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Human Pets of Talin #3
Negotiating Captivity
Freeborn human, Nalia Gaborn, never expected that she'd have to choose between her liberty and her best friend's life. But when their ship comes under attack and they’re rescued by a Talin named Derani, she isn’t given much room to negotiate. Either she agrees to become Derani’s pet or she and Hax will be turned over to the Hamlershin and face possible execution for smuggling.
She agrees to Derani’s demands. Resigned to slavery for however long it takes before she can escape, she expects to be abused and worked half to death. To her shock, that doesn’t happen. She finds herself being spoiled by Derani and coddled by his crew. It’s not long before she realizes that this life isn’t about servitude and labor, but about affection and adoration.
As she learns more about the Talins, she starts to understand why they keep humans as pets. She also comes to care for this species in general, and Derani specifically. It’s not long before she contemplates settling into this life and not trying to escape.
But soon she and Derani are embroiled in more than simply transporting goods along trade routes. Derani is contacted in secret to help transport a courier carrying secret information. It’s supposed to be a simple task; give passage to this Talin courier from one place to another. But it’s not long until things go wrong and Nalia’s going to face another hard choice: stay and help or make a break for freedom?
The choice ends up being an easy one for Nalia to make, but will she survive it?
She agrees to Derani’s demands. Resigned to slavery for however long it takes before she can escape, she expects to be abused and worked half to death. To her shock, that doesn’t happen. She finds herself being spoiled by Derani and coddled by his crew. It’s not long before she realizes that this life isn’t about servitude and labor, but about affection and adoration.
As she learns more about the Talins, she starts to understand why they keep humans as pets. She also comes to care for this species in general, and Derani specifically. It’s not long before she contemplates settling into this life and not trying to escape.
But soon she and Derani are embroiled in more than simply transporting goods along trade routes. Derani is contacted in secret to help transport a courier carrying secret information. It’s supposed to be a simple task; give passage to this Talin courier from one place to another. But it’s not long until things go wrong and Nalia’s going to face another hard choice: stay and help or make a break for freedom?
The choice ends up being an easy one for Nalia to make, but will she survive it?
353 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 15, 2021
82 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
May 4, 2022
How was there not more of Hax? :(
April 28, 2025
Negotiating Captivity is the third installment in RK Munin's Human Pets of Talin series. This series is sci-fi romance that mixes in a bit of intrigue and space opera.
This third instalment of the story focused on Nalia Gaborn, a freeborn human who, in order to save her best friend's life after their ship is rescued, agreed to become the 'pet' of the Talin rescuer, Derani. Expecting the worst Nalia was instead surprised by the coddled life provided by Talin and his crew. Which, of course, forced her to reevaluate just how much she actually wanted to be free! The pairs relationship dominated the first half the tale but towards the back half of the story they became involved in transporting a secret courier (one we were familiar with from previous instalments of the series). Which added some action and intrigue to the dynamic and placed them both in danger as they got sucked into the wider societal conflicts brewing within the Talin Empire regarding the treatment and perception of humans. Searin’s political stance (from the first book) continued to have a ripple effect on Talin society and this third book dabbled a bit more into the impact of that with more Reformist/Traditionalist intrigue!
I felt like this third book shared more similarities with the first installment of the series, Loving Captivity, than it did with the second, Escaping Captivity. The dynamic between the main characters, Nalia and Derani, seemed to echo that initial pairing more closely in its development and power balance for much of the story.
That said, I did note that towards the very end of the story, some efforts were clearly made to suggest that the Talin male lead, Derani, had started to consider his human 'pet,' Nalia, as more of an equal. I definitely liked seeing this development and the movement towards a more balanced relationship. That being said, I felt this shift towards acknowledging equality seemed a bit rushed, coming very late in the story rather than developing more gradually throughout. I’ll take it but I’d have liked a bit more time for it to feel truly earned.
