Grabbed By Vicious by Lolita Lopez (Grabbed #1)

Available: Now Amazon/B&N

Type: Sci Fi Erotic Romance

Publisher: Ellora’s Cave

My Copy: Sent

Reviewer: Nikki

Hallie has never run so fast in her life. One of the frightening sky warriors from the warship Valiant is hot on her heels and intent on capturing her as his new bride. He takes her down and places his collar around her neck. With one word, he claims her.

Mine.

Born and bred for the military, Vicious has spent the last twenty-four years rising through the ranks. This dark-haired sprite ensnared him with one glance. Now she is his reward.

Despite her fear of Vicious, Hallie surrenders under his skillful hands and mouth. Vicious makes a promise to her. If she’ll submit to him, she’ll know only pleasure and comfort. After a lifetime of hardship, his offer tempts her greatly.

One night with Hallie and Vicious feels his protective instincts flaring. He’ll do anything to make her happy and keep her safe, even if that means surrendering his heart. Though he intended to master her, Vicious realizes it may be his sweet Hallie who masters him.

Inside Scoop: Our heroine endures trials and violence with strength equal to that of her warrior mate. (She also witnesses F/F play, and endures a collar and light BDSM. Fortunately she likes that part.)

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Grabbed By Vicious is Lolita Lopez’s new sci fi erotic romance and the first in her “Grabbed” series. Lopez is a new to me author but after some research I see she’s a quite established author with a nice size backlist. When I read the back cover copy for the book it jumped out at me. I’ve been glomming sci fi erotic alien romances lately and this one fit right into my cravings.

Vicious is a very decorated member of his military and he’s decided it’s time for him to take a human mate. He finds himself surprised that the mating he chooses is a small female that seems to be bursting with attitude. To take her he must first best her in a chase. If she reaches the finish line she earns her freedom. If not, she becomes his in every way.

Hallie just wants to leave her pathetic planet and be free from everyone. A rough upbringing and horror stories about the aliens make her shy away from Vicious and what she views as his barbaric ways. She soon finds he is more then meets the eye and that their ways of living aren’t quite so different.

I really liked Hallie and Vicious together and thought they were well suited for each other. Even though Vicious is a trained leader and can be lethal at a moments notice, he goes out of his way to make Hallie feel comfortable with her new surroundings. A virginal heroine is never at the top of my must read list but it seemed to work okay in this one. The village Hallie was from seemed to be filled with asshats of epic proportions who went out of their way to make her life hell. Not that her home life was any better with a abusive father and brothers who looked the other way. Vicious spends a great deal of time assuring her he can be trusted and trying to figure out what she needs from him. As an erotic romance I expected the sex to be scorching, frequent and explicit. While I didn’t really find it inventive, it was everything else and I enjoyed every intergalactic minute of it.

Lopez introduces readers to a man who I really hope has the next book. Terror, Vicious’ best friend, is simply an AWESOME character. Tall, broad, scarred and full of supreme alpha-ness, I loved him! He seems to hide a lot of his emotions behind a surly attitude so it will be interesting to see him become unraveled over a woman. His presence in the book made the story line branch out a bit more then what I normally find in an erotic romance. I liked that Lopez went the extra mile to add in a longer, more evolved plot then just sex.

As far as dislikes I could say the same thing I say about all of these romances. There isn’t much variation between them. The story lines all kind of run together in these alien books and yet I still enjoy them. I still jump at the chance to read them. They easily pass the time and Lolita Lopez is no different. It’s hot, it’s well written and she’s definitely and author I would pick up again.

I give Grabbed By Vicious by Lolita Lopez 3.50 stars! 

Alien Vs. Alien by Gini Koch (Kitty Katt #6)

Available: Now Amazon/B&N

Type: Sci- Fi

Publisher: DAW

My Copy: Bought

Reviewer: Nikki

Jeff and Kitty Katt-Martini and the rest of the American Centaurion Diplomatic Corps are still recovering from their introduction to Washington D.C. politics, parties, and conspiracies. So when compromising pictures arrive, no one’s too surprised. They’re also the least of anyone’s worries.

Evil androids running amok, birds of all kinds and from all places creating havoc, a Senator trapped in an ever-tightening web of intrigue, and escalating international tensions all seem tough but manageable. But the disappearance of Jeff Martini and Charles Reynolds during the International One World Festival signals more than the usual nastiness — and it looks like even ACE can’t help them.

Then new trouble arrives in old packages and even with the best hackers in the world, beings from near and far, the full might of Earth’s military, and the Wonder Twins on their side, Centaurion Division’s outmanned and outgunned.

