Woken by a kiss, she didn’t expect her prince to be a handsome alien warrior.
After being ill for months, Lizzie Kallson wakes - to a world she doesn’t recognize. Literally. That’s because it’s the home planet for an alien empire.
Now she has to contend with the fact her sister is an alien princess and the hot as hell alien warrior whose deep, gravelly voice haunts her dreams.
She should keep a level head but something about him makes her want to forget all about the differences between their species and wish for her own fairy tale romance . . .
Born with nothing, his honor is all he has. And he’d leave it all behind because of love . . .
Saal has always had to fight for everything he has, including his place at the Healer’s Hall. Seen as a punishment by most, he doesn’t care. Not when it allows him to be close to the beautiful Lady Lizzie.
He’s determined to make her his, but the cost is higher than he expected when cultural differences raise their ugly heads. Perhaps humans and Lathar don’t get a happily ever after . . . But when Lizzie’s life is on the line, can Saal look past his heartbreak and save the only female he’s ever loved?
PLEASE NOTE: This title was previously included in the LOVED IN SPACE anthology, and has been minorly expanded and edited for re-release.
Mina Carter is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of romance in many genres. She lives in the UK with her husband, daughter, a puppy who pays no attention to her whatsoever, and a bossy cat.
A lathar series book about Lizzy and her alien who is so sweet and caring. Lizzy is Jessica's twin and thus Laarn has claimed the role of father/ brother in law... and because of this he drives away Saal, her alien.
This leads to all sorts of mistakes and misunderstandings...
New sets of characters are introduced too, a mercenary group called the Warbournes. The Warbournes are a bunch of kickass crew too.
Read today as part of project “get over the migraine” and while I did enjoy the story, there was a heck of a lot of threat-of-rape (with a side dish of men-can’t-help-themselves in a particular scene) that nudged me a bit off the romance, but I did like Lizzie and her alien beau.
I was looking forward to this book but found it underwhelming, I liked the concept of this series, the alien/human universe was interesting, and some of the human women were badass, but most of the books felt rushed and disconnected.
I feel like there was too much emphasis on the physical aspects of the characters such as how small the human women were and how large the male aliens were, which was uncomfortable.
I expected more interactions between the characters and more information about how the previous characters we were introduced to continued their lineage which was the whole point. I also thought there would be a book about the emperor’s mate because he’s been in every book.
Lizzie, Jess Kallson's twin sister, awakens from her mysterious "sleeping sickness" to find herself among the Lathar and having to learn a whole new culture. She finds romance with Saal, an orderly in the healing hall who has been sweetly enchanted with her since she arrived and cared for her in her sickness. The two feel an automatic "soul mates" connection. But Saal is of a lower caste and deemed unacceptable by Lord Healer Laarn, Jess's mate, and conspires to keep the two apart. Some villainous Lathar also want to claim Lizzie since she's an unmated female.
I really liked the romance part of this story between Lizzie and Saal. Both characters are very likeable and Saal is very attentive and sweet with Lizzie. He's almost beta, but he's still a bad ass, as evidence by the fact that he becomes a mercenary among the Warborne. But as much as I liked that, this story felt rushed there towards the end. At that point you've got Laarn, who was a total dickhead, more or less getting off completely free and Lizzie heading off on a mercenary ship to live with Saal...but is she going to be happy with that? She's a botanist more or less and pretty much leaving all plants and nature behind. And now because of Laarn and his stupid ass antics (and prejudice) Jess and her mother have to lose Lizzie again for who knows how long...and Jess isn't the least bit upset with Laarn? The ending just needed to be further fleshed out...like about 50 pages longer to really work here. I mean, we never even find out if Saal gets his mating marks... So this tops the charts for me as far as romance goes, but the plot needed expanding just a bit.
