
How could they suddenly watch her in the mine when it was pitch black even at the entrance?
Why didn't she sing to Malek when he was unconscious or to calm Raul down when he was practically out of it from rage & sorrow? It was practically her superpower after all.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Despite enjoying this book, I have a few *spoiler* questions:
If it took 2 years to get to Xander from Earth, then how could Shelley go back and forth every few months?
Why didn't Danika point out to Malek that he was partly to blame for telling her they would never love a slave? The whole transition to love drama could have been condensed quite a bit.
Why didn't she use the wish she was granted by the order? She could have obviously asked to be their equal instead of their slave.
How could they suddenly watch her in the mine when it was pitch black even at the entrance?
Why didn't she sing to Malek when he was unconscious or to calm Raul down when he was practically out of it from rage & sorrow? It was practically her superpower after all.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2019
Behold: The "War and Peace" of alien sex!
This is a looooong book, with a slow and immaculate build up, with the gradual revealing of details that build the kind of authenticity you don't often find in genre fiction of this nature.
Danika is quite young for a heroine, but with enough built-in street smarts the story doesn't feel as exploitative as it could have. And yes, as advertised, this is a dark tale. These barbarians are not nice, thoughtful guys, even if they are caged fire in bed. In pro-wrestling it's called a 'heel turn' when your good guys shockingly go back, and the reverse a "face turn', when your heel makes a sudden and shocking change from bad to good.
The author here tried to for a face turn, but gotta say...not quite believing the philosophical reasoning for earth girl sexual servitude the heroine does fall for. But, you know, it's spaceman barbarian erotica, and it is powerfully hot---incendiary hot, and with plenty of emotional highs, too.
This is great start to a new series, and one of the best I've yet read. But yes, it's dark, with some truly twisted head tripping. Be forewarned, and enjoy!
This is a looooong book, with a slow and immaculate build up, with the gradual revealing of details that build the kind of authenticity you don't often find in genre fiction of this nature.
Danika is quite young for a heroine, but with enough built-in street smarts the story doesn't feel as exploitative as it could have. And yes, as advertised, this is a dark tale. These barbarians are not nice, thoughtful guys, even if they are caged fire in bed. In pro-wrestling it's called a 'heel turn' when your good guys shockingly go back, and the reverse a "face turn', when your heel makes a sudden and shocking change from bad to good.
The author here tried to for a face turn, but gotta say...not quite believing the philosophical reasoning for earth girl sexual servitude the heroine does fall for. But, you know, it's spaceman barbarian erotica, and it is powerfully hot---incendiary hot, and with plenty of emotional highs, too.
This is great start to a new series, and one of the best I've yet read. But yes, it's dark, with some truly twisted head tripping. Be forewarned, and enjoy!
April 1, 2019
The Xandar home for girls is not what it seems. This place is downright EVIL!!!
Danika found out the hard way when her friend Shelly helps drug her and she's taken into space to a war torn planet to be a Nayna ( slave ) to her three Masters Raul, Malek and Z'Pheer .
I am warning you now this is a Dark 400 + page Sci Fi RH standalone with an HEA ,but it's anything, but sweet butterflies and rainbows between the captive and her Alien rulers. Although I did love Tarku the Pink Dog like creature with teeth like Razors .
These stoic extraterrestrials are Ruthless , Domineering and Sexy AF in the bedroom....the things you will read within these pages will make you blush .
I will say The authors did a great Job of bringing not only the characters, but us as readers to that boiling point of Anger at Danika's continued humiliation and her Captors and their planets total sexisms. I myself enjoy the darker parts of the book ,but the little sprinkles of Humor that were planted throughout the book kept me intrigued and wanting to read more books in this series .
Danika found out the hard way when her friend Shelly helps drug her and she's taken into space to a war torn planet to be a Nayna ( slave ) to her three Masters Raul, Malek and Z'Pheer .
I am warning you now this is a Dark 400 + page Sci Fi RH standalone with an HEA ,but it's anything, but sweet butterflies and rainbows between the captive and her Alien rulers. Although I did love Tarku the Pink Dog like creature with teeth like Razors .
These stoic extraterrestrials are Ruthless , Domineering and Sexy AF in the bedroom....the things you will read within these pages will make you blush .
I will say The authors did a great Job of bringing not only the characters, but us as readers to that boiling point of Anger at Danika's continued humiliation and her Captors and their planets total sexisms. I myself enjoy the darker parts of the book ,but the little sprinkles of Humor that were planted throughout the book kept me intrigued and wanting to read more books in this series .
