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The Trader's Menagerie #1
The Trader's Menagerie
Xena Moran was in over her head.
Stealing from her former lover had been a bad idea, but it gets worse when the contents of the cargo turn out to be the most beautiful alien being she’d ever laid eyes on. Determined to keep her promise to return Mata to his home, Xena sets out to find out how a series of alien abductions is linked to her ex's newest venture.
No one said that it was going to be easy.
Not when she’s being pursued by a pilot determined to get his boss’s stolen cargo back — no matter the cost. Xena will have to outrun him while keeping Mata out of harm’s way. With the help of old friends and new ones, Xena will discover that stealing just one piece of cargo might not be enough of a punishment for Ancyn Robak.
First in a why-choose space opera trilogy.
Stealing from her former lover had been a bad idea, but it gets worse when the contents of the cargo turn out to be the most beautiful alien being she’d ever laid eyes on. Determined to keep her promise to return Mata to his home, Xena sets out to find out how a series of alien abductions is linked to her ex's newest venture.
No one said that it was going to be easy.
Not when she’s being pursued by a pilot determined to get his boss’s stolen cargo back — no matter the cost. Xena will have to outrun him while keeping Mata out of harm’s way. With the help of old friends and new ones, Xena will discover that stealing just one piece of cargo might not be enough of a punishment for Ancyn Robak.
First in a why-choose space opera trilogy.
246 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 24, 2023
66 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
About the author
L.A. Corbeau
4 books10 followersL.A. Corbeau is all about swoon-worthy interstellar alien hunks and the ladies who win their hearts. Whether she's weaving an RH/WC or M/F tale, her stories have just the right amount of spice to ignite cosmic passions. And don't let the drama fool you, there's always a happy ending!
Sci-fi/Alien romance 👽| Enemies to lovers | Aliens with special packages 🍆 | RH/WC & M/F | Sugar AND spice 🌶️
Ready for exclusive sneak peeks of upcoming books, exciting updates, and more? Check out http://authorcorbeau.com/ and join the cosmic crow's nest!
Don't forget to find me on all the socials below:
IG: authorcorbeau
TT: authorcorbeau
Bluesky: authorcorbeau
Sci-fi/Alien romance 👽| Enemies to lovers | Aliens with special packages 🍆 | RH/WC & M/F | Sugar AND spice 🌶️
Ready for exclusive sneak peeks of upcoming books, exciting updates, and more? Check out http://authorcorbeau.com/ and join the cosmic crow's nest!
Don't forget to find me on all the socials below:
IG: authorcorbeau
TT: authorcorbeau
Bluesky: authorcorbeau
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 9, 2023
DNF at 11% after
2/3 of the main characters introduced were so horny and not the brightest bulbs. Xena was so gross and predatory, trying to get off on the struggling bound alien at first sight. Mata acted like an innocent naive teenager for someone that was supposed to be in his late 20s. The other MMC Anson showed signs of going into full insta-lust before even meeting Xena and only seeing her through a screen.
I had no interest in these characters and how the romance was shaping up. I believe this was a debut book by the author, and I originally picked it up because it was recommended in Kathryn Moon's newsletter. Unfortunately, I don't think this particular referral worked out for me.
2/3 of the main characters introduced were so horny and not the brightest bulbs. Xena was so gross and predatory, trying to get off on the struggling bound alien at first sight. Mata acted like an innocent naive teenager for someone that was supposed to be in his late 20s. The other MMC Anson showed signs of going into full insta-lust before even meeting Xena and only seeing her through a screen.
I had no interest in these characters and how the romance was shaping up. I believe this was a debut book by the author, and I originally picked it up because it was recommended in Kathryn Moon's newsletter. Unfortunately, I don't think this particular referral worked out for me.
November 5, 2023
DNF @ 10%/ 5 chapters
3 of the chapters have been from Xena's POV and they span maybe 10 minutes. Split up by the 2 chapters from Anson's POV which have taken maaaybe a few more minutes. I just want a full scene.
