Dating Outside Your DNA

Planet Nerak #4

by Karen Kelley

Special agent Roan Hendrix is a straight shooter with weapons and women, so he doesn't appreciate it when his boss throws him a curve. But what a curve. A half-human, half-Nerakian who needs a one-on-one crash course in how best to channel her powers. And while Roan's usually a master at separating business from pleasure, one glance into Lyraka's green eyes is enough to spark scorching fantasies of seriously close encounters with the tall, tanned temptress...Lyraka's trying not to mind the way Mister Macho Special Agent keeps barking orders, but it's impossible to ignore Roan's rough-and-ready appeal. The sensitive ponytail guys Lyraka grew up with didn't have a clue how to handle her outsized sex drive, but Roan looks like he'd be up to the task in every way. Better still, he never got the memo that Lyraka's human side makes her - ahem - 'special talents' even greater than the average Nerakian's...

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

259 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2009

About the author

Karen Kelley always had a secret desire to live the life of a Gypsy. So she and her husband quit their jobs, sold their house, decluttered their lives and moved into their 5th wheel RV. Now they're traveling the United States. She works full time on her writing and spends her downtime walking on the beach or hiking in the mountains. Her motto has always been 'Who says you can't have it all.'

Reviews

[Cherie Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG LOVED THIS BOOK.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great conclusion to the planet Nerak stories it was so great re-reading them Karen Kelley always delivers thank you

[TINNGG · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd forgotten the author's penchant for having fun with names. Now I'll be wondering who Manda, Megan, and Jodie are. Since Trevor is mentioned in the dedication... Oh. What am I talking about? The alien races known as the Adnams, Eidojs, and Roverts. The Nagems are apparently a gnat-like pest.

Of course, the h's mother hails from the planet Nerak (get it - Karen).

So lots of...well, since the h grew up on earth, there's not much culture shock, so mostly training which seems especially geared to inspiring her to quit training to be an agent. In the beginning, it's because the H has an aversion towards...Nerakians, training, etc. Later it's because he's heading for that brick wall known as twu wuv and doesn't want her to get hurt.

Side plot is a Rovertian who the h's mother scarred a little wants revenge. Eh... in retrospect, maybe he should have let it go since that tiny scar momma left is small potatoes compared to what daughter does to him. The worse part? Rovertians don't really heal v. well. You'd think they'd be especially careful about attracting violent attention in light of that.

[Paraphrodite · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fourth book in the series took another turn again! Apparently the earthlings have known about ETs all along! In fact, there are MIBs tasked to defend Earth and keep the aliens in line...

Lyraka is half-earthling and half-Nerakian and although she's lived on Earth all her life, she's never felt that she belonged. However, because of her special abilities, she was recruited into the special MIB team and met her trainer Roan, who is 100% human. Roan didn't believe she's got what it takes to become an agent and rode her pretty hard.

We found out who Lyraka's mother is in the previous book and it's a bit of a surprise. In this one, her mother's enemy is out for revenge and Roan and Lyraka are put into a situation where they have to rely on each other to save the day.

This book wasn't as funny as the previous ones and feels more like a tie-in to introduce this new Special MIB team. Not sure if that was the intention though.

I liked the previous books more because they were funny, not so much with this book.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad, I picked this one up on a whim at the library. It was kind of like a military romantic suspense mixed with a PNR. I'm not sure if there are other books that came before this one because at times I was a little confused with what was going on. I felt like the author didn't do much world building or explaining, but again this may be because there is an earlier book in which everything is explained in detail.

Anyway, the main characters are Special Agent Roan Hendrix and a half-human / half Nerakian named Lyraka. Lyraka has spent her whole life on a commune of sorts and wants to have an adventure. Roan has no interest in teaching Lyraka anything but isn't really given a choice by his boss. So he starts to train her one-on-one and of course things get hot and heavy between them. Conveniently one of the traits of a Nerakian is a high level of sexuality.

I might read another book by this author but it's not something I would spend money on.

[SweetSue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, I really liked it. A lighthearted read, but the suspense plot was as realistic as interplanetary negotiations gets. The villain is a bit of a crybaby, but the events leading up to the characters being on his planet were interesting. Our hero is a human who is assigned as a trainer in the futuristic CIA type org. He's called in to give the heroine - a half human half alien - some special training because of her abilities. I liked that she's able to show him up a bit since he doesn't really believe she's different at first. But he never becomes a pushover or seems less able even though he doesn't have super abilities. The romance is great - even though it is mostly just sex scenes, the way he accepts and works around her "issues" is great. She becomes literally hot when she's aroused! LOL
Karen Kelley is a new to me author, so I'm working through the few books of hers at the library and then I'll have to chase down the rest of this series.

[Kevin Connery · Rating 1 out of 5]

Writing about things you don[t know isn’t impossible, but going into detail is rarely a good idea. Kelley writes good dialog, but there were waaaaay too many instances where she’d go into great detail about things she either didn’t understand or didn’t care enough to check on, and each time, the suspension of disbelief failed. Introducing a new, heretofore unknown ability as the way to solve the book’s climax is also incredibly tacky.She doesn’t do this in her contemporaries, but this pseudo-science-fiction garbage was very offputting.

[Eneida · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book had some good points about it and there were times I laughed and smiled as well as related to what was written. However,there were parts that just failed. The details provided for the parts that failed were either not enough or just really wrong. The erotic scenes just didn't play out as real or even entertaining. The end was just too corny and not as climactic as it could have been. I'll more than likely try another of her books just to get more of a feel for the author and her writing.

[=^☺^=mskitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Planet Nerak#4, finally a good story to go along with the sex. This book brings the 4 to a final end that is very satisfying. As I said in previous reviews of this series, they are an "easy read", no deep thoughts or horrifying, biting your nails suspense. If you go into them with this attitude, you can enjoy them for what they are.

[Kj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been enjoying the sci-fi/erotica lately, just for fun, and this hit the spot! (yes, that spot) There was absolutely not depth or relevance to this book, no real cohesion to the plot, and no sensible motivation for these characters. I think it was written at a 3rd grade reading level. But - did I mention it hit the... yep.

[Moondance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book in the Nerak series. Lyraka is half human and half Nerakian. Roan is a special agent tasked to train her for his elite force. Not quite as entertaining as the other two I've read. 2.5 stars

[Marti Rosenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book number four in the series and the best so far! Well written and I loved the strong heroine!