June 21, 2019
I enjoyed reading this deliciously, dark Sci-Fi reverse harem romance. The plot is quite dark & interesting with unexpected situations but there are some grammar & spelling errors. The male characters are realistically portrayed as cruel, domineering brutes & the female character is portrayed as emotional older than her physical age.
There is: a naïve but feisty young woman (Danika) sold on her 18th birthday to three Xandari warriors (Raul, Malek & Z’pheer) who are in a triad relationship, twists & turns, intrigue, suspense, deceit, betrayal, abduction, action, threats, danger, violence, conflict, enemies, war, injuries, humiliation, ruthlessness, domination/submission, BDSM, non-consensual scenes, dubious consent scenes, explicit sexual scenes & strangely enough there is attractions, protectiveness, acceptance, compromises, choices, well-intended manipulations, laughter, love & a well-earned happy conclusion.
There is: a naïve but feisty young woman (Danika) sold on her 18th birthday to three Xandari warriors (Raul, Malek & Z’pheer) who are in a triad relationship, twists & turns, intrigue, suspense, deceit, betrayal, abduction, action, threats, danger, violence, conflict, enemies, war, injuries, humiliation, ruthlessness, domination/submission, BDSM, non-consensual scenes, dubious consent scenes, explicit sexual scenes & strangely enough there is attractions, protectiveness, acceptance, compromises, choices, well-intended manipulations, laughter, love & a well-earned happy conclusion.
June 23, 2019
Holy feelings. The good, bad, and downright ugly, this book took me there. It made me laugh, cry, cringe. More than once, I wanted to reach the book and slap Raul, Z’pheer, and Malek. My heart ached for Danika when she was taken from a place of (assumed) safety and thrust into a strange world where women have no value in society as equals. I got angry FOR her when she started developing feelings for her captors that continued to humiliate her and give very little of themselves while demanding everything from her. Slowly you get to know the guys and see them develop deeper feelings towards Danika. They come out of their shells so to say. Slow burn WIN.
By the end of the story, I was rooting for all of them. I won’t impart any spoilers on you, but man, I need a cookie, a martini, and nap after that emotional ride.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
By the end of the story, I was rooting for all of them. I won’t impart any spoilers on you, but man, I need a cookie, a martini, and nap after that emotional ride.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 29, 2019
I'm a huge fan of these two authors and loved the heck out of Saving Setora series. So when I found out they wrote a new dark romance, I was giddy with excitement to read it, even when I'm not much of a fan of sci-fi. I just trust that the authors will deliver their usual brand of darkness. They did just that with this new stand alone in Xandari series.
It is a bit slow in the beginning but I'm putting that into building this world for the next story in this Xandari world, not to mention this is an alien planet that Dannika has to adjust to. Yes I will admit that there were times that I feel strongly to what was being done to the FMC but for me that was what makes the story engaging, by making me feel a whole lot of emotions. I have enjoyed reading this and I'm hoping to see these characters in the other books from this world.
It is a bit slow in the beginning but I'm putting that into building this world for the next story in this Xandari world, not to mention this is an alien planet that Dannika has to adjust to. Yes I will admit that there were times that I feel strongly to what was being done to the FMC but for me that was what makes the story engaging, by making me feel a whole lot of emotions. I have enjoyed reading this and I'm hoping to see these characters in the other books from this world.
April 7, 2019
It was very lengthy but okay I guess...
I think this is the first I have ever read from this author and I'm still not sure how I feel about it...I usually enjoy reading books that have dominating males I have even read plenty of BDSM books but this one I really don't see how the heroine managed to fall in love with her men the way the author wrote it other then the healer he treated her pretty good but the Prince guy OMG when he told her that if she ever pulled another knife on him he would F*cking kill her I was like dang not to mention he just got done ripping her A hole to eye hole I really do not see how she found a way to fall in love with them maybe it's the authors way of writing but it just didn't work for me
I think this is the first I have ever read from this author and I'm still not sure how I feel about it...I usually enjoy reading books that have dominating males I have even read plenty of BDSM books but this one I really don't see how the heroine managed to fall in love with her men the way the author wrote it other then the healer he treated her pretty good but the Prince guy OMG when he told her that if she ever pulled another knife on him he would F*cking kill her I was like dang not to mention he just got done ripping her A hole to eye hole I really do not see how she found a way to fall in love with them maybe it's the authors way of writing but it just didn't work for me
April 19, 2019
She pretty much has Stockholm syndrome for her abusive captors. 🤷🏼♀️
It’s a really great and yes I did head the warnings but the reason I’m giving it one star is because although it comes with warning this isn’t a ‘romance’ or even a dark romance. Great authors but this book does not fit the dark romance criteria, it could possibly go to psychological romance because let’s be honest they buy her as a pet sex slave and pretty much beat her and threaten her when she doesn’t comply with something they want done. I mean prince dude literally said he would kill her if she ever pulled a knife on him again after he ripped her a**hole open, I mean come on I’d try to shank you too if you if that happened. She pretty much has Stockholm syndrome.