Also, there were a few littler things like how Xena treated Mata who was tied up and scared therefore attacking her and she decided to... wrestle him to submission OH and getting turned on while doing it. *sigh* And how about Anson who is great at finding people and he figures out who was on his ship by... looking at the security camera footage. *sigh* Anyone could do that. I'm more concerned with 1. how she got on and off the ship without notice and 2. why she wasn't concerned with cameras at all.
Ah and let's not forget when Mata tells Xena he and many of his people have been abducted although "his abductor looked regretful" and she says "Everyone has their reasons..." thinking about her ex who orchestrated and employs said abductors. Like... no. There is no valid reason.
BUT, there is potential here. Aliens, corruption, traders, an evil ex, etc. Mata wants to get home, Xena wants revenge on an ex, and Anson wants to get Mata back and capture Xena. Lots of great plot here. I just can't get over all that has happened in (again) 10 minutes of their time.
3 of the chapters have been from Xena's POV and they span maybe 10 minutes. Split up by the 2 chapters from Anson's POV which have taken maaaybe a few more minutes. I just want a full scene.
Also, there were a few littler things like how Xena treated Mata who was tied up and scared therefore attacking her and she decided to... wrestle him to submission OH and getting turned on while doing it. *sigh* And how about Anson who is great at finding people and he figures out who was on his ship by... looking at the security camera footage. *sigh* Anyone could do that. I'm more concerned with 1. how she got on and off the ship without notice and 2. why she wasn't concerned with cameras at all.
Ah and let's not forget when Mata tells Xena he and many of his people have been abducted although "his abductor looked regretful" and she says "Everyone has their reasons..." thinking about her ex who orchestrated and employs said abductors. Like... no. There is no valid reason.
BUT, there is potential here. Aliens, corruption, traders, an evil ex, etc. Mata wants to get home, Xena wants revenge on an ex, and Anson wants to get Mata back and capture Xena. Lots of great plot here. I just can't get over all that has happened in (again) 10 minutes of their time.
March 24, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️ space mafia stars.
Received an ARC for an honest review. L. A. Corbeau is a new author with a lot of potential. I enjoyed the plot of the novel, space criminals, traders, and of course, ALIENS! The book had a lot of potential, introducing characters with real fears and insecurities which made them look more than 2-dimensional.
However, I have a few critiques. One of the main things that brought me out of the experience was that the FL over-sexualised everything. There wasn’t a person in this book that she didn’t think about having sex with the moment she saw them. It was especially icky when she started getting turned on during her fight with Mata while he was scared for his life, trying to get away. And I understand that this is an erotica book, but usually there is some context for sexual attraction or some sort of balance between the situation and chemistry (so maybe it’s a voyeuristic fetish or they’re in heat so they think about sex all the time) but here it felt more like the author was trying to squeeze in as many steamy scenes as she could. Main characters are running for their life, oh let’s stop and have a make out session in an alleyway. Oh, I’m very good at hiding from a super-villain boss, let me day dream about ML shlong while moving around the city. At some point I thought maybe the FL had some sort of brain chip implanted in her while she was in her previous relationship, that made her think about sex all the time. Another point that was a bit difficult to believe was their instant love. Mata started to become jealous literally 2 hours after knowing the FL without there being any reason for him to fall in love. It could have been Stockholm syndrome but even that takes a bit more time in my opinion.
So, overall I think the book had a lot of potential but the constant association of every action and memory with sex from the FL side made this book less enjoyable for me.
Received an ARC for an honest review. L. A. Corbeau is a new author with a lot of potential. I enjoyed the plot of the novel, space criminals, traders, and of course, ALIENS! The book had a lot of potential, introducing characters with real fears and insecurities which made them look more than 2-dimensional.
