Rem is completely taken by the beautiful dark-haired human who steps off the spacecraft from Earth. Tyra. His Tyra. After many years of solitude, he finally has a female to call his own. But he carries a dark secret, one which deeply affects his budding relationship with Tyra. She hasn’t given him any reason not to trust her, but as he tries to outrun the secrets that are haunting him, he finds … finds himself restricting her freedom more and more, always on the premise of keeping her safe. Her furious response stuns him, but he refuses to back down—he’s determined to keep the female as his.
Tyra has spent her whole life looking to the stars and dreaming of leaving Earth. The prospect of becoming an alien mail order bride excites her and she signs up as soon as she reaches the minimum required age of twenty-one. But she’s in for a rude awakening when she meets her betrothed, a huge bossy Martian named Rem. He won’t let her out of his sight…in fact, he won’t let her do much, at all. His passionate kisses drive her wild, but he’s far too overprotective and prone to jealousy for her liking. Has she made a terrible mistake, or will the hunky green alien eventually come to his senses?
more
The writing and editing of this novel was super clean, with no typos that I caught in the ARC version of this manuscript. The world building of terraformed Mars and the “Martian” culture was competent. The characterization was okay, with the heroine being a sympathetic character, though she came across as somewhat infantilized in the novel. The hero was alarming and quite unsympathetic, exhibiting many of the behaviors of an abuser, with his jealousy and possessiveness, his threats to lock the heroine up, and his effusive apologies after his rages with romantic courting behavior. I was quite unhappy that the heroine ended up staying with him at the end. I was not convinced she would be safe with him. The development of the romantic relationship was quite unsatisfying for this reader, because of the behavior of the hero. The plot and pacing of this novel was somewhat slow, with not much external plot happening. This novel contained sky-high angst and low stakes, which tends to be my least favorite narrative structure for a romance novel. This novel uses the Mars Needs Women trope (literally, in this case!). It also uses the Mail Order Bride trope. The world building, plot, and pacing rated three stars in this novel. The development of the romantic relationship rated one star, because of the abusive behavior of the hero. The characterization rated two stars, because of the behavior of the hero and the infantilizing of the heroine. The combined score of this novel is therefore two stars. This novel has a Happy Ever After ending, which I would normally consider a big plus, but I don’t consider the heroine ending up with this hero an actually happy event. I do not recommend this novel to readers who might potentially be triggered by the hero’s behavior. I will not be buying myself a keeper copy of this novel.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a very fun read. I liked the characters and thought that they had great chemistry. The storyline keeps you engaged and invested as the couple deals with plenty of drama, tension, secrets and emotional turmoil on the way to a HEA. This is my volitional, truthful review.
Rem is forced to take a human mate, by order of his king…
Tyra desperate to escape Earth, signs up for the mail order bride program…
Rem is jealous and possessive of his new mate. Can Tyra calm the beast? Will the two get their happily ever after?
Love this series. Another winner from Sue Mercury. Her world building is flawless in that alien encounters and matings are as believable as those occurring in contemporary romances. The men are yummy even if they are different colors and have horns, but the chemistry is off the charts goodness. I was caught up in the storyline from beginning to end, and the expectations built up after reading the first book were more than exceeded. Can’t wait for what comes next!
Rem is a Marttiaxoxalian warrior who has been ordered to mate with a human female and Tyra becomes a mail order bride in order to escape her uncle’s attempt to auction her virginity when she reaches twenty-one. The story is well written, entertaining and holds your attention. There is a HEA but a lot happens first and that is what adds to the appeal of their story. I enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it as a great addition to the Savage Martians series.