This tormented cyborg craves vengeance…and her. *** Malice, a C Model cyborg, has spent his long lifespan enslaved by the Humanoid Alliance. His cruel manufacturers have hurt him in all the ways a male could be hurt.
His enemy has now added a new weapon to their arsenal—a tiny human medic with soft hands and a delectable scent. She experiments on him multiple times a shift, delivering pain…and frustration.
He wants her. He also seeks retribution.
Once Malice frees himself, he plans to achieve both of his goals, taking Medic Illona captive and ending her research…permanently.
Illona is as much a prisoner as the cyborgs she experiments on. Since her arrival at the Human Alliance’s secret laboratory, she has carefully, stealthily, crafted a plot to free her test subjects. To conceal her covert activities, the medic has been forced to harm beings rather than heal them.
The being she has damaged the most is also the cyborg she fiercely desires— Malice, a huge, gray-skinned, blue-eyed C Model with massive hands and a voice deeper than space. He hates her, has good reason to do so, and, when he’s freed, there’s a high probability he’ll kill her.
Illona will take that risk to ensure he survives. *** Containing Malice is a STANDALONE enemies-to-lovers Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It is the first of five core stories in the Rebel Cyborgs Series.
Book 1: Containing Malice Book 2: Under Strain Book 3: Baring Grudge Book 4: B Free Book 5: Seizing Power
USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Sax writes steamy cyborg and alien romances. Her stories have been featured in Star Magazine, on TV, and numerous romance top ten lists.
When she isn't writing, she's traveling the world with her Dear Wonderful Hubby, meeting new people, visiting new places.
The following ratings are out of 5: Romance: 💙🖤💜💖 Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘 World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌍🌎 Character development: 🤨😟😳🥰🥰
The heroine:Illona - she was a medic and a captive of the Humanoid Alliance who wanted to create a biological weapon. They had injected her under her chin with some sort of bomb and if she stepped foot outside the facility she would be blown to dust. They also put an unknown substance in her soda which causes her unending pain. She was tempted to step over the line and end it all, but she wanted to help the beings inside that were worse off than she was. Also, she and the other medics knew that if they died with their brains intact, they would be reanimated and experimented on, which was a fate much worse.
The Hero:Malice - he was a cyborg that was used by the Humanoid Alliance for research and development. He was a C model, trained to be a warrior and a breeder. But now his life consisted of a tiny cell and daily tortuous experiments. He longed to escape and he could if it was just himself, but he wouldn’t leave without his friend Valor. The threat of decommissioning Valor is what kept him in line. Though some day they would escape and Illona, the medic that tortured him daily was at the top of his list of people he would kill on his way out.
The Story: Illona and her friend medic Febris had been waiting for the opportunity to free Malice and Valor and this rotation was finally time, though they knew it would mean their deaths. She and her friend were ready to die and could no longer take the abuse and experimentation that even they had to endure. Illona and Febris did what they could to help Malice and Valor escape, allowing them to contact free cyborgs for a way off the planet. Malice didn’t know what Illona had been through, and what she had done all along to ease his suffering as much as possible.
I loved the fact that one of the things the Humanoid Alliance was experimenting on were called “The Resurrected”. They were basically reanimated dead humans (a.k.a. Zombies). That were in so much pain they basically just tried to kill themselves over and over, but couldn’t since they were already dead. Oh, and they were rotting as well since their flesh was dead.
I had read a few other books in this series and really liked them. This one was also very good from the start. I wish I could afford more of them, but I spent more than my years allotment on books and audiobooks already. Maybe next year, because I do love me some cyborgs. I do have a few of Cynthia Sax’s free short reads left, I will probably check those out, though I really dislike books under 200 pages and those are like less than 75 pages.
I nearly didn't finished this book I was so upset when Illona was being tortured by that bustard guard, and thank the gods Malice managed to saved her. The way Malice was tortured broked my heart, I hope not too much torture next time.
SMEXY, AVERAGE CYBORG ROMANCE. It didn't have the depth or curious edge I prefer in my cyborg romance. Everything was a little predictable, and it was enjoyable though not gripping or thrilling.
I had high hopes for this book after reading the blurb and seeing the overall rating. However, I found it obscene. The violence and sex was repetitive and sickening. I found no romance or depth to the characters. I would not recommend or read this author again if this is typical.