Now Kitty’s racing against the clock to find not only Jeff and Chuckie, but to keep the peace between Middle Eastern countries, all while searching for the bases of super-soldier operations — to stop them or die trying.

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Kitty is back in book six to the wildly popular sci-fi Kitty Katt series! It has had its ups and downs certainly, with the last book being my least favorite, but through it all I have stuck around because of the infectious energy Gini Koch brings to the page. Alien Vs. Alien brings the readers back into the fold as yet another conspiracy intent on taking over the aliens and the world immanently threatens.

The last book found Kitty inheriting some powers of her own that seemed to be left over from her pregnancy with Jamie. Growing into those powers proved to be a lot to handle but in Alien Vs. Alien Kitty is finally learning the art of control and not a moment to soon. Bad guys…old and new…are showing up and setting their sights on Kitty and those she loves. As always Kitty seems to have a neon blinking sign above her head that says “KILL ME” and even though both Jeff and Chuckie try their best to keep her out of harms way, Kitty always manages to be right in the middle of all the trouble. Usually accompanied by some crazy action sequences that leaves even the best  movie director crying in shame at his inadequacies, and Kitty’s epic sassy mouth. I swear, things come out of that womans mouth that leave me chuckling page after page.  She is definitely not your typical heroine because in the end, along with Chuckie, Kitty is the one figuring things out and ensuring everyone around her is kept safe and sound. That includes a whole host of secondary characters who I have grown to really love. There is a ton and at times that many characters can be overwhelming….in fact it’s both my favorite part and my biggest gripe. I love each and every one but I feel like there should be a published cliff notes version of these books too. They all have their function and without them solving conspiracies would be a lot harder for Kitty.

The best part? Chuckie is getting him some BOOT-AY! I was incredibly happy at the progression his character takes in this book. The first few books found him forlorn and incredibly protective of Kitty. He had been in love with her for so long, unbeknownst to her, and when Jeff entered the picture early on, Chuckie had a hard time dealing with it. While they are still the very best of friends, it’s nice to see him moving on from her and finally knowing true happiness. Well as much happiness as one can fell while people are trying to kill you anyway.

My problem with book five, Alien Proliferation, was the mass confusion (and not the quirky fun kind) and its lack of action. I quickly lost interest in that one and had an extremely hard time finishing it. I found Alien Vs. Alien brought the fun back to the series and I am looking forward to seeing where else Koch can take us! Do not try and read this book without reading the entire series. Trust me on this one. You’ll be lost on page one and it won’t get better.

Gini Koch fans can expect the same engaging writing, one liners and cray-cray characters they have come to love from the Kitty Katt series. Alien Vs. Alien is a true sci-fi winner!

I give Alien Vs. Alien by Gini Koch 4 stars! 

Surrender by Sue Lyndon (Alien Warrior #1)

Available: Now Amazon/B&N

Type: Sci Fi Erotic Romance

Publisher: Etopia Press

My Copy: Sent

Reviewer: Nikki

Love with the enemy can be the ultimate surrender…

Fiona Lockhart struggles to survive after Earth is conquered by powerful aliens. She knows it’s only a matter of time before her schizophrenic mother acts out at the wrong time and place and brings down the wrath of their captors. So when turncoats offer Fiona a way to keep her mother safe, she can’t refuse—even though it means marrying a Kall warrior and posing as the First Daughter, Betsy Carson.

Kall warrior Merokk has mixed feelings about marrying a human woman, but it’s his duty and he can’t refuse. He enjoys taming the headstrong Betsy, and a good spanking now and then makes the passion burn. The sex is sizzling, and as the months pass, Merokk discovers the feelings for his little wife run deep. But when he learns of her deceit after the real Betsy Carson surfaces, Merokk’s new world shatters. Can he learn to forgive Fiona, or will he spend the rest of their lives punishing her for a crime she never wanted to commit?

Forced to pose as the First Daughter in order to save her mother, Fiona vows to never fall in love with the alien warrior she has been betrothed to. What she doesn’t expect is how quickly her body betrays her and warms instantly to the enemy. Merrok’s body fits perfectly with her own and his taste for bdsm makes her continually crave his touch. But will Merrok still love her when he finds out who she really is?

Sue Lyndon excels at the smut fest and now she can add sci fi to her repertoire. I enjoyed this for what it was, a short, erotic read based 95% on sexy times and 5% on story. Because there isn’t much of a story with this one. Aliens have come to earth and won in a brutal war. As peace is being restored an elite number of Kall warriors are being married to human women of importance. When the First Daughter who is intended for Merrok goes missing, shadowy gov’t agents convince Fiona to pose as Betsy in exchange for the safe keeping of her schizophrenic mother.  She marries the warrior and quickly goes against everything she thought she knew and falls head over heels with the alien who touches her in all the right places.