This obviously establishes a sort of spin-off like series with the Warborne as the center of it all. As interesting as the characters seem to be, I'm not sure I'm going down that divergent road. I just want to finish this series and be done with the Lathar...as a general species, they have a major problem with consent.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Laarn is a jerk. Lizzie is awake and seems the voice she heard in her dreams. She find him and is drawn to him. Saal has spent weeks reading to and talking to Lizzie. He can't stay away. Laarn interferes with their relationship and it leads to a misunderstanding between the couple. With an abduction comes the truth and a rescue. It was very sweet. I love this series. Zero is up next. Can't wait.
Finally I got to find out what happened to Saal who had protected Jess more than once and Lizzie, Jess' twin sister who was taken from earth on her death bed. Saal was so sweet in this book and my heart went out to him. I didn't realize from the other books that he was from a much lower caste and that it should have any bearing on things. There are still plenty of dangers for human women on the planet that have to be dealt with and the Lord Healer will have to learn that you don't mess with the love life of a human woman.
There was definitely a HEA and the bonus is we have been introduced to another set of quirky characters that I already love.
To be frank, it seemed like this book was written just to introduce the next series about the mercenaries. It had potential, there were some sweet parts, but it just didn’t feel fully developed. It’s been a while since I’ve read the previous books in the series, so I was left with quite a few questions. Like - what the heck is this sleeping disease - was she catatonic? How did Saal know how to pleasure a human woman? And what was the tension with Laarn about - what did Saal do? What is Lizzie going to do as a job or even a hobby? Will she be safe?
Btw I always thought Laarn was a d!ck, and this book confirms it. Yet again he was forgiven far too easily. Poor Saal.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Waking the sleeping beauty I have loved all of the Warriors of the Lathar, but this one may just be my favorite. There is just a sweetness to the relationship between these two characters and the many obstacles they have to overcome seem almost insurmountable. Especially when your own family is not 100% on your side. The author did such a fantastic job with this book and the ending certainly brought tears to my eyes. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.
Finally, Lizzie is awake! Loved Saal at once when he had tried to charm Jess in Book 2. They are soo perfect for each other. Their courting was soo tender and sweet. Their claiming was so passionate too. I just wish, it was more than a short story. Cant wait for Zero's storyline.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I stumbled upon this and haven't read any others in this series. I could tell I was missing a lot but was able follow this story. Safe, likeable characters except for one but he was a H from a previous story. I do plan on checking out others in this series.
I wish that the book had been longer, it feels like it was cut short I removed half a star for that. Saal was such a great hero and I feel like he will enjoy life far more with the crew that they ended the book with. The happy camaraderie and honest discussions bodes well. I can see them becoming his chosen family, not just having Lizzie in his life. To me it felt like he held himself back while working in the healer's hall or helping out in the gardens. He knows that he would never be considered good enough, .
I believe that Lizzie will fit in well with the crew. Fin teases Lizzie and Saal and it is ok, Lizzie can tease right back and everyone has fun. The new crew is a fun counterpoint to the other books and I look forward to reading more about them.
Laarn goes on my shit-list! Jupp. The Kallson-women are the most important women in the galaxy due to their unique gene sequence and Laarn is a royal prince. Riff-raff is not favourably looked at. Had it been framed as him being unsure if Saal could provide or keep suck a important woman safe in his simple home at the tavern it would have been one thing perhaps but the fault lies with his parentage. Maybe his family sees past it but he is by no way, shape or form in the clear with me. Karma got him at least.
Have no idea what could make me think better of Laarn and I like that. Not everyone is nice all the time, some are more influenced by the importance of status which is completely natural because we are all different. I am not disappointed with the book because Laarn acted like an asshole, I am disappointed at Laarn but at the same time it is interesting because it fits. Not every person will like each other, that which furthers the goals of one person might hinder another. I appreciate it when the people in the book feel like their own individuals, when they have their own agendas. Laarn's treatment of Saal is a good contrast to the new crew. Saal is a good man but not all has it in them to treat him as such. This could be interesting for future books, who knows.