It’s a really great and yes I did head the warnings but the reason I’m giving it one star is because although it comes with warning this isn’t a ‘romance’ or even a dark romance. Great authors but this book does not fit the dark romance criteria, it could possibly go to psychological romance because let’s be honest they buy her as a pet sex slave and pretty much beat her and threaten her when she doesn’t comply with something they want done. I mean prince dude literally said he would kill her if she ever pulled a knife on him again after he ripped her a**hole open, I mean come on I’d try to shank you too if you if that happened. She pretty much has Stockholm syndrome.
June 21, 2019
This is a Dark story. There is kidnapping, slavery, and some sexy scenes (Ok forces) that some people wont like. I happen to like them. Danika is sold on her birthday to three Xandari Warriors, Raul, Malek, and Z'pheer. She thought she was auditioning for a singing gig at the biggest nightclub in her hometown. Guess what happens. She's sold to the biggest, badest, bossiest warriors she's ever met. Did I say they were also really hot! This is a story that you won't want to put down. I love SCI-FI romance and this is the first book I've read by these two authors. I can't wait till the next book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
June 21, 2019
Petra and Raven have given us a well written, dark, twisted, and sometimes slow story that is so compelling you can’t put it down. The book is written from Dannika’s POV and really would not work as well any other way. You feel what she is feeling and that changes your perception of alien abductions. This story has betrayal, action, tension, and chemistry that Dannika doesn’t fully understand and humor. Dannika’s guys are sexy strong alphas that you just want to shoot most of the time. This story is dark, delicious, and fantastic. I can't wait to see what comes next!! I really enjoyed this book 5++! I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
June 24, 2019
★ “Damka nayna” - Good slave ★
—>>> Danika’s story begins with a betrayal so big, her head is spinning to adjust. Three huge Xandari warriors steal this young woman from all she has known and speed her to their strange alien world, taking possession of her body and mind, but not her fighting spirit. If anything, her new brutal masters relish and encourage her, delighting in putting her into her place as their “nayna.” Her personal challenges such as communicating with these males pales, though, in comparison to what these alien barbarians will face when they return home with their “prize” in hand.
This author duo delivers a captivating start to their new series, and I love their brand of dark sci-fi romance!
—>>> Danika’s story begins with a betrayal so big, her head is spinning to adjust. Three huge Xandari warriors steal this young woman from all she has known and speed her to their strange alien world, taking possession of her body and mind, but not her fighting spirit. If anything, her new brutal masters relish and encourage her, delighting in putting her into her place as their “nayna.” Her personal challenges such as communicating with these males pales, though, in comparison to what these alien barbarians will face when they return home with their “prize” in hand.
This author duo delivers a captivating start to their new series, and I love their brand of dark sci-fi romance!
June 25, 2019
This is my first time reading anything by these authors and I want to start off by saying read the blurb, when they said this was dark, they meant it! I thought the plot was an interesting one and it really caught my attention. The characters are well developed and interesting, the story is told from the female, Dannika’s point of view. There is lots of action, suspense, and steam in this book. It’s a full-length book so be prepared to spend a few hours reading it, I only put the book down long enough to make a fresh cuppa and then I was back to reading. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from these authors.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 2, 2019
Whoa!
This was an amazing introduction to a new world. You must be ok with extremely hot Alpha males and otherworldlyness. This is a story of a girl ripped from our world and thrown into another she was wholly unprepared for. Given to three men who become her masters and lead their captive on an adventure into the great unknown. There is steam galore!! Danika did get in my nerves a little bit but I loved how it ended!! Loved the length too! Can wait to tape the next trip to the stars!
This was an amazing introduction to a new world. You must be ok with extremely hot Alpha males and otherworldlyness. This is a story of a girl ripped from our world and thrown into another she was wholly unprepared for. Given to three men who become her masters and lead their captive on an adventure into the great unknown. There is steam galore!! Danika did get in my nerves a little bit but I loved how it ended!! Loved the length too! Can wait to tape the next trip to the stars!
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