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Mates of the Kilgari #1
Rescued by the Alien Pirate
I woke from cryostasis a prisoner. My crime? I have no idea.
I was stuck with a hundred other women, all headed to who knows where. Captive in a dank, dirty cargo hold.
Then, out of the darkness, came Solair.
A handsome alien. Golden skinned. Horned. The dashing captain of a pirate ship. They rescued us--he gave my people food, shelter, and promised us safety. In exchange?
He took me for himself.
But the people who captured us, haven’t given up. They want us back. They’re powerful and will do whatever it takes to find us. The only thing stopping them?
Solair.
He wants me. And what he takes…
He keeps.
I was stuck with a hundred other women, all headed to who knows where. Captive in a dank, dirty cargo hold.
Then, out of the darkness, came Solair.
A handsome alien. Golden skinned. Horned. The dashing captain of a pirate ship. They rescued us--he gave my people food, shelter, and promised us safety. In exchange?
He took me for himself.
But the people who captured us, haven’t given up. They want us back. They’re powerful and will do whatever it takes to find us. The only thing stopping them?
Solair.
He wants me. And what he takes…
He keeps.
298 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 15, 2020
About the author
Celia Kyle
281 books2,880 followersCelia Kyle would like to rule the world and become a ninja. As a fall-back, she’s working on her writing career and giving readers stories that touch their hearts and *ahem* other places. Visit her online at http://celiakyle.com | http://facebook.com/celiakyle | http://twitter.com/celiakyle | http://pinterest.com/celiakyle
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 185 reviews
April 8, 2023
Rescued by the Alien Pirate is book one in the Mates of the Kilgari series by Celia Kyle and Athena Storm.
I’ve been on a Sci-Fi Romance kick lately. The cover and title intrigued me, so I decided to give this new series a try. I’ve liked other books by Celia Kyle, but have not tried Athena Storm.
The concept sounded good, but unfortunately the women introduced; especially our lead heroine killed this book for me.
Varia our heroine. When we meet her she is imprisoned on a spaceship with several other women who have popped out of the cryo-stasis they where put in. Their are still many women in the cryo-stasis; besides the few that’s tubs have stoped working. They don’t know why they are their and she’s become the de facto leader. She is not a nice person. I’m not sure what the authors where trying to go for with her, but she came across as ungrateful, aggressive, demanding, and just all around an awful person/character. She was so mean to the Kilgari, alien pirates, that saved her and the other 106 women from certain death. All she did was pick a fight with our lead hero Solair. All her conversations where a fight. She did not utter one word of Thank You nor did she engage in a calm discussion about anything. Instead she was irate with the Kilgari aliens. Not sure if she got better or changed her attitude, but the fist impression of her turned me off.
Solair our pirate alien Captian of the Queen and all the Kilgari aliens are such nice guys. I like the Kilgari race, but I felt sorry for Solair and all the Kilgari. They are all bending over backwards to help the Human women. They have limited resources and are trying to make due to accommodate all the new mouths to feed and well the women are comeing across as ungrateful. As for Solair our hero, Varia showed no respect to him even though he’s the Captain and his whole crew are making sacrifices for these women. It was just sad to see these nice aliens not get more respect.
Their are a lot of secondary characters introduced. We meet several other Human women and other Kilgari aliens. The alien guys are awesome and relatable, but the human women are eh.
As for the romance between Solair and Varia I never felt it. I stoped at 30%, so not much was happening on this front only that Solair feels a strong pull towards Varia and thinks that she is his fated one and only mate. I didn’t get any chemistry between them only fighting.
I wanted to like this one, but Rescued by the Alien Pirate was not the book for me. If the blurb intrigues you, I urge you to give it a shot. Just because it did not work for me does not mean it won’t for you.
Rated: DNF’d at 30%
I’ve been on a Sci-Fi Romance kick lately. The cover and title intrigued me, so I decided to give this new series a try. I’ve liked other books by Celia Kyle, but have not tried Athena Storm.
The concept sounded good, but unfortunately the women introduced; especially our lead heroine killed this book for me.
Varia our heroine. When we meet her she is imprisoned on a spaceship with several other women who have popped out of the cryo-stasis they where put in. Their are still many women in the cryo-stasis; besides the few that’s tubs have stoped working. They don’t know why they are their and she’s become the de facto leader. She is not a nice person. I’m not sure what the authors where trying to go for with her, but she came across as ungrateful, aggressive, demanding, and just all around an awful person/character. She was so mean to the Kilgari, alien pirates, that saved her and the other 106 women from certain death. All she did was pick a fight with our lead hero Solair. All her conversations where a fight. She did not utter one word of Thank You nor did she engage in a calm discussion about anything. Instead she was irate with the Kilgari aliens. Not sure if she got better or changed her attitude, but the fist impression of her turned me off.
