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emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-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:
Complicated
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars rounded up because I’m a sucker for Risdaverse
I adore Ruby Dixon's characters and I spend so much of my reading time with her books smiling like an idiot and wanting to hug the hell out of these humans and aliens. Maeve (h) and Zhur (H) were no exception. I loved that Maeve was an extrovert and a people person and how in the author's note, Ruby said that she had Maeve do the opposite of what she would do in a situation lol. Maeve arranges to have a cat brought to Risda III to ease some loneliness and instead she gets a cat man, who's essentially royalty running from a coup.
Zhur is a spoiled brat with no real world skills and thinks Maeve's his servant at first. As frustrating as he was initially (though hilarious), I adored Zhur as he had some hard truths presented to him and as he grew to be a lovely partner for Maeve. In addition to adjusting to each other and figuring out what their circumstances are, Maeve and Zhur spend time managing Maeve's farm, socializing some, and eventually they get to the nitty gritty of what Zhur is hiding from and what he wants to do. Written in first person, dual POV. No ow/om drama and neither are virgins (h had been celibate for years due to her abduction/captivity and lack of options on Risda; unsure how long it'd been for H and sex was more casual for him, there are some brief thoughts of his past experience but he also thinks several times how different h is for him).
Zhur and Maeve do have a slow burn to their relationship, which fits their unusual beginning. Their transition from awkward forced proximity to lovers was bumpy at first, but once they got going, they heated up the pages. Zhur was dedicated to figuring out what worked for Maeve and learning about his human. The physical intimacy also doesn't take the place of the emotional intimacy that continued to develop between them. Since Zhur's a Praxiian, he's also got some cultural norms that have popped up in other books, but are always funny when the human women are surprised.
I did feel that this story dragged at times and, as a friend's review points out as well, this is likely because it was written in a serial format and initially was published weekly. So some of the parts that may not have been as smooth for me, may have been perfectly fine if I'd been reading every week (also, just FYI, apparently you can interact with others on those weekly serials when Ruby Dixon does them and that's just so cool). This is still written really well and is engaging, it was just too long for me personally and I did find my focus shifting at times. It's still Risdaverse and wonderful.
Any time we get updates on past characters, esp as they have babies, I eat that up and there're multiple updates in this book. I now want to reread some books because of those snippets. There are side characters who haven't gotten their HEA yet who also get some page time and who'll apparently be getting their own stories at some point. Sometimes the mentions of side characters confused me, I wasn't sure if some had been in stories I didn't read or were brand new, but a couple really stood out. I also really want to know what's going on with Zhur's brother and the situation he had going on. Just like with her other series, Ruby finds ways to expand that feel natural and spark curiosity.
When Zhur figures out what he wants to do about the throne he's been ousted from, he does make a decision that I didn't love. I did love that Maeve was never afraid to scheme and put herself out there so it's resolved quickly and led to some excellent scenes though. The ending is them in their HEA with an epilogue three years later that had me completely satisfied and staring at my kindle with heart eyes.
I adore Ruby Dixon's characters and I spend so much of my reading time with her books smiling like an idiot and wanting to hug the hell out of these humans and aliens. Maeve (h) and Zhur (H) were no exception. I loved that Maeve was an extrovert and a people person and how in the author's note, Ruby said that she had Maeve do the opposite of what she would do in a situation lol. Maeve arranges to have a cat brought to Risda III to ease some loneliness and instead she gets a cat man, who's essentially royalty running from a coup.
Zhur is a spoiled brat with no real world skills and thinks Maeve's his servant at first. As frustrating as he was initially (though hilarious), I adored Zhur as he had some hard truths presented to him and as he grew to be a lovely partner for Maeve. In addition to adjusting to each other and figuring out what their circumstances are, Maeve and Zhur spend time managing Maeve's farm, socializing some, and eventually they get to the nitty gritty of what Zhur is hiding from and what he wants to do. Written in first person, dual POV. No ow/om drama and neither are virgins (h had been celibate for years due to her abduction/captivity and lack of options on Risda; unsure how long it'd been for H and sex was more casual for him, there are some brief thoughts of his past experience but he also thinks several times how different h is for him).
Zhur and Maeve do have a slow burn to their relationship, which fits their unusual beginning. Their transition from awkward forced proximity to lovers was bumpy at first, but once they got going, they heated up the pages. Zhur was dedicated to figuring out what worked for Maeve and learning about his human. The physical intimacy also doesn't take the place of the emotional intimacy that continued to develop between them. Since Zhur's a Praxiian, he's also got some cultural norms that have popped up in other books, but are always funny when the human women are surprised.
I did feel that this story dragged at times and, as a friend's review points out as well, this is likely because it was written in a serial format and initially was published weekly. So some of the parts that may not have been as smooth for me, may have been perfectly fine if I'd been reading every week (also, just FYI, apparently you can interact with others on those weekly serials when Ruby Dixon does them and that's just so cool). This is still written really well and is engaging, it was just too long for me personally and I did find my focus shifting at times. It's still Risdaverse and wonderful.
Any time we get updates on past characters, esp as they have babies, I eat that up and there're multiple updates in this book. I now want to reread some books because of those snippets. There are side characters who haven't gotten their HEA yet who also get some page time and who'll apparently be getting their own stories at some point. Sometimes the mentions of side characters confused me, I wasn't sure if some had been in stories I didn't read or were brand new, but a couple really stood out. I also really want to know what's going on with Zhur's brother and the situation he had going on. Just like with her other series, Ruby finds ways to expand that feel natural and spark curiosity.
When Zhur figures out what he wants to do about the throne he's been ousted from, he does make a decision that I didn't love. I did love that Maeve was never afraid to scheme and put herself out there so it's resolved quickly and led to some excellent scenes though. The ending is them in their HEA with an epilogue three years later that had me completely satisfied and staring at my kindle with heart eyes.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
LOVE THIS SERIES
Just read all the books in this series. They are all great stories.
I did love this one bc of Maeve and Zhurs banter was amazing and hilarious.
Just read all the books in this series. They are all great stories.
I did love this one bc of Maeve and Zhurs banter was amazing and hilarious.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not my most fav could’ve been a bit shorter. But this is my fav Ruby Dixon series so far.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced