Crux

Dragon Brides #1

by Kate Rudolph, Jonathan Waters (Narrator)

Prince Crux is in a bind.
When the Dragon King commands Crux find a proper mate, his days of carefree bachelorhood are over. One trip to a psychic matchmaker and he's on the path to his destiny. But it all comes screeching to a halt when he meets a human woman who lights his inner fire and makes him yearn.

She's got a pair of roller skates and an attitude.
Courtney is supposed to be putting the shambles of her life back together. Getting abducted by aliens isn't part of the plan. Neither is getting rescued by a scorchingly hot dragon that makes her think of an impossible future. But they have no chance together if they can't first escape a planet full of monsters intent on their destruction.

Fated mates, fierce women, and dragon princes are ready to find their mates in the new Dragon Brides series from Kate Rudolph.

Genres: Science Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Audiobook, Paranormal, Dragons, Aliens

4 pages, Audiobook

First published September 9, 2021

About the author

I love writing about kick butt heroines and the steamy heroes who love them.
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Reviews

[Andrea ☾ [is inconsistently consistant] · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️ Alien Dragon Prince!

This was short, spicy, and really cute. I love alien romances and I love shifter romances, so this was a twice the fun!

Crux is the prince and future king of the dragons, and when his father demands of him to find a mate within a month, unless he wants the king to provide one, he knows his time has come. With the pressing deadline in mind, Crux consults a matchmaker that tells him his mate is in a far away planet. When he gets to the desolate planet, though, the only thing he finds is the reck of a slaver ship, and a human woman fighting her way out.

I enjoyed this very much, and my only complaint is the epilogue... if you can even call it that. It leaves many unanswered questions and unresolved situations. It felt like the book got caught of and it's missing the end.

[mars · Rating 1 out of 5]

The rollerskates were the main character

[Uyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun short read

[Rellim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun alien/dragon-shifter romantic suspense. It’s a novella so it was a basic intro to the world - which I liked because it didn’t take over the romance or action. Crux is looking for his mate but stumbles across an enslaved human instead. When he rescues Courtney he soon realizes *she* is his mate. He struggles between his attraction and assuming what is best for her.

It does end a little abruptly and leaves some questions unanswered, but I liked their HFN.

Narration:
Jonathan Waters is talented with voices, emotions, and cultivating the suspense aspect well. I didn’t click with the speaking voice for Courtney, but I’d be willing to listen to more of his work since that was such a minor part compare to how much I enjoyed the rest of it.

[Ala · Rating 2 out of 5]

I quite liked this story.

FMC Courtney and her rollerblades were a duo. She gets abducted by aliens and there she meets a dragon prince.

Meet dragon prince: MMC Crux. He's just been pressured by his father (King) and the Elders to find his mate. In a quest to find his mate he makes a trip to a psychic matchmaker. And that's where he meets this human girl— Courtney.

Courtney's very much intrigued by Crux, and obviously everything she gets to know about him and basically everything in general, leaves her shocked and yet intrigued. Soon Crux is in a position to keep Courtney safe and both of them try to fight this attraction that they deem is unreasonable and out of nowhere. But obviously they give and it gets spicy and absolutely fun on alien planet, and I'm here for it, lol.

Courtney has never felt like she's had anyone at her corner uk, like she never felt like she had someone at all, to put it simply. And suddenly with Crux she feels, warm, wanted and safe. And she's confused and bothered by these feelings coz hello Crux is here to find his mate— his mate who's obviously not her.

I watched these two pick apart their feelings, dice through denial and experienced this whole journey and it was fun. It was quite the insta-love kinda trope, but it's also the fated-mates trope so that's kinda understandable. This was a fun read, but one that wasn't too impressive. I'm not sure I'll remember much of this story as it didn't leave much of an impression on me. Regardless, this was a fun, quick read.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute no real heavy lifting alien abduction story…you do have to ignore some of the plot holes and loads of unanswered questions. Courtney is feisty and is not going down without a fight as long as she has her trusty pair of roller skates to smack you upside the head with if you threaten her. Crux has built in protection for going up against the bad guys in the form of scales and fire.