4.5 stars. This is some quality gut wrenching sci fi angst. I felt so bad for Illona and her medic friend Febris when they were planning to sacrifice themselves to free Malice and Valor. Have to admit I did skim a few of the sex scenes (there were so many! even if they had a purpose), but was thoroughly captivated by the storyline.
No one writes cyborg romances better than Cynthia Sax💖💖💖4&\12fantastic 🌟s
I'm so happy that Cynthia Sax has continued used to write her cyborg series! Containing Malice was fabulous! Malice and his friend Valor have been lock in a lab and horribly experimented upon for years. Malice has a deep seeded hatred for the humanoid alliance and all who work for it especially a little medic who seems to torment him on a daily basis. Once he escapes he's going to kill her for every experiment she's preformed. Illona, is a human medic who has been forced to violate her oath as a medic to do no harm by the alliance. She's hates them with all she is but has to submit until she can free the cyborgs being held captive. She has only ever wanted to heal but she's been forced to do horrible things to these cyborgs and one of them is special to her heart. She loves him a d he rightly hates her. If it the last thing she does she'll free her cyborg or die trying. They internal struggle of Illona and Malice is tangible.As they get to know one another the attraction is all consuming and when secrets are revealed there is nothing that they won't do for each other! This is so good the chemistry between them is deep and their relationship hard fought for and finally won. Such a fantastic start to this new branch of cyborg romances! I can't wait to read the next! 💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖
I loved Malice and Illona! Illona is forced to do things that she never thought she would have to do. But she does them in order to not only stay alive but to try to truly help the beings she is forced to hurt. Malice and his friend have been horrifically hurt in the quest for better weapons, not knowing that the people doing so may not be willingly doing it. The things these two are willing to do for the people that they care for is great. This one kept me reading from start to finish and I didn't want it to end! I loved the introduction of additional side characters, along with one that I wasn't expecting but absolutely LOVED seeing! I kinda need that character's story now!! It will be phenomenal! I can't wait for the next book!
Fiesty and raw, this story is not for the faint hearted. Malice has been held captive for two lifetimes and is only keeping alive for his fellow captive cyborg Valor. Experimented on by humans, Malice waits for the day he can wreak havoc and revenge on those torturing him. But none so badly as the female medic. She causes such pain while enticing his soul. The Medic has been forced to hurt the cyborgs under her care for experimental sake. She hates it with every fiber of her being. She plans to release them so they can find freedom. And plans on dying in doing so. What Medic didn't count on was Malice finding the will to survive in her arms.
I love each of these books. I love all the Cyborgs, but C models are always best.
I think that Ilona was really brave to do everything that she did. It couldn't have been easy, and she had to have worked so hard to handle everything.
I think that Malice was in a hard place too. I can understand his complicated feelings.
Containing Malice Rebel Cyborgs book 1by Cynthia Sax
A wonderful new start for this series by Cynthia Sax. Enjoyed reading about her characters and storylines that are filled with plenty of everything that has you turning the pages to see what happens next for them and also cheering them on to get their own Hea!💖 I'm sure you are going to absolutely enjoy yourself reading about them all!😍
A thrilling intro to the Rebel Cyborgs! I love these cyborgs and their women! I endure the depths of their emotions with them, and celebrate their passion, their elation. Illona is sure she is doomed, but will do her best for those under her care. Her motto: “Help as many beings as you can.” Admirable! I adore Malice and his protective nature with friends, and especially, Illona. This is an extraordinary adventure; a struggle for survival that requires courageous efforts from some very determined beings. The pièce de résistance for me is the meeting of two particular C-models near the book’s end! Enjoy!
I can count on Cynthia Sax’s stories about cyborgs to be hot! Of course, terrible things happen to the cyborgs before they find their female... I have to get my hands on these stories ASAP as soon as they come out! You should too, if this sounds good to you. 😍
On I love this book! Especially the way the author leaves so many intriguing hints about both the future of the story line and the past. It's like a giant puzzle where you receive a piece with each new release. I can't wait for the next piece. It is exciting and intriguing. A mystery just waiting to be solved!
The Humanoid Alliance needs to just get bent. I swear they just come up with more ways to torture the cyborgs and their own people - especially females - than any supposed civilization should. And Malice and Illona deserved their happy ending. I do love how those C Models believe that only they can protect their females!
I read a lot of this author's books. We find Malice and his friend Valor prisoners of the Human Alliance. They have been tortured. They want to escape. The Medic encharge of them wants to help them. This was a fantastic start to new series.
