Happy Wednesday, Squiders! Today we’ve got a review for Alien Contact for Kid Sisters, by Edward Hoornaert. The book is free while its review tour is on, so if this sounds interesting to you, check out the buy links below. It’s science fiction romance.
Marianne Harmon is sick and tired of being just the kid sister of the famous queen of Kwadra Island. Although she daydreams about being a warrior, when rebels bomb the royal ball she’s shunted to one of the many tunnels that honeycomb Kwadra, where she awaits a captain of the valiant Royal Guardians.
Quinn Lebatarde, a scam artist fleeing the police, dons the uniform of a Royal Guardian killed by a tunnel collapse. When Marianne mistakes him for her bodyguard, Quinn can’t decide whether to save the feisty maiden, fall in love with her—or kidnap her. With bloodthirsty rebels pursuing them and a treasure map in his pocket, what will he choose?
Excerpt:
“Fifty, fifty-five, sixty,” the white-haired tourist said. “There you go, chief, paid in full.”
Chief? Quinn Lebatarde’s lips tightened at the insult, but almost immediately, he grinned. The tourist’s Rolex watch shouted money to burn, as did his expensive digital SLR camera. Quinn pocketed the money but held onto the cheap, plaster replica of an ancient Kwadran woodcarving the man and his wife were buying.
Time for some fun. Hordes of tourists crowded the streets, celebrating the birth of the heir to Kwadra’s throne. Business was great. Only three more ‘carvings,’ a mask, and some miniature totem poles remained on his rickety street-side table. And now the prospect of conning this man made Quinn’s day even brighter.
“All original,” he said in the thick accent and broken English dumb tourists expected. If you spoke too well, they didn’t believe you hailed from an alternate Earth. “Historic. Maybe I sell too cheap.”
Instead of giving them their mythological monster from Kwadra’s distant past, he clutched it to his chest. Not hard, though. The trashy fakes broke under the least pressure.
“Too cheap, ahha. Thirty dollah more.”
“We had a deal,” the tourist’s wife said.
With a loving fingertip, Quinn stroked the carving’s ugly, wide-open lips. “Fifty dollah more.”
“Now wait one minute,” said the man. “Isn’t this against the law or something?”
“You no on America now. Merkin law useless.” Merkin was Kwadrans’ slang nickname for Americans, with sexual connotations most of them didn’t know—despite English being their native language, not his. “Where you from you no know that?”
My Review:
I’d give this, oh, 3.5/5. I waffled a bit with this whole thing. I get review requests quite a bit, but this isn’t a review blog (aside from one here and there) and for some reason, whenever I do sign up for something with a deadline for the review something invariably shows up to make it difficult. I liked the excerpt but not the title, but I did eventually go for it (as you can see).
I received a copy for free (as can you through Nov 2) from GoddessFish Promotions. The waffling continued while I read the book. There are some aspects that are really cool. The setup of the “aliens,” who are from an alternate version of Earth, is distinctly different from most things I’ve read. The worldbuilding and culture is neat. The plot carries along at a good pace and has plenty of action to break everything up.
My biggest issues all stem from the characters, and I even feel a little waffle-y on this front. The characters are not flat or caricatures–they are well developed and have varying flaws and strengths–but they didn’t feel quite real to me. I mean, they did at points, but occasionally they would be…I’m not even sure. Too much to be real? Too intense? Not really sure how to describe it, but it would sometimes pull me out of the story. However, Elfy is my favorite character.
This is the second book in the series, and a third one is coming out soon. Like many romance series, each book revolves around a different couple. I’d recommend it if you like romance and are in for some cool worldbuilding.
Author Bio:
What kind of guy can write romance? A guy who married his high school sweetheart a week after graduation and is still living the HEA decades later. A guy who’s a certifiable Harlequin hero in his own right—he inspired Vicki Lewis Thompson’s Rita Award finalist Mr. Valentine, which is dedicated to him.
Ed started out writing contemporary romances for Silhouette Books, but these days he concentrates on science fiction and sf romance. In addition to novelist, he’s been a teacher, principal, technical writer, salesman, janitor, and symphonic oboist. He and wife Judi live in Tucson, Arizona. They have three sons, a daughter, a mutt, and the galaxy’s most adorable grandson. Visit him at http://eahoornaert.com.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1237266.Edward_Hoornaert
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Edward-Hoornaert/e/B001K8HWVQ/
Subscribe to Ed’s World (newsletter): http://eepurl.com/Psqmn
Pick up the book:
( Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Australia | Smashwords | Kobo Books | Barnes and Noble | Apple itunes )
Edward Hoornaert will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
