I’m not saying I’m too snobby to enjoy the paranormal/extraterrestrial romance genre, but I’ve found a lot of books to be heavy on the steamy scenes and pretty light on everything else.
This book (and I suspect this series) far exceeded any expectations. I’m blown away by the depths that the author gave to the characters’ thoughts and interactions, and the sincere respect she gave to the horrors of being a prisoner of war and/or a slave. I’ve read “captured by slavers” books that didn’t give even a quarter the gravity that I saw in this book, and the characters in this series have deep-seated traumas that aren’t easily cured with a few gentle words and a romp in the sheets.
And I can’t praise the narrator enough. From the scrappy kidnapped engineering genius, to the lifelong slave with the unbreakable spirit, to the world-weary prisoner of an unwinnable war, he manages to capture each character’s mannerism and emotions perfectly.
I only see three books so far. All I can say is that I hope there will be many more to come from this author/narrator duo.