Merrok is highly fond of punishment for the discretions of Betsy/Fiona and there is quite a bit of spanking going on throughout the book. The sex was hot but not inventive. I enjoy how these alien erotic romances make the male aliens basically like us though with subtle differences. The act of her lying to him comes out with absolutely no warning or explanation…it just is and readers are expected to go with it.   I’m not fond of being told to simply go with it because I’m an analytical reader who needs explanations which don’t always get given in short novels.

Surrender is hot. It’s erotic. It’s full of alien goodness. I will continue to read more by Sue Lyndon as she grows into her own in the erotic romance community. I look forward to more world building in future books as we learn more about this race of aliens humans are now expected to work alongside.

I give Surrender by Sue Lyndon 3.75 stars! 

Dangerously Mine by A.M. Griffin

Available: Now Amazon/B&N

Type: Erotic Sci Fi Romance

Publisher: Ellora’s Cave

My Copy: Sent

Reviewer: Nikki

After aliens invade and conquer Earth, Eva is transported to a distant slave-trading planet. Freedom and escape are her only priorities, but none of her martial arts training could have prepared her for enslavement to the warrior King Taio. Eva finds herself drawn to this sexy alien male who ignites her heart and body.

Taio is disgusted with the idea of owning a slave—until now. From the moment he sees her, he knows Eva is his for the taking. Torn between lust and duty, Taio discovers nothing will stop him from protecting his little warrior.

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Dangerously Mine is book one in a new series for new-to-me author A.M. Griffin in which the earth has been invaded and the people sold off like cattle to be used as slaves in galaxies far away.

Black belt Eva doesn’t know the meaning of give up. Even long after the farming of earth she’s not only managed to stay alive but stay with her friend Ally. After a vicious attack on the auction block she awakens long gone from her friend and the meager life she’d come to know. Scared and determined to find her way back to the only “family” she has left, Eva bargains with the hard male who is now her owner. Taio is royalty and doesn’t know the meaning of compromise. The only thing he’s interested in is possessing the feisty human female in every way his mind can imagine.

I enjoyed this one a lot! Eva had so much spunk and undying determination to find her friend. Loyalty like that, especially faced with such insurmountable odds,  is hard to come by. Her need to make a human connection was heart felt and as realistic as you can get in a sci fi romance. Taio, though incredibly hard headed, made great strides in the book toward being more of a partner instead of a dictator. I found the world building to be great and intriguing me to look forward to more from this line. There are a couple of F/F scenes, which aren’t really my thing…so be prepared for those is you’re not keen on them either. The rest of the sex scenes are well detailed and smoking hot.

Taio, in looking for a mate decides to have an invitational of sorts to find the perfect female. I cringed inwardly how he just couldn’t understand why that upset Eva, his concubine, so much. He had me wanting to smack the back of his head often and even his friends understood her emotions better. I was also slightly confused with his mothers position on Eva because she seemingly does a 180 in her opinions. First she tells Eva to leave Taios room and then she’s telling Taio what a dumbass he is for letting her go. I wondered why she’d bother to tell her to leave in the first place if she was on board with them being together.

The only bad thing I can say about this was that it really paralleled Laurann Dohner’s Zorn Warriors series. In particular Ral’s Woman. That book also had an auctioned off female (though it was a fight to the death and winner got the woman), alien royalty, huge well endowed alien men hehehehe, smoking hot siblings of the hero, threat from other male aliens intent of teaching the human a lesson….. I suppose it’s probably common because you can only introduce so many new elements to a already well documented genre. But the entire time I was reading this I kept thinking about how similar the two books were.

I liked this one…I am definitely looking forward to the next book in this series and hoping at some point, Eva finds her long lost friend Ally. A.M. Griffin is an author to watch!

I give Dangerously Mine by A.M. Griffin 4 stars! 

Demon Retribution by Kiersten Fay (Shadow Quest #3)

Available: Now Amazon/B&N

Type: Paranormal/Sci Fi Romance

Publisher: Self Pub

My Copy: Sent

Whisked away from her home planet after a mysterious invasion, Kyra has concealed herself on Earth for the last four centuries with no hope of returning home. That is until the appearance of a mysterious and sexy demon, claiming to have been sent by her family. With danger drawing near, Kyra must set aside years of mistrust and put her life in Cale’s hands.

Sent ahead of his ship, Marada, Cale must locate and protect the third Faieara Princess from those who seek her capture. He expects the retrieval to be effortless and Kyra to be a timid reflection of her sister, Anya. What he discovers instead is a strong, beguiling female who forces him to question everything he has ever known.