This installment was so cute. I loved Saal and Lizzie together. But, there was a lot packed into this book and it really was all over the place. There's Saal's demotion from being a random warrior to being sort of a "janitor-type" so Laarn doesn't think he's good enough for Lizzie.
There's Saal being around to read to Lizzie while she's still in a coma (was demoting him really the only way this soul mate thing would work out?), which of course made the story cute but really had some consistency issues from when Saal was previously mentioned in the series.
(stop reading here if you don't want to read any spoilers)
There is Lizzie disappearing from the ball and no one noticing she left and went home until the next morning? She was almost attacked and just got out of a coma and all of a sudden her sister and mother aren't at all worried that she wasn't back after offering to get them lemonade? Oh, but Saal saving her life still doesn't mean he's worthy of her?
There's Lizzie hiding Saal from her family even though he saved her life and they didn't even seem to care? The guys from last night come back and get him fired but that isn't really delved into until they kidnap Jess and Lizzie and Saal gets to save the day even though it's technically Laarn's fault they got kidnapped (since he let these guys get Saal fired).
Saal goes from random warrior to volunteer at the healer's hall to employee at the healer's hall to warrior in the space of a book and a half? And Lizzie's family was somewhat controlling until she gets Saal back now it's just fine that she goes off to be the wife of a mercenary in a tiny ship with 3 other people?
I really loved the idea of this book, but if you think too much about the storyline in this particular installment, damn, I really have to give it 3.5 stars (so I can round it up to 4) compared to others in this series.
So I confess I am still reading this series in the somewhat futile hope that we might see an Oonat uprising. This addition to the series also made the class system for the Lathar incredibly apparent and our poor hero had a tough journey. Part of me find it aggravating that even in the world of science fiction inequities are perpetuated by the powerful who don't seem to care about how their decisions impact others.
The story was enjoyable even if the drama felt a little artificial. Maybe it's me, but if the man I loved quit his job unexpectedly and dropped off the radar I would be doing everything in my power to confirm they were OK. Likewise on his efforts to contact her, she has indicated nothing but interest in you and you take the equivalent of a lack of texting as disinterest. Please.
Despite this, Mina Carter writes a good story and I will be continuing with the series.
"It was evidence of a family’s love for each other,..."
Lizzie has been struggling with a mysterious disease, but her twin sister marrying an Alien Healer might bring hope and a cure... or at least a change of scenery.
Saal may not be rich and powerful, or an Alien Healer, but his actions reveal a thoughtful, caring being who does the work needed to keep a hospital running, and patients healing. He makes a difference in lives daily, whether or not people stop to say thank you... but will he always be the orphan from the poor side of town, and to some, little else?
This done in one book highlights the importance of our actions, the difference we can make in the lives of others, and how we can use what we learn to help others. There were some wonderful scenes in this story that truly showed what kind of character Swap is.
She had fallen into a deep sleep which was a illness. He thought her twin was for him but she wasn't. When she was brought to the healers, he's an orderly working there. He took care of her room and read to her every night. A lot had happened when she woke up, learning that she wasn't on earth, her twin and her mother both married , and some lathar low class tried to kidnapped her from the ball. He was accused of hurting said kidnapper kin and was released from the healing hall. Her brother in law was keeping them apart till her sister found out and told him to fix it or get cut off. More drama another kidnapping, being saved and telling her brother in law off for butting in.
4.5 stars I enjoyed this book and liked how much of a capable warrior Saal is. My only complaint is that this Saal seems different from the one we met in book 3. I didn’t like it that he is at a lower class system as the other warriors since I tend to like my MC’s to be the top dog of a group. So that’s my own hang up. I did enjoy that we meet up again with the Warborne mercenary group since they are the first series I read of this author’s. There was a good amount of action to keep me entertained. I didn’t really connect with Lizzie though but that could be she’s not as tough (non military) as the heroines in this series. Overall, an enjoyable book.