Courtney wants to get home and Crux is on the hunt for his mate both hopes that they will be able to get what they want and get back on with their lives. Fate has another thing instore for them. Off course there is heat between these two and their original hopes are being pushed aside as they spend more and more time together. One of the recurring themes with this author seems to be the male having a secret that he keeps from the female that causes a bunch of unnecessary drama and angst. It’s rather annoying when a 2-minute discussion could make things so much easier for both of them and we can have other things cause the angst and not contrived angst.

As I said earlier there are some plot holes or things that don’t make sense in this story, but if you ignore that and just concentrate on Courtney and Crux and how cute they are then you have a quick fun story to pass a few hours.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (10/2/2022)! 🎁

[Orsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sok kérdéssel maradtam viszont mostmár tudom hogy kedvelem a sárkánnyá változó főhősöket. Nagyon rövid történet, jó egy esős estére főleg ha kikapcsolod az agyad és nem vársz sokat. Számomra 3/5 ⭐️


I was left with a lot of questions, but now I know that I like the main characters who turn into dragons. A very short story, good for a rainy evening, especially if you turn off your brain and don't expect much. For me 3/5 ⭐️

[BookishKB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid pallet cleanser! Wish the ending was a bit more clear.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

mid but I might read more of the series later

[Fay J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crux has, unlike most males, asked for directions and started to follow them but like most males he then promptly didn't follow them all. If he had listened properly then it is fair to say that he would not be in the predicament that he found himself in. He is happy being a warrior and at present he has no wish to be tied down to a mate, despite how great a gift it would be. That is until his father gives him an ultimatum. So determined to do things his own way while he still has the chance he travels to the planet that his mate is on. Courtney wakes up not where she should be at all! She still somehow has her skates attached to her feet but she is not anywhere that she recognises. She doesn't think of herself as brave but despite all this she manages to escape the cell she is in, which is good, apart from the fact that the ship (yes a freaking spaceship) is starting to fall apart around her, not good. If she had the luxury of time to fall apart over the whole space thing she would but right now she needs to get away from the people who took her and a rather handsome male seems willing to help her. She definitely falls for him but he rescued her as a side effort on his mission looking for his mate. Where does that leave them? Well he is lusting after her and she is lusting after him... what could possibly go wrong? Yep, that's right everything!
I loved the humour in this along with the interludes of action. Enough of everthing to keep you entertained. Loved it and cannot wait to see who is next!

[Harlequin Madness · Rating 1 out of 5]

At least it was a fast read

Honestly, if you left out the sex scenes, and there weren’t many, this read like an initial writing assignment by a middle schooler. I’m sorry to sound so harsh. But nothing was done well; character development, world building or plot development. There were so many plot holes - like alien human traffickers abduct her but let her keep her roller skates?

I won’t be continuing the series, and recommend that if you have anything else on your tbr list, you tackle those first. I’ll leave you with one positive, I listened to the audio book and I liked the narrator.


NOTE: ok, I needed a “re-read” for my book bingo in my 2025 Reading Journal and this was a fast read. Although, I don’t have anything better to say about it.

[Callie Pey · Rating 3 out of 5]

dragons and roller skates

It’s a cute story with a dragon prince Crux on the hunt for his mate and a feisty Courtney trying to save herself from alien slavers. Lots of the usual tropes. There’s quite a few things in the story that don’t add up in the end but if you can ignore the plot holes it’s a cute little story

[Shayay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audio on Chirp; the boxset had the first 3 books in this series. The narrator had a nice regular voice; a bit false sounding at times, but still a nice tone to his voice. I didn’t love his female voices; he made the female character sound ditzy, so it took me out of the story a bit.

I always enjoy Rudolph’s writing and her alien romances, so I knew I’d love the whole out of this world fated mates scenario. Plus, there’s always fun action and adventure! I do feel like the storyline didn’t develop much; this is a romance first with a dash of a storyline besides that. Crux and Courtney are cute together and have good steaminess. I didn’t quite feel their connection; the connection didn’t have the depth that this author usually has for her romances, but still like Crux and Courtney together. Love the dragon element to Crux too! An entertaining read; just wanted a bit more depth.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t usually read alien romances. There are just so many options out there, and if I read paranormal I like shifters or magic best. I received this as part of a paranormal romance book club I belong to that offers a free book or books each month to introduce readers to new authors.
Courtney is abducted by aliens to be sold into slavery. She works on freeing herself and runs into a dragon prince, Crux. He works with her to escape the slavers.
Courtney is his fated mate, but Crux is well on his way to messing things up.
There are some cool elements to the story and Courtney’s role as mate.
Content: kissing, carnal thoughts and sex.

