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Jekh Saga #1
Erstwhile
As an adamant opponent of Terran settlement on the planet Jekh, Owen McGarry made his family name synonymous with “traitor” on Earth. Lobbyists standing to profit from off-world colonization hinted that the Jekhans were preparing to declare war. Nearly twenty years after Owen’s supposed death, his granddaughter Courtney wants to learn the truth—even if she has to travel to the far-flung colony to do it.
Court soon learns that not only was her grandfather right about the Jekhans, but that conditions on their world are far more hostile than she feared. Terran forces decimated the population of the resident human-alien hybrids, and the people who remain seem to be all out of fight. That is, except for the pair of men Court finds hiding in her basement.
Fugitives Murki and Trigrian see a future in Court. On a planet where so few women remain, she has the potential to be the mate the lovers need. And more, she could become the advocate for their people that her grandfather didn’t get the chance to be.
When the corrupt local government seeks to punish Court’s friends and family for her actions, she has no choice but to make a stand. If it takes a riot to make the people on Earth see that they were misled about Jekh, she’s more than willing to start one. After all, her reputation couldn’t possibly get any worse.
___
ERSTWHILE is a romantic adventure set in the near future that contains dark humor, some violence, and a very needy pair of extraterrestrials.
Court soon learns that not only was her grandfather right about the Jekhans, but that conditions on their world are far more hostile than she feared. Terran forces decimated the population of the resident human-alien hybrids, and the people who remain seem to be all out of fight. That is, except for the pair of men Court finds hiding in her basement.
Fugitives Murki and Trigrian see a future in Court. On a planet where so few women remain, she has the potential to be the mate the lovers need. And more, she could become the advocate for their people that her grandfather didn’t get the chance to be.
When the corrupt local government seeks to punish Court’s friends and family for her actions, she has no choice but to make a stand. If it takes a riot to make the people on Earth see that they were misled about Jekh, she’s more than willing to start one. After all, her reputation couldn’t possibly get any worse.
___
ERSTWHILE is a romantic adventure set in the near future that contains dark humor, some violence, and a very needy pair of extraterrestrials.
Kindle Edition
Published August 9, 2016
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About the author
H.E. Trent
8 books35 followersH.E. Trent is the science fiction romance pseudonym of award-winning author Holley Trent.
Learn about her paranormal and erotic paranormal romances—including the psychic Viking ménages in The Afótama Legacy—at her website: holleytrent.com.
Subscribe to the H.E. Trent newsletter to get first glimpses of upcoming Jekh Saga installments and new release notifications at https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/l....
Learn about her paranormal and erotic paranormal romances—including the psychic Viking ménages in The Afótama Legacy—at her website: holleytrent.com.
Subscribe to the H.E. Trent newsletter to get first glimpses of upcoming Jekh Saga installments and new release notifications at https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/l....
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
July 31, 2018
This was one of my impulsive freebie downloads, but I promise I read some reviews first. Unfortunately it didn’t turn out to be at all what I was expecting. I thought the focus would be on the relationship and the romance, but instead it was on how the Jekhians had been subjugated and setting up storylines for future books.
Courtney heads off to Jekh to serve on the police force, but quickly learns that the planet is run by corrupt and misogynistic men. She’s expected to marry and pop out multiple kids within six months of arrival. Courtney finds two Jekhian men hiding in her basement. One is deathly ill so she allows them to stay even though she could be in big trouble if anyone finds out (the men are fugitives). She starts investigating all the corruption on the planet, and also gets into a relationship with one of the Jekhians. When she finds out she’s pregnant they all three have to flee to the country, but they’re later drawn back to the city when some of her friends get in trouble.
I’ll start with what bothered me the most, the “romance.” The two men are in a committed relationship, but they also need to mate with a woman to balance their hormones and stay healthy (this hormone imbalance is why Murk is sick). Murk is the dominant one so he gets Courtney to himself until after the birth of their first child. Trig has sex with Murk, but not while Court is around. He and Courtney are basically platonic roommates, and he doesn’t lose his virginity for an entire year. As if that isn’t awkward enough, Murk stops having sex with Court when he finds out she’s pregnant because he assumes that’s what she wants. So at different times both Court and Trig are basically left out of the relationship. I didn’t like that they weren’t all equal partners. It never seemed like they were all three truly together.
Then there were the communication issues. I get it, they’re from different cultures and Murk can’t even talk for most of the book. It just drove me crazy that the men kept expecting Courtney to act like a Jekhian woman over and over again. How many times can a person make the same mistake before they learn their lesson? Not that she was helping. She did go six months barely talking to them. I just found it impossible to believe these three really cared for each other. Courtney and Murk/Trig never acted like they loved each, there was no romance. The men don’t even expect romance since that’s not normal for women in their culture. At best it seemed like a relationship of convenience. She was the only woman around, and they needed her to stay healthy. She was pregnant and alone on a strange planet.
On the plus side, I liked Courtney. She was tough, smart, resourceful and kind. I especially enjoyed the beginning of the book when she was exploring her new world. Murk and Trig weren’t my favorite heroes. At first Murk is the sweet one, but once he starts feeling better he turns into a bit of a jerk. Not only is he a dom, but he also grew up privileged and used to getting his way. He doesn’t always respect others feelings and opinions. Trig starts out as cold and hard since he has to care for Murk, but once his partner is able to take control he turns into an insecure sub. I could sort of understand why their personalities shifted, but it was weird.
Another plus was the world building, though I had way too unanswered questions. I kept wondering if there was a prequel because there were so many things that were never really explained. Okay so the Tyneali kidnapped Romani women, but how many generations ago did that happen? No one questions the genetic experimentation? I thought Courtney said the Jehkians visited Earth, but maybe I got that wrong. How could there be so misinformation about what they looked like if they visited? How did Courtney’s grandfather get involved in all of this? I could go on, but I won’t. I’m definitely curious about this world and what’s going on. I’m just not invested enough to ignore the problems I had with this book. I read romance novels for the romance, and unfortunately I thought that was the weakest part of this story.
Courtney heads off to Jekh to serve on the police force, but quickly learns that the planet is run by corrupt and misogynistic men. She’s expected to marry and pop out multiple kids within six months of arrival. Courtney finds two Jekhian men hiding in her basement. One is deathly ill so she allows them to stay even though she could be in big trouble if anyone finds out (the men are fugitives). She starts investigating all the corruption on the planet, and also gets into a relationship with one of the Jekhians. When she finds out she’s pregnant they all three have to flee to the country, but they’re later drawn back to the city when some of her friends get in trouble.
I’ll start with what bothered me the most, the “romance.” The two men are in a committed relationship, but they also need to mate with a woman to balance their hormones and stay healthy (this hormone imbalance is why Murk is sick). Murk is the dominant one so he gets Courtney to himself until after the birth of their first child. Trig has sex with Murk, but not while Court is around. He and Courtney are basically platonic roommates, and he doesn’t lose his virginity for an entire year. As if that isn’t awkward enough, Murk stops having sex with Court when he finds out she’s pregnant because he assumes that’s what she wants. So at different times both Court and Trig are basically left out of the relationship. I didn’t like that they weren’t all equal partners. It never seemed like they were all three truly together.
Then there were the communication issues. I get it, they’re from different cultures and Murk can’t even talk for most of the book. It just drove me crazy that the men kept expecting Courtney to act like a Jekhian woman over and over again. How many times can a person make the same mistake before they learn their lesson? Not that she was helping. She did go six months barely talking to them. I just found it impossible to believe these three really cared for each other. Courtney and Murk/Trig never acted like they loved each, there was no romance. The men don’t even expect romance since that’s not normal for women in their culture. At best it seemed like a relationship of convenience. She was the only woman around, and they needed her to stay healthy. She was pregnant and alone on a strange planet.
