When Cass is abducted by aliens and sold to an alien pirate queen who collects female slaves to harvest their pheromones, her first experience with extraterrestrials quickly turns from surreal into a nightmare, which only grows more terrifying when an alien with a snake-like lower body and a surprisingly handsome face comes to her rescue. But Cass isn’t sure she’s actually safe with him, because … because he looks at her with hunger in his eyes.
Nahash has always been a loyal, honorable Iriduan soldier. After distinguishing himself above his peers, the genetically-enhanced warrior volunteered for an experimental program to create a hybrid with powerful psionic abilities, using DNA taken from a giant serpent that decimated one of their outer colonies. Though his body changed into a form beyond the scientists’ expectations, his mind became a weapon that could alter the very course of Iriduan civilization, perhaps even saving it from its inevitable ruin.
After such drastic alterations to his biology, scientists told him he was free from the affliction that caused Iriduan males to imprint on a single female, bonding him to her for life. The last thing he expects is to bond instantly to a human female he rescues during a raid on a pirate colony. Now, he’s stuck with her, because if he isn’t exposed to his mate’s scent on a regular basis, he will die. The fact that his body craves her as much as it needs her fills him with resentment, but when he realizes that the Iriduan Empire will do anything to keep her under their control because of what she means to him, he doesn’t hesitate to protect his mate—even if it means betraying his people.
The rogue test subject and the abducted human make a desperate escape from the Iriduan Empire, but the galaxy proves to be a dangerous place and there are worse things than the Iriduans waiting in the darkness of space. With no one to rely on except for each other, Nahash and Cass might not live long enough to find a home where they can settle down and explore the love that grows between them—love that takes them beyond their physical bond.
Author’s Note: 18+ Contains steamy scenes between a human heroine and a very alien hero.
more
Third in this series.
If you haven’t read the first two books in this series, The Scorpions Mate ( 1) and The Krackens Mate (2) then we can’t be friends… joke joke…
you won’t be able to enjoy this book to its fullest. There is so much freaking fantastic back story and plot laying that you MUST read them plus..let’s be real… a scorpion dude and a octopus dude finding romance with earth girls?!!! Who doesn’t want to read that! And this book takes it to a another level with the badassery that is Nahash the Serpent in this story.
The introduction of a slightly older ( much welcomed ) female main character was fantastically done. Cass is a hardworking, focused woman, love is wanted but she is not going to put herself out there for some ‘run of the mill’ guy.. so when she is abducted and kidnapped and wakes up surrounded by colourful iridian women to be used in a ‘scent bombing’ scam.. all she wants is to escape and be returned to her normal scheduled work filled days. Finding herself rescued by a giant snake man and suddenly his ‘mate’ was not part of the escape plan…. falling for him wasn’t either..
Nahash is a super soldier, a genetically modified iridian.. part of a bigger plot to control the world and dominate it. After his current mission goes majorly sideways, and he finds himself imprinting on a human.. the last thing he expected…his loyalty and goals are shaken to pieces and he finds himself against the people he was meant to serve. Realising he is now a not so willing slave to his human the race is on to escape…
Fantastic and mind bendingly twisty and turney, deep with plot and story and action and chemistry.. this book is a wonderful development of an already outstanding sci fi series and an absolute joy to read. In all honestly I’ve delayed reading this book… because I hate waiting for the next in series BUT with the author notes included in this book.. and some teasers given…only minor minor ones… I’m finding myself very much looking forward and anticipating the next book!
My favorite book in the series. I never believed it possible, but I may have fallen for Nahash harder than I did for Thrax! Cass is lovely too; a sensible, collected and compassionate heroine.
The worldbuilding is out-of-this-plane amazing (pun intended)! While in this one we get to explore the Iriduan world and society in more detail (and all its tangles), we also have other alien civilizations involved. It’s not only believable, but it’s also so real I could touch it. Kudos for mastering that aspect of sci-fi, Susan Trombley!
And the pacing of the story… phew! At no point did I feel the need to put down or skim the story. Even when Cass slipped into one of her self-analyzing moments. Even then I was greedy for more, always eager to turn the page. For a bonded/fated romance, their relationship progressed quite genuinely.
I can’t wait to read the next book in the series and, hopefully, learn more of Halian (wonderful, wonderful character). I have a feeling this series is going places 😉
This is the third book in the Iriduan Test Subjects series and again I enjoyed this very much.
These stories are becoming a real guilty pleasure for me and I do so love the complete alienness of the males featured in them.
Aliens that look like aliens are so my bag.
Abducted from Earth while rescuing a stray cat and purchased for her strong pheromones Cass finds herself a prisoner on a pirate planet.
Enter Nahash an Iriduan spiced with some big serpent DNA which has caused him to mutate form massively.
This one is slightly different than it’s predecessors as Nahash is actually a warrior and sympathetic and loyal to his people that is until he catches a whiff of his human mate while on his current mission to a pirate planet.
He unhappily imprints on her resenting the whole thing and her but unable to do anything but protect Cass even if that means turning traitor to his beloved empire.
Nahash’s Resentment gradually morphs into admiration and warmth as he slowly realises he actually likes just who Cass is as a person as well as a mate.
The way he says her name with a snake hiss at the end was sexy as hell and I also really adored Nahash’s unique form with the Iriduan torso but his bottom half being all serpent.
His hesitancy and lack of confidence initially with Cass was also so sweet he was worried that because of his outward appearance she would only ever see him as a monster.
This helped humanise him slightly to her despite his scary persona.
Cass, I adored that she was a normal forty plus woman with flaws and all.
I loved that because of her age she had such a maturity and self-reliance when dealing with Nashash and also her current situation.
She was such a pragmatic individual and also knew exactly what she wanted she really was a fantastic heroine and more than a match for Nahash.
This one was also super-steamy in content and also action-filled throughout.
I also really appreciated seeing the cast from the previous two books briefly at the close of this.
It was so lovely to catch up with the rest of the gang.
This is a great series that delivers every time a big thumbs up from my camp.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9460945-bex-beckie-bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
http://www.beckiebookworm.com
The Irudians have a lot to answer for with their weird experiments that combine human genetics and animal genetics to form odd combinations of all kinds of “monster people.” This third installment is a snake-man, who is being used by the Irudians to find undesirables. It’s been awhile since I read it, so I may have to make a trip back to do that, but I can remember that the H recognizes the FC as his mate and makes a pit stop to pick her up on the way. This story follows a more fated mate scenario, I think, so it’s not as original as the first 2, but it is still worth your while to read if you like weird conceptualizations of romantic pairings.