You know your Gaia link is broken when your match is 93.While every Vetusian around me is expecting the arrival of the first hybrids, my mate is living out her final days in a nursing home.With true love unattainable, I concentrate on busting the crime ring responsible for the supply of human females forced into prostitution at the Odheim brothels. As a CAT officer, it’s my job to keep Earth … officer, it’s my job to keep Earth women from being abducted. Until the department for interspecies relations offers me a breeding contract with one of them.
When Rosita wants to make coin carrying out a hybrid child, I’m happy to help. But things change when I find out what she needs those Imperial Credits for. Now she needs my protection, and so will that child I intend to plant in her womb.
Mated is the third book in this alien invasion romance series, following a couple strong enough to defy fate. If you enjoy strong women, devoted aliens, fated mates, and hard-earned happily ever after’s with no cliffhangers, you’ll love Garrison Earth.
Author Note: The entire Garrison Earth series touches on subjects such as captivity, drug abuse, forced prostitution, loss of loved ones, human trafficking, rough handling, and violence. Any reader uncomfortable with the harsh realities of an alien invasion should please consider before purchase.
more
Wow! I already thought this was an amazing series, but this book is even better than the first two. The author writes about delicate issues with such sensitivity. She doesn’t shy away from tough topics.
In this book we learn more about those who don’t have a fated mate. The main characters are Rosie and Balgiz. Rosie’s mate died during the Invasion and Balgiz’s mate is 93 and in a nursing home. They meet when they sign a breeding contract as the Vetusians encourage everyone to have many children. At first Balgiz is an a**h*le. He desperately wants a family, but doesn’t think he will ever have one. He and Rosie work things out and they have a HEA.
Balgiz is also the commander of the task force that is working to find Scholar Fehan, the mastermind that is abducting females to sell them. Balgiz coerces Rosie into helping him as she had met with Vetusians who could sell her a new link to someone else. When she is caught, she prefers to take the option to help rather than being imprisoned. There are some fascinating new developments that we learn about the Vetusians.
I will warn you, have some tissues handy, there are some very emotional issues. I cried a lot at the end. The author gives us three chapters of book four at the end. I’m sure I’ll need tissues for this one too. I received a copy of this book from the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.
They kept on breaking my heart! MATED: This one was as good as Matched, but in a different kind of way. The way V. K. Ludwig writes will get to you too. She has an incredible way with words. Her books are full of a whole range of emotions, real life scenarios, totally relatable to anyone who reads them. This couple was so real to me. Belgiz and Rosie, dangit, they made me cry. Rosie began as a strong badash female with a plan and Belgiz is just a male with no clue about the feminine mystique whatsoever, just bulldozing his way through everything. They got me with their humor, their attitudes, and I loved them both. The fun of this book was in “watching” them grow despite the things that were against them. The author describes what they went through, the thing that changed everything, in a real way, exactly how it feels to have your heart ripped out but still be alive. Dude. I cried. I won’t give the story away, you just HAVE TO read it. Book three, as amazing as book two, only different.
I really enjoyed the story. Basically two broken folks who find each other. The characters were well developed and it was a really good story. It felt kind of tedious at times. There was definitely some great things and it ended up well.
Captivating, entertaining and heart-tugging story
—>>> This story goes to show that sometimes males can be males, no matter if human or alien. By-the-book Vetusian CAT officer Balgiz does not know what to make of this feisty woman who is bold, frank and intelligent. Rosie is nothing he was prepared for, but everything he wanted in a mate, and hopefully, he will not take too long until he realizes it. There are complications with their breeding contract, Balgiz’s identified mate, a huge work case which has no new leads, and one really stubborn alien who does not know anything other than being honorable and exemplary in his work. Once he puts Rosie in his field of focus, however, we are treated to the kind of male worth waiting for. There are many other layers included, but this is overall excellent storytelling of a captivating, entertaining, and heart-tugging story, and I definitely intend to read the others in this Garrison Earth Series!