On the plus side, I liked Courtney. She was tough, smart, resourceful and kind. I especially enjoyed the beginning of the book when she was exploring her new world. Murk and Trig weren’t my favorite heroes. At first Murk is the sweet one, but once he starts feeling better he turns into a bit of a jerk. Not only is he a dom, but he also grew up privileged and used to getting his way. He doesn’t always respect others feelings and opinions. Trig starts out as cold and hard since he has to care for Murk, but once his partner is able to take control he turns into an insecure sub. I could sort of understand why their personalities shifted, but it was weird.
Another plus was the world building, though I had way too unanswered questions. I kept wondering if there was a prequel because there were so many things that were never really explained. Okay so the Tyneali kidnapped Romani women, but how many generations ago did that happen? No one questions the genetic experimentation? I thought Courtney said the Jehkians visited Earth, but maybe I got that wrong. How could there be so misinformation about what they looked like if they visited? How did Courtney’s grandfather get involved in all of this? I could go on, but I won’t. I’m definitely curious about this world and what’s going on. I’m just not invested enough to ignore the problems I had with this book. I read romance novels for the romance, and unfortunately I thought that was the weakest part of this story.
July 17, 2019
My wrap up of this book has convinced more than one person to pick it up, so check that out, too! -> https://youtu.be/ybMgrEJU8wI?t=347
I needed an off the wall romance to reset a brain beset by sad literary fiction, and this cover promises just that - a triad, in space! I didn't need much beyond that, but Trent brings a bunch more.
The good:
- Considered, in-depth world building. Trent has built an entire society complete with history, traditions, and -isms, for a lack of a better term. The beginning of the novel scratches the surface and things get deeper as you go on. At first I wasn't sure Trent would go that deep, so I was happy to see she thought the world out completely.
- The romance is okay and the plot works fine, but the characters are what keeps the story going. It's not about watching the relationship evolve as much as it's watching them recognize and overcome differences.
- But above all, the themes discussed made the book for me. There's a look at how first contact can go oh so wrong. Earth colonized the Jehkhan's planet in a way that calls back to the treatment of Native Americans, yet isn't a carbon copy. Intercultural relationships are examined in a way that feels true, and recalls moments (okay, fights) in my own international marriage. Along with the characterization it gave me a lot to chew on.
- It read quickly and was just what I needed in the moment, always a plus.
The not-so-good:
- Instalust quickly leads to more, and Court doesn't examine some (spoilery) big steps as much as I would like.
- After a bunch of characterization work the plot takes off like a rocket for the last chapters, coming out of nowhere and depositing us in a completely different place, a bit stunned and confused.
Erstwhile ended up being more intellectual than I would have thought from the cover and description but still provided the romantic escape I needed. I'm looking forward to getting into book two and seeing how the world deepens from here.
I needed an off the wall romance to reset a brain beset by sad literary fiction, and this cover promises just that - a triad, in space! I didn't need much beyond that, but Trent brings a bunch more.
The good:
- Considered, in-depth world building. Trent has built an entire society complete with history, traditions, and -isms, for a lack of a better term. The beginning of the novel scratches the surface and things get deeper as you go on. At first I wasn't sure Trent would go that deep, so I was happy to see she thought the world out completely.
- The romance is okay and the plot works fine, but the characters are what keeps the story going. It's not about watching the relationship evolve as much as it's watching them recognize and overcome differences.
- But above all, the themes discussed made the book for me. There's a look at how first contact can go oh so wrong. Earth colonized the Jehkhan's planet in a way that calls back to the treatment of Native Americans, yet isn't a carbon copy. Intercultural relationships are examined in a way that feels true, and recalls moments (okay, fights) in my own international marriage. Along with the characterization it gave me a lot to chew on.
- It read quickly and was just what I needed in the moment, always a plus.
The not-so-good:
- Instalust quickly leads to more, and Court doesn't examine some (spoilery) big steps as much as I would like.
- After a bunch of characterization work the plot takes off like a rocket for the last chapters, coming out of nowhere and depositing us in a completely different place, a bit stunned and confused.
Erstwhile ended up being more intellectual than I would have thought from the cover and description but still provided the romantic escape I needed. I'm looking forward to getting into book two and seeing how the world deepens from here.
October 18, 2017
Ok so another Gem that I forgot about and wasn't expecting much, but ended up being blown away.
I thought this would be a smut book, and while it was it was far beyond that. The world building and plot rang all my keeper bells. I thought the characters were well thought out and balanced and the plot was paced enough to build a world but keep me interested and intrigued at the same time.
The triad was unique as well. Trig and Murk are lovers on Jekh who can only mate with a female together. They don't give up their feelings just because the meet Court. If anything she makes them stronger together and apart. I loved that they had a back story and were so dynamic. I enjoyed too that while they had to adjust to Court, Court had to adjust to Jekh culture as well. It was interesting to see compromise there as well.
The steam was also off the charts. Dom and Sub as well as Court who had traits of both. The author thought it out and made them fit into the relationship well. It was sad to see how the people of Jekh were treated by Terrans, and the distrust women had in general for Men. I do like that Court pushed her men to talk to her when she felt left behind.
I will definitely be reading more from this author
I thought this would be a smut book, and while it was it was far beyond that. The world building and plot rang all my keeper bells. I thought the characters were well thought out and balanced and the plot was paced enough to build a world but keep me interested and intrigued at the same time.
The triad was unique as well. Trig and Murk are lovers on Jekh who can only mate with a female together. They don't give up their feelings just because the meet Court. If anything she makes them stronger together and apart. I loved that they had a back story and were so dynamic. I enjoyed too that while they had to adjust to Court, Court had to adjust to Jekh culture as well. It was interesting to see compromise there as well.
The steam was also off the charts. Dom and Sub as well as Court who had traits of both. The author thought it out and made them fit into the relationship well. It was sad to see how the people of Jekh were treated by Terrans, and the distrust women had in general for Men. I do like that Court pushed her men to talk to her when she felt left behind.
I will definitely be reading more from this author
June 14, 2018
4.0 Stars
RTC
(Note to self: Remember to mention how almost every subjugation tactic known was used on the Jekhans.)
RTC
(Note to self: Remember to mention how almost every subjugation tactic known was used on the Jekhans.)
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December 8, 2023🎁 FREE on Amazon today (11/21/2020)! 🎁
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July 28, 20187/28/18 Currently FREE via Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Erstwhile-Sci-...
May 16, 2020
The plot is interesting and I do want to know if they get their freedom... but the overly alpha dom/sub relationship of the trio? Not to my taste.
March 26, 2020
A lot of wasted potential.
I don't read a lot of sci-fi romance, and this particular work felt heavy on the sci-fi/politicking and light on the actual romance, but that imbalance may be actually just a different balance than I'm used to because of the subgenre. Sci-fi takes a lot more world-building space than contemporary or military or half a dozen other subgenres, so this criticism could fall under "it's not the book, it's me and my faulty expectations." I honestly don't know.
What I do know is that the world-building here is full of holes, starting with the time period it's set in. This was published in 2016 and set in 2036. That's twenty years out, yet apparently Earth has colonized another planet, and we've been there for at least a while, presumably longer than twenty years, based on the level of devastation we've inflicted on the native population, and the fact that the lead's grandfather was a political agitator in the past about the colonization. (If there were hard dates given to the timeline, I honestly don't remember them, but this didn't feel "new" as it was happening, it felt like they'd been at this a while.)
So am I supposed to believe this is our Earth, our society that's doing this? Because we're not. This isn't set far enough in the future to be a believable course of events, and if it's supposed to rely on some alternate history where the story Earth diverged somewhere in the past and this is their future, that alternate history is not given.
Okay, so my brain pushed it farther into the future to get past that, because hey, does it really matter? It's just a year number, right?
But the holes just keep coming. The native population was brutally crushed under the weight of colonial boots, apparently, but the fugitive men we meet and who become the protagonist's lovers have a surprisingly deep awareness of some aspects of human history and culture, odd things that my brain kept bumping into and saying "How would they know this? What human taught them this?" And they know English and some German (apparently, it comes up once and is never mentioned again) but I never saw any evidence of the sort of formal schooling that would teach them that (they're really fluent, this isn't a "pick up it from the oppressors while I'm fighting to survive" kind of knowledge) and it's all just hand-waved.
