Promises to Keep

Gaian Stories #1

by Janet Miller

In the distant future, with Earth near barren and men willing to commit to marriage almost non-existent, a group of young women leave to find husbands in the Outer Colonies. On their way they're hijacked by men from a rebel planet called Gaia.

Gaian men can only make love to a woman they match and Dr. Sarah Johnson turns out to be the match for the most hated Gaian of all, General Garran Doranth. To keep their promises, these two must look beyond what they think they know and learn to trust what they feel for each other.

Genres: Science Fiction, Romance, Aliens, Science Fiction Romance, Space, Erotica, Futuristic Romance

275 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

During the weekday Janet is a mild-mannered software engineer who writes code and design documents. At night and on weekends she turns to the creation of offbeat stories about imaginary pasts, presents, and futures. But no matter when or where the story happens, there will always be some adventure, some humor, and meaning to the tale. For Cerridwen she's writing a new line of parafolk tales about modern day vampires, called nightwalkers, along with psychics and shapeshifters of all kinds.

Also publishes as Cricket Starr.

Reviews

[Kiki]

H wasn’t a manwhore, however, he loved his dead wife. Had a kid with her who is also dead. Heroine was of course a virgin. The reason he wasn’t promiscuous, or rapist or a potential Cheater wasn’t because of mutual respect or his chosen lifestyle. It’s because it’s genetically and physically impossible for him. We don’t know what he’d do if was able to do any of the above.
He also compared h to his dead wife at the beginning of their relationship in his head, a wife he’s still mourning and would have accepted if could be brought back to life.
These all may not be of any issue to a lot of people. But killed my mood for appreciating this as a romantic read.

[SubterraneanCatalyst · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suck at reviews but here it is:

This is one of the guilty pleasure items I've been speeding through for the past week. I did enjoy this little book but the more critical readers out there will find the book annoying if they do not subscribe to the any means to the HEA end practice.


This is a likeable book with a relatively likeable female protagonist and a very enjoyable male love interest. The sci fi factor/setting is fun if dystopian. My biggest critique of the story is that everything is very pat black and white. The humans are soooooo sketchy and the human males are just reprehensible users of women! The Gaian's as a race are really Mary Sue, no joke, the entire race of Gaians. Well, you see, Gaian men cannot rape, cannot even have sex without that all important "attachment" to a woman. Earth is a wasteland of commitment phobic males and dying natural life and pollution but Gaia is an oasis of conservation and perfect husbands.
Of course we all read this genre because we like to see the consummation of lust and love with pew pew pew lasers going off over the heads of our hero and heroine and aliens cheering in the background. I love the fantasy of a love story but the whole entire black and whiteness of humans vs Gaians was too black and white.
This, I think, is a mistake that SFR and romance authors commit all of the time by slandering human men and their flaws and making the male love interest who is usually alien or not from Earth to be ideal, perfect, masculine, sensitive and incapable of being 'real' person. Idk..it's just sometimes a bit much.
The ending was less than effective.

[V. A Court of Wings and Ruin is NEW ADULT/EROTICA but Goodreads editors won't tell you to include it in the choice awards]

Not for me, but Maybe some would say it's safe with exceptions? I'll skip.

More on Kiki's review

[Monique Atgood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine Earth is England, and Gaia is the US just after the revolutionary war.

During the war, Earth hit a key target on Gaia and killed most of the females on the planet. So....... Gaia needs women!

This story revolves around a obstetrician, who decides to try her luck with husband hunting on the colony worlds. The ship of ‘mail order brides’ is hijacked by the Gaians, and the hundreds of brides are offered a choice. Instead of shipping out to the primitive frontier colonies, marry a Gaian man! Become the center of his world, live in a technically advanced, and ecologically beautiful planet, make lots of babies, live long and prosper with a guy who ‘CAN”T’ cheat on you!

Here’s the fun part. Until a Gaian male ‘attaches’ to a female, they physically are unable to consummate. Also - here’s the cool chick fantasy part “once attached, they CAN”T commit adultery”. That’s right. Physical impossibility. (If they could put that in a pill and market it, the pharmaceutical company that makes it, would be the richest company on the planet overnight.)

