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Planet Nerak #1

Close Encounters of the Sexy Kind

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On Mala's home planet, male robots satisfy women's every desire. Which is nice and all, but Mala craves a real man--like the rugged looking specimen called Sheriff she saw in a video brought back from Earth. Sheriff Mason McKinley is having a hell of a week, what with reports of a UFO landing out near Devil's Bend. But when Mason rides out to investigate, instead of little green men he finds the sexiest woman he's ever laid eyes on. Mason doesn't want to take advantage of a lost soul, but Mala's pretty clear about what she wants...and it's only polite to show the lady a little Texas hospitality...

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

67 people are currently reading
359 people want to read

About the author

Karen Kelley

107 books223 followers
Karen Kelley always had a secret desire to live the life of a Gypsy. So she and her husband quit their jobs, sold their house, decluttered their lives and moved into their 5th wheel RV. Now they're traveling the United States. She works full time on her writing and spends her downtime walking on the beach or hiking in the mountains. Her motto has always been 'Who says you can't have it all.'

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5 stars
80 (28%)
4 stars
83 (29%)
3 stars
81 (29%)
2 stars
23 (8%)
1 star
10 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for ElaineY.
2,450 reviews68 followers
July 17, 2008
I enjoyed this book so much and immediately placed an order for the second book in the series as soon as I finished it. Both Mala and Mason are lovable characters and it was a pleasure to follow their story. Though I'm an alpha-hero romance fan, and Mason isn't an alpha-hero even if he's the sheriff, he is sexy in his sweet, caring ways and the ideal mate for Mala.

I have CosmiC Sex on my TBR and will be reading it next. I can't wait to see what happens when Mala's cousin comes to Planet Earth to persuade Mala to return to Nerak - and gets caught up with sexy Nick. Those post-coitus scenes when the heroine tries to tell the hero she's an alien really crack me up.
Profile Image for Paraphrodite.
2,671 reviews51 followers
May 9, 2012
This book is a hilarious, sexy sci-fi romp! Mala comes from the Planet Nerak where a few hundred years ago, the women decided to do away with men because they keep making wars! Since then, they have altered their DNA to laboratory-produced females only. Each has a male computer "Companion-Unit" purpose-built to satisfy all their needs.

When Mala came across her grandmother's secret diary and discovered that granny had made an interplanetary trip to Earth, she was fascinated. Especially when she watched the "documentary" Debbie Does the Sheriff that her grandmother brought back. Mala wanted to find her own "Sheriff" and experience lovemaking with a real man and decided to steal an old spaceship for the short trip to Earth.

Of course, when she crash-landed in Texas, Texan Sheriff Mason McKinley just happened to be on hand to "rescue" her and the fun begins...

I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to the next books. Recommended for those who like a bit of a laugh with their sexy sci-fi romance.
Profile Image for Rachel-RN.
2,422 reviews29 followers
November 9, 2014
So I was surprised at how much I liked this. It was hilarious! I laughed my ass off so many times. The humor is anywhere from cringe-worthy to just plain stupid (but so stupid it's funny). There was Mala telling everyone (literally everyone) she's having sex with Mason to the "documentary" (porn film) her grandmother had on Nerak. I enjoyed the side story with Barton getting some romance too. The baddies get a nice comeuppance too. I would have liked to have known more about Nerak (other than life is perfect there).
Profile Image for Katie.
87 reviews
August 16, 2018
How unbelievably sweet, cute and adorable can you possibly get. Tiberius is an absolute sweetie, you couldn’t want for a more sexy and attentive man, Ryan you are a lucky girl indeed. Talk about other worldly charm and all that!!

This book was intriguing from the get go, as a bit of a thriller/crime scene investigation type thing I wasn’t sure what to expect when that world collides with another universe/species of people. But Abbie Zanders did swimmingly...pun intended!!

I would have loved to see the discussion Tiberius had with Ryan at the end of the book. It would have been an awesome way to finish the book... hopefully a more complete ending will come for these two.