However, I have a few critiques. One of the main things that brought me out of the experience was that the FL over-sexualised everything. There wasn’t a person in this book that she didn’t think about having sex with the moment she saw them. It was especially icky when she started getting turned on during her fight with Mata while he was scared for his life, trying to get away. And I understand that this is an erotica book, but usually there is some context for sexual attraction or some sort of balance between the situation and chemistry (so maybe it’s a voyeuristic fetish or they’re in heat so they think about sex all the time) but here it felt more like the author was trying to squeeze in as many steamy scenes as she could. Main characters are running for their life, oh let’s stop and have a make out session in an alleyway. Oh, I’m very good at hiding from a super-villain boss, let me day dream about ML shlong while moving around the city. At some point I thought maybe the FL had some sort of brain chip implanted in her while she was in her previous relationship, that made her think about sex all the time. Another point that was a bit difficult to believe was their instant love. Mata started to become jealous literally 2 hours after knowing the FL without there being any reason for him to fall in love. It could have been Stockholm syndrome but even that takes a bit more time in my opinion.
So, overall I think the book had a lot of potential but the constant association of every action and memory with sex from the FL side made this book less enjoyable for me.
August 30, 2023
DNF at 75%
There is a severe lack of character development, character description and world building. For the most part the aliens don’t seem much different than humans. There’s only one that is truly unique. Why is he unique….he’s gold color and really beautiful. The rest are somewhat different than human for example one of the aliens has skin the color of coral. Coral! I know several red-heads that take on a coral skin color on a sunny day another has longish limbs.
The dub-con situations were the real deal breaker. One of the H can alter people’s moods, thoughts, likes/dislikes and he didn’t seem to have a problem making others want him sexually. While they were having sex with someone else. He found it easier to get into their mind when they were fucking someone. NOPE! HARD NOPE!
The big bad is really basic. One of the H could have just killed him at anytime.
There is a severe lack of character development, character description and world building. For the most part the aliens don’t seem much different than humans. There’s only one that is truly unique. Why is he unique….he’s gold color and really beautiful. The rest are somewhat different than human for example one of the aliens has skin the color of coral. Coral! I know several red-heads that take on a coral skin color on a sunny day another has longish limbs.
The dub-con situations were the real deal breaker. One of the H can alter people’s moods, thoughts, likes/dislikes and he didn’t seem to have a problem making others want him sexually. While they were having sex with someone else. He found it easier to get into their mind when they were fucking someone. NOPE! HARD NOPE!
The big bad is really basic. One of the H could have just killed him at anytime.
March 19, 2023
The Trader's Menagerie is quite a delightful read! Space opera with why choose and aliens? It's SO good. Having Xena, Mata, Amos and Veilla as our leads was such an interesting experience. Coupled that with enemies to lovers, the sexy pursuit (👀) and found family made me feel ✨things✨. I'm IMPATIENTLY waiting for the sequel because that cliffy was bonkers and I need answers! 😭
January 4, 2024
DNF
The writing style wasn't for me. It wasn't badly edited or full of errors, I just couldn't get into it, so I've left it a 4 star.
The writing style wasn't for me. It wasn't badly edited or full of errors, I just couldn't get into it, so I've left it a 4 star.
December 31, 2023
Randomly chose this off the Stuff Your Kindle Day list because aliens and romance sounded cool and something I hadn’t read about before.
There was an attempt made here to blend sci-fi and spice but the result was disappointing. I think this book could have been better if it was strictly erotica or if it was longer with the plot and characters having more substance.
The most glaring issue for me is that the romantic connection just didn’t seem believable to me at all. Especially when the characters would laminate about their interest with one another, using dialogue/inner thoughts as if they’ve known the other person for ages when reality they literally just met. It goes beyond the “insta love/attraction” trope because phrases like “all this time” was used and they literally met less than a day ago. It made the romance aspect fall flat for me.
A lot of convenient plot choices happened that went against what had already been established in the story. One of the characters can’t enter another’s mind, but suddenly finds a “hole” in their mind when it aided the scene. The main characters were faced with a problem after a failed attempt but when they come up with a different plan, the MFC suddenly remembers she has a piece of tech that would have been way more convenient to use from the very start. So she seemed very glib on more than one occasion.
There is a second book to this series but the way the book ended didn’t make me want to pick it up. I might have if there was any sort of interesting cliff hanger but I just did not care about any of the characters or their plight.