[Amanda Bhear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it, & will probably read it again very soon. Dragon Prince Crux is summoned by his father & given an ultimatum. He has one last chance, a month, to find himself a mate or one will be chosen for him. He has hoped to find a woman that will at least prick his interest, so far none have. Desperate, he is wracking his brain going through the women he knows in his mind when he walks by a matchmaker's office. This person has very good reviews & is said to be psychic. About now, he's willing to try anything. Courtney wakes up in a metal room with no windows or doors. There is light but no light fixtures. She is wearing her roller skates & waitress outfit. Where is she & how did she get here? The last she remembers is saying something to one of her co-workers at her locker nothing more. She takes her skates off so she can walk around & look for a door. She ties the laces together & hangs them around her neck. They were very expensive, & she wasn't leaving them behind. She hears a woman scream. She must be having a nightmare! A door opens & some strange looking guy walks in, she swings her skates as hard as she can & knocks him out. She gets out of her cell, & is heading down a hall. She looks out a window & all she sees is black & stars! Outer space? She's on a space ship? What is going on? She hears & feels the ship hit something & knows they are going to crash. She finds a chair to seatbelt herself into until they crash, thinking they are probably going to die. When the ship stops moving she is trying to get out around the rubble without cutting her feet too bad, wondering if the planet will be ok for her. Can she breath the air, are the friendly, is their food anything she can eat? She then decides anything out there would be better than what these slavers had planned for her. So, she goes out. One yells at her, & is aiming to take a shot when Crux steps out in front of her & shoots him. He hates slavers. He sees she is an earthling & isn't sure what is happening yet. He asks if there are others, she tells him she heard a woman scream. He introduces himself & asks her name, she is still a little wary. He tells her to just tell them Prince Crux sent her. He decides to teleport her to his planet to keep her safe until her can dispose of the slave traders & free the others. He opens the portal & she tries to go through. They find she can't go because of the collar around her neck. He tells her he will have to get a tool off the ship to get it off her before he can send her to his palace. She tells him she is going with him. They have to get the tool off one of the guards. They get the collar off, but it is getting dark, Crux finds them some food & canteens of water. They have to hide up in the hills, it is getting dark. Crux makes sure nothing is in the cave he chooses to be their hideout, he starts a fire & has her come in. He sets up a force field in the cave opening to keep everything out. During the night they hear all kinds of screams & roars of whatever comes out at night to hunt & what the dinner is. Courtney is very rattled, she asks if he will sleep near. While she is sleeping he is looking at her thinking about the matchmaker telling him, he will find his mate on this planet. He wants her, but she can't be the one, she's human. He takes a dip in the cold water to cool off & gets some sleep. The next morning they plan to go back to the ship & get parts to fix the teleporter. As they go back down, Courtney sees a stripped skeleton of something not far from their cave, it wasn't there yesterday. They are close to the ship & see the slavers with a teleporter getting ready to send the rest of the captives off. He will try to take them out, while she gets the women to follow her to the trees. Not all of the slavers go after him like he hoped, so Courtney stays hidden. He is glad she is smart enough to not go ahead with it. They get the parts they need to fix the teleporter. While they are hiding on the ship their attraction for each other is growing. As they get out & run for their cave they see the slavers at their cave. They have to choose another cave to hide in. There are a couple of monsters out roaming, a slaver chasing them gets caught by the monsters. Crux starts to breath fire on them & Courtney is able to harness his power to protect herself from the monster on her side. Both of them are shocked at what she just did! Plus she is covered in monster goo, & more will probably be coming. They get in the cave & put up the force field. She wants to know how she did that. Crux can't believe it. Only a mate can do that! He takes a quick walk around the cave to look at things & sees a hot spring. He shows it to her, she is more than happy to wash out her clothes & clean herself up borrowing his last shirt. He then cleans himself & his clothes up, but has nothing else to wear. He tries to figure out what todo & she tells him it's ok she's seen men naked before. He almost forgets himself & asks when but doesn't. She doesn't know she is his mate yet. All she has asked about is going home. She might not want to be his mate. They get to kissing & a let their attraction for each other get hotter as the night goes on. She knows she shouldn't, she knows he has come looking for his mate but hasn't found her yet. So, he isn't really attached yet, right? The next morning they get up & are going to try to teleport her to his planet & save the other people. He fixes the teleporter but it won't work, he thinks it needs to recharge. They take a look at the ship it looks empty. She sees a city, they head that way. It takes longer than they thought to get there. It's almost dark when they get there & when they arrive, it's a ghost town. It looks like it's been abandoned for a long time. The building they are camping in for the night seems to be an old store. Crux found some stored food. He scanned it & found it safe to eat. The slavers seemed to have had the same idea because they hear them talking outside. They break down the door, Crux fights them but monsters are coming. Crux makes sure she has his pack & changes into a full dragon. He has her climb on & flies them out of the city. They found another cave. She got some sleep. The next morning she heard Crux talking to someone outside the cave. She sees him talking to a woman. He introduces Courtney to his friend, Tracer, who he has called in to take Courtney home. She asks if she will see him again. He just kisses her goodbye. Courtney Goes back to her apartment thinking she was gone one weekend & when she knocks to get the door opened, her roommate almost shuts it in her face. She wants to know what is going on. It seems she was gone a month & her room has been lent out to someone else. She can crash on the couch for the weekend then find her own place. She has to go to the one place she doesn't want to go. Home to her mother's house until she can get a new job & place of her own. Her mom opens the door & tells her she will give her no money but she can stay until she gets her own place. Just as Courtney is about to turn & storm off there is a flash of light & Crux is there behind her. He is going to tell her the truth about Courtney being his mate. He wants her to be his queen. If his dad can't except it, he will give up the throne. He stays on earth for a while to see the way her world works. She then goes to meet his dad. I am now on to the next one! I love them!