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Overall I enjoyed this one! Demon Retribution is book three in Fay’s self pubbed Shadow Quest series. I have not read any of the books prior to this one and so I went into it hoping that I would be able to grasp the world building without the knowledge of the prior books. I think, had I read the first two I would have gotten the concept much easier, but as it was I think I did okay. I really didn’t have any burning questions with the world the book is built upon and really didn’t have any issues until the second half the book.

Kyra has been living on earth for 400 yrs after being sent away from her planet by her desperate father who was on the brink of a invasion. She’s lived on her own and never allowed anyone close since then until she met Zooey in the last few yrs. They became close friends and Kyra her fierce protector, though her friend is clueless as to her interstellar heritage. Kyra knows it’s time for her to move on but with her friend so dependent on her for emotional support, the time doesn’t seem right.

When she is attacked by aliens in the alley behind the coffee shop she works at and then rescued by a man claiming to have been sent by her father, Kyra’s long lost hope flares to life. Cale has been sent to find her and bring her home but he isn’t sure he can tell her what he truly is, a demon. Kyra has no knowledge of demons and so is justifiably confused and worried about trusting someone who seems intent of getting her back to his ship one way or another.

I loved the first half of the book. It’s full of action and smexy goodness and was well wrote. I wasn’t sure why Cale kept wanting to have sex though because Fay makes it clear that because demons only mate bond once (and he has but she died) that when they try again fire fills their veins and it’s extremely painful. Now I don’t know about you, but even if David Backham walked up to me naked and begged me to do him, I’m not sure I could if the result was agony ripping through my veins because he wasn’t my mate. I love sex as much as the next person…but even a sadist might take issue with that. So anyway, other then that I loved the first half of the book.

The second half is where it gets hairy for me and it might be because I didn’t read the first two books. All these other characters and their side stories show up on the spaceship and I wasn’t invested in them at all. Because of that I thought the second half was bloated in word count and at times slipped into lulls and got quite boring.  Cale’s sister has what could easily have been her own novella in the second half and it was to much. I wanted Cale and Kyra and not all their friends too. I did like her being reunited with her sisters and thought it was a great idea having their powers combine in the final fight of the book. I enjoyed Kyra learning the parameters of her powers throughout the book and thought it helped her character grow.

I would recommend that readers start this series at the beginning and perhaps you won’t feel as I did. Fay has strong writing and good story lines that I think paranormal/sci fi romance readers will enjoy!

I give Demon Retribution by Kiersten Fay 3.75 stars! 

Alexander Outland: Space Pirate by G.J. Koch

Available: Now Amazon/B&N
Type: Sci Fi
Publisher: Night Shade
My Copy: Sent

Captain Alexander Outland of the Sixty-Nine (short for Space Vessel 3369, of course) is the best pilot in the galaxy. He’s also a pirate, a smuggler, and loved and loathed by women in umpteen solar systems. His crew of strays and misfits includes an engineer of dubious sanity, a deposed planetary governor, an annoyingly unflappable Sexbot copilot, and a slinky weapons chief who stubbornly refuses to give the captain a tumble.

Outland just wants to make a decent living skirting the law, but when an invisible space armada starts cutting into his business, he soon finds himself in hot water with the military, the mob, mad bombers, and an extended family of would-be conquerors. And that’s not counting an occasionally telepathic spy . . . .

Like any sensible scoundrel, he hates heroics. They’re risky and they don’t pay well. But to keep his ship and crew in one piece, and make time with a certain hard-to-get weapons chief, he might just have to make an exception–and save the galaxy in spite of himself!

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The very first in a new sci fi series by GJ Koch is a knock down, action packed romp through space that will have your heart pounding and your libido stuttering just a bit!

Meet Alexander Outland, a space pirate, and his rag tag group of employees that include a super smart techie, a humanoid robot, a sex kitten and a old man. Alex is a space pirate that has a heart of gold even though you would never get him to admit to it. He likes to think of himself as a ladies man instead. He seems to be able to get in pretty much every womans pants..and he has. Slinkie is the exception to his rule. He wants her, he tries to get her constantly, and yet she resists. She’d rather lob snarky retorts to his advances then pursue anything with the quirky captain. She is a virtual mystery to him.

Alexander Outland is a quirky fun scifi that doesn’t have one dull moment. I’m not joking its literally one thing after another while they try to figure out who is behind the attacks against the crew and the planet they land on. No one is who they seem and everyone has secrets to hide . There is constant conversations in this one so be prepared for the one liners, the snark and the jibber jabber. No one can sit still and be quiet for even a minute. It’s hilarious. It’s fun. It can be overwhelming trying to keep up with a story line that never stops. You may want to take notes or if you have the paperback version, invest in post it notes to mark revelations clearly so you can go back and refresh yourself.

