lolasreviews's review against another edition
4.0
I received a free copy of this book from the author through netgalley.
This book was such a fun read! I had read one of Care Bristol her short stories in the anthology Pets in Space and had been planning to pick up one of her full length books, so when I saw this one on netgalley I couldn't resist requesting it. Alien Mate is basically a mail-order bride plot line set in space. Terran decided to solve one of their problems and gain some valuable mineral they need. They sent some convicted females to Dakon who had a female shortage and gain the mineral in exchange.
I really liked the concept for this one, it made for a fun set-up for a story and I enjoyed seeing how things played out. From the first chapter it grabbed my attention and I just wanted to keep reading. It's an enjoyable read, well written and paced nicely. There is a bit of mystery surrounding Starr's past, what she has done and why she's sent to Dakon, while the others had a choice in the matter. Then there is a good romance between Star and Torg. Getting to know an alien planet and there are a few interesting plot twists at the end as well.
Starr and Torg literally come from different worlds, but when they meet sparks fly. Their romance develops quickly, but I didn't mind. I could feel their connection and chemistry and given the situation I thought things progressed believable, although I did think Starr changed her mind a bit quickly. The romance is very low on drama and conflict, which fit the kind of read I was in the mood for. You could say things got resolved a bit quickly, but I thought it was refreshing not to have things blown out of proportion and the characters actually talked things through after their initial reaction.
Starr and Torg were so fun together. I liked reading about them getting to know the other and learning about the other their planet and customs. There's a fun misunderstanding at first when Torg doesn't understand the wording of something Starr says and a few differences between their cultures that cause some funny situations.
While the focus is on the romance, I did like that the author also spend some time building the world of Dakon and how she gave the reader a feel for the planet and it's people. There's still some things left open, but I am hoping this might become a series as I would love to read more books in this universe. I could visualize the planet Dakon well and I enjoyed learning a bit about how they lived and what caused their current situation. I only was a bit mixed about the direction things took at the end. Not sure why, but it didn't set quite well with me. I do understand it was a good change for them, but at the same time it felt like it changed their whole way of living.
To summarize: This was a fun read that grabbed my attention from page one. It's well written and nicely paced. I enjoyed reading about Starr and Torg. They have chemistry and while their romance developed a bit quickly I didn't mind too much as I could feel their connection and how much they cared about each other. There are quite some hot scenes, but very little drama and conflict. There are some fun situation caused by cultural differences or misunderstandings which were fun to read. And I like how the author took a bit of time to describe the planet Dakon and give us a feel for it's people. I had a lot of fun reading this one and plan to pick up more of Cara Bristol's books in the future. I would recommend this book if you're looking for a fun and hot alien sci-fi romance book.
This book was such a fun read! I had read one of Care Bristol her short stories in the anthology Pets in Space and had been planning to pick up one of her full length books, so when I saw this one on netgalley I couldn't resist requesting it. Alien Mate is basically a mail-order bride plot line set in space. Terran decided to solve one of their problems and gain some valuable mineral they need. They sent some convicted females to Dakon who had a female shortage and gain the mineral in exchange.
I really liked the concept for this one, it made for a fun set-up for a story and I enjoyed seeing how things played out. From the first chapter it grabbed my attention and I just wanted to keep reading. It's an enjoyable read, well written and paced nicely. There is a bit of mystery surrounding Starr's past, what she has done and why she's sent to Dakon, while the others had a choice in the matter. Then there is a good romance between Star and Torg. Getting to know an alien planet and there are a few interesting plot twists at the end as well.
Starr and Torg literally come from different worlds, but when they meet sparks fly. Their romance develops quickly, but I didn't mind. I could feel their connection and chemistry and given the situation I thought things progressed believable, although I did think Starr changed her mind a bit quickly. The romance is very low on drama and conflict, which fit the kind of read I was in the mood for. You could say things got resolved a bit quickly, but I thought it was refreshing not to have things blown out of proportion and the characters actually talked things through after their initial reaction.