I don’t give low ratings often and don’t like to. I don’t rate on literary finesse…but rather how i felt about the book as a whole.
There was an attempt made here to blend sci-fi and spice but the result was disappointing. I think this book could have been better if it was strictly erotica or if it was longer with the plot and characters having more substance.
The most glaring issue for me is that the romantic connection just didn’t seem believable to me at all. Especially when the characters would laminate about their interest with one another, using dialogue/inner thoughts as if they’ve known the other person for ages when reality they literally just met. It goes beyond the “insta love/attraction” trope because phrases like “all this time” was used and they literally met less than a day ago. It made the romance aspect fall flat for me.
A lot of convenient plot choices happened that went against what had already been established in the story. One of the characters can’t enter another’s mind, but suddenly finds a “hole” in their mind when it aided the scene. The main characters were faced with a problem after a failed attempt but when they come up with a different plan, the MFC suddenly remembers she has a piece of tech that would have been way more convenient to use from the very start. So she seemed very glib on more than one occasion.
There is a second book to this series but the way the book ended didn’t make me want to pick it up. I might have if there was any sort of interesting cliff hanger but I just did not care about any of the characters or their plight.
I don’t give low ratings often and don’t like to. I don’t rate on literary finesse…but rather how i felt about the book as a whole.
March 24, 2023
What an AMAZING first book to a new series—Corbeau had me biting my nails, shouting with joy, and loving this cast of characters.
I NEED book two immediately, because the drama and angst have been turned up and I need to know where this crew goes next.
There was everything I loved in this book—enemies to lovers, fun sci FI tools, found family, good for her
…I’ll just be here waiting for book 2
I NEED book two immediately, because the drama and angst have been turned up and I need to know where this crew goes next.
There was everything I loved in this book—enemies to lovers, fun sci FI tools, found family, good for her
…I’ll just be here waiting for book 2
May 29, 2025
This seemed like exactly the sort of book that would be up my alley. Aliens, kidnappings, smut & sci-fi! But I just couldn't get into it. It ended up being a slog to get through, and not the fun, spicy ride I’d hoped for. (There was plenty of spice, but for the reasons outlined below, it just missed the mark for me!).
This book is full of characters that weren’t particularly compelling. Their relationships, and reasons for liking or lusting after each other, aren't very believable. Even erotica or the smuttiest of smut books has some sort of reasoning for or behind the sexual attraction, something that also ties into the situation at hand. This book really had the FMC thinking about sex when one of the MMC's is terrifyed and he thinks he is fighting for his life against her? This book the MFC really just had 'sex' thoughts about any male she came across for seemingly no reason. There was no build-up, no tension - just instant lust for no reason.
The emotional content was just as shallow as the characters sexual attraction for each other. It felt like the characters were only ever skimming the surface of what they could be feeling. As a result, everything came off bland and underwhelming with the characters ultimately remaining uncompelling throughout the book.
It felt like the author was trying to shove as many gratuitous spicy scenes in as she possibly could. Don't get me wrong - I am ALL for gratuitous spicy scenes. Bring on the 🌶️! But they just didn't feel natural. They felt forced, instead of flowing naturally from the characters' interactions. I feel like this probably stems from the character dynamics feeling forced and underdeveloped, coupled with the lack of emotional depth as I mentioned above.
Lots of pages for not a lot of substance.
This book is full of characters that weren’t particularly compelling. Their relationships, and reasons for liking or lusting after each other, aren't very believable. Even erotica or the smuttiest of smut books has some sort of reasoning for or behind the sexual attraction, something that also ties into the situation at hand. This book really had the FMC thinking about sex when one of the MMC's is terrifyed and he thinks he is fighting for his life against her? This book the MFC really just had 'sex' thoughts about any male she came across for seemingly no reason. There was no build-up, no tension - just instant lust for no reason.
The emotional content was just as shallow as the characters sexual attraction for each other. It felt like the characters were only ever skimming the surface of what they could be feeling. As a result, everything came off bland and underwhelming with the characters ultimately remaining uncompelling throughout the book.