Theirs was a relationship with no legal status!
by sewsummore
This book was an emotional read about a human female named Rosie and Vetusian warrior named Balgiz. In a time when Earth was under the control of the invading Vetusians. Couples are matched by their DNA and are linked together as a replacement for marriage. Rosie’s match had died, while Balgiz’s match was with an elderly woman. Rosie had top settle for a mating contract, which would make her a single mother. She was matched to Balgiz but, after a rocky start, they became friends as well as lovers, and eventually, they fall in love. However, that left them in a relationship with no legal status. I found this an absorbing read with a good storyline and characters that were believable
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Absolutely Awesome Read, well written, great characters, Awesome story line, easy read to hold you on their journey, this genre might not be for everyone but its a really wonderful story cannot wait for more from this Author.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Choices 5 stars – Balgiz’s matched link is a 90yo Earth female. Despite that, he is determined to care for her and stay loyal. Rosie’s match died in the invasion. She is without a match and her fiance was matched to somebody else and left her. Balgiz’s and Rosie meet through a breeding contract. They do not like each other but have to go through the contract. Then something happened and they ended up in close proximity. An attraction blossomed but since they are not a match nor are linked, what will happen? This story is at times funny, exciting, steamy, tragic and thought-provoking. It makes you think of fate’s role in our lives or do we really have a choice. It makes you think of marital rights. The setting is sci-fi but Balgiz and Rosie’s emotions feel very realistic. Once you crack this book open, you would not be able to put it down. [I received an advanced copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.]
Without question my favorite Garrison Earth book so far. Balgiz, a Vetusian, believes that you only have 1 fated mate in your lifetime. His Betsy is in her 90s, has dementia, and is in a nursing home. He visits her regularly, but she doesn’t know him and fondly remembers her deceased husband and the loving life they shared together. Rosie, a human, was happily engaged, planning her wedding, until the invasion, when her finaceé is told he has a fated mate, who happens to be Rosie’s BF. To make matters worse, she finds out her fated mate has been killed. They’ll never met and she knows little about him. Both Balgiz and Rosie believe they will live the rest of their lives alone. So they are matched and enter a breeding contact that essentially is Rosie caring and raising their child. He has no idea how to treat a woman, is inexperienced with a live partner, and is less than impressive as a lover goes. When he finds out Rosie’s not pregnant and is unimpressed with is skills, he’s determined to change that. They embark on a relationship by choice versus fate, and the story takes off from there. This book was a well paced, roller coaster of a read. I was brought to tears several times by the way this new to Earth society treated the two. Their story has heartbreaking twists and turns, drama, and finally HEA. In this case, choice won! I never write lengthy reviews, but if you like this genre at all, you will love this book. You can read it for free with your KU subscription. You won’t regret it.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Although Rosie pissed me off to no end after their loss, I’m giving this book 5 stars anyway because it was so refreshing to have a “realistic” alien culture clash, and Rosie’s earlier reactions to him made laugh many times. Knowing my luck, I would also be the one to end up with an autistic-like, hypersensitive alien manbaby, haha, and I didn’t realize how much I would appreciate a variation from the typical perfect warriors or stubborn alphas until Captain Balgiz came along. Courage, honor, acceptance, choice vs fate, sexism, justice, social control, forgiveness, sorrow, loss, friendship, family, hope, and love were some of the underlying themes in this steamy tale.
I received a free copy of Mated, but that did not affect my review.
Well worth reading!
Wow! I’ve loved this series but this is my favourite book so far. I love the story of Balgiz and Rosie.
Balgiz’s fated mate was Betsy who was elderly and had Alzheimer’s. He wanted to enter into a breeding contract so that he could have a baby which is where he met Rosie. There were so many ups and downs that had me turning the pages as fast as I could to read more. It had me in tears at one point and got me a strange look from my husband when I shouted “no”
I couldn’t put it down and read it almost in one go, I love this author, the books can be read as a stand-alone but I would recommend the series
Another great sci-fi romance with plenty of action and plot. I received an ARC copy and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I read both Captured and Matched by this author and so far Matched is the best for me. Mated seemed to take us back to the long drawn out process of Captured. Rosie and Balgiz form a contract for her to have a child for payment. The constant strife and Balgiz being a total jerk for about 43% of the book just got so wearing after a while. A small amount of friction is understandable if we are heading towards half of the book and the couple still isn’t really a couple means the rest of the book is going to be rushed.
I kept having a sense of Déjà vu with this book as I remembered how Eden and Torin took forever to come together in Captured. Mated seemed to follow that same formula and it just got frustrating after a while.
In a nutshell for me this is how the book went. Clashing personalities that have a mutually beneficial goal. They like each other don’t know how to communicate that with both of them being alien to each other. Angst, angst, angst, a small amount of non angst then we are back to angst, finally after almost half of the book a grudging peace and acceptance of each other and a bit of fun and banter. Something happens and then we hit the other side of the non-stop angst fest, the last chapter they finally get back together admit their caring for each other and we head to HEA. There are some other things that happen with the two different species trying to deal with some rather rigid protocols by the Vetusian’s.