So..... the Gaians have some pretty complicated matrimony rules. Men and women who are unattached, must never be near each other outside of the matching ceremony. The process was fascinating, and the author has a spacious and glorious imagination to come up with this stuff.

The obstetrician ends up (small spoiler) attached to the captain of the vessel, to a man whom she has known as the “Beast” who murdered her best friend and a bleep load of military personnel during the war. Most of the book revolves around their reconciling their growing attachment to each other.

I would compare this general scenario - i.e., an enemy general claiming an enemy bride, against both their wishes, to the Loribelle Hunt’s novels “Invasion Earth” “Leaving Earth”, but with MUCH tamer love scenes. Or to the Monette Michaels novel “Prime Obsession” with the ‘Mars needs women’ theme.

IMO:
I loved the novel. Thought it was just peachy.
Thought the people who were supposed to be from the future were stupid as dog poo to believe that ‘natural child birth’ is better than ‘drug assisted oblivion childbirth’. Besides, the kid will try every drug and drink in the world when they hit college, so what’s the harm in letting it be born with a little residual high? If you’ve ever given birth, you know what I’m talking about.

Alas, I’m addicted to yet another romantic sci-fi author.

[Talltree · Rating 3 out of 5]

First the H is hung up on his dead ex and then the h was hung up on some dream lover...it was exhausting before I got to the HEA in the very last chapter.

[Fedora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I liked most of this story--good characters (the general is yum!), interesting plot, good world-building. What I found mildly annoying was within the last few pages of the story--I couldn't believe that what the heroine's reluctance boiled down to was that the hero wasn't the man of her dreams (literally) and she was willing to walk away from the very real life she could have with him because of this discrepancy. That had me rolling my eyes. That made this a good instead of great story for me.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really torn between giving this two stars and one star. The only books with one star I have so far are those that I didn't finish - and I did manage to finish this one. But I think that was only because (1) it was quite short; and (2) there was a sort of horrified fascination in keeping going.

The story is straightforward - cardboard-cut-out-character A and cardboard-cut-out-character B are to fall in love with one another and live happily ever after. Unfortunately for me, that's all this story is. My explorations in to the SFR genre so far have basically included a soppy story as part of the plot, not as the entirety. And it turns out, I like there to be a bit more than just the romance.

In addition to which, the story could not have been more predictable if it tried. The 'sub-plot' was an obvious device with an obvious conclusion (I don't think it should be dignified with the name 'sub-plot', but can't think of anything else to call it - basically a one-page foreshadowing with a subsequent one-page resolution).
This isn't necessarily a problem - a number of books I've read and enjoyed in the genre follow a pretty standard formula. For example, Linnea Sinclair likes to go with the rich and/or upper class and/or upper rank military chap and the smuggler-type girl (think Princess Leia/Han Solo, but with the sexes reversed!) In these books, though, it's a lovely comfort to know what you are getting, and my interest is held in actually getting there. Perhaps it's the other ongoing plots which hold the interest, and the happy ever after is just a warm fuzzy to go with it.

I think that the real problem here is that this was just a romance. It's not SF romance - you don't make something SF just by setting it on a spaceship. This story could have been set anywhere, any time.
I was wanting to know more about the specific situation and it wasn't there. For example, simple question: How are Earthers and Gaians able to have children? Either they are of different origins and it is a fantastic coincidence that they are physically compatible, never mind able to have offspring. Or they have a common origin and somehow the Gaians have left Earth, set up their own community, and evolved a somewhat peculiar distinctive characteristic useful in a romance novel - in which case, I want to know what evolutionary pressures led to that!
The next book I've tried at least gets this problem out of the way first (Unearthed - humans are all over the galaxy on loads of different planets, but nobody knows why), and even in the very silly world of Evangeline Anderson's Kindred we have the excuse that the ludicrously alpha-male sexy aliens are genetic engineers...

I guess I just need there to be a bit more than total fluff to my "guilty pleasure fiction"

[SheLove2Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite 4 stars. I loved the setting and the idea behind the storyline. The hero was fab-u-lous! I liked the heroine too but I honestly wanted to strangle her at the end!! Good series I will continue.

[Sarah Bronte Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

this sweet Xanadu romantic lyric describe perfectly well how Garran feels when he knows that Sarah decide to leave him and never go back:

Sonny:
Why do I say
Don't walk away
You'll be the way you were before
When you don't want me anymore

Don't turn around
Don't ever leave
A lonely room where empty days
Are gathering to meet me when you're

Sonny/Muses:
Gone, gone


Sonny:
How in the world will I go on

Muses:
Don't walk away

Sonny:
All you gotta do is stay

Muses:
Don't walk away

Sonny:
All you gotta do is stay

Muses:
Don't walk away

Sonny:
Don't walk away

Muses:
Don't walk away

Sonny:
Don't say goodbye

Muses:
Don't say goodbye

Sonny:
Don't turn around

Muses:
Don't turn around

Sonny:
Don't let it die

Muses:
Don't let it die

Sonny:
When shadows fall

Muses:
When shadows fall

Sonny:
When day is done

Muses:
When day is done

Sonny:
All through the night

Muses:
All through the night

Sonny:
All of my life

Muses:
All of my life

Sonny:
Don't walk away

Danny:
Is it a dream,
When will it end
When everything we've ever known
Has ended and I'm all alone

Where will I go

Melpomene/Calliope:
Where will he go

Danny:
Where will I be
The feelings that I've never shown
Maybe I'll find the answer when you're

Danny/Melpomene/Calliope:
Gone, gone

Danny:
How in the world will I go on

Melpomene:
Don't walk away

Calliope:
All you gotta do is stay

Melpomene:
Don't walk away

Muses:
Don't walk away

Sonny:
Don't walk away

Muses:
Don't say goodbye

Sonny:
Don't say goodbye

Muses:
Don't turn around

Sonny:
Don't turn around

Muses:
Don't let it die
Sonny:
Don’t let it die

Muses:
When shadows fall
When day is done
All through the night

Sonny:
All through the night

Muses:
All of my life

Sonny:
Don't walk away

Muses:
Don't walk away

Sonny:
Don't say goodbye

Muses:
Don't say goodbye

Sonny:
Don't turn around

Muses:
Don't turn around

Sonny:
Don't let it die

Muses:
Don't let it die

Sonny:
When shadows fall

Muses:
When shadows fall


Sonny:
When day is done

Muses:
When day is done

Sonny:
All through the night

Muses:
All through the night

Sonny:
All of my life

Muses:
All of my life

Sonny/Muses:
Don't walk away

[Jac K]

DNF @ 30%
Somewhere I heard this was a sci-fi version of the widow/replacement wife trope. It also has the “monogamy in their DNA” theme going on. Basically, the men on Earth (2488) are all a bunch of assholes. They go around groping women, sexual harassing them, knocking them up, and abandoning them to deliver in poor hospitals without equipment or drugs. A group of women fed up decide to travel to outer space to see if alien men are more committed. 😶 Despite this ridiculousness, I tried to push through, but even I have limits. The girls are “obtained” by a group of aliens (Gaian’s) that Earth had just had some sort of conflict with, and part of the agreement is that they can stop any vessel leaving Earth. They try to talk the women into mating them, because Earth blew up some school and killed the majority of their young females. The Gaian’s have zero sex drive until they’re bonded, and can pretty much tell straightaway if they are mates.

Ok, so that was a lot, but what really put me over the edge was that the Earth females are immature bitches. They’re so aggressive and silly, and make zero sense. They left Earth to find dudes willing to commit. They find a ship of hot alien dudes looking ready to commit, but aren’t happy and act like children. Also, the h HATES the H because he was a general in the war, and she had a friend that died, but doesn’t blink an eye when she learns Earth killed thousands of young Gaian girls.

I bailed early, and didn’t even really get to the replacement wife part, but I don’t think it will be very angsty because the H is ready to recouple, and has already tested compatibility with other females.

[Brutally Honest · Rating 2 out of 5]

- What are Gaians?



Why are they at war with humans? Where did they come from?

- Heroine starts out really promising, smart, had her own opinion, etc. But the ending... and all her seesawing back and forth... omg. Wanted to throw her off a cliff!

