I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoy the premise of this book. Our heroine had been going into space to study new frontiers when something went wrong and she wound up captured and sold as a slave on an alien planet. Our hero is on the same alien planet and is working undercover to thwart the morally reprehensible slave trade and its perpetrators. This is a fated mates trope.
I think the book could have baked just a tiny bit longer in the oven to come out fuller. There were words that the alien used that felt very earth like with no explanation how they knew them. The heroine mentions she’s an academic scientist multiple times and talks about how she wants to write a paper about her experience. Calm down lady - we get it, you’re educated, cool. I only need to be told that 1 maybe 2 times after that it feels like a shallow personality trait or that she’s fixated on it and a little full of herself.
As I said this is fated mates. Our hero has these magical arm tattoos that recognize her as his fated mate and he starts to feel emotions again because the males of his species lose the ability to experience emotion without a mate. Again seriously fascinating concept. Love it. However for a fated mates situation there’s almost too much autonomy in thinking through the developing relationship - to the point that then the I love yous feel a bit unearned because if there had not been all the over thinking then the not talking about it wouldn’t have mattered because we could have gone the route of fated mate = auto love - great, makes sense.
These are my little quibbles. I am certain many will find it a very enjoyable read and I enjoyed it myself. It almost felt like a pilot episode of a new show that you know is going to be good but the first episode up is just a little rough around the edges. I do want to know what happens next for the other unfeeling aliens. Do they find their mates in time?
Trigger warnings - parent death, sister death, torture, slavery. Open door and high steam.
4/5
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