Review: Perfect balance of love, sex and adventure
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 25, 2014
Sabralia, a queen from another planet, is an unhappy prisoner in a harem, her loneliness eased to a limited extent by her cyborg, Qy. She has been traded at age 16 to her cold, selfish husband, Sirn, in a treaty between their two worlds. When Sirn throws a party at the palace for his troops, the women of the harem are to be offered as "entertainment" to the officers. Cabralia steals away down the beach, hoping to avoid inevitable rape by the soldiers, with Qy going to and from the palace to bring food and supplies. When the palace is attacked, Sabralia and Qy hide in a cave. After two days without daily programming, Qy regains his memories and consciousness of who he really is -- Kaistil, a soldier from a different planet who was captured by Sirn's forces and mechanized as a cyborg. When it becomes clear that a massacre is occurring at the palace, Kaistril/Qy executes their escape in a stolen spaceship. And therein begins their adventure, and what an adventure it is.The characters are very likable. I absolutely adored the passionate hero, Qy/Kaistril. He is very masculine, confident and take-charge, but also very protective of and reassuring to the heroine. Sabralia, having been confined to the palace, is less experienced, but she's also brave, caring, and willing to take risks to ensure their safety.This book made me realize that good romantic erotica has, in addition to an entertaining story, desire, seduction, anticipation, excitement, and intense chemistry, and is not just a string of escalating kinky sex acts strung together. The things Kaistril says to Sabralia while he advances on her made me flush with heat.The story is, IMO, original, without the lazy "destiny" and magical powers plot devices of many romances in this genre. Kaistril and Sabralia had to struggle and think on their feet, which makes for good character development. And the story was so engrossing, the romance so passionate, that I could easily overlook the few vagaries and minor grammatical errors in the story.