This is a full-length, science-fiction/science-fantasy, MFM alien romance novel that was previously published as part of a two-book collection with The Scorpion’s Mate. This is a revised edition with significant additional story content. Though she was raised by a survivalist, Alice was not prepared to be ripped from her dimension and dropped without ceremony into the massive junkyard of a … of a parallel dimension.
She’s wounded, alone, and lost in a world her mind struggles to comprehend. Then a four-armed alien with the face of a dangerous lion reveals that his heart is not so predatory, when he comes to her aid and saves her life. Because of her wounds, she has no choice but to accept his help.
She finally begins to grow comfortable around her leonine companion, until another warrior intervenes to save her when creatures from the Dead Fall attack them during their exploration, suddenly making everything much more complicated.
Alice still doesn’t understand what either of the warriors is saying, and if she can’t find the right words to soothe her beastly new protectors, they’ll end up killing each other.
Author’s Note: 18+ These books contain scenes that are not suitable for younger audiences. It should also be noted that the alien heroes in these books are alien in both appearance and attributes, and this might make some readers uncomfortable, as their cultures and mating habits might not be for everyone.
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*WARNING* story contains explicit sexual content
Dead Fall is not a place that I’d want to visit, and the author did enough world building for me to feel this way (same goes for Omni). The characters are great. The lion man (I don’t remember how his name is spelled) is a scary warrior, but is super insecure due to abuse from his home planet. Alice has a lot in common emotionally with lion man. I liked this story. I think this story is a bit long winded in spots, but still really good. Well written. Well edited. Interesting characters. Good world building. I am curious about Evie and then about Alice’s…. future.
A good story with a strong premise, I loved the ideas behind this book, and it started out really good. There were lots of great scenes. But there were also pages that I skimmed because they were just too full of unnecessary descriptions or inner monologues. I curved my rating up, I wanted to go with 3.5 stars because of all of the skimming I had to get through
All her life Alice has wanted to feel normal. She just wanted to forget about her crazy father who would rave about his alien artefact… and live a normal life. She wasn’t prepared for him to be right.
THE BLURB
Alice longs to forget her childhood, filled with memories of her survivalist father pushing her to learn how to thrive in the wilderness. Even as a teen it was hard to make friends as she lacked in traditional schooling, being that odd-child with a crazy father. She wasn’t prepared for the camping trip with her sister, to visit their father’s old belongings…
Iyaren has been living in exile from his people for many years. He’s managed to build himself a home in this strange land underneath the vortex that swirls in the sky. On one of his scavenging trips in the ruins he wasn’t expecting to hear a voice call out for help… let alone a sacred female.
Tak Et wants to secure his place in this strange new land. He’s been here only a few years, and it’s time to finally make his mark. He can do that by hunting the warrior that lives on the outskirts, the very warrior that has caused all sorts of havoc for the city he now calls home. A warrior he believes comes from his own home-world.
TONE OF THE BOOK
I would say that this novel fits firmly in the neutral tone. There is no humour to lighten the mood, however the book doesn’t dwell excessively upon negative topics and emotions. Any negativity that emerges is designed to push the characters and plot forward.
SENSITIVE TOPICS
Into The Dead Fall series is intended for mature audiences. There are a number of erotica scenes and violence.
Into The Dead Fall features a multi-partner relationship, with two males and one female. It is not a threesome.
There is mention of characters having past emotional abuse, as well as experiencing the damaging effects of war.
SERIES SYNOPSIS
Into The Dead Fall is the first novel in the Into The Dead Fall series. At the time of this review there is currently 5 novels in this series.
The novel is 262 pages long, making it the standard length of a romance novel (at 300 pages).
The novel has a happy for now ending. It leads with a world-story cliffhanger that introduces the couple that will feature in the second book. Each novel in the series follows the adventures of a different couple.
REVIEW
Alice was a fun heroine to follow throughout the adventure. Susan portrayed her heroine as a bit more of a realistic human, highlighting how an average person wouldn’t be able to suddenly fight, or even forage for food themselves. Granted Alice has a backstory that gives her a bit more of an advantage (which is revealed within the first few pages). Despite being weaker and slower than many aliens surrounding her, she still has a strong and forceful personality that drives her towards goals (even if sometimes it’s not safe to actually pursue those goals).
Whilst in the story you don’t get to explore beyond the initial “landing point” so per say, Susan Trombley has introduced what seems to be a vibrant and comprehensive world to explore. Even more fun as the Vortex will keep things shifting, allowing Susan to easily introduce new and exciting elements to the story as a whole.
The world building is already pretty well done with a variety of unique alien races to meet, each with their own super-powers and flaws. I’m excited to meet some of these new alien species in future novels.
True to my word, I won’t give spoilers in my reviews. I do want to admit that I wasn’t entirely happy with the ending of the novel, especially given the heroine’s sudden behaviour change. I understand what Susan was aiming for in her writing, but wasn’t a huge fan of how it occurred. Enough said! Already I’m borderline spoiler…
FINAL WORD
I enjoyed Into The Dead Fall a lot more than I suspected I would; the world building much more interesting than the description makes it sound. It does land on somewhat of a continuation, introducing a new couple as well as the continuation of world-story. I’m excited to read the second novel in the series.
What do you get when you add a human woman to a vortex that spits out people and things as trash onto an alien world? Answer: worm food – really big worms! Thankfully our heroine is rescued by a big, sexy lion. Oops, he doesn’t want to eat her, he wants to play with her; err, ah,worship her; yes, that’s it. To make matters worse, sign and body language are not helping them to communicate very well. However, some surprising developments happen along the way, and Alice and Iyarren will finally have a meeting of their minds. Oh, and spoiler: (whisper – they fall in love). Did you guess it before I wrote it? Ha ha!