- Hero is supposedly going to put his best foot forward in order to win the heroine over, even if she's an "Earth woman". But I was not convinced! He had those hangups against humans until the end of the book and I'm not actually convinced they were resolved.

This would have gotten 3 stars if it wasn't for the last 30% of the book. It just kept getting worse and worse. How, after learning that your husband-to-be is not quite the murderer you've been told he was, does that not convince you you could fall in love with him? I wanted to kill the heroine. Seriously? You can't try living a life with your husband because you are in love with a "dream man"? There's something seriously wrong with your head. I was under the impression that the main reason the h couldn't marry the H was because of his actions in the war, but nooo.... it has to be some simpering stupid reason. And the hero... what a disappointing way to give up on the relationship. Turns out he's not quite ready to put his wife's birth and race/species behind him. The whole thing ends up getting saved by the h's best friend and the H's sister-in-law with some dubious "proof" that they should stay together. Yeah right. Total BS.

[Chappy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just OK...

Sarah and a few hundred women leave Earth to go find husbands in the Outer Colonies. What they don't expect is to be intercepted by the Gaian who just happen to need women...pretty big coincidence if you ask me.

The Gaians can only mate or "attach" to one compatible woman at a time. So if they have no match they literally can't have sex (that's gotta suck the big one). The whole matching ceremonies were kind of cool if a little far-fetched.

When Sarah finds her match, she's astounded because he is one of Earth's enemies of wars. What's a girl to do???

Some of the plot fell flat for me and had lots of loopholes. The sex was a little humdrum...

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very cute story with likable characters in a space setting. It's just a little too light on the sci-fi for me. I would have loved to read more building of the sci-fi aspects. Some commas would have been nice too ... I hate when I'm in the middle of something good and what I'm reading doesn't make sense - until the mental comma gets put in. The story was interesting, there was certainly enough romance and intrigue to keep me reading. Yet, it's a fairly light read as well.

[ShortyS · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had so much potential…
But it was such a disappointment for me.

From the blurb I really expected to like it and there were some things I did like a lot. Unfortunately those were mostly ideas and not what was made of them.

I especially liked this “true mates” concept. In most books the true-mates-idea is too much insta-love, too overblown and corny for me. Here it is more real. It’s not the ultimate answer to all difficulties and obstacles. It’s not a once in a lifetime thing and it has a chemical and therefore logical touch. I liked it a lot. I also liked the connection to their sex life.
I was looking forward to a real-enemies-to-reluctant-lovers story. And the chemical link could have been a good reason for him to overcome his reluctance. Men do and overcome a lot to be able to have sex.
I also liked his insecurity. It was a very nice touch that for once the man was worried about his appearance, about antiperspirant and such.

But unfortunately there were also many things I didn’t like. And it already started with their first meeting.

There are some vague spoilers following.

Sarah and a group of woman are on the way to some outer colonies to get themselves a husband but they are abducted by the Gaians for a speed-dating get-together to find wives for the Gaian males.
Earth and the Gaian had been at war, which the Gaian won, and the earth government has made Gaian General Garran into the most hated and feared enemy of all. Sarah and every other human think him a coldblooded killer, their nemesis who is responsible for the death of their friends and family and for earth losing the war. But the very first time they met, when he says something harsh to one of the other woman, she goes to him and slaps him in the face!
It wasn’t a reaction she didn’t control but a conscious action. She had to actively go to him to do so. I mean, really? Would you slap someone you ought to be terrified of just because of a somewhat rude comment? When you are at the mercy of a ruthless murderer, who has defeated earth military and who is called the Gaian Beast and you don’t know what he wants with you or why you have been abducted? I’m sure I wouldn’t and I don’t think you should. He would have to say way more than “Oh, shut up, you idiot woman. No one is going to hurt you!" to make me take the risk and I think shutting up and waiting to get to know what’s going on is a way more natural reaction than hers.