Despite the small flaws (the humans accepting being pets so easily still drives me insane with outrage lol!) this book, and whole series, continues to be utterly compelling and addictive reading for me. It might be utter nonsense but it is, mostly, my sort of nonsense. This has a weird but fun sci-fi world, plenty of easy to root for cutesy romance, and just enough threat and tension to keep me on my toes. Despite the weirdness, I’m a fan of this series. I’m absolutely going to be reading Palforma’s tale in the next instalment. Another fun aspect of this series is the fact it always does a good job of building up strong secondary characters!
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: Listened to this one via the Eleven Reader text-speech-app. Laura voice. Solid.
This third instalment of the story focused on Nalia Gaborn, a freeborn human who, in order to save her best friend's life after their ship is rescued, agreed to become the 'pet' of the Talin rescuer, Derani. Expecting the worst Nalia was instead surprised by the coddled life provided by Talin and his crew. Which, of course, forced her to reevaluate just how much she actually wanted to be free! The pairs relationship dominated the first half the tale but towards the back half of the story they became involved in transporting a secret courier (one we were familiar with from previous instalments of the series). Which added some action and intrigue to the dynamic and placed them both in danger as they got sucked into the wider societal conflicts brewing within the Talin Empire regarding the treatment and perception of humans. Searin’s political stance (from the first book) continued to have a ripple effect on Talin society and this third book dabbled a bit more into the impact of that with more Reformist/Traditionalist intrigue!
I felt like this third book shared more similarities with the first installment of the series, Loving Captivity, than it did with the second, Escaping Captivity. The dynamic between the main characters, Nalia and Derani, seemed to echo that initial pairing more closely in its development and power balance for much of the story.
That said, I did note that towards the very end of the story, some efforts were clearly made to suggest that the Talin male lead, Derani, had started to consider his human 'pet,' Nalia, as more of an equal. I definitely liked seeing this development and the movement towards a more balanced relationship. That being said, I felt this shift towards acknowledging equality seemed a bit rushed, coming very late in the story rather than developing more gradually throughout. I’ll take it but I’d have liked a bit more time for it to feel truly earned.
Despite the small flaws (the humans accepting being pets so easily still drives me insane with outrage lol!) this book, and whole series, continues to be utterly compelling and addictive reading for me. It might be utter nonsense but it is, mostly, my sort of nonsense. This has a weird but fun sci-fi world, plenty of easy to root for cutesy romance, and just enough threat and tension to keep me on my toes. Despite the weirdness, I’m a fan of this series. I’m absolutely going to be reading Palforma’s tale in the next instalment. Another fun aspect of this series is the fact it always does a good job of building up strong secondary characters!
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: Listened to this one via the Eleven Reader text-speech-app. Laura voice. Solid.
September 12, 2023
I've picked up this book so many times, but the Talin universe is just so mean to human women, I have a really hard time with it.
So I'm hanging up this series, the consent is really murky and the struggle is not enjoyable. If I wanted a real slavery angle, I could read Stockholm success stories from real life, I don't need them in my fiction escapism novels.
So I'm hanging up this series, the consent is really murky and the struggle is not enjoyable. If I wanted a real slavery angle, I could read Stockholm success stories from real life, I don't need them in my fiction escapism novels.
December 16, 2021
Human Pets ❤️
My favorite thing about this series is how the aliens are so concerned with keeping the fragile little humans safe and healthy. So cute
My favorite thing about this series is how the aliens are so concerned with keeping the fragile little humans safe and healthy. So cute
October 21, 2023
Negotiating Captivity
Third book in the series and still super interesting. The civil unrest among the Talin is growing (and is reminiscent of real life political parties in the US) which makes it easy to relate to. The familiarity of it also helps the reader deal with the unfamiliarity of the whole pet concept in this series. The idea of sentient pets (that are not slaves but still owned) is creating a new landscape in my brain since it doesn't fit into any that are already there.