I totally love any of the books in Mina Carters Warriors of the Lathar and Lathar Mercenaries series. These books are automatic one-clicks for me. The women in these series are strong. If they don't start out that way they certainly become that way. The men are hot. They love their women and are totally dedicated to them. The stories are well written and flow nicely. There are few if any typos. Sometimes the British colloquialisms throw me for a loop. The characters are all very different and there's no mistaking one for the other. They don't merge into one in my mind. Locations and scenes are described so that you can easily picture them in your mind. Each book has it's own HEA for the main couple but there's always a little something that let's you know that there will be another book to follow. I just wish that the stories were a little longer.
Read this in the Loved in Space Anthology. Lady Lizzie has been deep sleep for a while and has finally awoken to her prince’s kiss. Well Lathar’s kiss by the name of Saal. He isn’t a healer like her brother in law but an orderly but still a trained warrior. I loved this story. It was like sleeping beauty and snow white. Lizzie has to learn all about the Lathar and at the same time catch up on all she missed. Saal is so sweet. Always being there for her. It’s Laarn the healer that made me mad. I love that Jess keeps him in line. Such a great story.
The Lathars are one of my favorite alien series. I was thrilled to find that Lizzie and Sal had their own story! I loved that although this book, for the most part, was set in the palace it also had a normal feel to it. You got a glimpse of what happens to the lesser Lathars. Someone who wasn’t born into the royalty like the rest.
Lizzie and Saals story is everything I wanted and more. They may be my favorite Lathar couple yet.
I was disappointed in this book. I felt it was rushed and more sex than story. I would have thought that the Emperor would have deserved a mate of his own. Perhaps Saul’s character was not strong enough - hence the rushed and short feeling of the book. The next coming out is about one of the new characters from this book. We’ll see how that works out. Still, I was disappointed with this one.
This book had all the feels and excitement that you would expect from this series! Saal and Lizzie had a different meeting than the other couples, Lizzie had a sleeping sickness and Saal would read to her when he was off shift, when she woke she remembered him from her “dreams”. As the sister-in-law of the K’Vass healer he was beneath them in society. From there, things got very hot, complicated and exciting. Really good read and highly recommended.
Brilliant read. I was actually wandering the other day what has happened to Lizzie and hey presto, there is a book out. And Saal gets a good story. And we finally leave the bloody palace and all the high born Lathars and get to know the ‘normal’ ones. Oh boy, are we for a ride...
Good grief, Laarn is such a d-bag in this book and just because Saal is of lower class, he deliberately went out of his way to kick Saal out. Sure in the end he tried to make amends but still it's not good enough for me. So glad it ended how it ended and now we have a spinoff! I am so looking forward Zero's story.
This is Lizzie and Saal story. Lizzie has a sleeping sickness and Saal an orderly reads to her. So when Lizzie finally wakes she wants to know who read to her. But others are putting a spanner in the works. There is false charges, a kidnapping, and the Lord Healer no happy about the growing attraction. Loved this Alien tale.
I really enjoyed this book he was doing what he needed to do to survive it nice to ready a character that’s not born with a gold spoon and had to make there way to where there where he still kept it real and you could feel his emotions I really enjoyed this short book I will begin with book one now lol
Why did Saal stop being a War Commander to become an assistant in the healers hall? When will Laaren discover the code that saves his people and does he no longer need Jess 's littan now he has her mother? Not as good as the first part of the series. I want to see Daaynal find a human mate, he is lonely.
Mona Carter has done it again. An absolutely lovely little story with memorable and simple characters. The story is sweet and hot at the same time and well worth the short time spent to read it.
The old sleeping beauty tale retold and well done. It seems Lizzie's romance but a lot of roadblocks and you will have to read this to find out how it plays out.
Lizzie kinda turned me off with the whole “don’t want anyone to know....yet” and of course Laarn was a big jerk. It seem me that this story was more about setting up a new series (which I’m all for) than Lizzie and Saal’s story. He was such a sweetheart! Think I fell for him a bit myself.