Now I know G.J. has tried to distance herself from her Gini Koch name but honestly…if you’ve read Gini’s stuff there is virtually no way you can mistake G.J’s writing from Gini’s . It’s just got the same feel. The biggest difference I saw is the lack of bountiful sex going on. Don’t worry, its so filled with story that you won’t miss the sex…much. The story is so complex and you will be constantly guessing where the book is going. Slinkie and Alexander work well together as a couple once they get past all the continuous innuendo and playful games.  The family feel with the rest of the crew can clearly be felt. These people are not co workers….but family. They care about each other and that includes the humanoid/computer that a very lonely crew member manages to build for himself.

Sci fi genre lovers should enjoy this one and crossover Gini Koch lovers should like this too. Its a solidly good book with amazing potential for future storylines!

On a side note….is anyone else amused by the position of Slinkie and Alexander (aka Nap) on the front cover? I snickered…repeatedly.

I give Alexander Outland: Space Pirate by G.J. Koch 3.75 stars! 

G.J. Koch – Author Interview & GIVEAWAY!

Today let’s welcome back Gini Koch! Wait, oops, sorry Gini isn’t here. Instead let’s welcome for the first time, G.J. Koch! Hi G.J.!!! I have just finished reading Alexander Outland (look for my review soon) and I want to talk to you a bit and get your thoughts for the readers out there that may not know a lot about your work. Let’s go ahead and get right to it then….

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your alter ego G..J. Koch

Well, I’m an author with a LOT of voices in my head. Some of those manifest as characters. Others, however, manifest as the creators of said characters, and those voices become my pen names. (Hey, it’s a controlled form of schizophrenia; I make it work for me.)

As Gini Koch I write fast, fresh and funny science fiction with a lot of romance, action and humor, which includes the Alien/Katherine “Kitty” Katt series for DAW Books/Penguin and the Martian Alliance Chronicles for Musa Publishing (http://www.musapublishing.com/).

As G.J. Koch, I write humorous, action-oriented science fiction for Night Shade Books. (I know! What were the odds?) Not the hard stuff, though. Because that requires actual scientific knowledge or at least actual scientific research. Knowledge may be power and research may be cool, but they take time away from writing jokes, action, and romance, and being witty in the face of death is what it’s really all about.

2. Alexander Outland is your new book, tell us a bit about it?

Trouble’s brewing out in space, and Alexander Outland — the least likely hero in the galaxy — and his eccentric crew have to save the day, despite the fact they’d prefer to take the money and run.

Alexander Napoleon Outland is the best pilot, and ladies’ man, in the galaxy. But Nap, as his friends call him, is more than that — he’s a schemer with a heart of gold he desperately wants to hide, a soft spot for other people’s cargo and his exotic weapon’s chief, and the unerring ability to find the biggest misfit on any planet or space station and somehow join that person onto his crew.

Nap’s not your classic hero, but that tends to make him the right guy for the job…whatever the job happens to be.

3. What makes this different then what we’ve seen from Gini?

It’s funnier than my Alien/Katherine “Kitty” Katt series.

I’ll let that one sink in for a moment.

But truly, it is. There are other differences, too. It’s set in the far future, not present day, and the sex is toned down (though the romance is not and the sexual innuendo and flat-out begging and propositioning is higher). There’s no connection between the two series at all, other than they’re both set in the Milky Way Galaxy, both have a lot of action going along with the science fiction, romance, and humor, and are both written by moi.

Nap has the same kind of smart mouth as Kitty does, though. So if you like or love her, you’re gonna love The Outland, too. (Nap asked me to say that if you don’t like Kitty, you’ll like him anyway.)

4. Are you currently working on anything else?

Girl, I am ALWAYS working on something else. LOL As I write this answer I’m working on the second installment in my Martian Alliance series for Musa Publishing, “Three Card Monte”, as well as Book 7 of my Alien series for DAW Books, Alien in the House, and, of course, the next volume of the Outland series, Alexander Outland: Space Avenger.

5. You are always writing or attending conventions, do you get any downtime? What hobbies do you have?

What is this “downtime” of which you speak? LOL Honestly, no, I don’t get much. Before I was a full time author, I never used to watch television. Now I actually allow myself the little bit of downtime, mostly because I love “Castle”. DVRs are the greatest gift to a busy author, though, because there is no longer any such thing as appointment TV, which means I can make my deadlines and then catch up on the few shows I really like.

My hobby used to be writing. That turned into far more than a hobby. I don’t think I really have any hobbies now, though the hubs would say that avoiding housework is my current hobby. And he wouldn’t be wrong.