It felt like the author was trying to shove as many gratuitous spicy scenes in as she possibly could. Don't get me wrong - I am ALL for gratuitous spicy scenes. Bring on the 🌶️! But they just didn't feel natural. They felt forced, instead of flowing naturally from the characters' interactions. I feel like this probably stems from the character dynamics feeling forced and underdeveloped, coupled with the lack of emotional depth as I mentioned above.
Lots of pages for not a lot of substance.
March 25, 2023
The Trader's Menagerie
5/5 Space Stars for this one!
I really loved The Trader's Menagerie by L.A Corbeau, has space travel, multiple alien species, and a budding start to a great relationship dynamic. I like how Corbeau introduced us to teach characters at different times within the book so we were able to truly focus on each one rather than somewhere I feel like one character or another gets pushed into the background. The FMC Xena really was great at providing equal times and open-mindedness on all her crazy situations she was brought into as well as with each love interest.
This book contained an amazing storyline that I cannot wait to see what happens next, especially for Mr. Amos and whatever trouble he got himself into. Now, onto this book overall I really liked that the major situation Xena found herself in within this book was resolved in this book, rather than getting brought into the next book. This is a trilogy space opera series so we were introduced to another situation at the end that arose but, it wasn't too much of a cliffhanger in my opinion.
This book had amazing pacing with the overarching plot as well as the relationships between the characters, I have had a soft spot from the beginning for Mata. Reminders this book is a why-choose so the female character does not have to choose between the potential love interest, as well as there, are non-human parts sometimes involved.
Overall, this will be one of my tops reads this year and I cannot wait to see what comes next for Xena and her men!
5/5 Space Stars for this one!
I really loved The Trader's Menagerie by L.A Corbeau, has space travel, multiple alien species, and a budding start to a great relationship dynamic. I like how Corbeau introduced us to teach characters at different times within the book so we were able to truly focus on each one rather than somewhere I feel like one character or another gets pushed into the background. The FMC Xena really was great at providing equal times and open-mindedness on all her crazy situations she was brought into as well as with each love interest.
This book contained an amazing storyline that I cannot wait to see what happens next, especially for Mr. Amos and whatever trouble he got himself into. Now, onto this book overall I really liked that the major situation Xena found herself in within this book was resolved in this book, rather than getting brought into the next book. This is a trilogy space opera series so we were introduced to another situation at the end that arose but, it wasn't too much of a cliffhanger in my opinion.
This book had amazing pacing with the overarching plot as well as the relationships between the characters, I have had a soft spot from the beginning for Mata. Reminders this book is a why-choose so the female character does not have to choose between the potential love interest, as well as there, are non-human parts sometimes involved.
Overall, this will be one of my tops reads this year and I cannot wait to see what comes next for Xena and her men!
May 12, 2024
I’ll start with the two reasons I knocked off a star from this excellent book: FMC fails to tell one of the MMCs about her relationship with one of the others. It doesn’t matter how strongly the narrative hints that he suspects what’s going on, I can’t really get too excited about a why-choose that doesn’t include that most basic conversation between the characters: “hey, I wanna be with you AND him, we good?”
The third MMC confusingly inserts himself where he probably shouldn’t have, turning voyeurism into dubcon with his gifts. There’s also another noncon scene in the book with the villain, but the dubcon between MCs bothered me a lot more.
Other than that, we have a novel with decent writing and dialogue, an interesting cast of characters with histories I’d love to know more about, and a villain whose dangerousness comes from the way he manipulates others to do his bidding. I can’t say he was the most terrifying villain I’ve ever seen, but the characters around him seem to react with enough fear to make me understand that he’s threatening. It’s obvious that the FMC had built him up in her head to be this untouchable master manipulator, and his defeat was all-too-human and humbling.
The third MMC confusingly inserts himself where he probably shouldn’t have, turning voyeurism into dubcon with his gifts. There’s also another noncon scene in the book with the villain, but the dubcon between MCs bothered me a lot more.