Starr and Torg were so fun together. I liked reading about them getting to know the other and learning about the other their planet and customs. There's a fun misunderstanding at first when Torg doesn't understand the wording of something Starr says and a few differences between their cultures that cause some funny situations.
While the focus is on the romance, I did like that the author also spend some time building the world of Dakon and how she gave the reader a feel for the planet and it's people. There's still some things left open, but I am hoping this might become a series as I would love to read more books in this universe. I could visualize the planet Dakon well and I enjoyed learning a bit about how they lived and what caused their current situation. I only was a bit mixed about the direction things took at the end. Not sure why, but it didn't set quite well with me. I do understand it was a good change for them, but at the same time it felt like it changed their whole way of living.
To summarize: This was a fun read that grabbed my attention from page one. It's well written and nicely paced. I enjoyed reading about Starr and Torg. They have chemistry and while their romance developed a bit quickly I didn't mind too much as I could feel their connection and how much they cared about each other. There are quite some hot scenes, but very little drama and conflict. There are some fun situation caused by cultural differences or misunderstandings which were fun to read. And I like how the author took a bit of time to describe the planet Dakon and give us a feel for it's people. I had a lot of fun reading this one and plan to pick up more of Cara Bristol's books in the future. I would recommend this book if you're looking for a fun and hot alien sci-fi romance book.
55_sallymander's review against another edition
2.0
Unfortunately, this was an okay story, I simply didn't care for the vulgarity coursing through the pages. Deleted from my library.
raven168's review against another edition
3.0
This was a pretty good book overall, but because of the shortness everything was rushed.
I mostly liked the characters. Torg was such a sweet guy, but I know that stems from how the women there are treated like treasures seeing how there's so few. Still, he was a good guy with honor and skills. Starr was kinda just a normal girl who totally got screwed in life. She was easy enough to relate to as well.
Starr has been forced to go to Dakon when she's convicted of murder, one she swears up and down she did not commit. I would have liked to have gotten what went down with that from the beginning. It would have made sense and not made me keep wondering what the hell actually happened. Instead we're told about it toward the end, and it's not like she was even telling anybody. She was just thinking about it. Anyway. So while she's on this spaceship unwillingly, all the other female criminals chose to go to this new planet and become some dude's mate without really knowing anything of the planet or the people.
Torg is the chief of his clan on this freezing planet. An asteroid hit them a long time ago and wiped out pretty much everything, so they're kinda living in the stone age again. It also decimated the female population. There are so few being born that their civilization will soon be facing extinction. That's where the human women come in. In exchange for some rocks that power tons of things on Terra, the people of Dakon want women. Torg is one of them. He's so excited to have actually won a chit and 3rd choice of the women for his own. But do to an issue at his camp, he was late. Very late. And Starr is the only girl left.
With Torg's first reaction to Starr, I found it rather ridiculous that he started falling for her on their trek back to his camp. To me it just seemed he so desperately wanted a mate that he was going to love whoever he got. As for Starr, she was determined to appeal her case and go back home. She didn't want to get to know her "mate" and especially didn't want to fall for him. When she starts talking about loving the guy and getting used to life there, I really thought a decent amount of time had passed. A couple months at least, but no. It was only two weeks. Oh, did I forget to mention that she sleeps with Torg mere hours after her decision to not sleep with the one to claim and take her? Amazing how a hot body and nice words can change her mind so fast!
Things actually go rather well for the two of them for a while. But then tons of stuff goes bad fast. Starr almost gets killed and Torg gets hurt. The village whore starts riling the people up when she hears of Starr's conviction (murder is very much frowned upon there) and demands her to be kicked out. Torg has to fight for Starr's safety as well as his leadership. And then of course, it turns out that there are assassins there that slipped onto the ship to kill Starr. One closer than she ever could have imagined.