Then, let's talk about the "romance." I have never read any romance novel where consent is so unclear. Courtney really just does sort of fall into bed with one of the men, and yes, we the reader know he's sick because of a hormonal imbalance that female pheromones will alleviate and eventually cure, so we know why he wants to bang her. But she never really says yes, and during that first scene and several following it, Courtney asks him (or later, the other man in their pairing) "What are we doing?"
It keeps happening, this bewildering sex they have without any sort of discussion or boundary-setting or even emotional attachment. It's strange and uncomfortable and not particularly sexy to read, because I was as bewildered as Courtney. Yes, it's established she finds both of them attractive physically, but there's never really much of an emotional connection, and at one point Courtney even questions if it's appropriate for her to "use" Murk for sex because she's a colonizer and he's a native. Which, yeah, dicey dynamic there.
But I called this wasted potential because the bones of a good setup were there. I wanted to read a story where these two men were suffering doubt about their attraction to Courtney: is it just their biology, are they that desperate for pheromones, or is it something beyond that? Could it be real? And I think that might be what the author was going for, but I never thought she got there. An unplanned (and supposedly impossible) pregnancy happens instead, so suddenly they're all stuck together whether their relationship would have developed naturally or not, because (newsflash) the dominant male partner in Jekhian trios are biologically baby-crazy and territorial as all get-out.
There were moments, when the three of them were trying to hash out their cultural differences and what it meant for their expectations of relationship and family dynamics, that I keenly felt that wasted potential. This could have been so, so good, if it hadn't fallen into the baby trap as a shortcut to keeping them together, if it had explored the power balance among them with any kind of nuance, if it hadn't relied on keeping one character mute for most of the book because he was the one who could have explained Jekhan culture better than the one who could speak, which fueled constant and repetitive misunderstandings. (Side note: that muteness was handled poorly, which couple with a great deal of head-hopping, meant that a lot of times I honestly wasn't sure who was speaking/thinking any given line. So that was no fun and did not help matters any.)
I did not like this book at all, but I'm left with a wanting feeling to read the book it could have been, because I think I really would like it.
I don't read a lot of sci-fi romance, and this particular work felt heavy on the sci-fi/politicking and light on the actual romance, but that imbalance may be actually just a different balance than I'm used to because of the subgenre. Sci-fi takes a lot more world-building space than contemporary or military or half a dozen other subgenres, so this criticism could fall under "it's not the book, it's me and my faulty expectations." I honestly don't know.
What I do know is that the world-building here is full of holes, starting with the time period it's set in. This was published in 2016 and set in 2036. That's twenty years out, yet apparently Earth has colonized another planet, and we've been there for at least a while, presumably longer than twenty years, based on the level of devastation we've inflicted on the native population, and the fact that the lead's grandfather was a political agitator in the past about the colonization. (If there were hard dates given to the timeline, I honestly don't remember them, but this didn't feel "new" as it was happening, it felt like they'd been at this a while.)
So am I supposed to believe this is our Earth, our society that's doing this? Because we're not. This isn't set far enough in the future to be a believable course of events, and if it's supposed to rely on some alternate history where the story Earth diverged somewhere in the past and this is their future, that alternate history is not given.
Okay, so my brain pushed it farther into the future to get past that, because hey, does it really matter? It's just a year number, right?
But the holes just keep coming. The native population was brutally crushed under the weight of colonial boots, apparently, but the fugitive men we meet and who become the protagonist's lovers have a surprisingly deep awareness of some aspects of human history and culture, odd things that my brain kept bumping into and saying "How would they know this? What human taught them this?" And they know English and some German (apparently, it comes up once and is never mentioned again) but I never saw any evidence of the sort of formal schooling that would teach them that (they're really fluent, this isn't a "pick up it from the oppressors while I'm fighting to survive" kind of knowledge) and it's all just hand-waved.
Then, let's talk about the "romance." I have never read any romance novel where consent is so unclear. Courtney really just does sort of fall into bed with one of the men, and yes, we the reader know he's sick because of a hormonal imbalance that female pheromones will alleviate and eventually cure, so we know why he wants to bang her. But she never really says yes, and during that first scene and several following it, Courtney asks him (or later, the other man in their pairing) "What are we doing?"
It keeps happening, this bewildering sex they have without any sort of discussion or boundary-setting or even emotional attachment. It's strange and uncomfortable and not particularly sexy to read, because I was as bewildered as Courtney. Yes, it's established she finds both of them attractive physically, but there's never really much of an emotional connection, and at one point Courtney even questions if it's appropriate for her to "use" Murk for sex because she's a colonizer and he's a native. Which, yeah, dicey dynamic there.
But I called this wasted potential because the bones of a good setup were there. I wanted to read a story where these two men were suffering doubt about their attraction to Courtney: is it just their biology, are they that desperate for pheromones, or is it something beyond that? Could it be real? And I think that might be what the author was going for, but I never thought she got there. An unplanned (and supposedly impossible) pregnancy happens instead, so suddenly they're all stuck together whether their relationship would have developed naturally or not, because (newsflash) the dominant male partner in Jekhian trios are biologically baby-crazy and territorial as all get-out.
There were moments, when the three of them were trying to hash out their cultural differences and what it meant for their expectations of relationship and family dynamics, that I keenly felt that wasted potential. This could have been so, so good, if it hadn't fallen into the baby trap as a shortcut to keeping them together, if it had explored the power balance among them with any kind of nuance, if it hadn't relied on keeping one character mute for most of the book because he was the one who could have explained Jekhan culture better than the one who could speak, which fueled constant and repetitive misunderstandings. (Side note: that muteness was handled poorly, which couple with a great deal of head-hopping, meant that a lot of times I honestly wasn't sure who was speaking/thinking any given line. So that was no fun and did not help matters any.)
I did not like this book at all, but I'm left with a wanting feeling to read the book it could have been, because I think I really would like it.
July 20, 2018
3.5 stars, rounding up
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book when I got it free off Amazon to fulfill “alien romance” for a reading challenge. I’ve been wanting to read this author for a while, and this book definitely makes me want to keep reading this series and other books by her.
So what worked for me:
- this book explores colonialism by having Terrans (humans from Earth) colonizing a distant planet, Jekh. it’s not set too far in the future, actually, and I’m not sure how humans got the technology to do so but I believe Tyneali people from Jekh came to earth, kidnapped humans (mostly the Romani), took them back to Jekh, and bred with them to make Jekhans. and humans came on a fake “diplomacy” mission and ended up waging war on Jekhans and overpowering them. The book is pretty explicitly anti-colonialist on a lot of levels. There’s also commentary on the historical treatment of the Romani.
- enjoyed all the cultural references to Jekhans and their way of life before Terrans fucked up everything. we don’t just learn through Courtney’s eyes because Trig and Murk also have POV in this.
- by the end, I was really invested in some of the mysteries unraveling and all the secondary characters that are introduced!
What didn’t work, hence the lower rating:
- this didn’t quite work for me as a romance. while Courtney is learning about being the mate of Jekh men, they kind of act like alpha assholes sometimes. she definitely holds her own, and their relationship is not smooth, which is fine if I feel like things are resolved by the end. I didn’t quite get that here. I think they still have a lot to work out as partners and parents. some of it is cultural and again, this book really explores the dynamics between settlers and the oppressed Jekhans both within their relationship and more broadly. the whole Jekh mating in trios thing was interesting but I wish we had more Jekh women because they just talk about the women a lot and how like... usually in trios it’s not romantic necessarily?