[Karen Nastasio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book grabs you right from the start and just gets better and better with every page you turn. Courtney Lamb is a waitress at a root beer stand and must roller skate her orders out to the drive by customer and after work she is kidnapped by ugly aliens and held in a cage who have now crash landed on a monster planet and when one comes for her she hits him over the head with her skate and breaks free looking for a way out and finds a split in the ship but she is being chased and she only gets so far when the collar around her neck stops her going further by a push of a button the slaver has but she is saved by a ball of fire by a dragon man who tries to send her by portal to a safe place but it doesn’t work because of her collar, they must get it off. Crux is on this planet because the matchmaker told him his mate was here and was in danger and what does he find a slaver ship and a human female running away but is stopped so Crux kills the slaver and tries to send the human to the palace through a portal but the collar she has on stops her now they need to find the key to set Courtney free but it’s back on the ship so in they go to find one. After another fight with a slaver they get a key and get the Collar off but Crux’s portal is damaged in the fight now looking for some tools so he can to fix it and they do but now they need a safe place to hide and find a cave just over the hill away from the slavers. Why is Crux so attracted this human female and when she touches him this body responds like a young teenager in heat, she isn’t his mate she is human and his mate is here somewhere and will look for her tomorrow. Courtney is so attracted to Crux and thinks she it’s because he saved her and when he looks at her she see’s the same lust in his eyes that she was feeling for him. How does this all turn out when one wants his mate and finds her and one wants to go home not realising that she is his fated mate.

[Dog Eared Reads (Jen) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this audiobook up during the stuff your kindle audiobook sale. It is a super short listen, only like 3.5 hours, and is a decent story that sort of feels like a prequel.

Courtney is a down on her luck human who is abducted by alien slavers and crash lands on a seemingly deserted planet. Crux is dragon prince and is given an ultimatum by his father to find a bride before the next full moon or he'll arrange a marriage himself. Crux visits a psychic and is told his mate is waiting for him on said deserted planet. Crux is expecting a dragon lady but instead finds Courtney and a shipful of slavers and humans. There's a lot of back and forth traversing the planet as Crux devises a plan to save the humans and kill the slavers. There are weird monsters that come out at night and the days are very short, meaning they spend a lot of time in caves. It's very obvious that Courtney and Crux are mates but both of them are blind to it. Even when Courtney channels Crux's fire breathing abilities.