The ending was incredibly unbelievable what with why Starr was sent there, what her and another girl she befriended do, and the amount of progress to bring Dakon up to the current times was made in only a short amount of time. The only thing really believable was what Starr pointed out about the agreement between the two planets not going to end well at all sooner rather than later. I'll give her props for helping to avoid that fallout. It all ends well with Starr's happily ever after.
It might sound like I had a lot of issues with this book, and maybe I did. But I do think it was mainly because of the length. I think if things could have progressed more naturally rather than all at once, it would have better. Still. Like I said, I did enjoy it. Who wouldn't want a hot, insatiable male that loves her and takes care of her that much?
ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.
I mostly liked the characters. Torg was such a sweet guy, but I know that stems from how the women there are treated like treasures seeing how there's so few. Still, he was a good guy with honor and skills. Starr was kinda just a normal girl who totally got screwed in life. She was easy enough to relate to as well.
Starr has been forced to go to Dakon when she's convicted of murder, one she swears up and down she did not commit. I would have liked to have gotten what went down with that from the beginning. It would have made sense and not made me keep wondering what the hell actually happened. Instead we're told about it toward the end, and it's not like she was even telling anybody. She was just thinking about it. Anyway. So while she's on this spaceship unwillingly, all the other female criminals chose to go to this new planet and become some dude's mate without really knowing anything of the planet or the people.
Torg is the chief of his clan on this freezing planet. An asteroid hit them a long time ago and wiped out pretty much everything, so they're kinda living in the stone age again. It also decimated the female population. There are so few being born that their civilization will soon be facing extinction. That's where the human women come in. In exchange for some rocks that power tons of things on Terra, the people of Dakon want women. Torg is one of them. He's so excited to have actually won a chit and 3rd choice of the women for his own. But do to an issue at his camp, he was late. Very late. And Starr is the only girl left.
With Torg's first reaction to Starr, I found it rather ridiculous that he started falling for her on their trek back to his camp. To me it just seemed he so desperately wanted a mate that he was going to love whoever he got. As for Starr, she was determined to appeal her case and go back home. She didn't want to get to know her "mate" and especially didn't want to fall for him. When she starts talking about loving the guy and getting used to life there, I really thought a decent amount of time had passed. A couple months at least, but no. It was only two weeks. Oh, did I forget to mention that she sleeps with Torg mere hours after her decision to not sleep with the one to claim and take her? Amazing how a hot body and nice words can change her mind so fast!
Things actually go rather well for the two of them for a while. But then tons of stuff goes bad fast. Starr almost gets killed and Torg gets hurt. The village whore starts riling the people up when she hears of Starr's conviction (murder is very much frowned upon there) and demands her to be kicked out. Torg has to fight for Starr's safety as well as his leadership. And then of course, it turns out that there are assassins there that slipped onto the ship to kill Starr. One closer than she ever could have imagined.
The ending was incredibly unbelievable what with why Starr was sent there, what her and another girl she befriended do, and the amount of progress to bring Dakon up to the current times was made in only a short amount of time. The only thing really believable was what Starr pointed out about the agreement between the two planets not going to end well at all sooner rather than later. I'll give her props for helping to avoid that fallout. It all ends well with Starr's happily ever after.
It might sound like I had a lot of issues with this book, and maybe I did. But I do think it was mainly because of the length. I think if things could have progressed more naturally rather than all at once, it would have better. Still. Like I said, I did enjoy it. Who wouldn't want a hot, insatiable male that loves her and takes care of her that much?
ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.
dragonlady91's review against another edition
5.0
Great book!
I'm really becoming obsessed with this genre and this was such a well written book! I can't wait to read more from this author.