- I also didn’t like that Courtney didn’t realize she could get pregnant while Murk wanted her pregnant. tbf, he didn’t know she didn’t realize this, but I was like, ick. honestly, Murk really wasn’t my favorite
- I had so many unanswered questions that maybe I just missed? or that might be explained more in future books? like, still don’t fully understand the Ague and how this works with hormones and how Murk got better. I still don’t fully understand the Tyneali / Jekhan relationship; are the Tyneali indigenous to Jekh? How big is Jekh? were they inhabiting just one continent? who else lives on the planet? the list goes on! Like I said, it made me want to keep reading!
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book when I got it free off Amazon to fulfill “alien romance” for a reading challenge. I’ve been wanting to read this author for a while, and this book definitely makes me want to keep reading this series and other books by her.
So what worked for me:
- this book explores colonialism by having Terrans (humans from Earth) colonizing a distant planet, Jekh. it’s not set too far in the future, actually, and I’m not sure how humans got the technology to do so but I believe Tyneali people from Jekh came to earth, kidnapped humans (mostly the Romani), took them back to Jekh, and bred with them to make Jekhans. and humans came on a fake “diplomacy” mission and ended up waging war on Jekhans and overpowering them. The book is pretty explicitly anti-colonialist on a lot of levels. There’s also commentary on the historical treatment of the Romani.
- enjoyed all the cultural references to Jekhans and their way of life before Terrans fucked up everything. we don’t just learn through Courtney’s eyes because Trig and Murk also have POV in this.
- by the end, I was really invested in some of the mysteries unraveling and all the secondary characters that are introduced!
What didn’t work, hence the lower rating:
- this didn’t quite work for me as a romance. while Courtney is learning about being the mate of Jekh men, they kind of act like alpha assholes sometimes. she definitely holds her own, and their relationship is not smooth, which is fine if I feel like things are resolved by the end. I didn’t quite get that here. I think they still have a lot to work out as partners and parents. some of it is cultural and again, this book really explores the dynamics between settlers and the oppressed Jekhans both within their relationship and more broadly. the whole Jekh mating in trios thing was interesting but I wish we had more Jekh women because they just talk about the women a lot and how like... usually in trios it’s not romantic necessarily?
- I also didn’t like that Courtney didn’t realize she could get pregnant while Murk wanted her pregnant. tbf, he didn’t know she didn’t realize this, but I was like, ick. honestly, Murk really wasn’t my favorite
- I had so many unanswered questions that maybe I just missed? or that might be explained more in future books? like, still don’t fully understand the Ague and how this works with hormones and how Murk got better. I still don’t fully understand the Tyneali / Jekhan relationship; are the Tyneali indigenous to Jekh? How big is Jekh? were they inhabiting just one continent? who else lives on the planet? the list goes on! Like I said, it made me want to keep reading!
August 2, 2018
Forbidden 💘Love
This is a three way romance but it's more than that, it's a book about the clashes between cultures and the subjugation and near ruination of an alien culture by humans.
Courtney, the human woman, is a well trained cop just arriving on the alien planet, Jekh. She finds Trig👹 and Murk👹, two tall, handsome, Jekh men in the closet of her new home. At first, she is helping out the sickly Murk👹, but they soon become so much more than just strays.
One of the two men is the alpha🐺 and the other is subservient, they have known each other all their lives and are a couple. But the Jekh👹 normally live in threes. They need a mate, a female mate to make their family complete and to stay healthy.
Sure, there is some hot and naaasssty three way sex, but most of the book is about Courtney💃💋 and her two husbands trying to find their place in their world where the relationship of a human and aliens is forbidden.
This is a long book, but well worth 📚reading. Recommend!
This is a three way romance but it's more than that, it's a book about the clashes between cultures and the subjugation and near ruination of an alien culture by humans.
Courtney, the human woman, is a well trained cop just arriving on the alien planet, Jekh. She finds Trig👹 and Murk👹, two tall, handsome, Jekh men in the closet of her new home. At first, she is helping out the sickly Murk👹, but they soon become so much more than just strays.
One of the two men is the alpha🐺 and the other is subservient, they have known each other all their lives and are a couple. But the Jekh👹 normally live in threes. They need a mate, a female mate to make their family complete and to stay healthy.
Sure, there is some hot and naaasssty three way sex, but most of the book is about Courtney💃💋 and her two husbands trying to find their place in their world where the relationship of a human and aliens is forbidden.
This is a long book, but well worth 📚reading. Recommend!
February 7, 2020
I was so pleasantly surprised at the depth of this story. Trent is writing about colonialism but has set the story in space. I really enjoyed the commentary and the romance story. There were elements of Jenkh masculinity and some of the decisions that I disliked. There's a trope I really hate but was able to get past because I needed to see what would happen I was genuinely interested in this world.
July 12, 2020
Putting this one aside for the moment as a rare DNF.
Courtney is described as a very self-assured and headstrong young woman from the beginning of the book, but she doesn't kick up much of a fuss after Merk impregnates her without her knowledge. Nor does she give the men hell when they refuse to touch her through her entire pregnancy, despite having sex with each other. Then, she keeps mentally making excuses for Merk once the baby is born and he's still an asshole.
Not sure I can finish this book, much less the whole set it came as, but I might try again later.
Courtney is described as a very self-assured and headstrong young woman from the beginning of the book, but she doesn't kick up much of a fuss after Merk impregnates her without her knowledge. Nor does she give the men hell when they refuse to touch her through her entire pregnancy, despite having sex with each other. Then, she keeps mentally making excuses for Merk once the baby is born and he's still an asshole.
Not sure I can finish this book, much less the whole set it came as, but I might try again later.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
July 31, 2018ER-SF (ménage) free 30 Jul 2018 @ Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Erstwhile-Sci-...
https://www.amazon.com/Erstwhile-Sci-...
October 5, 2020
H.E. Trent’s Erstwhile: A Sci-Fi Romance (The Jekh Saga Book 1) (also available in The Jekh Saga Collection One: Erstwhile, Crux, and Salvo) is an interesting and fun scifi/romance blend. In this story-verse, aliens called the Tinyaeli used their own genetics as a base to create a variety of sentient races on different planets. One of these races, the Jekhan, was something of a failed experiment. When the Jekhan found out about their genetic cousins, humans, they prepared to send envoys to earth in the hopes of both friendship and perhaps a new infusion of genetic material. Instead, humans vilified them, stole their technology, and took over their planet. (Who’s surprised? Not me.) Officer Courtney McGarry has volunteered to be sent to Jekh as a police officer. What no one told her is that women are so rare on Jekh that things can get… bad for them. She was convinced to sign up for the matchmaking database, not realizing quite how mandatory it was or how seriously it was taken. A couple of cabin attendants on the spaceship trip to Jekh manage to warn her a bit, and one of them, Amy, does her best to introduce Court to some of the native Jekhans on the planet. When Court gets her new digs, she discovers two Jekhan men hiding in a secret closet. One of them is extremely ill, and both of them are in hiding from the human government. As Court becomes more and more involved with the Jekhans, things become more and more dangerous for her.
First, this is a great twist on the whole “alien seed theory” seen so often in sci-fi. As usual, it provides a great explanation for why various races exist and can interact. What makes this different from what I’ve seen before is that the Tynaeli aren’t perfect, and neither are their experiments. You never see a race described as a “failed experiment” in sci-fi. The Jekhans have been culturally conditioned by the Tynaeli to be non-violent, which makes it all the more easy for the humans to planet-jack them.
The erotic romance part of things is interesting too. The Jekhan “formula” is mmf–a male isn’t fertile unless there’s a second male involved, and the female usually spends as little time with the men and children as possible. (Again, culturally conditioned by the Tynaeli.) Also, male Jekhan hormones get unbalanced if they spend too much of their lives single and without a female–if they don’t get the right medication, they can even die. It’s easy to see why the Jekhans need an outside infusion of genetic material–the Tynaeli accidentally screwed them over in the reproduction department.