6. What are your daily motivations to write?

My deadlines and the voices in my head.

Really, those are it. Before I had deadlines, the voices were all I needed, because they were the characters, telling me their stories and motivating me to help tell them the “right way”. Now, I have both the carrot (the story ideas) and the whip (the deadlines) and they keep me going.

7. If you could meet one person fictional or real, who would you want to meet?

I’ve gotten this question before, and it’s one I think everyone considers at least once in their life. I find it hard to narrow this one down, because there are so many…Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Robert Benchley, P.J. O’Rourke, Marilyn Monroe, Sherlock Holmes, Richard Castle, Nathan Fillion, Ben Affleck, Chris Evans, Billy Zane…(note how quickly we went from the life-changing folks to the hotties? Yeah, I’m a simple creature, me.)

Oh, who am I kidding? I want to meet Captain Malcolm Reynolds from “Firefly” and “Serenity” fame.

8. The success of your Kitty Katt series sets the bar high, where do you want to be in 5 years?

You know, so many authors are so demure about this, I probably ought to be, too. But I’m not. Total World Book Domination. That’s my goal. The Alien and Outland series’ on every bookshelf, my ebook series’ on every e-reader. And more besides.

That said, to achieve this lofty goal takes time, drive, and staying power, which I truly hope I have.

The people who make the decisions for how well you do, though, are the readers, the fans, so it’s really up to them for how well an author does. Sales matter, pre-orders matter, whether you hit a bestseller list matters, and so on. It’s a tough business in some ways, but I love it. And most of all, I love my fans. My fans are the best fans in the world (I may be biased, but I’m not wrong, either), and they’ve helped me to get where I am today (wherever that may actually be in the great pantheon of the literary world) and will be the ones who help me the rest of the way, so to them I say, “Thank you, and please do your girl a solid and pre-order Alexander Outland: Space Pirate. I promise you won’t regret the decision.”

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PREORDER: Amazon/B&N

Captain Alexander Outland of the Sixty-Nine (short for Space Vessel 3369, of course) is the best pilot in the galaxy. He’s also a pirate, a smuggler, and loved and loathed by women in umpteen solar systems. His crew of strays and misfits includes an engineer of dubious sanity, a deposed planetary governor, an annoyingly unflappable Sexbot copilot, and a slinky weapons chief who stubbornly refuses to give the captain a tumble.

Outland just wants to make a decent living skirting the law, but when an invisible space armada starts cutting into his business, he soon finds himself in hot water with the military, the mob, mad bombers, and an extended family of would-be conquerors. And that’s not counting an occasionally telepathic spy . . . .

Like any sensible scoundrel, he hates heroics. They’re risky and they don’t pay well. But to keep his ship and crew in one piece, and make time with a certain hard-to-get weapons chief, he might just have to make an exception–and save the galaxy in spite of himself!

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Thanks for stopping by today! You (and all your alternate personalities, lol) are always welcome to swing by and chat!! 

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UPDATE: 5/24/12 – GJ is going to have a giveaway here on the blog! YAY! I will leave this open until 5/31/12 at 11:59pm EST. The winner will receive a copy of Alexander Ouland: Space Pirate! US winners can choose between a physical paperback or a e-copy and international residents will receive a e-copy only. Comment to enter  

Alien Diplomacy by Gini Koch (Kitty Katt #5)

Available: Now Amazon/B&N

Type: Sci Fi

Publisher: Daw

My Copy: Sent

Being newlyweds and new parents is challenging enough. But Jeff and Kitty Martini are also giving up their roles as super-being exterminators and Commanders in Centaurion Division while mastering the political landscape as the new heads of Centaurion’s Diplomatic Corps. Enter a shadowy assassination plot and a new set of anti-alien conspirators, and nothing will ever be the same…

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After everything she’s been through, Kitty would love nothing more then a bit of down time. Sadly that just ins’t in the cards. She’s a new parent, she has a new job and with that job comes a responsibility that she become the face of a nation. No one is who they seem and if Kitty and Jeff have any chance of being successful at their new jobs, they will need to find out who is behind the attacks, what they want, and look fabulous and laid back while doing it. After all, important government figures don’t kick ass….much.

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Alien Diplomacy is Gini Koch’s 5th forray into the world of Kitty Katt’s (AKA Kitty Martini) world. Up to this point we have had many steamy scenes, hilarious one liners, tons of shady government conspiracies and way to many hot aliens dressed in Armani. I have rode this train since the beginning and wow what a ride it has been! This is definitely one of my favorite series and I have shouted to anyone that would listen that they needed to check this series out. Simply put, I love this series. Which is why is pains me to type the next paragraph.