Other than that, we have a novel with decent writing and dialogue, an interesting cast of characters with histories I’d love to know more about, and a villain whose dangerousness comes from the way he manipulates others to do his bidding. I can’t say he was the most terrifying villain I’ve ever seen, but the characters around him seem to react with enough fear to make me understand that he’s threatening. It’s obvious that the FMC had built him up in her head to be this untouchable master manipulator, and his defeat was all-too-human and humbling.
August 5, 2023
Xena is our female character who is on the run from her former lover. On the run doesn’t mean that she won't attempt to derail his many interests and she steals a package from him hoping for something useful/valuable. Imagine her surprise when Mata is revealed, immediately he attacks her in defense, believing she is the one who has stolen him from his home world. Her new mission is to return Mata home, and during this she encounters Amos who unwillingly works for her former love. Along the way they encounter many intriguing characters and dangers and form a tenuous truce with the possibility for new relationships.
The first of a new trilogy, this why choose space opera is engaging with amazing world building. It is an intriguing world with a large variety of characters and new races. At times it feels a little information overload. For the most part I enjoyed the writing, a few places there seemed to be too much happening.
It was my first book by this author, and I am looking forward to reading the second book in the trilogy.
The first of a new trilogy, this why choose space opera is engaging with amazing world building. It is an intriguing world with a large variety of characters and new races. At times it feels a little information overload. For the most part I enjoyed the writing, a few places there seemed to be too much happening.
It was my first book by this author, and I am looking forward to reading the second book in the trilogy.
January 6, 2024
Quite disappointing. This could've been so good... if the story wasn't full of disgusting MCs, our FMC being the worst of them. She was disgusting and stupid.In this day and age, I really did not expect to have to keep repeating the same phrase: Just turn the roles around and imagine if she were a man. OH! Now you see it?? C'mon, I believe we're way past that predatory, rapey "I'm a badass, but I'm not" kind of MC, who pines for the bad and horrific villain/ex-boyfriend.
Overall, the setting was interesting, but everything else was not.
Overall, the setting was interesting, but everything else was not.
March 25, 2023
I. Need. The. Next. Book.
Wow. I really enjoyed this- the drama and angst weren’t too high (I’m a little baby, I can only take medium angst at max), and the story had me hooked.
This book has so many of my favorite things- space, why choose, enemies to lovers, SPICE.
I loved seeing Xena and her men come together and explore their relationship ship, and I can’t wait to see where they, and the story, end up!
Wow. I really enjoyed this- the drama and angst weren’t too high (I’m a little baby, I can only take medium angst at max), and the story had me hooked.
This book has so many of my favorite things- space, why choose, enemies to lovers, SPICE.
I loved seeing Xena and her men come together and explore their relationship ship, and I can’t wait to see where they, and the story, end up!
March 28, 2023
This book was a complicated matter personally, I liked Xena but the way she was indecisive and kept rotating to Ancyn most of the book really put me off, but in the end, I'm glad she got over him. I really like Mata and his loyalty and Veilla is someone I personally feel like I could get along with if he were real, I'm glad everything ended in a ok note and that cliffhanger OMG WHYY, I can't wait until June for book 2
April 2, 2023
This was a fun one. I love a good space adventure and this was a world with a lot of potential. But I will say that I had a hard time getting to know the characters and felt like they weren't fully flushed out. It also seemed like this story tried really hard to be both spice and plot but didn't strike the right balance. It just felt off to me. I'd love to know more about Veilla and Mata though so I'll keep my eye on this author.
Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 29, 2023
I enjoyed this debut book and first in the series a lot! The story was a wild ride of switching loyalties and high tension situations. The growing relationship between Xena and her men starts to heat up in this book, but also leaves lots of room to grow in the sequels. I'm excited to see how the relationships develop in The Pilot's Ruin. I'm looking forward to continuing the series after that cliffhanger of an ending!
August 7, 2023
This was a strong debut by the author, however, there were certain aspects that could be improved. The Trader's Menagerie is a space opera with a strong romance subplot. Corbeau does a great job of creating a rich and detailed universe. The different alien species are all well-developed and believable, and the world-building is top-notch. The characters are also well-crafted, however I disliked the opening scene of the two main characters and how the premise for their romance was set up.