Typically in the mmf relationship, one male is the “first husband” and is dominant. The other male is the “second husband” and is submissive. Of the two males Court encounters–who are already lovers–Murk is clearly dominant and Trigrian (Trig) is clearly submissive. Court can put up with Murk being dominant (although I wouldn’t call her submissive), and she can be a bit dominant with Trig. Court eventually decides to call off the arranged marriage, and finds out that apparently Reg Devin paid to be matched specifically with her, and is extremely angry that she’s breaking it off. Soon Reg will be back on the planet, and she’s going to have to watch her back when he returns.
There’s an interesting discussion in here of consent and how it relates to culture and personality. I also love that Court is very uninhibited when it comes to sex–in particular, the idea of having sex with a Jekhan in no way offends or bothers her.
This isn’t just sex/relationship writing; it also has plenty of action going on. There are some conspiracies taking place, people end up in a great deal of danger, and the political scene is quite messed up.
I was a little surprised that on a planet where most of the humans are male, there’s no thriving gay scene.
Content note for explicit sex (mmf, mm, mf), sexual assault, and exhibitionism/voyeurism.
SPOILER WARNING (sub-genre note): If your idea of an HEA (Happily Ever After) in romance requires pregnacy, this is definitely the series for you! Also, one thing I didn’t like about this book is I’m not into stories where the win condition for the woman is to give up her job to be barefoot and pregnant, and this is uncomfortably close to that.
Review originally posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2020/10/r...
First, this is a great twist on the whole “alien seed theory” seen so often in sci-fi. As usual, it provides a great explanation for why various races exist and can interact. What makes this different from what I’ve seen before is that the Tynaeli aren’t perfect, and neither are their experiments. You never see a race described as a “failed experiment” in sci-fi. The Jekhans have been culturally conditioned by the Tynaeli to be non-violent, which makes it all the more easy for the humans to planet-jack them.
The erotic romance part of things is interesting too. The Jekhan “formula” is mmf–a male isn’t fertile unless there’s a second male involved, and the female usually spends as little time with the men and children as possible. (Again, culturally conditioned by the Tynaeli.) Also, male Jekhan hormones get unbalanced if they spend too much of their lives single and without a female–if they don’t get the right medication, they can even die. It’s easy to see why the Jekhans need an outside infusion of genetic material–the Tynaeli accidentally screwed them over in the reproduction department.
Typically in the mmf relationship, one male is the “first husband” and is dominant. The other male is the “second husband” and is submissive. Of the two males Court encounters–who are already lovers–Murk is clearly dominant and Trigrian (Trig) is clearly submissive. Court can put up with Murk being dominant (although I wouldn’t call her submissive), and she can be a bit dominant with Trig. Court eventually decides to call off the arranged marriage, and finds out that apparently Reg Devin paid to be matched specifically with her, and is extremely angry that she’s breaking it off. Soon Reg will be back on the planet, and she’s going to have to watch her back when he returns.
There’s an interesting discussion in here of consent and how it relates to culture and personality. I also love that Court is very uninhibited when it comes to sex–in particular, the idea of having sex with a Jekhan in no way offends or bothers her.
This isn’t just sex/relationship writing; it also has plenty of action going on. There are some conspiracies taking place, people end up in a great deal of danger, and the political scene is quite messed up.
I was a little surprised that on a planet where most of the humans are male, there’s no thriving gay scene.
Content note for explicit sex (mmf, mm, mf), sexual assault, and exhibitionism/voyeurism.
SPOILER WARNING (sub-genre note): If your idea of an HEA (Happily Ever After) in romance requires pregnacy, this is definitely the series for you! Also, one thing I didn’t like about this book is I’m not into stories where the win condition for the woman is to give up her job to be barefoot and pregnant, and this is uncomfortably close to that.
Review originally posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2020/10/r...
February 16, 2019
Bon, je sais bien que c'est un roman contenant un "ménage à trois" mais très franchement, vu la qualité médiocre des descriptions de leur rapport intime (le sexe quoi) je crois qu'on aurait pu se passer du 3/4 des scènes. Un résumé rapide suffisait amplement.
Parce que bon, quitte à écrire une scène "hawt", autant le faire correctement. La c'était d'un ennui mortel... Heureusement que les histoires de colonisation, de complot et d'alien compensait amplement. Sinon j'aurais lâcher l'affaire, ahem.
Bref, bien mais sans plus. La romance est un peu bancale... Après il faut aussi dire que je n'aime pas trop l'un des héros. En fait à mesure que le roman avançait, moins j'appréciais Murki. J'aurais bien aimé que Court et Trig continue sans lui... Ahem.
Parce que bon, quitte à écrire une scène "hawt", autant le faire correctement. La c'était d'un ennui mortel... Heureusement que les histoires de colonisation, de complot et d'alien compensait amplement. Sinon j'aurais lâcher l'affaire, ahem.
Bref, bien mais sans plus. La romance est un peu bancale... Après il faut aussi dire que je n'aime pas trop l'un des héros. En fait à mesure que le roman avançait, moins j'appréciais Murki. J'aurais bien aimé que Court et Trig continue sans lui... Ahem.
May 31, 2022
4.5 stars for the overall story, maybe, but 3.5 stars for the romance itself, so we’re rounding down here.
This was surprisingly good. I read a number of reviews before picking this up, and I have to admit I was hesitant at first, but I happened to be craving a mmf story and was coming off a space-related kick, so I couldn’t help but be tempted into reading this despite my concerns. I’m so glad I did. This absolutely lived up to or surpassed expectations, and was a delightful read from start to finish that honestly wasn’t all that far off a 5 star favorites listing, if only a few things had been done better.
I want to second criticisms that have been well covered in other reviews, so I went spend too, too much time rehashing them:
There isn’t quite enough explanation and detail given for some of the things going on in this book. While the world building has obviously been carefully thought out and creatively planned, it just hasn’t been perfectly communicated. It’s an alternate timeline for earth — set a little in the future but clearly having slightly different history and technological advances — and while I appreciate the author not overloading us with huge info-dumps, by the end of the book I still felt left with too many basic questions about the world. Some of the mystery is intentional — we’re not supposed to know what Courtney doesn’t know, so what exactly happened with her grandfather is meant to still be a lingering question — but there are some basics I feel like we should’ve been clued in in by the end. What exactly is this sickness Murk had for most of the book and does it affect males of their species equally or randomly orrrrr? Is that what made intercourse painful for the males at the beginning, or is that always the case, orrrrrr? What other colonies do humans have, and what other alien races have they interacted with at this point? Exactly what kind of exposure to earthen languages and customs do Jekhans have, and why/how? What exactly even is Murk’s personality? Etc.
There isn’t quite enough emphasis on the relationship building, at least by the end of the book. The rest of the plot is great and I found it hella interesting, don’t get me wrong, but I felt like the author was forced to cut chapters or scenes after writing them, and had no choice but to cut from the romance plot line just because the political/mystery plot couldn’t be shaved down. It just felt… incomplete. By the end of the book, I still wasn’t 100% sure the main couple were all on the same page, and wasn’t sure how they’d gotten past some of their issues that plagued them for chapters then seemed magically solved, etc. Also, I don’t think Courtney ever really addressed how she felt about having two partners, which is, you know, kinda a weird oversight.
Relatedly: the sex scenes didn’t really deliver for me. They were fewer and further in between than I would’ve liked, a bit vague at times, yet also a bit too forward at others… it left me with occasional whiplash. Not the best BDSM etiquette, but certainly far better than the average book on the market. Still, that whole dynamic felt unnecessary to the book after all, seemingly plugged in like an afterthought. It didn’t feel actually true to the characters, but more like the author thought she had to fit in something bdsm in order to sell or something. Also also: “his fingers fluttered against her womb” is a big NOPE NOPE NOPE level fail from me. /shrug.