I'm really becoming obsessed with this genre and this was such a well written book! I can't wait to read more from this author.
athene_srq's review against another edition
3.0
Starr wrongly convicted and sent to a bride program on a frozen plant Torg the chieftain gets stuck with her. It gets kind of sappy/ predictable in the middle. 3- 3 1/2 stars.
skyclad's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
amyiw's review against another edition
2.0
This was OK to good but had a TSTL ending that just bumped it down for me. I did like that the new negotiations were handled by the women. They had the knowledge of what the ore value was and what was most needed for the planet. Still, it was a bit a silly fluff. Something about the writing just irked me and made me think it a bit juvenile which being what it is should not be a problem. Others I read this with thought it was pretty fun, so it might just be me.
audiobookmel's review against another edition
4.0
Review originally posted at RabidReads.ca.
I first heard of this book with reviews from both Lola and Sophia, who are both better at reading and reviewing close to release date. That allowed me to be able to still request this book from NetGalley. I’m so glad that I did, because I found this book to be very sweet and fun.
The story starts with Starr Connor getting convicted of killing Jaxon Carmichael. She swears it was self defense and that she didn’t hit him that hard. However, the Carmichaels are a very powerful family. Starr is quickly sentenced and shuttled to a ship headed for another planet. She quickly learns that she is the only woman who didn’t volunteer for this trip. These women convicts were offered to live free as mates on an alien planet instead of living behind bars on Earth. Starr wasn’t given this offer, just forced onto the ship.
Dakon is a primitive planet. It used to have more modern conveniences, but was struck by an asteroid, which killed all of their technology and even drastically changed their weather. Now, the planet is much like Antarctica. Right after the asteroid hit, they were in perpetual winter for a while, but now they have some summer. They lost most of their population and pretty much all the women (they think a virus was on the asteroid that affected only affected the women). Dakon is rich in an illuvian ore, which Earth uses to power its technology. So the planets agreed on a trade.
Starr quickly becomes friends with two girls on the ship, Tessa and Andrea. Once they arrive on the new planet, the women are lined up and the men select their mates based on a lottery. Torg was third in line to pick, but as clan chief, he had some matters to deal with before he could head to find his mate. When he arrives, he gets the only woman that was left. She was nothing like he expected. She is small and blonde (the Dakonian women are large and darker skinned and hair color).
This was a fun story. Even those these two were complete opposites, they quickly come together. Starr make me mad when she’s thinking about nothing but getting home and fighting her case (which for that I don’t blame her), but she then continues to move the relationship forward. She even encourages sex with Torg (which she shouldn’t have done if she wanted to still go home). As this is a romance, I will say that it isn’t a spoiler that she ends up not wanting to leave in the end, so she doesn’t break his heart, but she didn’t know that when pushed things along.
There is also some suspense in this story. There is a Dakonian woman, Icha, who is used to the men falling all over her because she is one of the few women left on the planet. She likes to cause trouble. I was not a fan. Then there are booby traps that were set up. So there is the search for who did it.
This is a quick read, but a lot of fun. I like how Starr and Torg work to overcome their differences to become a couple. You see the cultural differences between the two. I liked seeing Starr taking an interest in learning to read and write in their language (she had a oral translator implanted, so speaking wasn’t an issue, though some words and phrases didn’t translate well). I would’ve like to see her try to learn more like making fires, cooking and other things like that. Her friends took to those tasks quickly.
I don’t know if there will be more books set in this world, but I would be up to reading them. I’m also going to look into more books by this author. She has another (that I also remember Lola reviewing), called Pets in Space. How cool does that sound??
**Book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley. This review is my opinion and was not requested or provoked in anyway.
I first heard of this book with reviews from both Lola and Sophia, who are both better at reading and reviewing close to release date. That allowed me to be able to still request this book from NetGalley. I’m so glad that I did, because I found this book to be very sweet and fun.
The story starts with Starr Connor getting convicted of killing Jaxon Carmichael. She swears it was self defense and that she didn’t hit him that hard. However, the Carmichaels are a very powerful family. Starr is quickly sentenced and shuttled to a ship headed for another planet. She quickly learns that she is the only woman who didn’t volunteer for this trip. These women convicts were offered to live free as mates on an alien planet instead of living behind bars on Earth. Starr wasn’t given this offer, just forced onto the ship.