Solair our pirate alien Captian of the Queen and all the Kilgari aliens are such nice guys. I like the Kilgari race, but I felt sorry for Solair and all the Kilgari. They are all bending over backwards to help the Human women. They have limited resources and are trying to make due to accommodate all the new mouths to feed and well the women are comeing across as ungrateful. As for Solair our hero, Varia showed no respect to him even though he’s the Captain and his whole crew are making sacrifices for these women. It was just sad to see these nice aliens not get more respect.
Their are a lot of secondary characters introduced. We meet several other Human women and other Kilgari aliens. The alien guys are awesome and relatable, but the human women are eh.
As for the romance between Solair and Varia I never felt it. I stoped at 30%, so not much was happening on this front only that Solair feels a strong pull towards Varia and thinks that she is his fated one and only mate. I didn’t get any chemistry between them only fighting.
I wanted to like this one, but Rescued by the Alien Pirate was not the book for me. If the blurb intrigues you, I urge you to give it a shot. Just because it did not work for me does not mean it won’t for you.
Rated: DNF’d at 30%
June 3, 2020
This would have been a great story had Varia not been an awful, entitled, demanding, angry, aggressive, ungrateful, horrible person. Seriously, the pirates saved her and over 100 other women from a certain and horrible death, yet not one word of thank you fell from her lips, nor did she engage in any calm discussions about the things they would appreciate, instead she and most of the other women were simply irate that the pirates hadn’t catered to their every whim without having to ask what else they’d like first. And although there were some steamy parts, there was zero chemistry between Varia and Solair.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
Did Not Finish
May 4, 2022DNF—I couldn’t stand the narrators!
The story sounded like a good one, but the male narrator’s voice annoyed me so bad I just had to put it away. He sounded like he was in his sixties or so and didn’t sound Heroic at all. Personal preference I guess.
The story sounded like a good one, but the male narrator’s voice annoyed me so bad I just had to put it away. He sounded like he was in his sixties or so and didn’t sound Heroic at all. Personal preference I guess.
February 27, 2020
I got this and thought Oo yummy I haven't read a barbarian type romance in ages and from the synopsis it certainly appealed. Sadly my idea of barbarians falling in love in a sci fi setting wasn't exactly what I got. Why ? Solair is positively civilised and actually didn't really feel that alien so I struggled to align my expectations with the way the character behaved because honestly these space pirates are absolute sweeties. Varia wasn't easy to like if I'm blunt. I understood that she has military background and felt it was her duty to protect the other women but boy was she abrasive. Plus there's a moment when one of the aliens kind of acknowledges her and she thinking Oo that's because he recognised a fellow warrior and honestly I could feel my eyes rolling ! I did enjoy the overall story and thought having chapters from the lead protagonists definitely made them feel more real but unfortunately at times it seemed as if Solair was talking to an interviewer so for me this wasn't the best book I've read by this author. I can only say that we all have different tastes and I'm sure there are many readers who will enjoy this story.
This voluntary take is of an advanced copy and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair
This voluntary take is of an advanced copy and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair
February 19, 2020
Ungrateful, nasty, rude, hateful. This varia was all these things and more. I couldn't read the book and it did have potential but every single woman that was rescued acted as if these rescuers owed them so much more just for them to be in their presence. As if it was their fault they found themselves in the predicament they were in. That they some how caused all of their hurts and them rescuing them was now somehow another mark AGAINST them . Not one legitimate thankyou. Demands of things and nothing was good enough. These chicks were vile. Hard pass.
April 21, 2020
I have a particular soft spot for people who are adrift in the far reaches of space with no idea how they came to be there and no idea how they're going to get out of the situation they're in. Varia and her crew (they might have been thrown together by circumstance, but they're still her crew when all's said and done) are in EXACTLY that situation.
Waking up with no idea where they are or how they came to be there is rough. Being rescued by a ship full of handsome, honorable aliens makes things a little better. Sure, sure, Solair and Varia poke and snarl at one another and things aren't necessarily easy for the suddenly blended crew, but they are definitely better off than they would have been. Then again, pretty much anything would be better than slowly starving to death on a derelict spaceship.