There were occasional missing words or punctuation errors, but for the most part the writing was strong. What bugged me more than anything was the way the author tended to bounce from one character’s point of view (third) to the other without warning, sometimes ending one paragraph with one character in one room and then starting the next (no section break or other warning) in a different location with a different character seemingly a bit in the future. Occasionally it was also difficult to follow a conversation, even just between two characters, because the new-paragraph-equals-new-speaker convention wasn’t always followed and very little dialog tagging accompanied comments in certain exchanges. There are also some odd time jumps which, on the one hand, help move the story along without dragging us through too much repetitive information, but on the other hand, mean we skip ahead months sometimes only to find out very simple misunderstandings hadn’t been solved in the meantime? It’s occasionally frustrating.
Again, though, I enjoyed the book overall. I think it could’ve benefitted from being a bit longer and explaining a bit more than it did — and definitely could’ve benefitted from developing the relationship plot a bit more — but from start to finish it was a good, interesting read that I enjoyed far more than I expected to. It doesn’t feel fully complete at the end, but it’s not problematic enough to be flagged as an unsatisfying ending to me. It definitely piques my curiosity enough to make me want to grab the next book.
Short review is short because I’m without good internet and forced to typos on my phone for the time being.
This was surprisingly good. I read a number of reviews before picking this up, and I have to admit I was hesitant at first, but I happened to be craving a mmf story and was coming off a space-related kick, so I couldn’t help but be tempted into reading this despite my concerns. I’m so glad I did. This absolutely lived up to or surpassed expectations, and was a delightful read from start to finish that honestly wasn’t all that far off a 5 star favorites listing, if only a few things had been done better.
I want to second criticisms that have been well covered in other reviews, so I went spend too, too much time rehashing them:
There isn’t quite enough explanation and detail given for some of the things going on in this book. While the world building has obviously been carefully thought out and creatively planned, it just hasn’t been perfectly communicated. It’s an alternate timeline for earth — set a little in the future but clearly having slightly different history and technological advances — and while I appreciate the author not overloading us with huge info-dumps, by the end of the book I still felt left with too many basic questions about the world. Some of the mystery is intentional — we’re not supposed to know what Courtney doesn’t know, so what exactly happened with her grandfather is meant to still be a lingering question — but there are some basics I feel like we should’ve been clued in in by the end. What exactly is this sickness Murk had for most of the book and does it affect males of their species equally or randomly orrrrr? Is that what made intercourse painful for the males at the beginning, or is that always the case, orrrrrr? What other colonies do humans have, and what other alien races have they interacted with at this point? Exactly what kind of exposure to earthen languages and customs do Jekhans have, and why/how? What exactly even is Murk’s personality? Etc.
There isn’t quite enough emphasis on the relationship building, at least by the end of the book. The rest of the plot is great and I found it hella interesting, don’t get me wrong, but I felt like the author was forced to cut chapters or scenes after writing them, and had no choice but to cut from the romance plot line just because the political/mystery plot couldn’t be shaved down. It just felt… incomplete. By the end of the book, I still wasn’t 100% sure the main couple were all on the same page, and wasn’t sure how they’d gotten past some of their issues that plagued them for chapters then seemed magically solved, etc. Also, I don’t think Courtney ever really addressed how she felt about having two partners, which is, you know, kinda a weird oversight.
Relatedly: the sex scenes didn’t really deliver for me. They were fewer and further in between than I would’ve liked, a bit vague at times, yet also a bit too forward at others… it left me with occasional whiplash. Not the best BDSM etiquette, but certainly far better than the average book on the market. Still, that whole dynamic felt unnecessary to the book after all, seemingly plugged in like an afterthought. It didn’t feel actually true to the characters, but more like the author thought she had to fit in something bdsm in order to sell or something. Also also: “his fingers fluttered against her womb” is a big NOPE NOPE NOPE level fail from me. /shrug.
There were occasional missing words or punctuation errors, but for the most part the writing was strong. What bugged me more than anything was the way the author tended to bounce from one character’s point of view (third) to the other without warning, sometimes ending one paragraph with one character in one room and then starting the next (no section break or other warning) in a different location with a different character seemingly a bit in the future. Occasionally it was also difficult to follow a conversation, even just between two characters, because the new-paragraph-equals-new-speaker convention wasn’t always followed and very little dialog tagging accompanied comments in certain exchanges. There are also some odd time jumps which, on the one hand, help move the story along without dragging us through too much repetitive information, but on the other hand, mean we skip ahead months sometimes only to find out very simple misunderstandings hadn’t been solved in the meantime? It’s occasionally frustrating.
Again, though, I enjoyed the book overall. I think it could’ve benefitted from being a bit longer and explaining a bit more than it did — and definitely could’ve benefitted from developing the relationship plot a bit more — but from start to finish it was a good, interesting read that I enjoyed far more than I expected to. It doesn’t feel fully complete at the end, but it’s not problematic enough to be flagged as an unsatisfying ending to me. It definitely piques my curiosity enough to make me want to grab the next book.
Short review is short because I’m without good internet and forced to typos on my phone for the time being.
dnf
May 3, 2024DNF at 53%
This just introduced one of my least favorite tropes and I really did not appreciate it, especially since
Plus, Murki is way too sexually aggressive and neanderthal-like for me to buy him as a love interest and I don’t get where Trigrian fits in outside of the gender essentialist premise. If it was close to being done, I might persevere but I still have almost 200 pages left and I cannot. However, I’m interested in the world-building of the series as it explicitly deals with colonization on the planet so I’ll try the next one in this series and see how it goes.
Characters: Courtney is a 28 year old human mixed race cop. She has a dog named Jerry. Murki is a Jekhan artist in his mid-30s. Trigrian is a 34 year old Jekhan. This is set in 2036 on the planet Jekh.
Content notes: sexual assault by MC , Murki is dying from The Ague (vocal cords are paralyzed and he’s weak overall; Jekhan males need female pheromones to balance them out), unplanned pregnancy resulting from unsafe sex practices (no condoms used; FMC was told cross-breeding wasn’t possible but MMCs know this isn’t true and yet did not discuss birth control with her. She does not consider abortion.), breaking and entering by secondary character, MCs in hiding, food poverty, workplace sexism, slut-shaming, homophobia, colonialism, xenophobia, infidelity (minor character), past death of Trigian’s parents (accident), Murk’s brother is institutionalized for violent tendencies, past murder by Murk to protect Trigian, past death of FMC’s activist grandfather and one of her brothers, dubious consent, on page sex, MMF menage, anal play, masturbation, diet culture (for dog), casual acephobia, sex work stigma, gender essentialism, ableist language, hyperbolic language around suicide and addiction, mention of police abuse of power, mentions of possible human and drug trafficking on planet
*Love it or Leighve it* (aka cleaning out my Kindle)
Purchased: 2019
This just introduced one of my least favorite tropes and I really did not appreciate it, especially since
Plus, Murki is way too sexually aggressive and neanderthal-like for me to buy him as a love interest and I don’t get where Trigrian fits in outside of the gender essentialist premise. If it was close to being done, I might persevere but I still have almost 200 pages left and I cannot. However, I’m interested in the world-building of the series as it explicitly deals with colonization on the planet so I’ll try the next one in this series and see how it goes.
Characters: Courtney is a 28 year old human mixed race cop. She has a dog named Jerry. Murki is a Jekhan artist in his mid-30s. Trigrian is a 34 year old Jekhan. This is set in 2036 on the planet Jekh.
Content notes: sexual assault by MC , Murki is dying from The Ague (vocal cords are paralyzed and he’s weak overall; Jekhan males need female pheromones to balance them out), unplanned pregnancy resulting from unsafe sex practices (no condoms used; FMC was told cross-breeding wasn’t possible but MMCs know this isn’t true and yet did not discuss birth control with her. She does not consider abortion.), breaking and entering by secondary character, MCs in hiding, food poverty, workplace sexism, slut-shaming, homophobia, colonialism, xenophobia, infidelity (minor character), past death of Trigian’s parents (accident), Murk’s brother is institutionalized for violent tendencies, past murder by Murk to protect Trigian, past death of FMC’s activist grandfather and one of her brothers, dubious consent, on page sex, MMF menage, anal play, masturbation, diet culture (for dog), casual acephobia, sex work stigma, gender essentialism, ableist language, hyperbolic language around suicide and addiction, mention of police abuse of power, mentions of possible human and drug trafficking on planet
*Love it or Leighve it* (aka cleaning out my Kindle)
Purchased: 2019
January 12, 2024
The first half, I loved. I was so ready to get this 4 stars. Then the second half happened and I'm questioning everything. The concept is great and it had a really great start at world building. But then, by the end you feel like you missed a whole other book. There are SO many unanswered questions and vague, hand-wavey explanations.