After she has successful driven the General away, they have some nice, friendly chat with some other Gaian. For someone that’s been kidnapped by a war enemy and doesn’t know what’s going on she is damn cheeky, bold and somewhat impolite. On the other hand, she and the other woman too, are way too calm and cozy.
There “what’s going on” talk goes somewhat like this:

Human: “When are you bringing us back?"
Gaian: “Ähm, sorry, we aren't planning on returning you."
Human: “But we are on our way to find husbands."
Gaian: “Come with us, we have the better offer."
Human: “No, my things were on the other ship, all my belongings."
Gaian: “Oh, don't worry, we got your things."
Another Gaian: “How is it going?”
Gaian: "Fine. I was just explaining how we dragged our guests off their ship."

What is this? The whole part from their abduction to accepting the marriage meet thing is a bit strange and unrealistic, somewhat ridiculous. And sometimes even disturbing.

“During the war, Carras, one of our girls schools was destroyed. It happened on the first strike Earth made at us. We lost many thousands of girls, adult women, and the young children who were living there."
"Because of losing Carras,” Bethan added, “we have many young men who will not find wives unless we can replace those women. If we don't then they must remain single, and that is not a good thing for our society."
One of the other women snickered. “I know a lot of guys on Earth that wouldn't mind that situation. The reason I left was to find someone who wanted to get married."

They were just told that earth killed thousands of young girls and her comment is a quip about the aversion of human men to commitment? Really?

This war, or more Sarah's view of it, is another thing I severely dislike. She has such a black and white view of it. I know her friend was on one of the ships that earth lost, but that doesn’t make General Garran the ultimate evil. It doesn’t give her the right to be so arrogant and presumptuous.

I hate it if people are so misguided chauvinistic. It was war and everyone should know that no side has been angels, especially not earth. This "you are monsters", "we have killed innocent young girls, but that’s different, because we are the good ones", “and you killed my friend, so you are the bad one” is so damn arrogant and ignorant.

While at war earth government released a broadcast of Garran announcing the first defeat of an earth fleet. This is what made her hate him so:

"Ladies and Gentlemen. It is my pleasure to speak to you tonight on something of significance to both our peoples.
"You have sent warships at us and have been successful in hurting us in the past. You have damaged our planet, our cities, and killed our people, and assumed that we could do nothing to stop you.
"The rules of the game have now changed.
"You recently sent a fleet of ships to attack us. It is my duty to report to you that these ships have been unsuccessful in doing so. In fact, they no longer exist as a threat to us or to anyone else. They have been removed from action."
The recorded Garran grinned evilly. “Their removal is permanent.
"These ships include, the Valiant, Exeter, Doublestar, NorthernVale, Saradon, Mousabel, and the Hope."
[…]
"My purpose here is to tell you that you will no longer be able to hurt us. Every ship you send to meet us will wind up with the same fate at these ships—the ships and their crews will not return to you. If you want to preserve your fleet, don't come near us. Give us our freedom or we promise you will regret it."

Her friend was a doctor on the Hope and I understand that she is very upset by this. But to hold Garran personally responsible for it… Her friend was on a war ship with a fleet that was going to attack another planet. What were they supposed to do? Let themselves get killed just so no human had to die?
I don’t know what she really knows about this war, but from his clip alone, i get the distinct impression that the humans started the war and the Gaian only defended themselves. And even hearing about the school, she still never set her biased opinion of the war and him in perspective. She never admitted that her people did some horrible things to his people and him personally, too. She isn’t the only one who lost someone and it’s not like she even thinks he personally killed her friend, all her hate just because he delivered this speech.

But even with that mostly out of the way, she is still so annoyingly double-minded. “I haven't made up my mind yet. I'm just not quite ready to accept him." That could be the motto of the book.

She was on her way to some outer colony to marry a stranger. That was what all this was about. So what’s her problem know? She didn’t know what kind of man her colony husband would have been, now she found a good man that adores her (he can’t even cheat on her, ever!). She is over him being the Gaian beast. She desires him, she likes him, she now thinks highly of him… So why?

She'd set off from Earth to find her match, her dream lover—and Garran wasn't him. She'd dreamed of her lover for years, while she'd only known Garran for a few days. He was close—dark hair, large hands. He even sounded like him.
But he wasn't him.

