Captain Maxwell Davis and his entire unit scrambled to engage alien ships over Iowa. The aliens snatched him out of his destroyed jet before they continued on their interplanetary hot pursuit. Then they informed Max that Earth was too far outside regular shipping lanes to return him to his planet.So Max ends up in an alien spaceport looking for work. To afford a ticket home he can either spend … either spend three hundred years working with linguists to improve the computer’s questionable ability to translate English or he can take a job as a nanny for an unpopular alien. That way he can afford the ticket in four years. The problem is that the computer may have mistranslated the word “nanny” and there might be a reason an alien is willing to pay such a high fee.
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Lyn Gala’s sci-fi romance Earth Father’s Are Weird made me ridiculously happy. It’s so charming. Human military dude accidentally becomes surrogate for tentacle alien children. All the feels. Found family, adorable squidies. Gah. So cute. I LOVE this author’s Claiming’s series, so I bought this one without bothering to read the blurb or sample. I REGRET NOTHING.
Gala’s books are always intelligent and sexy, and this book is no exception. Unique world-building and characters that aren’t perfect coupled with a fresh perspective on First Contact between sentient species, this is an unusual romance that makes me happy, frustrated, sad, cheered, and entranced (especially at the lovely use of tentacles.) I love this book and immediately bought the second when it released. Earth Husbands are Odd (Earth Fathers)
This was a fun, well-crafted SciFi romance with a biologically-plausible take on MPreg and tentacles, and inter-species romance. Lyn Gala really has a talent for imaginative plausibility, showcased in this lighter story.
As two alien spaceships enter Earth’s skies in a violent way, military pilot Max and his fellow fighter jets rise to meet them, trying to figure out what to attack. Then Max’s plane is hit, and the next thing he knows, he’s waking up onboard an alien spacecraft. To his confusion, no one seems to want anything from him. He’s been rescued, and far from being a prisoner or a meal, he’s simply a passenger, along for the ride.
Max is turned loose on the next world, in a bustling city full of tentacled alien species, with no idea what he should do. He soon learns that he could buy passage back to Earth, but his world is a distant backwater and it’s going to be very expensive to get back there. He needs a job.
The translation program to and from English is barely functioning. Max is from a technologically-backward planet, has few skills to offer, and no way to communicate the ones he does have. The social worker suggests he could work on improving the translation program, but that job pays so little he won’t get home before he dies of old age.
Alternatively, the social worker suggests he might agree to care for the offspring of an alien of an unpopular “loud” species. The job pays surprisingly well, and Max figures he’s resourceful and can handle being a nanny for alien kids. But with the translator still very rudimentary, it’s hard to figure out what his role is supposed to be, or when he’ll meet those kids. After a very thorough medical exam by his new boss “Rick,” and a few weeks of confusion without ever seeing the children, a sudden cramp in his abdomen turns out to be something far more unexpected than gas. And “care for” turns out to be a really bad translation.
I liked Max. He was optimistic, intelligent, adaptable, determined, and willing to roll with a series of big punches. The alien “Rick” was an interesting character, a creature of honor, honest and sympathetic without being too human in his outlook. I loved that the MPreg was not slavery or rape or seduction but a badly-translated job offer. It fell within the bounds of biological plausibility with Max still being fully human. His empathy let him see the parasitic offspring growing inside him as creatures to be cherished, and that kept the angst level low.
There’s some tentacle sex, but only a couple of times, appropriate to the plot, diffused and confused by Max’s uncertainty of his role and Rick’s. This is very much a story of discovery, of two intelligent minds slowly working past the barriers of terrible communication to find common goals, and of an extremely unusual kind of found family. The end was satisfying, (although I wouldn’t mind following the tale of Max, Rick, and the triplets further if the author ever chose to give us another taste.) This one lands among my small list of favorite MPreg stories, and left me smiling.
A Stellar Interstellar Romance
Earth is under attack and U.S. Air Force pilot Captain Maxwell Davis doesn’t hesitate to engage in battle to protect his planet. Except…no one is attacking Earth, because no one cares about a backwards planet with no space travel that can’t trade. It’s unfortunate that during the high-speed chase between alien spaceships Max’s fighter jet is destroyed, but he’s saved from an untimely death by one of the spaceships. Max’s life is completely turned upside-down and he must figure out how to survive in this new reality. Enter Rick, an alien who is unpopular with the other alien species. But Rick has money and needs a nanny. Max needs money and figures he can be a nanny for the right price. The two beings have to learn how to interact with each other and overcome the obstacles that their miscommunication has created. Yet somehow, they not only learn to communicate, but they create a romantic relationship that’s beautiful to watch grow.
Overall Rating: 5 Stars. The writing was well fashioned and superb. Max was a rich character with such a strong personality but tender as well. The plot was interesting and there was humor as well as action-packed moments. The sex was interesting and I liked it more than I thought I would. In fact, it was pretty hot. I really, really, really hope there’s a sequel to this book. I want to know more about Max and Rick’s family and adventures.
When you’re in the mood for something totally different, quirky and fun.
Such an unique book, I cannot recommend this one enough! More in this universe, please!!