For example, we're told that these people called the Tenali basically cross-bred humans with themselves to create these aliens called Jekhans. How did they get humans? Where did these Tenali aliens come from? How did they breed these other aliens if they could only do it in a lab? You get no answers.
Also, also, the literal, physical world-building was non-existent. You don't have any idea what this planet looks like. Is there grass? Trees? Is there an ocean? Is the sky blue? What do people do as jobs? The only thing we know is that there are cops and supposedly farmers. What does the city infrastructure look like? Roads? Gravel paths?
The romance in this made me so upset and angry. They are constantly miscommunicating, the men especially, about how they view relationships/romance/sex. Even towards the end, when our FMC starts to stand up for herself. But then... nothing comes from it. She calls them out for continuing to hold her to alien standards. And... they just keep doing it. And doing it. And doing it. They were just going to take the baby away from her and let her live her life... Like????
They fall into a situationship immediately. Like, very touchy and intimate from the beginning. Our FMC doesn't have any restraints to cozying up to these aliens who were hiding in her basement. She just gets in bed with these dudes, 1 of which can't even speak. Doesn't ask any questions. Our FMC even explicitly states that they don't know anything about each other. And there's some bullshit hierarchy. Our FMC is like don't do that, I'm not like that. But then.... they proceed to shun the other guy out. I just... the communication is so poor. There seemed to be attempts at fixing it but literally nothing comes from it. And they are never on equal footing.
(There was literally a point where they don't talk for months while she is pregnant. MONTHS. And then she finally gets her head out her ass and says something. And it feels like the real problem that was at hand wasn't really even addressed. Then I'm supposed to be okay with them being parents together? I don't think so!!)
For example, we're told that these people called the Tenali basically cross-bred humans with themselves to create these aliens called Jekhans. How did they get humans? Where did these Tenali aliens come from? How did they breed these other aliens if they could only do it in a lab? You get no answers.
Also, also, the literal, physical world-building was non-existent. You don't have any idea what this planet looks like. Is there grass? Trees? Is there an ocean? Is the sky blue? What do people do as jobs? The only thing we know is that there are cops and supposedly farmers. What does the city infrastructure look like? Roads? Gravel paths?
The romance in this made me so upset and angry. They are constantly miscommunicating, the men especially, about how they view relationships/romance/sex. Even towards the end, when our FMC starts to stand up for herself. But then... nothing comes from it. She calls them out for continuing to hold her to alien standards. And... they just keep doing it. And doing it. And doing it. They were just going to take the baby away from her and let her live her life... Like????
They fall into a situationship immediately. Like, very touchy and intimate from the beginning. Our FMC doesn't have any restraints to cozying up to these aliens who were hiding in her basement. She just gets in bed with these dudes, 1 of which can't even speak. Doesn't ask any questions. Our FMC even explicitly states that they don't know anything about each other. And there's some bullshit hierarchy. Our FMC is like don't do that, I'm not like that. But then.... they proceed to shun the other guy out. I just... the communication is so poor. There seemed to be attempts at fixing it but literally nothing comes from it. And they are never on equal footing.
(There was literally a point where they don't talk for months while she is pregnant. MONTHS. And then she finally gets her head out her ass and says something. And it feels like the real problem that was at hand wasn't really even addressed. Then I'm supposed to be okay with them being parents together? I don't think so!!)
August 28, 2018
I don't read a lot of sci-fi romance, but I decided to give this one a go because it's also an MMF menage story, and I'm really glad I did! The story starts out being about Courtney McGarry, a female law enforcement officer who travels to the planet Jekh to find out what happened to her rabble-rouser grandfather, who was killed trying to protect the citizens of Jekh from the depredations of the humans who came to their planet to conquer it. Courtney soon discovers two native Jekhan males hiding in her home, both of them ill and malnourished, and she takes them under her wing... and soon discovers the two males have other ideas about how their relationship should develop. They've been looking for a mate, and they've decided Courtney is the one. The sex scenes involving the three are scorching hot!
The characters are all very likable (except the bad guys of course), with Murki and Trig (the male Jekhan lovers who fall for Courtney) being quite different than each other. Though Murki is the dominant first male, Trig is the one who ends up saving the day several times in the story, and I developed a real soft spot for him.
The story took some turns I didn't expect, including an uprising among the normally passive Jekhans, and with the arrival of Courtney's sister and brother near the end, it's clear there's plenty of story here to support a series.
Recommended if you like inventive stories with a smoking hot romance at the center. I've already purchased the next one!
The characters are all very likable (except the bad guys of course), with Murki and Trig (the male Jekhan lovers who fall for Courtney) being quite different than each other. Though Murki is the dominant first male, Trig is the one who ends up saving the day several times in the story, and I developed a real soft spot for him.
The story took some turns I didn't expect, including an uprising among the normally passive Jekhans, and with the arrival of Courtney's sister and brother near the end, it's clear there's plenty of story here to support a series.
Recommended if you like inventive stories with a smoking hot romance at the center. I've already purchased the next one!
April 4, 2020
This was a freebie I saw recommended by someone I follow on Twitter, and in this time of library closures I find myself panic collecting and reading ebooks, as if I think the written word is becoming as scarce as toilet paper, and giving a chance to things I might not normally pick up. And this was a case where I was actually pleasantly surprised, and enjoyed it! A few things to note: I was... not as thrilled with some of the gender relations going on, and I don't particularly like how . There's a lot of misogyny in the setting, including attempted sexual assault and slurs, which I know will be a no-go for some people. But! Things I liked: that, unlike what I was more than half expecting, this is very much romance, not erotic romance (nothing against the latter, just not usually my personal preference). There's also a lot of plot and action, I appreciated that this depicts an actual triad (a normal structure for the human-alien hybrid species of the book's world) not two men share a woman while being very no-homo (ugh), women are allies with each other not competitors, and the setups for future books and future protagonists intrigued me enough that I've already bought the second book (currently on sale for 99 cents).
April 5, 2020
Murki and Trigrian are hiding in Courtney’s wardrobe when she moved into her new allocated home on her new planet.
But her dog seems fine with them, and even though she is a law enforcement officer, she doesn’t want to turn them in.
But the more time they spend together, the more she finds herself unable to imagine a life that doesn’t include them; both of them.
888
I was really enjoying this and then it took a turn about half way through. And once they got to the property it skipped a big time gap and everyone seemed to change character.
I found it jarring. As if the writer suddenly realised she needed some more people to fill in the rest of what is an obvious series.
The last third was as if it was from a different story.
And I am so disappointed.
3 stars
But her dog seems fine with them, and even though she is a law enforcement officer, she doesn’t want to turn them in.
But the more time they spend together, the more she finds herself unable to imagine a life that doesn’t include them; both of them.
888
I was really enjoying this and then it took a turn about half way through. And once they got to the property it skipped a big time gap and everyone seemed to change character.
I found it jarring. As if the writer suddenly realised she needed some more people to fill in the rest of what is an obvious series.
The last third was as if it was from a different story.
And I am so disappointed.
3 stars
May 18, 2024
At one point, the main character says that explicit consent to extremely important to her, and she waits to get it from the person she's with. Awesome. Too bad that not a single man in this book did the same for her. From her realtor breaking into her house after meeting her once; to the coworkers who leer and try and grope her; to the all male government that tries to force her to marry and have a ton of kids; to the love interests, who come into the bathroom without announcing their presence to watch her shower (before they are together), or come into her bed when she's asleep without permission (also before they are together), or initiate sex when she's asleep (without ever establishing boundaries and when she asks a few times if they can stop and says she's not sure they should be doing this), and on and on and on.
