dianawolfess's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
FMC: Aster
MMC(s): Damir
Tropes: Alien planet, arranged marriage, breeding, enemies-to-lovers, forbidden relationship, hurt/comfort, rescue, vampire hero, untouched heroine, human men suck
> Reviewer add: Iron-clad willpower, made for each other
Perspective: Third person
Plot or character driven: Both
Spicy scenes breakdown:
> Present? Yes
> Detailed? Yes
> Multiple, with only one character? No
> Multiple, with both/multiple characters? Yes
> Personal favorite? In the cave.
> State of the joystick? It’s deep blue like the rest of Damir.
Burn speed: Fast
Can this be read as a stand-alone: Yes, though it shares the world with the Salt Planet Giants series.
Re-Readability: I’ve already read it twice. It’s a novella. That’s a yes.
Content/Trigger Warnings/Enticements: See front of book.
I received an advanced reader copy of this book, and this is my voluntary, honest review.
“All the stories she knew of Nightborn males were of their appetites. For violence. For females. And for blood.”
Aster comes from a colony where women are tied up with ribbons to act as chastity devices and her dad arranges for her to marry her cousin, who is horrible. Human men suck. She runs off and meets Damir, the Nightborn King, who thinks she’s dead when she turns up on his beach, half drowned. She’s not dead. He gets injured, she has blood, and blood will heal him. Yeah, he gives a better type of sucking than human men. (Nightborn are vampire-esque, with wings, and deep blue skin.)
Aster has this dry, wry sense of humor that I am eating like cheese and crackers. Their interactions, their bickering, even their teasing is overshadowed by this wry humor that ends up being really sweet. Damir is trying very hard to so the thing to get him in the least amount of trouble and here comes this pretty human that tosses all of it up in the air.
This novella left me wanting more. MOAR. I mean, alien vampire king that’s blue with wings and has an aphrodisiac bite. I mean you had me at alien, you could have stopped there, but nooo. This is like whipped cream on the loaded sundae, I could be lactose intolerant and I’d still be licking the bowl.
ritaj63's review
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
offmyredcarpet's review
2.0
DNFd. This reads more like a fantasy being passed off as alien romance and I am so tired of authors doing this. I am not a fan of merging genres. There’s more to alien romance than setting it in another planet.
Even so, I tried to get into but I couldn’t bring myself to have more than a passing interest in the characters. They weren’t that compelling.
Even so, I tried to get into but I couldn’t bring myself to have more than a passing interest in the characters. They weren’t that compelling.
chaebe's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
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