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A review by simply_sam
Starkissed by Phil Rickman
3.0
***3.5 stars (0.5 stars for our alien)***
So this was a toss-up between a "meh" 3 and a "liked it" 4 star rating.
On one hand I loved that there was an actual alien alien male MC and not just some human+ -you know, human but with some extra special features like really cool tattoos or glowing eyes. To quote another alien enthusiast, "Aliens do it better." That's the way alien smut, or in this case rather, alien lurrrve stories should be.
I'm not doing a big plot rehash. It pretty says it all in the book blurb. Leith temporarily assumes command of the family business while her dad is sick. While conducting a transaction with a Zi warrior, or THE Zi warrior J'Quir, her father's trusted second in command, Steve, goes rogue, locks up Leith and J'Quir, double sells the merchandise to another group, and then dumps Leith and J'Quir on an uninhabited planet, to live out their days, however many that may be. You can guess how the rest of the story goes. They only have each other, possibly for the rest of their lives. They learn how to survive and inevitably grow closer. Sparks fly, then some ho-hum "super nova"ing occurs (apparently "super nova" has been used to describe sexual climax-I found that funny).
Doesn't sound half bad, right? And it wasn't, not really...
BUT J'Quir's (Jah-Keer) sibilant speech made it hard to continue reading. It was ssso dissstracting. It added nothing to the story line or dialogue of the characters. It would have been a much better reading experience had Leith, our female MC, made a mental observation of the long, drawn out s's instead of the author continually triple s-ing everything. And, to top it off, rather than him adopting more of Leith's speech nuances, Leith caught herself drawing out her s's too. Ahhhhh!! So. Friggin. Annoying. No that he spoke that way, only that the author actually typed it that way. Sigh. Moving on.
Aside from his distracting speech, J'Quir was supposed to be "The Warrior" of his people (which really means caretaker) yet he didn't know how to start a fire? Because on his planet they used mined rocks that when shaken produce an exothermic reaction? Yeah...that seems much more likely. Let's use the people, time, and resources to mine deep within the earth to produce rock that can be used ONE TIME to make heat. That's makes perfect sense. Hmmm..
And Leith and her fits she threw playing games. I'm a mature 21 year old, really I am. Just don't beat me at tic-tac-toe, or checkers, or mess up "row, row, row your boat." If you do I will go all 5 year old on your ass and swipe the game board away or stop singing the song and pout the whole time while doing it. It won't be my fault either, it's yours because your brain works differently, ie better, than mine.
So maybe it sounds like I didn't like the book. I read it in 2 days, so that has to mean something. I really in all actuality liked J'Quir and I didn't hate Leith. I liked the whole "just you and me, marooned on a deserted planet, must survive" deal it had going on. I mean, I like a plot and drama to go along with my alien sexy times (though this kind of fell flat in that area-just saying). But when I finished, there wasn't the satisfaction I normally feel when I've read a book that I like. I just felt, "Eh. I'm done. Time for something else."
This gets a 3-ssstar rating.
BR with the MacHalo ladies starting August 28, 2015.
Because with a cover like that it's bound to be....good?
So this was a toss-up between a "meh" 3 and a "liked it" 4 star rating.
On one hand I loved that there was an actual alien alien male MC and not just some human+ -you know, human but with some extra special features like really cool tattoos or glowing eyes. To quote another alien enthusiast, "Aliens do it better." That's the way alien smut, or in this case rather, alien lurrrve stories should be.
I'm not doing a big plot rehash. It pretty says it all in the book blurb. Leith temporarily assumes command of the family business while her dad is sick. While conducting a transaction with a Zi warrior, or THE Zi warrior J'Quir, her father's trusted second in command, Steve, goes rogue, locks up Leith and J'Quir, double sells the merchandise to another group, and then dumps Leith and J'Quir on an uninhabited planet, to live out their days, however many that may be. You can guess how the rest of the story goes. They only have each other, possibly for the rest of their lives. They learn how to survive and inevitably grow closer. Sparks fly, then some ho-hum "super nova"ing occurs (apparently "super nova" has been used to describe sexual climax-I found that funny).
Doesn't sound half bad, right? And it wasn't, not really...
BUT J'Quir's (Jah-Keer) sibilant speech made it hard to continue reading. It was ssso dissstracting. It added nothing to the story line or dialogue of the characters. It would have been a much better reading experience had Leith, our female MC, made a mental observation of the long, drawn out s's instead of the author continually triple s-ing everything. And, to top it off, rather than him adopting more of Leith's speech nuances, Leith caught herself drawing out her s's too. Ahhhhh!! So. Friggin. Annoying. No that he spoke that way, only that the author actually typed it that way. Sigh. Moving on.
Aside from his distracting speech, J'Quir was supposed to be "The Warrior" of his people (which really means caretaker) yet he didn't know how to start a fire? Because on his planet they used mined rocks that when shaken produce an exothermic reaction? Yeah...that seems much more likely. Let's use the people, time, and resources to mine deep within the earth to produce rock that can be used ONE TIME to make heat. That's makes perfect sense. Hmmm..
And Leith and her fits she threw playing games. I'm a mature 21 year old, really I am. Just don't beat me at tic-tac-toe, or checkers, or mess up "row, row, row your boat." If you do I will go all 5 year old on your ass and swipe the game board away or stop singing the song and pout the whole time while doing it. It won't be my fault either, it's yours because your brain works differently, ie better, than mine.
So maybe it sounds like I didn't like the book. I read it in 2 days, so that has to mean something. I really in all actuality liked J'Quir and I didn't hate Leith. I liked the whole "just you and me, marooned on a deserted planet, must survive" deal it had going on. I mean, I like a plot and drama to go along with my alien sexy times (though this kind of fell flat in that area-just saying). But when I finished, there wasn't the satisfaction I normally feel when I've read a book that I like. I just felt, "Eh. I'm done. Time for something else."
This gets a 3-ssstar rating.
BR with the MacHalo ladies starting August 28, 2015.
Because with a cover like that it's bound to be....good?