That said, Varia is not the most gracious when Solair and his crew rescue them. The weight of the human women's lives and well-being hangs on her and she gets a wee bit pushy with her rescuers instead of being grateful. Which, in turn, puts Solair's back up. That doesn't stop them from getting a little physical, mind you, but they both have to work through their knee-jerk reactions before they can get to a place where they're both on the same page.
Aliens, humans, and a little danger and intrigue. Good stuff.
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
Waking up with no idea where they are or how they came to be there is rough. Being rescued by a ship full of handsome, honorable aliens makes things a little better. Sure, sure, Solair and Varia poke and snarl at one another and things aren't necessarily easy for the suddenly blended crew, but they are definitely better off than they would have been. Then again, pretty much anything would be better than slowly starving to death on a derelict spaceship.
That said, Varia is not the most gracious when Solair and his crew rescue them. The weight of the human women's lives and well-being hangs on her and she gets a wee bit pushy with her rescuers instead of being grateful. Which, in turn, puts Solair's back up. That doesn't stop them from getting a little physical, mind you, but they both have to work through their knee-jerk reactions before they can get to a place where they're both on the same page.
Aliens, humans, and a little danger and intrigue. Good stuff.
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
Did Not Finish
April 1, 2020I tried. I really did but the writing is stiff, there’s no chemistry between the MCs and there’s literally nothing incentivizing me to find out how it ends so I’m tapping out.
February 18, 2020
Ah 2.5
I don’t normally read a book I don’t like. I almost stopped reading this one several times. Veria is just an unlikable bi$ch through 70% of the book and then boom she says whatever and Fu$ks Solair. I feel like this could have been much better. And there is never any chemistry between the two. The guys all seem awesome and it’s a cool start of a exciting storyline. I kept reading because I wanted it to get better and I think the next books can be great. Besides having horns and two giant Co$ks I have no clue what Solair even looks like.
I don’t normally read a book I don’t like. I almost stopped reading this one several times. Veria is just an unlikable bi$ch through 70% of the book and then boom she says whatever and Fu$ks Solair. I feel like this could have been much better. And there is never any chemistry between the two. The guys all seem awesome and it’s a cool start of a exciting storyline. I kept reading because I wanted it to get better and I think the next books can be great. Besides having horns and two giant Co$ks I have no clue what Solair even looks like.
August 14, 2020
I normally like Celia...
But these women were selfish, self centered beeyotches who made me want to throw them out an airlock. Talk about RUDE - at least attempting to thank the people who saved you from a fiery death in space would be polite. Harrassing and complaining 24/7 turned me off the book less than a quarter of the way through. These guys save your bacon and you are nasty to them? SMH
But these women were selfish, self centered beeyotches who made me want to throw them out an airlock. Talk about RUDE - at least attempting to thank the people who saved you from a fiery death in space would be polite. Harrassing and complaining 24/7 turned me off the book less than a quarter of the way through. These guys save your bacon and you are nasty to them? SMH
February 18, 2020
Terrible.
My own fault for reading this. I have tried books in the Athenaverse before and have never liked them. I thought Celia Kyle's input would make a difference but I was wrong. Varia is very unpleasant (think the "b" word) and Solair seems to spend his time moaning about how the women are upsetting life on the ship.
My own fault for reading this. I have tried books in the Athenaverse before and have never liked them. I thought Celia Kyle's input would make a difference but I was wrong. Varia is very unpleasant (think the "b" word) and Solair seems to spend his time moaning about how the women are upsetting life on the ship.
February 18, 2020
3 1/2* On the one hand the story is very good, well written and entertaining. On the other the h is beyond a b**ch. I think the authors were trying for a strong woman but all they achieved was strident and demanding. Actually there were points where that could be said of most of the women. Here they have been rescued and all they can do is make demands and act like they are royalty. None of them seem grateful and act horrid if their demands aren't met despite the fact the ship is not equipped to carry an extra 100+ people. The crew bends over backwards and all they can do is complain it is not enough. But the worst is the h. All the others are in the background. Instead of thanking the universe for rescue from the holds of a dead ship she is combative, demanding and acts in ways that would have gotten me an a** whooping when I was young for my lack of manners. I also hated that when the H finally got fed up and let her have it he felt the need to apologize. I never felt any connection to any of the women except for the h's best friend. The men on the other hand were all relatable. I liked the H even if he did let her push him around when it was his ship. At no point did the h show respect to the H even though he was the captain and his whole crew were making sacrifices to accommodate the women.