Dakon is a primitive planet. It used to have more modern conveniences, but was struck by an asteroid, which killed all of their technology and even drastically changed their weather. Now, the planet is much like Antarctica. Right after the asteroid hit, they were in perpetual winter for a while, but now they have some summer. They lost most of their population and pretty much all the women (they think a virus was on the asteroid that affected only affected the women). Dakon is rich in an illuvian ore, which Earth uses to power its technology. So the planets agreed on a trade.
Starr quickly becomes friends with two girls on the ship, Tessa and Andrea. Once they arrive on the new planet, the women are lined up and the men select their mates based on a lottery. Torg was third in line to pick, but as clan chief, he had some matters to deal with before he could head to find his mate. When he arrives, he gets the only woman that was left. She was nothing like he expected. She is small and blonde (the Dakonian women are large and darker skinned and hair color).
This was a fun story. Even those these two were complete opposites, they quickly come together. Starr make me mad when she’s thinking about nothing but getting home and fighting her case (which for that I don’t blame her), but she then continues to move the relationship forward. She even encourages sex with Torg (which she shouldn’t have done if she wanted to still go home). As this is a romance, I will say that it isn’t a spoiler that she ends up not wanting to leave in the end, so she doesn’t break his heart, but she didn’t know that when pushed things along.
There is also some suspense in this story. There is a Dakonian woman, Icha, who is used to the men falling all over her because she is one of the few women left on the planet. She likes to cause trouble. I was not a fan. Then there are booby traps that were set up. So there is the search for who did it.
This is a quick read, but a lot of fun. I like how Starr and Torg work to overcome their differences to become a couple. You see the cultural differences between the two. I liked seeing Starr taking an interest in learning to read and write in their language (she had a oral translator implanted, so speaking wasn’t an issue, though some words and phrases didn’t translate well). I would’ve like to see her try to learn more like making fires, cooking and other things like that. Her friends took to those tasks quickly.
I don’t know if there will be more books set in this world, but I would be up to reading them. I’m also going to look into more books by this author. She has another (that I also remember Lola reviewing), called Pets in Space. How cool does that sound??
**Book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley. This review is my opinion and was not requested or provoked in anyway.
bodebeabay's review against another edition
3.0
[b:Alien Mate|34532149|Alien Mate (Alien Mate #1)|Cara Bristol|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1489247765s/34532149.jpg|55669404] by [a:Cara Bristol|4136271|Cara Bristol|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1536502017p2/4136271.jpg]
Genres; Adult, Romance, Sci-fi
3.5 Stars
Interesting story. There are various errors. From sentence structure, grammar and typos.
Not a lot, but the ones there make you stop and go back to reread what you just read.
Some of it is a bit boring and repetitive.
However, Torg, his culture and planet are interesting.
Starr and the other women from Earth seem relatively smart and strong.
There are some smile and grin moments.
The intimate scenes are adult, sweet & steamy.
There is some suspense and action.
All in all it was worth reading & I will continue to the next book in the series. The way this one left off has my curiosity peaked on how things will change on Torg's world.
Genres; Adult, Romance, Sci-fi
3.5 Stars
Interesting story. There are various errors. From sentence structure, grammar and typos.
Not a lot, but the ones there make you stop and go back to reread what you just read.
Some of it is a bit boring and repetitive.
However, Torg, his culture and planet are interesting.
Starr and the other women from Earth seem relatively smart and strong.
There are some smile and grin moments.
The intimate scenes are adult, sweet & steamy.
There is some suspense and action.
All in all it was worth reading & I will continue to the next book in the series. The way this one left off has my curiosity peaked on how things will change on Torg's world.
lyshreads's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A quick fun read with a couple of surprises.