Because for the last years she dreamed of a man! He is imaginary, she never even saw his face, he doesn’t exist! Did she really think she would meet him on this colony? And if not, what was she going to do? Why the hell would the imaginary man of her dreams be on this colony? Why would she even think he exists? And why is she so sure that it isn’t Garran? What makes him less probable than any other man?
She is willing to throw the love of a damn good man away because of a faceless guy of some sex dreams? She found a man who loves her and only her after she lived her whole life with little to no chance for a man who likes her enough to stay longer than a short fling and she is still so picky with so high demands that only the one perfect dream man is good enough for her?

I was very annoyed by her. His initial aversion because of his late wife was one thing, even her reluctance about hating him was somewhat understandable but her obsession with this dream lover was so stupid and absurd that, with the corresponding consequences, it almost singlehandedly ruined the book for me.

But there was one little conversation that final did it for me.

[…] You've lied to me, tried to rape me.—"
His skin flushed deep red and the monitors above his head beeped frantically as the blood pressure suppressors sped into action. Sarah watched their actions with a compliancy that alarmed her. Never before had she jeopardized a patient's health.
But he was so infuriating!
The flush in his face faded, the suppressors completing their job. “I was not going to rape you. Gaians aren't capable of rape!"
"Could have fooled me. What would you call what happened?"
"You weren't saying no, Sarah. You wanted me as much as I did you."
"Perhaps I did,” she admitted.

I absolutely hate and despise it if woman wrongly accuse men of rape. Even if just between them. Rape is no joke, nothing to shout lightly. Deliberate false accusations of rape harm every woman that has to defend her justified accusation. Rape is a horrible abhorrent thing and if too many use the word too lightly, people start to question the seriousness of every case. (The same goes for rape of men too, but I don’t think there are many false accusations in such cases)
There is a saying: “A liar is never believed, even when he's telling the truth.” That applies not only to individual persons but also to society as a whole.

The plot beside their back and forth wasn’t much. Definitively not enough to safe their problematic relationship.

[Wyrdness · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very boring 2 star read for me. Nothing really happened and the romance was hampered by a number of painfully contrived "misunderstandings" that served no purpose other than to fill needless pages, bore me to tears and to gradually make me come to hate the characters involved. Couldn't stand Garran because he was so uncomfortably cloying and became ever more pushy in his demands for sex, and Sarah was just so bloody indecisive all the time and determined not to love him.

Also the setting was the blandest I think I've ever read. Except for a brief bit set on the thoroughly depressing and polluted concrete urbanscape of Earth, the entire thing took place on a single starship where the characters would just walk the same corridors and use a few rooms over and over again. After a while the author stopped describing the places altogether and they just became "quarters" or "med-bay" so there was nothing to break up the incessantly tedious dialogue of characters I didn't care for any longer.

I'd also like to mention that for a ship that has close to a thousand people on it (500 originally single Gaian men, 250 or so Earth women, an unknown number of married couples), we only really saw about 8 of them interacting together in any meaningful way. That's a lot of people that just "disappear" over the span of about a week. I can't believe even newlyweds (who have known each other for about 2 hours before they get hitched and base their entire life long relationship on instant sexual desire caused by a pheromonal match) would lock themselves away for an entire week of sex and absolutely nothing else.

I think this story would be significantly improved if the third/ half of the book that dealt with the "secret" that everyone knew was cut completely, thereby leading to Sarah and Garran reconciling their relationship (w)angst much sooner, then they all arrived at Gaia and spent some time seeing the sights and learning/ experiencing Gaian culture whilst not stuck in a floating tin can mostly filled with single military men.

[Mara · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like vanilla reading, you'll probably like this book. There's nothing wrong with it, simply it's not my cup. Everything is smooth, the hero is so perfect, the heroine his perfect mate (and virgin to boot). The world is divided between the Good and the Bad, governments lie and friends meddle.