"Read on Behalf of Books After Fifty"
3,543 reviews14 followers
June 12, 2017
Close Encounters Of The Sexy Kind is my first book by Karen Kelley. I don't usually pick anything sci-fi when choosing books, but something about this one caught me. So glad I downloaded it. Ms Kelley has delivered a book that is part paranormal, part romance and 100% fun. This book is well-written. The characters are fantastic and perfect for this story. Mala and Mason's story is loaded with drama, humor and sizzle. I enjoyed reading Close Encounters Of The Sexy Kind and would be happy to read more from Karen Kelley in the future. Close Encounters Of The Sexy Kind is book 1 of the Planet Nerak Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.
855 reviews
March 7, 2019
Finding !ove

Beautiful sweet romantic love story with humor,laughter,danger,and a fight for forever! A different type of alien human love but throw in a sexy man bot and the love just keeps getting more interesting! Thanks for the fantastic read look forward to reading more of your books💖💖
20 reviews2 followers
June 11, 2019
Great Fast Read

This is the first book by this author that I have read. It was was a great fast read. The story was engaging and funny is places, I enjoyed it. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. If you are looking for a lighthearted story from the stars, I definitely recommend this book.
Profile Image for Natalie.
4,806 reviews13 followers
June 27, 2017
Close Encounters of the Sexy Kind

This was funny, sexy and intriguing all at once. I loved the fact that she was so bold to seduce him. I think Harlan and the reporters got exactly what they deserved.
Profile Image for Jamie Stephenson.
664 reviews
July 1, 2017
this one was super hot! I loved it.. the quirky humor and sizzling passion made this a book I didn't want to put down. I loved Mala and how innocent she was about everyday things like dirt and showers... it makes u look at little things and really enjoy them a little more. this is a must read.
Profile Image for Michele Evans.
1,213 reviews8 followers
June 29, 2017
Loved it

Loved how the author let the main character experience earth as only an alien could. It was great start to finish!!
449 reviews1 follower
July 15, 2023
Karen Kelley always delivers thank you
Profile Image for Paranormal Romance.
1,316 reviews47 followers
March 9, 2023
From a very early age, the heroine has always longed for something besides her dull and predictable life on her home planet. Enthralled with the images and movies from Earth, she realizes that even if it's forbidden, she must make the trip to the other world to experience life. She wants to feel sand between her toes, wind on her face but most of all she wants to experience love in the arms of her very own cowboy. So, she braves punishment from the elders and takes a spacecraft to Earth. She crashes down in the forest, injuring herself. Scared and disoriented, she fears the injure she sustained will kill her she is not used to bleeding. But then she stumbles upon her cowboy and she finds comfort in the safety of his arms.

The hero finds the hurt woman while out riding on his land and brings her into town to the hospital. She is beautiful with stunning eyes but she admittedly odd. She doesn't understand a whole lot of pretty routine customs and phrases so he believes she must be foreign. But no matter how naively strange she is he still feels compelled to bring her back to his house to heal as hospitals frighten her something terrible. There, he tries very hard not to succumb to the desires he feels for her as he believes them to be wrong considering she is hurt and obviously innocent. But the heroine is no such thing, not when it comes to getting what she wants. And she wants the hero. She researches seduction. She orders sex toy online using his paypal account and she breaks down his walls quickly on her road to experiencing sex with her sexy Sheriff. They fall easily into a sexual relationship but one based on a deeper emotional bond than just sex. But the heroine fears she must be returning home soon and even if she could stay, the hero refuses to believe her when she tells him she's an alien. But when she discovers she is pregnant, she must convince the elders to let her stay now that her life and her future belong on Earth with the human she loves.