The writing was easy and accessible, but it honestly felt like nothing happened. The main chunk of the book is just them wandering from place to place and even though they're running for their lives, it didn't feel urgent. There didn't seem to be much growth or depth to the plot or the characters. We're also given peeks into their lives without anything being fleshed out.

The audiobook is rough. The narrator is fine when he's speaking in Crux's voice or other male characters. When he does Courtney... well, he sounds like Jimmy Fallon during his EW! skit and it made it really hard to listen to... especially when things get spicy.

[Rebecca Grove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crux is a dragon shifter and the crown prince on his planet. Hi father the king is tired of waiting for Crux to settle down and find a mate. Crux has been hoping to find his destined mate so he hasn't been interested in any of the lady dragons trying to catch his attention. The king gives him an ultimatum. He has one month to pick out a mate that the king approves of or the king will choose his mate. Desperate Crux approaches the royal matchmaker for help. She sends him to a primitive planet telling him that his mate is there. Upon teleportation to the planet, he runs into the human female Courtney who had just survived the crash of a slaver ship. He can't believe that his destined mate is human so he tries to rescue Courtney and attempt a rescue of any other slave. However the more time he spends with Courtney, the more obvious it becomes that they are destined.

Courtney is having a bad day. She messed up her dream job and was stuck being a waitress on roller skates. She wakes up in a strange room still dressed in her work clothes with nomemories of how she got there. She quickly figures out she has been abducted by aliens. She escapes from her cell by beaning one of the guards with her skate. Just as she is wandering the ship, something happens and the ship crashes on a planet. Courtney managers to get out and is rescued by Crux. He promises to protect her and rescue the other women on board.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Twinsie Talk Angie J · Rating 4 out of 5]

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Crux, Dragon Brides #1 by Kate Rudolph, narration by Jonathan Waters

3.5 rated up

I grabbed this audiobook for free on stuff your audiobook day in August/September from Google Books.
I am a sucker for a good novella. I am a sucker for dragon stories. Give me both on an audio and I am SOLD!!!
This story was super quick and of course instaloveish. If you are grabbing a novella you know this so I was ready. I will so I did enjoy the banter initially with Cruz and Courtney. He shows up on the planet looking for his mate that the dating agent told him would be there only to discover she is human with weird rolling things she carries around. She is feisty and not putting up with him at all.
Courtney wakes up not in her apartment and not thrilled to discover she was kidnapped with her roller skates on. What is a girl to do!!
The story was good. We see the reason why Cruz was looking for his mate. We see him struggle with accepting that a human is his person. We see Courtney falling hard for the dragon prince and not happy she will be letting him go.
I do feel a little bit let down at the end. I enjoyed the couples story but I wanted maybe one more chapter to see them together on his planet...ya know see how it all shakes out in the wash. But I did download book 2 and am diving in.

[Mary Kirkland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Courtney is abducted by aliens but the space craft she's on crashes on an alien planet so she has to use what she has on hand, her roller skates to knock out one of the aliens so she can escape from the craft and onto the planet. She finds herself not equipped to keep herself safe on this planet because of the monsters who would kill her but Crux is there and tries to make her see that she would be safer with him until they can get off the planet.

Prince Crux is a dragon shifter who finds himself trapped on the same planet as Courtney. As he tries to find a way to communicate with his family and get them both off this planet, they find themselves getting closer. Crux is also looking for his mate before his father finds a female for him to mate with. At first he doesn't think Courtney could be his mate because she's human and he always believed when he met the right female to be his mate, she would be his own race but as these two spend time together and get closer, he knows he might be wrong because it's feeling more and more like Courtney is his mate.

Once they are safe, they find themselves in even more danger when someone double crosses Crux and there's a twist in this story that I never saw coming. I love a good twist that makes the story double back around and go in a totally different direction.

I really liked the ending although I would have liked a bit more story about what happened next with them. Maybe an epilogue or something would have been nice.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I really enjoyed reading. There’s abductions, action, fated mates, steamy scenes and more. The characters are fab, sassy, protective and sarcastic.