So disliking the h so much I really could not rate this higher than 3. Which is a shame since usually I really enjoy this authors work. Knowing that the authors previous books were good I will buy the next in series. All the negative aside I would recommend this book. I'm sure many people would not be bothered as much by the women's behavior.
EDIT EDIT EDIT... The author contacted me after this review and said she was doing some rewriting to make the h more likable. I'm assuming she did so and am raising my rating to reflect this.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
So disliking the h so much I really could not rate this higher than 3. Which is a shame since usually I really enjoy this authors work. Knowing that the authors previous books were good I will buy the next in series. All the negative aside I would recommend this book. I'm sure many people would not be bothered as much by the women's behavior.
EDIT EDIT EDIT... The author contacted me after this review and said she was doing some rewriting to make the h more likable. I'm assuming she did so and am raising my rating to reflect this.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
October 22, 2020
Another pallet cleaner! I think 2020 is the year of these for me. I’ve needed more books that I don’t have to keep track of a million things. Or a million characters. I can just read about aliens, humans and the conspiracies they find themselves in. Enjoyed it! Happy to read more.
March 8, 2020
I gotta be honest I didn't love it. The biggest hurdle for me is Varia. I didn't like her. She was ungrateful, angry, aggressive, bitchy, and majorly demanding, and demeaning with her treatment of the crew who rescued her. Now, I like a difficult female character and someone who can take care of herself and others in her charge but this was beyond that. Solair was really nice for a pirate...almost too nice. I saw some of that sternness come out but not enough to justify this as a pirate book. Now, to be fair varia did calm down somewhat by the end but not fast enough for me unfortunately. To be honest she wasn't the only female who acted like a witch but she was the worst. I mean who does that to people who have rescued you, fed you, and made sure your warm and have a place to sleep? Just sayin. All wasnt horrible though I did enjoy the book but her character leads a lot to be desired. She definitely dragged down my likeness.
February 26, 2020
There was so much internal dialogue and just so boring to book. The main female - Varia is HORRIBLE. The captain on the ship is drawn to her, yet doesn't have the guts to put her in her place. I got 56% into the book and just stopped because I hope they open up cargo bay to suck out the ladies they rescued. Because it's just too annoying.
February 17, 2020
It's All About Those Crazy Horns🐺🍆⛲🐏!
ADULT Alpha Male Sci-fi Romance and Abduction Adventure.
🌎Earth Year 2338
Varia, ex military, finds herself and a friend, plus 105 other human women, imprisoned in an old dying freighter🚀 in deep space💫. She doesn't remember anything from before except that She was being falsely arrested. She wakes up from being in cryosleep to their dire predicament.
Captain Solair🐺🔪🔫🐏 and his crew of Kilgari🐏 males, are Reapers, space pirates🚀🔪🔫 from the destroyed world🌎of Oshara. They are the human's rescuers. As soon as he sees Varia💃💋, he knows she is his mate, but he tries to ignore it and keep his wits about himself. He looks at the women as infesting his ship, the Ancestral Queen🚀, and distractions for his men.
Kilgari🐺🍆⛲🔪🔫🐏 men have horns, great physiques and TWO "certain" other physical attributes that make them very attractive to human women! OH YEAH!
Ride em Bareback, Cowgirl! YEHAW!🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎
ARC Provided by Booksprout🌱
I also got this ebook with KU.
In the beginning, after the 107 🌎Earth women are rescued, the book was very repetitious for a while because Varia💃💋 kept harping on them being returned to 🌎Earth. Finally she got through that annoying diversion. I really didn't like her character very much. Too pushy.
ADULT Alpha Male Sci-fi Romance and Abduction Adventure.
🌎Earth Year 2338
Varia, ex military, finds herself and a friend, plus 105 other human women, imprisoned in an old dying freighter🚀 in deep space💫. She doesn't remember anything from before except that She was being falsely arrested. She wakes up from being in cryosleep to their dire predicament.
Captain Solair🐺🔪🔫🐏 and his crew of Kilgari🐏 males, are Reapers, space pirates🚀🔪🔫 from the destroyed world🌎of Oshara. They are the human's rescuers. As soon as he sees Varia💃💋, he knows she is his mate, but he tries to ignore it and keep his wits about himself. He looks at the women as infesting his ship, the Ancestral Queen🚀, and distractions for his men.
Kilgari🐺🍆⛲🔪🔫🐏 men have horns, great physiques and TWO "certain" other physical attributes that make them very attractive to human women! OH YEAH!
Ride em Bareback, Cowgirl! YEHAW!🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎
ARC Provided by Booksprout🌱
I also got this ebook with KU.