And then there is the miscommunication. Even though it's clear that she has no knowledge of the aliens' courtship/marriage practices, the love interests absolutely refuse to explain anything to her. Even when she asks. Even when she tells them that she assumes this is a temporary fling, then never tell her that they consider themselves already married to her.
A lot of wasted potential. DNF.
And then there is the miscommunication. Even though it's clear that she has no knowledge of the aliens' courtship/marriage practices, the love interests absolutely refuse to explain anything to her. Even when she asks. Even when she tells them that she assumes this is a temporary fling, then never tell her that they consider themselves already married to her.
A lot of wasted potential. DNF.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2017
Can Courtney run from her past,if it is tangled with her future?
Courtney is leaving Earth to get away from the constant judgement and derision she encounters. This active mistrust is because of the protest her Grandfather made against the colonization of the planet Jekhan. Courtney arrives planet side and moving into her new home, discovers two men hiding in a compartment in her master closet. This discovery leds her on a path to love and her destiny. The book is well written and a full story, so be prepared for a few hours of reading. The adventurous tale is well worth the time. The only complaint is there needed to be more of an equal balance of love, romance and intimacy between the main characters. I got this book for free thru a book give away. They're free thru KU, so I am off to read book two in the series.
Courtney is leaving Earth to get away from the constant judgement and derision she encounters. This active mistrust is because of the protest her Grandfather made against the colonization of the planet Jekhan. Courtney arrives planet side and moving into her new home, discovers two men hiding in a compartment in her master closet. This discovery leds her on a path to love and her destiny. The book is well written and a full story, so be prepared for a few hours of reading. The adventurous tale is well worth the time. The only complaint is there needed to be more of an equal balance of love, romance and intimacy between the main characters. I got this book for free thru a book give away. They're free thru KU, so I am off to read book two in the series.
July 28, 2018
I enjoyed the world building. It is kind of like a distopian society on another planet caused by humans. Some Jekh came innocently to Earth for help but when humans came to "help" the Jekh were enslaves.
Courtney came to Jehk to find out the truth. Her grandfather is being used as a scapegoat and their whole family is considered traitors.
When she gets there she discovers two Jekh men, Murki and Trigrian, hiding in her basement. One of them is sick and the other is starting to become sick himself. It is a hormone issue that could be fixed with medicine but the humans won't give them any. Courtney can help them by mating with them. But will she risk her mission to help?
This book is a m/m/f relationship, so if you don't like those kinds of books you won't like it. But if the thought of a two men and one woman make you hot, then this is a must read. I liked the story and wanted more!
Courtney came to Jehk to find out the truth. Her grandfather is being used as a scapegoat and their whole family is considered traitors.
When she gets there she discovers two Jekh men, Murki and Trigrian, hiding in her basement. One of them is sick and the other is starting to become sick himself. It is a hormone issue that could be fixed with medicine but the humans won't give them any. Courtney can help them by mating with them. But will she risk her mission to help?
This book is a m/m/f relationship, so if you don't like those kinds of books you won't like it. But if the thought of a two men and one woman make you hot, then this is a must read. I liked the story and wanted more!
December 12, 2020
Read : December 12, 2020
Rating :3,5 Stars
Kinda mixed feelings about this one.
One the one hand it's got a cool plot, different than most alien world books.
The humans being the shitty conquering ones and oppressing the indigenous people on their own world, it's usually the other way around.
I also really liked the fact that our fmc isn't a shrinking violet and actually had a fully functioning brain and fighting skills.
The side characters are pretty interesting as well, I assume since the author is doing their story next.
On the other though, this has quite a bit of typo's and some inconsistencies with names and scenes.
If a book is amazeballs I can usually ignore those but this, for me, isn't that great I can.
Rating :3,5 Stars
Kinda mixed feelings about this one.
One the one hand it's got a cool plot, different than most alien world books.
The humans being the shitty conquering ones and oppressing the indigenous people on their own world, it's usually the other way around.
I also really liked the fact that our fmc isn't a shrinking violet and actually had a fully functioning brain and fighting skills.
The side characters are pretty interesting as well, I assume since the author is doing their story next.
On the other though, this has quite a bit of typo's and some inconsistencies with names and scenes.
If a book is amazeballs I can usually ignore those but this, for me, isn't that great I can.
May 19, 2018
Grrrrr!
I sooooo wanted to give this 5 stars but there was one hiccup at the end of the book that just didn't sit quite right for me in the way the characters were portrayed. Otherwise this was one awesome read.
It may just be me or maybe a sign of the times but a lot of books I've picked up lately have been like b-rated movies, but this book it was like finally getting to a cinema quality feature. Good writing, good world building and engaging characters. So I would definitely recommend it and look forward to the next in the series.
I sooooo wanted to give this 5 stars but there was one hiccup at the end of the book that just didn't sit quite right for me in the way the characters were portrayed. Otherwise this was one awesome read.
It may just be me or maybe a sign of the times but a lot of books I've picked up lately have been like b-rated movies, but this book it was like finally getting to a cinema quality feature. Good writing, good world building and engaging characters. So I would definitely recommend it and look forward to the next in the series.
August 1, 2018
An unexpected little book. Well not so little- in a world increasingly populated by 150 page books, this one was a hefty volume at about 330 pages. And although it bears some similarities to those “alien bride” books that are flooding the market, that’s all it is, is a similarity. With a full plot, explanations on why the aliens are the way they are, an actual culture being written, Erstwhile is the real deal. It’s sexy, dramatic, action-packed, and part of a series I’ll definitely be reading in the future.
September 18, 2018
I would have given this one 4 stars but the editing errors drove me insane.
The beginning flowed very slow for me, almost to the point where I stopped. Eventually the story picked up and then I wondered if it was going to have a satisfactory ending when I'm ten - fifteen pages from the end and it doesn't look like that's happening. I was satisfied with the ending.
I'm not sure if it's Ms. Trent's writing style or because this was the first in a series and she was doing a lot of set up for what's to come, but I'm not sure I liked the concept enough to continue with this world.
The beginning flowed very slow for me, almost to the point where I stopped. Eventually the story picked up and then I wondered if it was going to have a satisfactory ending when I'm ten - fifteen pages from the end and it doesn't look like that's happening. I was satisfied with the ending.
I'm not sure if it's Ms. Trent's writing style or because this was the first in a series and she was doing a lot of set up for what's to come, but I'm not sure I liked the concept enough to continue with this world.
July 30, 2018
Such an interesting engrossing story...
These alien human hybrids have have built a rich culture over the years they have been on Jekh, but it doesn't even resemble Earth culture. The clash in beliefs and customs along with the instant pheromones and hormones attracting Court, Trig, and Murk causes so much angst in a sweet sexy romance. But the over arching storyline of Earth's oppression of Jekhans is so engrossing and draws you into their saga and heartbreaking tale.
These alien human hybrids have have built a rich culture over the years they have been on Jekh, but it doesn't even resemble Earth culture. The clash in beliefs and customs along with the instant pheromones and hormones attracting Court, Trig, and Murk causes so much angst in a sweet sexy romance. But the over arching storyline of Earth's oppression of Jekhans is so engrossing and draws you into their saga and heartbreaking tale.
August 3, 2018
Honestly, I spent more time repulsed than anything. First, the guys are pathetic and needy. Then needy gives way to clingy. Then demanding and bossy. BDSM never appealed to me and Trig's childishness added another ew factor.
The settlement and crime aspects of taking over a planet were thought out and there was maybe only one editing gaffe that jumped out at me but this was definitely a tough one to get through.
The settlement and crime aspects of taking over a planet were thought out and there was maybe only one editing gaffe that jumped out at me but this was definitely a tough one to get through.
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