The relationship in this book is well done and gives us a glimpse into more ordinary Talin/humans. This MFC has some of the patience of the MFC from the first book and the determination of the MFC from the second book. One of my favorite lines demonstrate this:
The MMC "glances down at her, rattling out a negative sound. “No.”"
The FMC "smirks up at him. Doesn’t he realize that “no” is only the beginning of the negotiation?"
A few guest appearances by Lakin make things fun and the set up for the next book also looks great - that MMC deserves his own book.
Third book in the series and still super interesting. The civil unrest among the Talin is growing (and is reminiscent of real life political parties in the US) which makes it easy to relate to. The familiarity of it also helps the reader deal with the unfamiliarity of the whole pet concept in this series. The idea of sentient pets (that are not slaves but still owned) is creating a new landscape in my brain since it doesn't fit into any that are already there.
The relationship in this book is well done and gives us a glimpse into more ordinary Talin/humans. This MFC has some of the patience of the MFC from the first book and the determination of the MFC from the second book. One of my favorite lines demonstrate this:
The MMC "glances down at her, rattling out a negative sound. “No.”"
The FMC "smirks up at him. Doesn’t he realize that “no” is only the beginning of the negotiation?"
A few guest appearances by Lakin make things fun and the set up for the next book also looks great - that MMC deserves his own book.
April 24, 2023
"she isn’t given much room to negotiate" Actually, she isn't given ANY room - she either becomes a slave or she gets turned over to a hostile race where her survival chances are almost non-existent, so she makes a pragmatic choice. I loathe the Stockholm Syndrome trope, but expected something else from the title and the opening chapter, in which she shows intelligence and independence as a "freeborn" human. Once she was captured, I fully expected that she would play along while planning an escape from her slave owner. But as the story progressed I was disappointed - and then disgusted - by how passive and docile she was at being subjugated and completely losing her autonomy, the dubious consent, being collared and treated as some sort of deficient. Fortunately the heroine of book 4 is far less spineless and meek, otherwise I would give up on this series altogether.
September 9, 2024
2.5
This one was about as iffy as the first one. Towards the end the ML showed some improvement in allowing agency and independence to the FL but the start was super rough. The not letting them walk thing and constantly talk down to them is hard to read through. Then again, you get what it says on the tin. This is book 3 and if by now you still ain't ok with the pet thing then this book is deffo not for you. Everything was kinda mid but it had just enough to keep me going
The thing that really kept me was Palforma. I have been so attached to this guy since the moment he was introduced. You get to know him a lot more on this one and I was absolutely distraught in the funeral scene. Imagine the rollercoaster of emotions I got when it turns out he is alive and the ML for the next book! I'm so excited, i hope it's as good if not better than book 2.
This one was about as iffy as the first one. Towards the end the ML showed some improvement in allowing agency and independence to the FL but the start was super rough. The not letting them walk thing and constantly talk down to them is hard to read through. Then again, you get what it says on the tin. This is book 3 and if by now you still ain't ok with the pet thing then this book is deffo not for you. Everything was kinda mid but it had just enough to keep me going
The thing that really kept me was Palforma. I have been so attached to this guy since the moment he was introduced. You get to know him a lot more on this one and I was absolutely distraught in the funeral scene. Imagine the rollercoaster of emotions I got when it turns out he is alive and the ML for the next book! I'm so excited, i hope it's as good if not better than book 2.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2022
I loved it!
I love the 1st 2 books I read they kept me in thrall. I could not put them down this book was the same way. They are all part of a series but each 1 can be read as a standalone because they are about different Pairs of human and aliens. The characters are enchanting And they draw you in. The world building is wonderful. The books are easy to read and entertaining. I cannot wait to read the next story in the series because I could not put this 1 down. I would highly recommend this story.
I love the 1st 2 books I read they kept me in thrall. I could not put them down this book was the same way. They are all part of a series but each 1 can be read as a standalone because they are about different Pairs of human and aliens. The characters are enchanting And they draw you in. The world building is wonderful. The books are easy to read and entertaining. I cannot wait to read the next story in the series because I could not put this 1 down. I would highly recommend this story.