Really loved this story, though hearing of trouble in the Homeland makes me sad. I will have to go back and re-read all the books to refresh my memory. Looking forward to the next book and hopefully Valors book soon.
A great start to another amazing series. Starts off a little slow but by the middle of the book you are on the edge of your seat. Can't wait for the next book Under Strain.
Characters that have reached the end of their tether after being abused for so long, find love and purpose and happiness again in this cyborg sci-fi erotica.
The story was intriguing to begin with and I was interested to see how Malice and Illona were both going to escape their respective captivities but the violence just after the halfway mark did put me off a bit. So much talk of killing and avenging. While obviously I was expecting this to a degree and that this universe is “dark, gritty, sometimes violent”, it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Malice’s change of heart towards Illona that turned into deep passion in just a short amount of time didn’t seem quite believable. He became very possessive with talk of pounding and killing anyone who touched Illona and that sort of over the top violent, dominant, possessiveness is not swoon worthy to me.
I gave it a go but unfortunately it wasn’t for me.
Meh. I've found some of CS's other cyborg books interesting and many cold and emotionless. Ironic as that is (Cyborgs and all, hardy har har) it leaves so much to be desired in these stories. Every book I've read nearly every one lacks any true feeling or emotion from the writing or the characters. Maybe the Cyborgs themselves I can understand the lack of feels coming from but the heroines? Nah. When the two MCs are together? Nope.
And the sex scenes...*shudder* maybe it's me but I personally don't find them sexy or interesting. They all feel very cold and clinical even when you remove the repetitive occurrence of them preferring rough sex over normal/gentle.
Also the random occurrences when "my pussy dripped" just falls from the sky when you're reading a decent paragraph made me laugh tbh.
Sounds like I'm not a CS fan, right? I am though. But these recent cyborg series have left me feeling nothing but bored lately.
I really enjoyed this read. Malice and his heroine are enemies to lovers because he thinks she tortures him because she likes it. He doesn't know she is forced to hurt him or she'll be killed.
I was shocked at the identity of the rebel cyborgs. In a good way.
It's a good idea to re-read Ghost in the Machine (Cyborg Sizzle #7) and Testing Truth (Cyborg Space Exploration #6) as some plot points from those books appear in this book. The author tells you everything you need to know without having read those earlier books.
I went into this not realizing the love interest was one of those dominant, over-protective, super jealous types. I just don't enjoy the type of romance where the man treats the woman like an over-cautious new parent trying to keep their rambunctious toddler alive in the middle of a minefield. I really dislike seeing the MMC talk down or underestimate the FMC's ability to take basic care of herself. I despise it when an MMC publicly manhandles the FMC or insists that she "belongs" to him. If that's your jam, this is the book for you.
I didn't see any logic in Malice's characterization. For a cyborg who is sometimes referred to as thinking logically and literally, he is very irrational most of the time. He is literally like the MMC from The Protector. They're the same guy!
To the book's merit, it does have a plot and it's not as bad as The Protector, but it comes close. The futuristic world-building was reduced to referring to men and women as males and females. A distinction is made between cyborgs and humanoids, but we're never told the differences. The lingo is laughably cringe, such as processing instead of thinking, damage instead of harm, repair instead of heal. I didn't think the writing was bad in the first half, but past a certain point it becomes really repetitive and redundant. Stuff like "She loves me as I love her and we will be together forever. If anyone touches my little medic I will turn them to mush." Imagine that, but just repeated over 20 times in a 176-page book.
I feel like we're going back to the cyborgs' beginnings (of sorts) with Malice still under HA control. The fact he isn't aware that the vast multitudes of cyborgs had freed themselves is sad. That the cyborg council felt they couldn't risk themselves or the freed cyborgs to help free those still caught under the Humanoid Alliance's control is even sadder. Good thing those rebel cyborgs are out there doing what needs to be done.
But that's the latter part of the story. It all starts with Malice and Illona and his rage over what she's forced to do to him. Not that he knows the forcing part. In his eyes, she's a cruel, heartless human who enjoys inflicting pain on him. It isn't until she has room to act that he starts to see her as more than his tormentor.
As for Illona, she's stuck in a bad place with bad options. She fully expects to be killed trying to help the cyborgs and she's accepted it. Except for all Malice's talk of killing her, he keeps doing other things. Sexy things. Things which give her the strength to survive when VERY BAD THINGS happen.