June 3, 2023
I need more!!
This author is new to me and I'm very glad I found her. I've loved science fiction since 1977 when Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released.
This book feeds my scifi loving heart immensely! The author blends all the parts together with plenty of action, mystery, suspense, drama, and romance.
I'm eager to start on the next installment of this saga!!!
This author is new to me and I'm very glad I found her. I've loved science fiction since 1977 when Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released.
This book feeds my scifi loving heart immensely! The author blends all the parts together with plenty of action, mystery, suspense, drama, and romance.
I'm eager to start on the next installment of this saga!!!
May 30, 2024
I didn't think the writing was terrible, but basically nothing happened. By the 30% mark in the book, we're still trying to set the scene for some action to take place and we've been treated to a gratuitous sex scene that doesn't necessarily say much about either character that took place in it? So, yeah, thanks but no thanks.
April 6, 2023
Terrific!
This was really good.. I loved the different alien species, and the ex boyfriend/bad guy. Think he'll be popping up again. Looking forward to book 2.
This was really good.. I loved the different alien species, and the ex boyfriend/bad guy. Think he'll be popping up again. Looking forward to book 2.
May 21, 2025
Faye
Enjoyed this book. Kept me interested throughout. Couldn’t put it down and looking forward to the next book in the series
Enjoyed this book. Kept me interested throughout. Couldn’t put it down and looking forward to the next book in the series
March 27, 2023
*Thank you to L.A Corbeau for sending me an ebook ARC*
What’s better than getting back at your ex? How about stealing his precious cargo and pilot all while looking like a snack in the process? The Trader’s Menagerie is fast-paced adventure with some romance sprinkled in. The enemies to lovers trope reminds me of the song love stinks by J. Geils Band,
“You love her, but she loves him
And he loves somebody else
You just can't win”
The characters are just a hot mess of lust, two exotic aliens, the “strong and silent” type pilot, and our attention starved Xena. Overall this was a quick and fun read. If space adventures with some out of this world appendages is your thing, this is your book.
L.A. Corbeau does include a content warning and Glossary in the beginning of the book. I very much appreciated those little details. I will copy the content warning below as it does not seem to be included in the description at the time of this review. All content warnings can be found on Corbeau’s website as well.
“Past mention of death/tragic accident, past mention of abuse (vague, off page), sexual content, action/violence, revenge, multiple relationships/polyam, manipulative villain, DVP, voyeurism, mind control/telepathy (mild, non-sexual and mild, sexual but consensual), fighting feelings/getting over an ex, pining/yearning, SA (attempted, mid chapter 19), kidnapping/abduction/trafficking
What’s better than getting back at your ex? How about stealing his precious cargo and pilot all while looking like a snack in the process? The Trader’s Menagerie is fast-paced adventure with some romance sprinkled in. The enemies to lovers trope reminds me of the song love stinks by J. Geils Band,
“You love her, but she loves him
And he loves somebody else
You just can't win”
The characters are just a hot mess of lust, two exotic aliens, the “strong and silent” type pilot, and our attention starved Xena. Overall this was a quick and fun read. If space adventures with some out of this world appendages is your thing, this is your book.
L.A. Corbeau does include a content warning and Glossary in the beginning of the book. I very much appreciated those little details. I will copy the content warning below as it does not seem to be included in the description at the time of this review. All content warnings can be found on Corbeau’s website as well.
“Past mention of death/tragic accident, past mention of abuse (vague, off page), sexual content, action/violence, revenge, multiple relationships/polyam, manipulative villain, DVP, voyeurism, mind control/telepathy (mild, non-sexual and mild, sexual but consensual), fighting feelings/getting over an ex, pining/yearning, SA (attempted, mid chapter 19), kidnapping/abduction/trafficking
May 11, 2023
This rubbed me the wrong way from the start. The FMC was seemingly sexually attracted to a a victim of SA and could only think about that the entire time while also thinking about another male character that had treated her like shit. The writing came off as juvenile.
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