December 20, 2021
This series just keeps getting better!
Every book I think "this is my favorite", then the next comes out and that one is my favorite. Oh, well, they are all great reads! I love that the humans are all so smart and resourceful, but also kind and caring. The Talin, the good ones anyway, are sometimes slow to see it but all come around to recognizing the humans worth as more than pets in the end. Can't wait to read the next. Palforma needs and deserves his HEA.
Every book I think "this is my favorite", then the next comes out and that one is my favorite. Oh, well, they are all great reads! I love that the humans are all so smart and resourceful, but also kind and caring. The Talin, the good ones anyway, are sometimes slow to see it but all come around to recognizing the humans worth as more than pets in the end. Can't wait to read the next. Palforma needs and deserves his HEA.
December 16, 2021
I really loved this. I am so emotionally invested in these people. Nalia and Derani are absolutely cuteness together and ugh can't I have a man that spoils me like Derani does??
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2022
This series is the bomb!
I can not get enough of this series. I have loved all the characters, the plot, and the ongoing storyline. Seriously though, I think to myself, hmmm... this may be exactly how aliens would view us. I can not wait for the next book in this series. Recommend this series and the author!
I can not get enough of this series. I have loved all the characters, the plot, and the ongoing storyline. Seriously though, I think to myself, hmmm... this may be exactly how aliens would view us. I can not wait for the next book in this series. Recommend this series and the author!
July 24, 2023
4-4.5 ⭐️ i haven’t decided yet. this was really good. i don’t want to finish the 2nd book in the series.
update: i’ll give it 4.5⭐️ i really liked this. i like nalia a lot. i like derani a lot. i like palforma SO MUCH, i cant wait to read the next book. i still don’t like lakin so i will not be finishing the second book, i don’t care.
update: i’ll give it 4.5⭐️ i really liked this. i like nalia a lot. i like derani a lot. i like palforma SO MUCH, i cant wait to read the next book. i still don’t like lakin so i will not be finishing the second book, i don’t care.
December 9, 2023
Palforma
Negotiating Captivity is book three in the series Human Pets of Talin by author RK Munin. Loved this one- incredibly thrilling. Lots of action- lots characters- so much happening it will make your head spin. Best part is that it leads right into book four and let me tell the main character is my favorite so far and I haven’t even read his story in full yet.
Enjoy!!
Negotiating Captivity is book three in the series Human Pets of Talin by author RK Munin. Loved this one- incredibly thrilling. Lots of action- lots characters- so much happening it will make your head spin. Best part is that it leads right into book four and let me tell the main character is my favorite so far and I haven’t even read his story in full yet.
Enjoy!!
January 14, 2024
I bought the whole serie so had to read this one. Liked it well enough and liked that the h is different than the other ones. This H was a bit unknown of the real dynamics between Talins and humans
I really liked her friend in the first chapters, would have loved to hear more about him (cuteness level was just so high)
I really liked her friend in the first chapters, would have loved to hear more about him (cuteness level was just so high)
Read
May 4, 2025kinda ick
The third book in the series I've read and starting to get the creeps about them.
The human women are child sized comparative to the alien Talin.
Constant mention of their littleness and the way the author writes the human females is so unlikely, they all suddenly become weepy and helpless, happy to be carried around everywhere..
just eww.
The third book in the series I've read and starting to get the creeps about them.
The human women are child sized comparative to the alien Talin.
Constant mention of their littleness and the way the author writes the human females is so unlikely, they all suddenly become weepy and helpless, happy to be carried around everywhere..
just eww.
