Standalone book Traded. Dru had been traded by her captain to the Alliance Empire. She and the rest of the female crew from the human starship Dakota were to be married off, as the Alliance was suffering from a demographics issue, there weren’t enough Alliance women. Dru didn’t care what kind of problems the Alliance had, she didn’t come this far, in her short life, to end up as a grey, alien … short life, to end up as a grey, alien man’s slave, no matter how powerful his civilization was. But that was the problem, humans were next to nothing, and the Alliance Empire ruled the galaxy. But Dru has an advantage to aid her escape, she is telepathic.
Ket of Imperial House Vo had not thought much about the human women being brought to the Alliance until his eyes rested on the young red-haired beauty, and he knew it was the gods’ will that she become his wife. He would make her submit to his strict Alliance culture and make her humbly accept her new life in the Empire. He knew from the moment he saw her picture that she was his destiny.
The Alliance Series is set in a fictional future where humans are small-time players in the big-time galaxy. There are no heroes or women being rescued; instead readers are led through an intricate maze of alien courting customs, duplicitous strict religious codes, vicious culture shock and uncomfortable compromises.
Warning, strong scenes of a sexual nature that some readers may find disturbing.
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I really enjoyed this book, it may have been long but it certainly wasn’t boring, it grabbed my attention from the start and held it too the very end and left me wanting more! It provoked my simpathy for the women suddenly dropped into the middle of a strange culture, especially for Dru who was so young and had such a traumatic start. The romance between Dru and Ket was incredibly moving, although funny in places where cultural differences met, it had a lot of chemistry and some steamy scenes. I look forward to more of the series, and desperately want to find out what the Deity’s have in store for the Alliance beyond the few hints already dropped. I really enjoyed Holly Holt’s expressive narration and look forward to hearing more from her.
Druscilla “Dru” James is a Junior Medical officer aboard the Earth starship Dakota. The ship is overtaken by an alien race known as the Alliance. All the women are taken from the ship to the Alliance Capital City in order to be married to Alliance men to help increase the failing population of the Alliance race. Dru is housed with the other women at the Human House in the Alliance Capital City where they are educated on the norms and rules of Alliance culture. As Dru learns and grows, she has to find new ways to keep her Earth related secrets to herself. Ket, House of Vo is an Alliance male from a family/house of telepathic medical doctors. He sees Dru’s profile in the listing of Earth women taken from the Dakota and stakes a claim on her in traditional Alliance manner. Their relationship will set new guidelines and rules for the future of the Alliance race.
This is the second novel in a series. This novel can be read as a standalone. I have not read the first novel, but I think the first novel is more my speed. This novel was long; almost 400 pages on an e-reader. The author stated the length of the novel was due to the inclusion of information on the traditions of the Alliance culture. I learned the Alliance culture has video cameras everywhere and know the actions and behaviors of every citizen, they can be puritanical (narrow minded) in some ways and primitive in other ways. From Ket’s claim and Dru’s own integration into the Alliance culture, there is constant chaos and confusion. As the Alliance men try to force assimilation of the Earth women to Alliance culture, the Earth women hold fast to their Earth cultures. After a bit the constant discussions of the Earth women to each other about holding on to their culture was frustrating and annoying. They were made aware of their choices, yet it seems after they made their choices, they wanted things to go only their way. The progress of the relationship between Ket and Dru moved pretty quickly as their courtship began, yet it was somewhat boring in places. The best moments for me where when Captain Rainer or Ket’s sister were in a scene because they had funny things to say or they would spice things up. Overall, the writing was solid, and the story series seems interesting. I have plans to read the first novel in the series.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Drusilla was born into a hard life and then when she was leaving that life she encountered evil she never imagined, then she makes it all the way to a star ship as a doctor’s assistant. Then the worst happens Earth is at war and their spaceship is captured by the Alliance the biggest world that has been taking over the galaxy. They are very upset when they are kidnapped and brought to the Alliance home planet as wives. This is a very interesting story line, the characters are very interesting. There was a lot of stories in the background that made me think this has to be a series. I was given an Advanced Readers Copy by Booksiren without obligation. I am providing a voluntary and honest review.
Married to the Alien Doctor by Alma Nilsson is the second book in the Renascence Alliance Series that I listened to on audio narrated by Holly Holt. The books can be read as standalones.
This is the first book of Alma’s that I read and it definitely won’t be my last. I was intrigued by this series and will need to go back and read the first book of the series Married to the Alien Admiral.
Holly did a great job on the narration. I look forward to listening to more of her work in the future.
I did notice on a few sections lines were repeated but not often enough to distract from the story. Also I personally like to listen to my audiobooks at a quicker pace so I listened at 1.75 speed.
AudiobookObessionReviwer
AudioBookObsession
I so enjoyed the way Holly Holt brought these characters and this story to life. So much so that I forgot about the narration and just got sucked into the story.
From the blurb I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But I was drawn more and more into the story the more I listened. And I have to say I really enjoyed it. I loved following along with Dru as she worked out her place in her new world. The misunderstandings that happened and the omissions from both sides that made things more tricky. In fact it felt very real, the reactions, the expectations and the compromises. I really enjoyed the character portrayals and got quite involved with them, often giving advice in my head. I could quite happily have spent a lot more time with them.
A rather unusual but intriguing alien romance with a well-paced, captivating plot filled with unexpected surprises & events. There is some good scene descriptions& information details. The characters are quite unique, interesting & at times rather unpredictable.
There is: a human female (Drusilla) with medical knowledge is sent by the Alliance Central Capital to bring infant girls to their planet but she & other humans are captured & are involuntary sent to merge into the Alliance society, then the chief medical officer (“Ket” of House Vo) enters her life, various kinds of aliens, spaceships, twists & turns, intrigue, drama, secrets, mystery, telepathic abilities, degrading medical exam, defiance, insecurities, attractions, manipulations, explanations, gifts, loneliness, misunderstandings, cultural issues, emotional turmoil, confusion, memories, compromises, jealousy, confrontations, accusation, challenges, punishment, contentment & a rather interesting conclusion.