In the beginning, after the 107 🌎Earth women are rescued, the book was very repetitious for a while because Varia💃💋 kept harping on them being returned to 🌎Earth. Finally she got through that annoying diversion. I really didn't like her character very much. Too pushy.
February 17, 2020
I voluntarily offered to review this book with no obligations and my opinions are honest!
This was a great book !
Varia and 105 women were falsely arrested and put into cryostasis.
Solair finds the ship and rescued Varia and the 105 women.
But wait, there is more.
It seems that they are now falsely accused of being terrorists.
Can you believe it ?
What are they going to do?
Loved the characters + the storytelling !
It has all the ingredients that you need for a great book!
I can't wait for the next book in this series.
This was a great book !
Varia and 105 women were falsely arrested and put into cryostasis.
Solair finds the ship and rescued Varia and the 105 women.
But wait, there is more.
It seems that they are now falsely accused of being terrorists.
Can you believe it ?
What are they going to do?
Loved the characters + the storytelling !
It has all the ingredients that you need for a great book!
I can't wait for the next book in this series.
July 18, 2025
Was this good? Eh.
Am I going to read the second? I'll probably give it a try.
-spiciness was undercooked: just because your alien species has unique genitals does not mean it's suddenly "spicy"
-repetitive and cyclical thought that didn't evolve or increase in complexity or payoff
-is it sexist? Is it over simplification? Is it repetitive in conflict? Is it a breakdown of communication for seamingly no reason at all?
-does the formula and resulting plot points seem similar to other novels in this trope/genre? Yes. Making this a little rote, a little banal, a little boring? Kind of yes.
This teases an overarching narrative - a world with some amount of intrigue and a mystery (?) but can standalone. But if it stands alone it probably isn't worth it.
We'll see.
Am I going to read the second? I'll probably give it a try.
-spiciness was undercooked: just because your alien species has unique genitals does not mean it's suddenly "spicy"
-repetitive and cyclical thought that didn't evolve or increase in complexity or payoff
-is it sexist? Is it over simplification? Is it repetitive in conflict? Is it a breakdown of communication for seamingly no reason at all?
-does the formula and resulting plot points seem similar to other novels in this trope/genre? Yes. Making this a little rote, a little banal, a little boring? Kind of yes.
This teases an overarching narrative - a world with some amount of intrigue and a mystery (?) but can standalone. But if it stands alone it probably isn't worth it.
We'll see.
February 18, 2020
Varia and large group of other women were falsely arrested and put on a ship in cryostasis. When they begin to wake up, they have little supplies, luckily Solair and his space pirates rescue them. What will happen when he discovers Varia is his fated mate. Fast-paced read with plenty of drama and steam. I liked the characters and the story had great building and an entertaining story. I liked it.
July 28, 2022
This is the start of a new alien romance series I am very interested in!
Varia and a bunch of other human women have been kidnapped and left on a ship floating in space. When they are almost out of provisions, a new group of aliens led by Solair saves them. But Solair realizes that this ship of women might be filled with his crew's fated mates.
There was not much going on in this one, so it wasn't my favorite alien romance. But I am looking forward to reading more in the series :)
Varia and a bunch of other human women have been kidnapped and left on a ship floating in space. When they are almost out of provisions, a new group of aliens led by Solair saves them. But Solair realizes that this ship of women might be filled with his crew's fated mates.
There was not much going on in this one, so it wasn't my favorite alien romance. But I am looking forward to reading more in the series :)
February 21, 2020
Glad I stuck with it!
This book starts off slow but is steadily building steam. The characters are decidedly split evenly but you can feel the imminent merge with all the not too subtle foreshadowing. The mystery that starts the show is just the top level but the possibilities for future unraveling will totally hook you.
This book starts off slow but is steadily building steam. The characters are decidedly split evenly but you can feel the imminent merge with all the not too subtle foreshadowing. The mystery that starts the show is just the top level but the possibilities for future unraveling will totally hook you.
Want to Read
July 6, 2020🎁 FREE on Amazon today (7/6/2020)! 🎁
December 26, 2023
For the genre, it’s a decent story - characters, story, spice. Nothing knocked my socks off. However, I’ll continue with the series.
November 3, 2023
Rescued by the Alien Pirate: Science Fiction Alien Romance (Mates of the Kilgari Book 1)
Hmmm…here we go.
The good stuff: this story involves hunky, chiseled, hot alien guys, some rescued beautiful women, and some interesting secondary characters that will likely show up in subsequent installments of this possible series.