July 28, 2025
I continue to be so, so pleasantly surprised by this series. I’m not usually a sci-fi reader. And I was bummed that this book’s description described characters we hadn’t met yet. I didn’t think I’d really care much about these two, but i was very wrong! I liked Nalia a lot! I hope we see more of sweet Hax the Ollie.
did-not-finish
September 10, 2025I couldn't finish this one. How Derani gained Nalia, how everyone around her treated her, despite her being freeborn, pissed me off. Then she began falling for him! He didn't want her reading certain things because it's not "appropriate" for a pet. And she let him dictate that! I couldn't keep reading. They made me too mad.
December 17, 2021
A must read
Love this series. Each book just gets better. If you love strong sweet aliens that will do anything for their special one this is the book for you. Can't wait for the next book.
Love this series. Each book just gets better. If you love strong sweet aliens that will do anything for their special one this is the book for you. Can't wait for the next book.
July 4, 2022
Negotiating Captivity
The authors imagination is fascinating! What will happen to humans when Earth is uninhabitable? Who is out there in space? The males are honorable, the females are feisty. The political situation reminds me of today's times.
The authors imagination is fascinating! What will happen to humans when Earth is uninhabitable? Who is out there in space? The males are honorable, the females are feisty. The political situation reminds me of today's times.
December 17, 2022
Great series, lots of adventure and funny at times.
The romance is superb. The story arc is getting more interesting with each book. I can't wait to see what comes next in their fight to love openly.
The romance is superb. The story arc is getting more interesting with each book. I can't wait to see what comes next in their fight to love openly.
April 19, 2023
Great Story!
I really enjoyed Nalia and Captain Detani’s story. It was filled with discovery, adventure, action and romance. Palforma is such an interesting character and we learn more about the struggle of Traditionlists vs. Reformist.
I really enjoyed Nalia and Captain Detani’s story. It was filled with discovery, adventure, action and romance. Palforma is such an interesting character and we learn more about the struggle of Traditionlists vs. Reformist.
July 11, 2023
I've really enjoyed the entire series so far. Each hero is obsessed with his human woman and just wants her to be happy. They are constantly trying to feed them, buy them treats, brush their hair, etc.
September 8, 2024
Story of Derani and human ship pilot Nalia. He's a captain of a ship and decides she will be his pet. This is a hard concept for me even at book 3.
There's political intrigue and espionage -- they agreee help transport Palforma who is attempting a subterfuge to uncover the traitors.
There's political intrigue and espionage -- they agreee help transport Palforma who is attempting a subterfuge to uncover the traitors.
January 1, 2026
love
I’ve beef working through this series and love it so much!! It’s so exciting to go through each of these stories, see the couples fall in love, AB’s watch the drama of the world expand and develop! I can’t wait for the next one!
I’ve beef working through this series and love it so much!! It’s so exciting to go through each of these stories, see the couples fall in love, AB’s watch the drama of the world expand and develop! I can’t wait for the next one!
December 17, 2021
Amazing
Love this book cannot wait for book 4,5,6 and 7. It was that good 😊. I cried and laughed.
Alien book lover
Love this book cannot wait for book 4,5,6 and 7. It was that good 😊. I cried and laughed.
Alien book lover
December 17, 2021
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I really do like this series. This book was a great addition especially with the character cameos from book 2. I really love Palforma and am so excited his book is next.
I really do like this series. This book was a great addition especially with the character cameos from book 2. I really love Palforma and am so excited his book is next.
December 27, 2021
I'm glad that our damaged warrior didn't die and look forward to the next book.
Strong characters and original plots.
Strong characters and original plots.
February 20, 2023
Freedom
And so the story continues! I greatly enjoyed this latest installment! Thank you for sharing ! Onto the next Human Pets of Talin.
And so the story continues! I greatly enjoyed this latest installment! Thank you for sharing ! Onto the next Human Pets of Talin.
June 13, 2024
Dnf at 60%
Just kinda uninspiring MCs and instalove, but a lot of the agency of previous FMCs wasn't really there which I think undercuts a lot of the charm.
Just kinda uninspiring MCs and instalove, but a lot of the agency of previous FMCs wasn't really there which I think undercuts a lot of the charm.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews