Review: A few things I loved, a few things that bothered me
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 22, 2013
There were many things about Claimed that I very much enjoyed and thought were really well done. If you were to take out the relationship and the erotica, you would be left with a sci-fi novel that had really unique and interesting world-building concepts for the alien part of the story. Those unique and well done elements, however, became washed out a bit and buried under a whole lot of erotic sex. I actually had to switch mindsets when I got a few chapters in, realizing this is a SciFi Erotica and not a SciFi Romance.The whole driving force to the story and characters was the act of sexual bonding. Let me be clear, I have nothing at all against Sci-Fi Erotica and admittedly enjoy it when it is well done. The actual intimacy scenes themselves were well done for the most part, though some of the language used broke the heat a bit for me. Some of the actual alien physical traits relating to sex, such as the "mating fist" were actually really neat concepts and I liked those little touches. Again, this is part of the very well done world building that almost brought this to a 4 star for me.Some things kept it at 4 stars:The over use of the word "uh" totally killed most of the dialogue scenes for me, and that is a big red X in my book because I am a dialogue-reader. Olivia/liv; I had such a hard time connecting to and feeling anything but annoyance with her.Mich. Every chapter, Liv made at least one reference back to how horrible her ex boyfriend was, both as a jerk and in bed. I kept wondering why, if he was such a bad guy, had she stayed with him so long? It only compounded the ineptitude vibe I was already getting from Liv. I understand the reasoning for making some references to a past lover, to show that was the reason Liz may not have been experienced or why she may have not wanted to put her trust in Baird. However, I think there were just too many of the references to Mich, and it was all horribly negative stuff causing you to think Liv was a dummy for getting hooked up with him in the first place.The major issue I had was the idea that Liv was expected to give up everything (her life on earth, her career, her family and friends, etc) to be with her man. They weren't even allowed to go back to earth except for holidays? The whole concept of the Kindred is that they completely cherished females, but some things, like the "giving up everything including your freedom of travel" or the times when Baird was basically forcing himself on Liv (which I could understand Baird's frustration boiling over with her back and forth), seemed to exist in juxtaposition to that.If I continue with the series, there are a few things I would look forward to:1. Sylvan. His character really intrigued me and I thought he was really well done. I know book 2 deals with him and that is why I am considering continuing with the series. Sophie, and what I have read of her, however, gives me pause.2. The world building - The author is an good world builder who integrates many unique concepts into the culture, society and universe created.3. Kat - really liked her character, too. But it worries me, if she would be expected to give up her legal career in order to "bond". I think Book 3 deals with her character being paired with a Twin Moon set.For the most part, this was an enjoyable read with some great world building and a few interesting characters. I think the Male characters were much more well written than the female characters, but most of the intimacy scenes were hot enough for a good erotic novel.