I didn’t like this one nearly as much as the past books. Kitty has a distinct personality. She’s direct. She’s an acquired taste. While I appreciated her awesome one liners again in A.D, her constant stream of questions seemed to grate on my nerves quite quickly. It appears that once again Kitty always seems to be the one that pulls that string that has all the ideas neatly falling into place. I wish Martini or Christopher got to unravel something on their own. Even Chuckie seems to always count on Kitty to get the ball rolling. After four books of this I was hoping Koch would change it up a bit and let someone else shine. A.D. is also slower then past books. I wasn’t pulled in right off the bat and so the first 150 pages were more a struggle for me then I’d like. The slowness coupled with the growing length of these books just felt like to much to me. The lengths of these books is my main concern. There seems to be way to much filler as the books get longer. As much as I appreciate the wit and the way in which the team works through the issues, it’s just becoming a chore to read all of it as the books get more complex. I don’t need to know every single thing Kitty is thinking at every single second of the book. I love snark but I don’t want every single page filled to the brim with it. I also think that while adding a baby (Jaime) to the mix was a unevitable evolution to the series, I think it was done to soon as some of the slowness revolves around Kitty and Martini being parents and not able to kick ass as often as they’d like.

The story line in A.D. with the shady stalkers and the blowing up of…well…a lot, was interesting and I enjoyed Mister Joel Oliver being more of a good guy this time around. In fact there are several characters that may have appaeared in previous books that hold a bigger role in A.D. I liked that. Even though there are a TON (and I mean that) of characters in these books, I find that I enjoy when more come in. Not to say it can’t get confusing. It can. In fact I feel like having a manual with all the characters and who they like or don’t like, abilities and personalities would be a good idea.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still CRAZY in love with this series.I still have the hots for Martini and still enjoy Kitty’s personality. Even best friends get annoyed at each other occasionally. I just think AD fell a bit short for me and it makes me incredibly sad to say that. I also think that lovers of this series need to read the book regardless because of the ever evolving story arc. I find that at least once in a series something doesn’t sit well with me…and unfortunately that’s this book. I am looking forward to the next book and will approach it with a fresh attitude and outlook.

I give Alien Diplomacy by Gini Koch 3 stars! 

Alien Proliferation by Gini Koch (Kitty Katt #4)

Available: Dec 6 2011 Amazon/B&N

Type: Sci Fi – Romance

Publisher: DAW

My Copy: Sent

Alien Super-Being Exterminator Kitty Katt is expecting her first baby. But the alien attacks are getting more dangerous, and now Kitty and her Alpha Centaurion husband, Jeff, have to find out who’s behind the conspiracy to kill Kitty’s secret agent mom and what caused Kitty’s transformation into a superhuman-and they’ve got to do it all before the baby shower…

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Kitty and Martini thought saving the world was hard? They have a revelation coming now that they are becoming parents to a extremely powerful superbeing. A child that those who want to take over the world will want. Something Kitty and Martini will have to be vigilant in stopping.

Being thrust into the spotlight once again Kitty will have to unravel a conspiracy to kill the leaders of both worlds all while learning how to be a mom to an infant. Nothing is as it seems and those who should be trusted suddenly can’t be. Something big is going down and if Kitty, Martini and the Scooby gang aren’t careful everything they hold dear will be taken from them.

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Gini Koch has given us yet another sexy thrill ride within intergalactic war! This chapter finds Kitty and Martini becoming parents to their first child and, of course, a bunch of baddies trying to take over the world one hot alien at a time. My main gripe with this series has always been Kitty’s golden vagina. It seems like everyone, girls included, wanted to mount her and ride her like a pretty show pony. It’s never said that she is drop dead gorgeous or has the personality of miss congeniality so I could never understand what the draw was. Alien Proliferation didn’t dole out nearly as much of that. There was still a ton of penis measuring between Chuckie and Martini, but I enjoyed the postering between those two. It’s often laced with snarkiness that leaves me gasping for breath or snorting into whatever drink I happen to have. Those two crack me up. Add in a little bit of Christopher to the mix and we have a triangle of awesomeness.

As with every book in this series, there is more going on then what there appears to be. Readers get treated to the maniacal thought processes of both Chuckie and Kitty as they unravel not one, but multiple plots to take over the world. This time it includes clones. Now Gini herself often gives me and other readers virtual clones of our favorite characters so maybe she is trying to take over the world herself..hehe. Plus the new baby is some kind of super hybrid and now everyone wants her to further their world domination plans. If you haven’t read the prior books I suggest you not start with this one. This series is definitely one you need to read from the beginning. Gini does a decent job of recapping, but if you haven’t read the prior books there is a good chance you still won’t know what’s going on. Shoot I have read the other books and at times I had to go back and research a bit. This series is extremely in depth , there are a ton of characters on the good and evil sides and the interaction between sides is plentiful and can get a bit confusing, even for thorough readers.