While I was frustrated with having this book so closely mirror Captured, it was great to see the growth by Balgiz. He went from an almost automaton to a really caring and considerate male. Rosie started gaining more confidence in herself and wasn’t as hung up on not getting a perfect match. The secondary characters provided some much needed levity and caring to offset the very callous ways that Balgiz had in the beginning. There are some very poignant moments in this book along with loads and loads of angsty frustrating moments.
Would be nice if other things were driving the conflict in the story instead of non-stop angst.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Nice world and character building by the author. The main characters have issues with each other that they have to overcome. An interesting ok read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Rose and Balgiz have entered into a contract for him to provide her with a baby. Balgiz fated mate is 93 years old and died of cancer. Now that Rose and Balgiz are alone she wants a baby and he wants a child with his genes. This is a very entertaining read. This time the H and h are not fated mates. They ended up mates of choice. These two had so much heart break for them. Did love the ending. I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The writing and editing of this novel was quite good, with only a few typos that I caught near the beginning of the novel in the ARC version of this manuscript. The world building here was excellent, with the author shining a big spotlight on the weaknesses of a society where the only legal unions are Fated Mate unions. The characterization was excellent, with both hero and heroine being people that were complex, sometimes sympathetic, sometimes hateful people. This hero was a real piece of work, and the author describes him masterfully, so that you hate his guts in the beginning of this novel but fully fall in love with him by the end. The heroine’s trauma and reaction to her status in this society and her losses is sensitively and masterfully depicted. The development of these two characters’ romantic relationship is heart wrenching, by turns sweet and rage inducing, with a terrifying low moment and gloriously well earned HEA. The plot and pacing is exciting, and the scenes of the beginning stages of women being integrated into the warrior stratum made me pump my fist in the air! It was thrilling. This novel has A LOT of angst, but it is exquisitely enjoyable because the high angst is caused by terribly serious or traumatizing plot developments and a high stakes plot. This novel used the Heroine Faking her Orgasms trope, the Enemies to Lovers trope, and the Breeder trope often used in sci-fi romances. The world building, plot, and pacing was all five stars. The characterization and development of the romantic relationship was also five stars. The combined score of this novel was therefore five stars. This novel has a well earned Happy Ever After ending which I fully bought into, which just shows how excellent this author is. I recommend this sci-fi romance to readers who enjoy romance novels, angsty or not, because I feel like this sci-fi romance will have strong cross-genre appeal. I definitely plan to buy myself a keeper copy of this novel. It was an incredible experience.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This book is part of a series in the same universe. However, it is also a stand alone book so you don’t have to read the previous books to know what is going on in this one. It does have some graphic sex scenes, but it does have a good story line going on to offset that. Can you imagine that everyone is fated and your fated has died and you are alone or that your fated is an elderly person with dementia? That is what is going on in this book as well as abductions and murder. Rosie is a female looking for love and Balgis is an alien male who is honorable and an asshole to boot who wants to have a child badly. This story is what happens to them during the process. It is a good story and I enjoyed it and would recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
3rd book in the Garrison Earth series was right up there with the first book. I wasn’t as impressed with the second book, but it also didn’t take place on Earth. This book we were back on Earth and learned more about the new world and the setbacks, oversights, and cultural mishaps. Some kick butt women come into the story as well as some interesting characters and a non fated, but love struck pair. Excellently written as always.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Funny, heartbreaking, sad, inspirational. This story takes the reader through so many emotions. Rose and Balgiz have entered into a contract for him to give her a baby. His fated mate is 93 and hers died of cancer before she ever met him, so because they are both now fated to be alone, she wants a baby and he wants someone out there in the world with his genes. But when they meet Balgiz is such a clueless Vetusian male he unknowingly insults Rosie many times. They go through with the “mating” and it isn’t very good. It was hilarious. Rosie tells her sister about it and Balgiz’s co-workers hear them talk, and let him know how badly he performed. Now his pride is on the line and he will do what he must to give her pleasure. But if they fall in love, Vetusians don’t believe in it, only fated mates. So they can’t get married, can’t follow one partner if the other gets transferred, can’t be listed as next of kin in case of an emergency, etc. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review
First let me state that I received an advanced reader copy, (ARC), but this in no way influences my review. I always leave an honest review.
Holy shiznet!!! Gr8 story. This story has me crying for Rosie and Baliz. It’s an HEA, but it still has sad parts in it. I recommend this read. 5 Thumbs up