We get sexy times, rebellion, answers, familiar faces, bloodshed and carnage, and a cyborg figuring out love. I'm liking where this new series is going. *thumbs up*
Technically good writing. Terrible story. The constant sex and violence is, as another reviewer put it, obscene. First scene with protagonists: Our heroine, a medic, a professional who is just sick over being forced to experiment on the cyborgs, when her instincts are to help and heal, is going into the hero's room. He is strapped down, weakened, tortured, humiliated and in pain. The guard has just beaten him, while he was restrained. He's covered in fresh bruises. The build up was riveting; the premise intriguing. The cyborg doesn't know the medic is there against her will, so hates her for her part in his torture. She is hating herself and is heartbroken over the condition in which she finds her patient/subject. What is her first thought once she is at his side. "Her nipples tightened. Her pussy grew wet.". What the???? Well, there you have it. Definitely ripped me out of the story. From other reviews it looks like the rest of the book has lots more of the same. This just isn't my idea of romance. I'd maybe call it x rated sci-fi. Not for me. Cannot recommend. So disappointed in this one since it got off to such an awesome start. A DNF for me. Thankfully I didn't buy it. The sample I read on Libby contained the first 2 chapters. That was enough.
Sci-fi romance featuring cyborgs, humans, and humanoids, labs, and an evil empire. Touch her and die vibes. Enemies to lovers (at least 1 sided). Military romance. This is part of a series and is the story of Malice and Illona. The series, I imagine, will continue the overall story.
This is a huge departure from my normal genre, but I felt like something a little different…because of that, I’m not going to be as critical in the star department. I don’t believe it’s fair.
The world building and science aspects were really interesting and there was a good amount of heart and laughter in this shorter book. It was a quick read and I really enjoyed it when I just went along for the ride. The narration seems to be intentionally (I hope) short, to the point, logical, almost like a computer. There is little embellishments to any sentences which I think helped the story along.
I did find some of the spicy scenes were copy, paste, copy paste and some of the dialogue was a little silly. My favorite line was “Fill me with your healing c*m!” If that hasn’t sold you, I don’t know what will. Go in just to have fun, don’t take it too seriously and it may surprise you.
FINALLY!! This author is finally going back to the grittiness of the cyborg sizzle series I fell in love with. It’s still a bit softer than the first series was but it was worth me going without sleep to read. I LOVED this spinoff starter book. I am looking forward to more in this series. I’m so glad I bought all of them as they came out and the series is now complete for me to binge read!
My only complaint is the zombies. I liked them being the resurrected but I hate zombies in general. Scientifically, reanimated flesh is possible but not in the form of zombies. If the body is dead then no virus or cells would be alive at all and therefore could not keep bring a corpse back in this fashion. So hence my dislike of this nonsense troupe.
Anyway, I loved this couple. I cried over Febris and Anahit both. This author always makes me love some side character or another but to make my love one that was just a memory and one that dies pretty early on in the story is just great story telling. Can’t wait to read the rest of this line.
Book in 5 Words: Mildly Interesting, Cliché, Smut, Unimaginative, Unoriginal
Series: Yes, however, they are stand-alones. Series #: 1
Summary: The heroine, Illona, a medic, and the hero, Malice, a cyborg, are brought together by unfortunate circumstances. Malice is being experimented on by Illona and her employers. However, unbeknownst to Malice, Illona, and a friend have come up with a plan to set the cyborgs free.
Analysis: The undercover work by Illona and her friend was the most exciting part of this story. The rest of the story was about Illona and Malice, but their interactions were more smut (poorly written smut) than anything. Also, I found the cussing annoying, which mainly consisted of made-up cuss words.
Medic Ilona had to hurt cyborg Malice while she was forced to perform experiments on him and his friend Valor when she was captured herself. He hated her and planned to kill her, all the while she was secretly trying to save them both. Ilona was very self sacrificing and totally ready to give her life to accomplish her goal. Eventually Malice realizes her true self and the three of them save themselves, she creates a super nano-serum to make him stronger, and after they have sex and he gives her some of his nanobots when she's hurt, Malice finally realizes she is his. We're left with some questions like- how can cyborgs have cyborg children? And what's Malice going to do? He can't follow Ilona around all day, every day. He'd go nuts, but it sounds like he's going to try. This series should prove interesting.