I think this book gave readers a bit more insight into the feelings of the characters. We get to see the softer side of Kitty’s mom for example. She is wrote with such an authoritative nature that it was hard to imagine her having feelings that weren’t so hard core. I loved how we were shown them in this one. We also get a better look into the politics of the alien race and what happens when that hierarchy shifts. Chuckie is back in full force with his conspiracy theories which are most often spot on. I love Chuckie. I really hope that at some point in future books he gets a girl. He needs to let go of Kitty and start focusing on his own happiness. Though he claims to have already moved on and has just been messing with Martini and making sure he knew someone would be there when he screwed up and left Kitty heartbroken again, I had a hard time believing it.

I always enjoy the pacing of these books and I often find myself losing a lot of time when I look up and realize it’s been hours. I can’t explain why I love these so much. The best I can give you is that they suck me in. They have romance elements of course but its everything else in conjunction that works for me. The sci fi, the story telling, everything just….clicks with me. I am always left hoping that I won’t have to wait a year for the next one to come out.

This series is a definite recommend from me!

I give Alien Proliferation by Gini Koch 4.5 stars!

Paradise 21 by Aubrie Dionne (A New Dawn #1)

Available: Amazon/ B&N

Type: Sci Fi/Romance

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

My Copy: Sent as part of tour

Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind’s last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where mankind can begin anew- a planet that won’t be reached in Aries’ lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe,she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries long voyage.

But Aries has other plans.

When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers rumors about pirates – humans who have escaped her before its demise – are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possess the freedom Aries’ envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet’s native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns freedom will come at a hefty price.

The life of the man she loves.

Paradise 21 was an intriguing story..even though it wasn’t something I normally would read. It’s no secret that sci-fi generally just is not my thing. I like watching it but somehow reading it loses me every time. Well almost every time. It is kinda hard to explain why I liked (and I use that loosely) this book because there were a multitude of things I disliked about it.

I enjoyed Striker. He was an interesting character from the get go. I loved his protectiveness, his ability to think under pressure and the intellect that he used to rebuild a fallen space craft with parts completely foreign to him. He acclimated to his environment when stranded on a strange desert planet quite well. I was surprised by how well he dealt with the appearance of Aries seeing as how he was stranded by his, for lack of a better word, girlfriend type person several years ago. I would have thought he’d be more prickly about seeing a woman but alas, nope, he warmed right up.

Aries was a harder sell to me. I got that she wanted out of her intended marriage. Yada yada, but in all honestly it just felt odd to me. She planned all these things and then ended up on a planet she knew nothing about…it just seemed a bit “woe is me” to me. I would think for someone who had planned so effectively that she would have done a bit more research into when she decided to exit the ship and what planets were nearby.

The planet Aries lands on was what really had me shaking my head. The place had giant sand worms…ala Beetlejuice and Tremors. I couldn’t get past them. I just kept thinking…really? The image…it just wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted something…I dunno…more.

Then there were the inhabitants of the desert planet they found themselves stranded on. The giant lizard men…ala Land Of The Lost. Envision Sleestacks. At this point in the book when these lizard guys showed up I almost lost it. I couldn’t take it seriously.

The whole story like felt like a mishmash of things I had already seen, already read. The plot itself was similar to Across the Universe which is a newer YA book I read awhile back. It too had a space ship that was heading to some paradise planet hundreds of years away. The people on board paired together to further the species until the ship landed…if that were even to happen. The idea of going outside those pairings was unheard of and yet one girl has decided to buck the system and look for escape or true love or to over turn the ship. That seems to be the gist in all the sci fi books like this. Some head honcho making all the decisions for the people while keeping secrets about the destination, the power supply, the food ranks…ect ect.

I thought the romance between Striker and Aries was only lukewarm. That could have been played up much more than it was. I didn’t really get their intense dedication with what we were given. More looks, more touching, something to further show the readers so we could understand the emotional connections better would have been great.

Secondary story lines were good and I hope we get to see a bit more of those as the series progresses. I’d like to know what happens to Strikers ex after the end of this book…and the boy she had taken under her wing as a pseudo mom. I also want to learn more about these aliens they hatched from the basement on their salvaged alien spacecraft. This ‘peaceful” race they saved. I have a hard time believing any race is 100% peaceful so I’m hoping that gets pursued a bit more in the future.

Paradise 21 is a sound book for sci fi lovers. Romance lovers might be disappointed by the lack of heat within the pages.

I give Paradise 21 by Aubrie Dionne 3 stars!