The bad stuff: there are major dialogue problems in this story that distract from both the plot and the characters. The hunky, chiseled, hot alien guys speak using American idioms and slang, despite the fact that they’ve stated several times they’ve never seen humans before, and they are hella gone from any human settlements. One of them refers to a female engineer type as a “grease monkey.” Another one yells for the ladies to “pipe down” and compliments another lady with “she seems to know her way around a wrench.” The beautiful, rescued females display childish behavior at every turn, including literally no gratitude for the rescue from certain death. They also tend to use American idioms and slang from 1,000 yrs ago, such as “keister.” Other seriously outdated phrases include “grab some shuteye,” “saved our bacon,” and my personal fave, “said the spider to the fly.” While this may seem petty to point out, this really outdated/canned dialogue distracts from the story. It's hard to feel you're in a scifi universe when the characters talk like they're in a 1950s American sitcom.
The H, who I soon began to think of as Captain Stubing (if you want to make this a drinking game, take a shot whenever you think Love Boat), is a nice sorta piratey dude who has horns. Not sure of what he looks like as I never saw a description beyond “golden skinned” “horned” and “cat like.” He also has more than one love wand, but this still doesn’t give you much of a picture. Use your imagination, I guess. He spends a lot of time arguing with the h and wondering if she’s his fated mate. He also tolerates a tremendous amount of whining, fussing, complaining, and other stereotyped girl child behavior from the ungracious, ungrateful ladies. At the same time, he seems to struggle with some pretty clear issues such as where all the new people will sleep, household items like blankets, and oh, maybe the need to get these ungrateful girls to lend a hand here and there. He’s a hit in the bedroom, though, with a goodly amount of attention to personal girl detail. Unfortunately, he kills some of that hotness for me, saying things like “You’re one of a kind,” and “Where have you been all my life?” Back it up, Sinatra!
The h, however, was too busy being stereotyped as a teen with an attitude problem. She was really not likable, even if you figured in shock, fear, and confusion. Her behavior in the bedroom was also a bit puzzling, as she did a lot of screamin’, and displayed some seriously rough behavior towards that hot alien H that I didn’t get at all. She also later noted that “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” which I don’t recall ever hearing even my grandmother say. Lots of dialogue issues here.
Oh, and bonus—in the future, when we are all smarter, cleaner, less trash producing and maybe more altruistic, there’s a program some of the rescue girls like to watch called “As the Galaxy Churns.” So, there’s that to look forward to, which is nice.
As a sweet FU to the readers, it ends on a small cliffhanger, with issues on the very last page about the remaining rescues girls in cryo tubes and some melt down in the medical bay. Most authors know that readers hate hate hate cliffhangers. But hey, we get one anyway!
I’m unsure of what’s up with Celia Kyle. She’s written some terrific books, but this isn’t one of them.
Hmmm…here we go.
The good stuff: this story involves hunky, chiseled, hot alien guys, some rescued beautiful women, and some interesting secondary characters that will likely show up in subsequent installments of this possible series.
The bad stuff: there are major dialogue problems in this story that distract from both the plot and the characters. The hunky, chiseled, hot alien guys speak using American idioms and slang, despite the fact that they’ve stated several times they’ve never seen humans before, and they are hella gone from any human settlements. One of them refers to a female engineer type as a “grease monkey.” Another one yells for the ladies to “pipe down” and compliments another lady with “she seems to know her way around a wrench.” The beautiful, rescued females display childish behavior at every turn, including literally no gratitude for the rescue from certain death. They also tend to use American idioms and slang from 1,000 yrs ago, such as “keister.” Other seriously outdated phrases include “grab some shuteye,” “saved our bacon,” and my personal fave, “said the spider to the fly.” While this may seem petty to point out, this really outdated/canned dialogue distracts from the story. It's hard to feel you're in a scifi universe when the characters talk like they're in a 1950s American sitcom.
The H, who I soon began to think of as Captain Stubing (if you want to make this a drinking game, take a shot whenever you think Love Boat), is a nice sorta piratey dude who has horns. Not sure of what he looks like as I never saw a description beyond “golden skinned” “horned” and “cat like.” He also has more than one love wand, but this still doesn’t give you much of a picture. Use your imagination, I guess. He spends a lot of time arguing with the h and wondering if she’s his fated mate. He also tolerates a tremendous amount of whining, fussing, complaining, and other stereotyped girl child behavior from the ungracious, ungrateful ladies. At the same time, he seems to struggle with some pretty clear issues such as where all the new people will sleep, household items like blankets, and oh, maybe the need to get these ungrateful girls to lend a hand here and there. He’s a hit in the bedroom, though, with a goodly amount of attention to personal girl detail. Unfortunately, he kills some of that hotness for me, saying things like “You’re one of a kind,” and “Where have you been all my life?” Back it up, Sinatra!
