By: Penny Sloan
The Blurb:
An entire world was lost, destroyed by the bloodlust of a race called the Gua’trau. The only hope for their people rested in the hands of the twelve Lords and their Queen mothers who fled the planet just before its destruction. The twelve ships separated in hope of finding a genetically compatible species with which to mate.
After three years of searching the universe, one Lord has found the people of Earth. His mother, the Queen, brokered a deal with the American President for one genetically sound virgin for her son.
Quinn Fallon is afraid she’s received a death sentence. After all, now one knows if these Endarians are civil or what they plan to do with her. But once she learns of their plight, and meets the exceedingly handsome Jax who plans to make her his mate, she’s all too eager to help!
Jax must contact the rest of his people to give them the location of Earth and bring them there to find mates before it’s too late.
Can they save the Endari race from extinction in time?
This book is a sweet, simple, satisfying quickie.
Being the first book of the series, I appreciated how we were given a good idea of setting and situation. We know that our hero’s home planet has been destroyed by enemies and we know that he is currently on a spaceship searching the universe for a genetically compatible female (as well as 11 others). Lucky Earth, Jax and his mother have negotiated to collect a virgin (not entirely original, but no biggie).
It’s rare that for such a short book, we learn a lot about the characters. Jax is a sweetheart. It’s endearing how Jax is not only self-conscious about his betrothed finding him attractive but he genuinely feels bad about the method they are using to choose a mate.
“But now that we were on our way to take some poor human female against her will, it seemed so cold…so cruel.”
Our heroine, Quinn, also seemed likable and had qualities that could have been overlooked but really added depth to her character. Although she wasn’t completely happy with being chosen, it didn’t seem like she or any other American felt the need to protest one of their own being chosen specifically to procreate with an alien (teetering a little on the unbelievable scale). She was confident, if a little crass, and spoke her mind when Jax’s mother disapproves of her. She even questions whether what the Endari are doing could be seen as racist (trying to propagate the Endari genes on a new planet rather than just living on Earth and melding into Earth culture.) I really liked this about her. She wasn’t just some brainless pawn. She has a strong mind and convictions and it was nice to see.
The majority of the short book spans a few weeks of them getting to know each other (told, not shown) before another Lord can arrive to finally bond them as a mated couple. So we do have to wait till the end of the story for things to heat up.
As to be expected, our short story only allows one in-depth sexual encounter (2 total) but it didn’t disappoint. It was descriptive enough, included realistic dialogue and ended with an interesting bang. With only a few minutes to bask in the afterglow, we’re shot forward 9 months (you can guess as to why) and while we’re pleased with Quinn and Jax’s happy ending, we’re teased with more to come.
Again, this story is not heavy and the plot is somewhat predictable. It doesn’t tackle the issues that we sometimes see in romance novels and isn’t plagued with roadblocks for our lovers. Grammatically, this story is sound and edited well. The story flowed nicely, although jumped forward a few times, but stayed on course as to the main topic…a growing romance between the main characters.
I do have some lingering questions:
• Where is the enemy race that destroyed their planet? Will they be back to cause trouble?
• Will a lottery system continue to be the means at which mates are chosen?
• Where will they eventually end up?
But with 11 more possible books, I’m sure I’ll get my answers.
Jax (Fate of the Endari Book 1) is a short, sweet, sensual book. So if you have a few hours to kill and would like to indulge in a feel-good sexy alien love story, this one’s for you.
What did you think?
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