If you know a clique in romance, it'll probably be here. It doesn't mean it's a bad story, it wasn't good for me. It's like drinking lager, when you usually go for a trappiste or a stout.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) 🌶️ This wasn't smutty like many other sci-fi romances. I actually found it kind of refreshing. There was good characterization but there was a lot about the world I didn't understand. I think the "aliens" were actually supposed to be emigrants from Earth but they somehow developed mate bonds. I wasn't sure if this meant they were actually humans, but I felt like I was missing something about the backstory.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting scifi romance. The future society is well thought out and detailed enough that there aren't any big questions. The romance between Sarah and Garran is the focus, but the the other romances and assassin subplot round out the story quite well. I'm definitely going to be looking for other books by this author.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a great story line and characters. I loved the way the Gianas took the Earth females and how they were paired. But no good love scenes.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, likeable characters, solid depth in supporting characters. Worthwhile read:-)

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.

[Rachel Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story. Sappy romantic people. The biggest trauma in this story was the ever present question "Can I love him?" It is played out looooong over three days. "Can I love him???" Poor Sarah just doesn't trust herself or her feelings towards the General responsible for defeating the armies of Earth, Garran. He doesn't have these qualms. He is straightforward and honest in his emotions and feelings regarding Sarah. Poor guy.

Happy ever after is almost guaranteed in this one. This one is more about the romantic relationship between the two main characters. Extra filler space of erotic sex is missing. Count this one as a true example of sci-fi romance.

[Melisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

there are so many potentials in this book. the ideas are smart and creative. it's only lacking in execution. there were some things in this books that is lacking, and the conversation sometimes made me bored too. so didn't finish it. fast forward to the end and i find that the problems just so laughable and unbelievable! but overall i give this book 2 stars for the wonderful idea because it's not so easy to get such a new idea with all of the new facts and information inside of it.

[Vickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was entertaining. Loved the ending and loved these Gaian men. There was so much happening in and around this couple that it kept their story from getting too boring and predictable. Some tense moments and some hmm? incidents but all in all a rollicking, good read.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is the first book I've read in a long time that was more about the relationship than some big scary plot and I found that refreshing.
It's was also a very interesting courtship ritual to read about.
I really enjoyed it

[Constant Raving · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

Oops sorry I no longer want to read this I got very bored months ago and never returned ??

[Elaine Faria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful slow romance, Sara almost got on my nerves. And they do " the did" just in the last chapter..

[Hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is sort of a mixed review.

I actually really loved the book, the writing and story were great. I loved the telling of how Sarah left earth and the beginnings of the courtship aboard The Promise. I love Garran! I love how sweet he is and I kind of understand how she could be upset when it's revealed that he's 'The Beast' but she was willing to marry him before she knows this. I don't understand why she doesn't go back to this willing state when she knows he's so lovely.

This behaviour for the last like, quarter of the book really bugged me. How does she now realise that he's her dream man? She's an idiot!? Also, you'd think nearly losing him would have made her wake the fuck up? But no. She's still all 'I can never love him'. When its revealed that Gallan is her fantasy lover, I kind of wanted him to tell her to jog on. Like he wasn't enough for her before so he can't continue with the marriage. I really wanted her to have to make it up to him. Sigh. I didn't really like Sarah at the end.

The few 'reveals' were also desperately obvious from the get go.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarah is the dumbest woman I've read about.

You find a man who actually could love you, give you the children you wanted, and deals with the slapping as a sign of outrage and what do you do?

Give him up for a fantasy shadow man.

Yes Sarah is the smart virgin, untouched because of her fear of men, but also a do gooder obstetrician working with low income communities.

She didn't have a problem when they kidnapped her. Didn't seriously have a problem when she thought her best friend was killed. Also found out that he was a decent man, deciding to save and rehabilitate versus the mass death committed by the humans.

No, she'll throw away a decent, smart, caring man for a fantasy man she has been dreaming about for 5 years.

Why the hell did she go on this trip if she can't stand men's touch and had a dream ideal of a man that she couldn't get?

😞

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit of a conflicting story. Earth had been at war with the Gaian's and all during the war they(earth's leaders) would broadcast the messages sent to them from the Gaian's general. Fast forward to the end of the war, none(or very few) of the men on Earth are willing to commit to marriage, so when the opportunity comes to find husband's else where Sarah and several other women take the change. That chance however leads them straight to General Garran and the Gaian men who are looking for wives.

Drama ensures mostly on Sarah's end concerning Garran, though Garran doesn't work to correct what she thinks that she knows. It was good over all though I felt that there was still room for development in the end.