Courtney was abducted by aliens from outside her work, she even had her uniform and roller skates on when she wakes up. Luckily for her really cause they do some damage to her abductors for sure. She manages to escape and there she finds Cruz. Cruz is given an ultimatum by his dad to find a mate, and a matchmaker told him his mate would be the first woman he sees on the planet. He completely dismisses it though because she’s human. Both are strongly attracted to each other but Cruz feels guilty because he knows he has a mate. When he tries to get her off planet so he can save the rest of the female slaves. Unfortunately his transporter doesn’t work and Courtney doesn’t want to stay on her own hidden in case the slavers find her. He gives in of course but between fighting the slavers and the monsters that roam at night they are unsuccessful. Cruz is wildly attracted to Courtney but doesn’t believe she is his mate, so colour him shocked when she breathes fire at two monsters. Somehow he has to save her and get her home all the while knowing she is his fated mate, while trying to save the slaves and not be eaten. Piece of cake!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Shelley G · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoyed this story. its fun easy to read and fast paced. courtney who gets abducted while wearing her roller skates uses said skates to defend herself from the bad guys. cue fiesty human earth girl who isn't taking this crap laying down. she might not know where she is or what's going on but she's not giving in without a fight. then comes prince crux who's dad the king tells him time to man up and find a wife or else so off he goes to the psychic matchmaker who tells him his fated mate will be in this certain place. well he lands there and meets courtney and feels attracted to her but in typical man fashion doesn't bother to pay attention to what he had been told and is desperate to find this mate somewhere. things happen and they end up together while escaping the bad guys and trying to find rescue and he feels all kind of things for her but is still too dimwitted to have a conversation with her and determine she's the mate he's been looking for. men are so blind and unaware. LOL anyway danger excitement drama suspense and more happen during this story before this couple figures things out and gets together. great world building, detailed characters and descriptions and lots of things to keep your interest.
I received an arc copy of this book and this is my honest voluntary reivew.

[Cas ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got the audiobook for this during a “stuff your earbuds” event and I kept my expectations low, but this was still nearly a DNF. The narrator just didn’t do it for me; I don’t know if it was strictly his fault though because it sounded like the sentence structure was pretty stilted and he was doing his best to make it not sound like it. He also wasn’t consistent with the voice/tone changes so there were times that I was lost until the author threw in a name to reorient me.

The story itself was cute. Your standard alien man finds his mate rescuing her from space-slavers that abducted her from earth. I like that there was no pregnancy / breeding aspect, she wasn’t immediately regarded as a womb but was a person. One that he even recognized as strong and worth listening to despite her not being a warrior like him. I really liked that she kicked butt with her trusty rollerskates lol.

The ending felt very rushed though and it’s technically a HFN because we have no idea if his father accepts her as his mate or if they have to leave the kingdom / he has to give up being a prince. I’m sure this is why it was in the free promotion, to get readers hooked to buy the next one but incomplete stories are a sure fire way for me to continue a story. 🤷‍♀️

[Allivenger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a super short listen in terms of audio books (a few hours max) and I blew through it in a day while working around the house. Was it a bad story? No, it was pretty well written. But the story itself lacked depth. I’ve read shorter stories with a lot more depth than this story had and it just wasn’t my favorite book. That and the audiobook narrator gave the FMC a valley girl type voice that was extremely off putting while listening to it.

Prince Crux has been given an ultimatum. Find a mate in the next month or the king will do it for him. This brings him to an intergalactic matchmaker who tells him that if he arrives on this specific planet he will find his mate. Only he’s skeptical. Because what he finds is a crashed slaver ship and a bunch of human captives.

Courtney is just trying to get by the best she can. And as she’s leaving work she is abducted by aliens. But that doesn’t keep her down. Armed with a pair of roller skates and some serious determination, she rescues herself. Only to end up right in the path of Crux.

It takes way too long from Crux to realized Courtney is his mate. And the mate magic system is seriously lacking. It is also not explained. Which was irritating. But, just because I didn’t love this book doesn’t mean I won’t like the other books. So I will be continuing on with the author, but didn’t love this book.

