Atonement (Earth Evolution Series Book 3)

By: KD Jones

The Blurb: Mediko Jared Estro is a brilliant scientist, head of the mediko team on the Drastan fleet, and a well respected member of the Drastan community. So why does he lose all common sense the moment he is around the beautiful human female?

Lily Tyner survives losing her husband during a nuclear disaster and raised her young son in the most inhospitable environment. She will do anything to give her son Thomas a better life. Even if that means putting up with a self-righteous alien who is too good looking for his own good.

Both of them are haunted by tragedies in their past. Nothing worth having is ever easy, which is what these two find out when someone else wants to claim Lily for their own. Will they let their past keep them from making a future together? Or will these two strong wills seek comfort in each other and in the end find their Atonement?

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I've actually had this book for a year, but other books have taken priority and I've never gotten the chance to complete it. The last book I read took a lot of out of me (emotionally and physically) so I was really looking for an easy read to get me back in the saddle.

Atonement was a perfect pick. This is the third installment of the Earth Evolution Series and we finally get Jared and Lily's story. This series takes place in a distant future after the people of Earth have destroyed the planet with nuclear war. A small select group were able to take refuge in "Earth Domes" but the rest of the population was forced to find shelter wherever they could or die trying.

Several distress signals were sent out to space in the hopes that "someone" was listening. Luckily, an alien race called the Drastans were and have been aiding the planet and the small human population ever since. But, some humans instantly felt threatened (especially when the aliens begin to find mates among the human woman) and are secretly organizing to eliminate the Drastans and retake what they feel is rightfully there's.

We've known both Jared and Lily for some time and have watched them circle around each other in other books. Jared is the oldest of the Estro brothers. He is gorgeous, protective and brilliant. He's the head of the alien medical team and is dedicated to healing the humans.

Lily was a former model before the nuclear attack. She married young and instantly fell pregnant with her son, Thomas. Unfortunately, her husband didn't survive the war and Lily has been raising her son in an apocalyptic world on her own for years. She's tough, caring and level-headed. Before Thomas, she was interested in nursing and takes advantage of learning and helping Jared's mediko team as much as she can.

Their attraction is obvious but they've been holding themselves back. Finally, in this book, the levy breaks and we are thrust into an intense love affair between these two. Add in an adorable kid, a feisty grandmother type, and two delusional ex-lovers and this was a nice and exciting read.

While I did enjoy this story and our two main characters, there were some issues here and there. I completely understand why the Drastan's manner of speaking may be choppy and straight-forward since they are learning English, but sometimes this tone was used by the humans as well. It unfortunately made the writing seem a little juvenile at times. And I did notice some spelling and grammatical errors as well.

Overall, it was a nice, easy read with that happy ending I Iove so much. There are 6 books in this series so far and I'll definitely be adding the rest to my tbr list.

What did you think?