The h, however, was too busy being stereotyped as a teen with an attitude problem. She was really not likable, even if you figured in shock, fear, and confusion. Her behavior in the bedroom was also a bit puzzling, as she did a lot of screamin’, and displayed some seriously rough behavior towards that hot alien H that I didn’t get at all. She also later noted that “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” which I don’t recall ever hearing even my grandmother say. Lots of dialogue issues here.
Oh, and bonus—in the future, when we are all smarter, cleaner, less trash producing and maybe more altruistic, there’s a program some of the rescue girls like to watch called “As the Galaxy Churns.” So, there’s that to look forward to, which is nice.
As a sweet FU to the readers, it ends on a small cliffhanger, with issues on the very last page about the remaining rescues girls in cryo tubes and some melt down in the medical bay. Most authors know that readers hate hate hate cliffhangers. But hey, we get one anyway!
I’m unsure of what’s up with Celia Kyle. She’s written some terrific books, but this isn’t one of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2020
I had to stop at 13%
Because yes, it was that bad and yes, you could see it coming a mile away. The female MC came off as arrogant, ungrateful, annoying, and rude. They were being rescued and instead of being glad, she was angry. Now, I have read other books by Kyle, Dragons of Preor are fantastic, so I thought this would have that smooth writing style. Not even close. I had to stop and check other reviews, in hopes the characters got better, sadly that was not the case, and I refuse to waste my time with a book, when I already know I'm not going to like it.
Because yes, it was that bad and yes, you could see it coming a mile away. The female MC came off as arrogant, ungrateful, annoying, and rude. They were being rescued and instead of being glad, she was angry. Now, I have read other books by Kyle, Dragons of Preor are fantastic, so I thought this would have that smooth writing style. Not even close. I had to stop and check other reviews, in hopes the characters got better, sadly that was not the case, and I refuse to waste my time with a book, when I already know I'm not going to like it.
March 31, 2025
I grabbbed this one because it was short, started to read and them realised that I had already read a few from this series, oh well.
Was it perfect? No, but it’s a nice story with an overall plot that carries the series. So this couple has a HEA, but we got to meet several other characters.
It’s very insta-love with fated mates, plus the aliens here have double the atributes. I really liked the aliens, they are very calm around the female humans disturbances.
Was it perfect? No, but it’s a nice story with an overall plot that carries the series. So this couple has a HEA, but we got to meet several other characters.
It’s very insta-love with fated mates, plus the aliens here have double the atributes. I really liked the aliens, they are very calm around the female humans disturbances.
February 25, 2020
This a wellwritten and fastpaced story that captivated me from the start. The storyline is entertaining and actionpacked. The characters are wonderful. Can not wait for the next book in this series.
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.
July 20, 2021
Pleasant, but not interesting enough. Completely misses the target with the story. This is a basic rehash of Ruby Dixon's Barbarian series without the humour or quirkiness. Sadly, nothing to recommend it.
This book is well written, the male character is nice, but the moment he sees Varia, he knows she is his mate, even though his planet doesn't have that anymore. Except some confusing women controlling men in a harem thing.
Our hero girl is bossy, demanding, strangely rude and annoying. And she then hops into bed with him. No tease, no lead up, no romance which would have built the characters. A bit of staring into each others eyes would have been good.
The first chapter is a list of the women abducted - no real description. A waste of space. And there is a lot of filler for the last 20-30% of the book.
Americanisms just destroy the storyline and take the reader completely out of the story. They are jarring and annoying. How come an alien understands American slang? Our hero girl uses the word 'Mensch' about some alien trader - what? Is this word ever used outside New York? I'm pretty sure my Jewish great grandmother never used this word.
Most of the story doesn't make sense. Varia at 14, when her soldier parents went on intergalactic missions, she was left on her own to care for 8 kids when the youngest was 2 years old? Call child welfare! It doesn't make her a sympathetic character. It just sounds strange and unbelievable.
We never find out why the women were abducted and only get Varia's story at the end of the book.
And the real deal breaker on the storyline is the fact that our hero has 2 dicks. Yep. 2. TWO. 2. Yes 2. Did I say 2? Which means of course that both girl holes would be used. Oh, why, oh why, can't we just have normal sex? Does it always have to be off-putting kinky sex? Once you have had kids and have changed baby nappies, you would never see anything related to number 2's as sexy.