[Nina Diab · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It caught my attention right from the start and I read it in one go. It was an adventure. I liked both characters and they were well developed. Courtney and Crux had great chemistry together. I loved watching their relationship form. Crux is an alien prince dragon shifter. Having just turned thirty, his father the king was tired of waiting for him to choose a mate and commanded he choose and present one to him by the next full moon. Crux isn't interested in the ladies he's met who were only interested in him for his title or money. Having no other options and very limited time, he decided to visit a psychic matchmaker in hopes of finding his mate. Courtney is a roller skating waitress who was abducted by aliens and awoke on a slave ship. When it crashes, she nearly escapes were it not for the slave collar around her throat. She is rescued by Crux who was told his mate was on that planet and opened a portal to get there. Courtney was a great heroine. She was smart and a fighter and the perfect match for Crux. Great world building. This book was fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 5 stars.

[Ramona · Rating 5 out of 5]

A enjoyable read and the first in what reads to be a interesting series. This story is about Prince Crux, alien dragon shifter warrior, who is being pressured from his father to pick a mate. Going to Dragon City perusing the market, Crux enters a matchmaker stall hoping for help to find his true mate. Following the matchmaker's advice Crux portals to a planet. Courtney Lamb a roller skating car hop is abducted by alien slavers and escapes her room by using her skates on the alien who entered. During her escape the slaver's ship a explosion occurs and the ship crashes on a planet which she survives by strapping herself in a chair. Finding a collar around her neck she finds a exit and runs to the forest area before her captors catch her, but her collar is activated. Saved by Crux, they flee the scene. What occurs as they flee the slavers and exist on the planet was a engaging read with likable characters - Courtney the skate toting human, and Crux our leading warrior hero - in a enjoyable alien romance story. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Megan Riverina Romantics · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️.5
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥
Narrator Performance: 🎧🎧🎧🎧

I listened to this as part of Intergalactic Dating Agency: Dragon Brides, Volume One

The first short novel in the Dragon Brides series is about dragon Prince Crux and roller skating carhop Courtney. It was a nice enough story and I enjoyed it. It was pretty much the typical alien abduction trope with the hero not only being an alien but a shape shifting one at that. I got a kick out of the fact that Courtney was abducted while still wearing her skates. It was funny and different.

The story had a nice rhythm to it but I was bit disappointed in the world building. We learned very little about Crux’s home. One thing that I truly disliked about the story is that while it’s supposed to be an Intergalactic Dating Agency type of thing there was no scene or details of a dating agency. It all happened “off page”. Crux thinks “I’ll go see the matchmaker” and then he’s stepping onto the planet that Courtney was on.

[Leanne Bryson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember the song "I've got a brand, new pair of roller skates. You've got a brand new key"? That was playing in my head this entire read. Sorry, now it's in yours, but the good news is this is a fun, fast, steamy read by one f my favorite Sci Fi authors, Kate Rudolph. Crux is a dragon prince who is given one month to find a wife or his father will find one for him. So he heads to a matchmaker, who says the first woman you meet when you go through a portal will be your fated mate. Courtney the roller-skating car hop gets abducted by aliens, held captive and escapes into Crux's arms. But she's a human and he doesn't think she is his mate until they spend more time together. Courtney is sassy, determined, and a fighter. And since they are on a weird planet, they have a lot of fighting to do. Well paced, fun, steamy, action packed read. Ends a little oddly, but I assume we will get a bit more information with Ranger's, Crux's younger brother, story.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Anita Hanekom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crux is next in line for the throne but the King tells him that it is time to end his bachelor lifestyle and settle down. Crux goes to someone who can tell him how to find his fated mate. Courtney's life is not going as planned and then she gets kidnapped by aliens. When the ship she is on crashes she manages to take out one of her guards with her trusty roller skates and escapes. Then she gets saved by a Dragon, Crux. His sense of decency demands that he protect her and save any other women who may still be captive on the downed ship. But not only do they have the slavers to worry about but predators that kill everything that moves. Whilst Crux is attracted to Courtney he believes that his mate is someone else. When they give in to their passion he is torn and realises, a little too late, that she was the mate he was searching for. Can he get to her and convince her that they belong together? Action, adventure, passion and humour combine to create a book that is captivatingly entertaining.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.