This is a lazy book where the author's heart is not in it. It which would have benefited by some simple planning before hand - like what is Varia's background and character, BEFORE writing the book, and would have definitely benefited by a good editor who would have picked up the basic problems with the storyline. Annoying, bossy female characters are not sassy or interesting.
This book is well written, the male character is nice, but the moment he sees Varia, he knows she is his mate, even though his planet doesn't have that anymore. Except some confusing women controlling men in a harem thing.
Our hero girl is bossy, demanding, strangely rude and annoying. And she then hops into bed with him. No tease, no lead up, no romance which would have built the characters. A bit of staring into each others eyes would have been good.
The first chapter is a list of the women abducted - no real description. A waste of space. And there is a lot of filler for the last 20-30% of the book.
Americanisms just destroy the storyline and take the reader completely out of the story. They are jarring and annoying. How come an alien understands American slang? Our hero girl uses the word 'Mensch' about some alien trader - what? Is this word ever used outside New York? I'm pretty sure my Jewish great grandmother never used this word.
Most of the story doesn't make sense. Varia at 14, when her soldier parents went on intergalactic missions, she was left on her own to care for 8 kids when the youngest was 2 years old? Call child welfare! It doesn't make her a sympathetic character. It just sounds strange and unbelievable.
We never find out why the women were abducted and only get Varia's story at the end of the book.
And the real deal breaker on the storyline is the fact that our hero has 2 dicks. Yep. 2. TWO. 2. Yes 2. Did I say 2? Which means of course that both girl holes would be used. Oh, why, oh why, can't we just have normal sex? Does it always have to be off-putting kinky sex? Once you have had kids and have changed baby nappies, you would never see anything related to number 2's as sexy.
This is a lazy book where the author's heart is not in it. It which would have benefited by some simple planning before hand - like what is Varia's background and character, BEFORE writing the book, and would have definitely benefited by a good editor who would have picked up the basic problems with the storyline. Annoying, bossy female characters are not sassy or interesting.
February 18, 2021
******Spoiler alert*****
There are two reasons why I’m not giving this novel five stars. One: we never do learn what killed the crew of the IHC vessel or who sent the S.O.S message that brought Solair and his crew to the women. Considering that the human crew was in different states of decay, it’s obvious that they didn’t die due to a system failure which makes me believe that they were either killed by a virus or by something a bit more sinister. Considering this, they should have at least tried to determine what killed them in case the women were infected before the ship self destructed.
Two: considering the synopsis of the book mentioned that “someone would do anything to get the women back” and the book is called Rescued by the Alien Pirate; I expected a lot more action and violence. Instead, I found myself reading a novella that more or less followed the story of how the aliens managed to successfully integrate with human women. None of my questions were answered at all. It was basically: human woman complains about this, alien fixes issue, human woman still complains. Wash, rinse, repeat.
I definitely will not be reading the next instalment of this series and will be moving on.
Deceptive synopsis aside, I will say that my vocabulary definitely increased while reading this novel. The author is very intelligent and uses larger words in the correct sentence structures. Very refreshing after reading several novels in a row that misspelled words, had several missing words and used words in the incorrect context (too vs two, their vs they’re vs there, and so on).
There are two reasons why I’m not giving this novel five stars. One: we never do learn what killed the crew of the IHC vessel or who sent the S.O.S message that brought Solair and his crew to the women. Considering that the human crew was in different states of decay, it’s obvious that they didn’t die due to a system failure which makes me believe that they were either killed by a virus or by something a bit more sinister. Considering this, they should have at least tried to determine what killed them in case the women were infected before the ship self destructed.
Two: considering the synopsis of the book mentioned that “someone would do anything to get the women back” and the book is called Rescued by the Alien Pirate; I expected a lot more action and violence. Instead, I found myself reading a novella that more or less followed the story of how the aliens managed to successfully integrate with human women. None of my questions were answered at all. It was basically: human woman complains about this, alien fixes issue, human woman still complains. Wash, rinse, repeat.
I definitely will not be reading the next instalment of this series and will be moving on.
Deceptive synopsis aside, I will say that my vocabulary definitely increased while reading this novel. The author is very intelligent and uses larger words in the correct sentence structures. Very refreshing after reading several novels in a row that misspelled words, had several missing words and used words in the incorrect context (too vs two, their vs they’re vs there, and so on).
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