I will say this- I didn't hate it. In fact, some of the humor was quite funny and the strange and bizarre behavior of the heroine as she learns of the world around her was charming and childlike in its enthusiasm. The sex scenes, while I won't call erotic exactly were frequent and more graphic than what I would expect from a typical Chicklit romance. But I didn't mind. What I did have an issue with was the one note and flat line dullness of the overall plot. There was an insane group of reporters who were convince the heroine was in fact an alien and pressed the characters for answers with more intensity than I deemed necessary but otherwise, nothing much happened. There was no dark to compliment the light tone of the story and that's something I found extremely lacking. I personally like my characters to have a sense of humor, yes, but they also need to have an angst about them. Some darker tone to their personality that will create that balanced character and make them interesting and relatable. These characters didn't have that. As such, I don't feel as if I can rate this anything other than a 1 star based on the lack of balance and also based on the fact that I very little if any interest in reading this again in future. I will note that if another Karen Kelly novel should fall in my lap, I will read it but with some reservations.
Profile Image for Judyth.
1,741 reviews41 followers
September 9, 2014
~3.5-4/5

I picked this book up by pure coincidence. I’d never heard of it before, nor had I read anything else by the author. But it sounded really cute, possibly steamy, and very funny.

I’m a sucker for “character from another world” type stories, like Tarzan or aliens, and how they have to get used to the functions and utilities of where they are now. That’s a big part of why I was so interested in this book.

I liked Mala from the start. She just wanted to try something new, different, not something so ordained and perfected and of necessity. And after watching a porno her grandmother brought from earth, she couldn’t help wanting to go to earth to find her own Sheriff to have sex with, even once.

Mason, the Sheriff, has no idea where Mala came from, and is trying very hard not to do anything about his attraction. Their attraction was hot from the start, and I really liked the way Mala kept trying to come onto him, not realizing that earthlings don’t do that.

This was a really cute, and very funny, book. I enjoyed the way Mala tried getting used to earth. And her robot companion was sweet, and him getting his own romance was nice as well. Mason was frustrating at times, but overall I liked the way things worked out.

I hope to pick up the next book in this series, or just something else by Kelly. This was a surprisingly good book, and I want to read more.

[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]
Profile Image for Skandia.
99 reviews21 followers
August 4, 2013
I didn't expect much when I picked up this book but I have always been fascinated by books about aliens living among humans, so I gave it a try.
Oh boy, was I surprised in a very good way!
This book was funny, well written and characters were very likable and if the story faltered in some parts, it didn't distract me at all.

Mala is an alien woman from the planet Nerak where only women lived and they used for their needs a companion units designed to fulfill their every wish.
At Nerak there was always peace and nobody caused trouble, it was boring, so Mala wondered -
"What would it be like to live on Earth where you
could have animals and space? Where you could
eat chocolate and have sex whenever you liked? It
was paradise"
So she took a spacecraft and came looking for an Earth man.
And the fun started with her experiencing sex, different feelings, food, animals and people on Earth.
Profile Image for =^☺^=mskitty.
231 reviews28 followers
August 17, 2010
A silly what I call an "easy read", but I did enjoy it enough to read the next one in the series. Just to give you an idea...Mala lives on Nerak, a very steril planet, her grandmother traveled to Earth and brought back some items that included a video of "Debbie Does the Sheriff". Mala pines for the kind of emotion she sees on the video and steals an old spacecraft to go to Earth. Guess where she landed.....on a ranch owned by a Sheriff.
After reading a gut wrenching novel a book like this is just the ticket, and it does have some good sex scenes.
Profile Image for CraftyBirdies.
933 reviews21 followers
December 28, 2009
I don't read much sci-fi in the way of romance....I read more vampire and shapeshifter romance. This was alien in nature, but the aliens were very human. They were clueless about earth's ways often, but the sex was very human with no weird alien appendages or anything. HA. Just thought you all might want to know that. It was centered mostly around their acclimation to earth and it was cute and fun. I also loved the side story of Barton.
Profile Image for Virginia Campbell.
1,282 reviews352 followers
June 11, 2009
A fun, frisky sci-fi romance. Enjoyable characters with plenty of steamy encounters. A good, quick read to take your mind off of everyday Earthly matters. Karen Kelley has created her own genre...and she is the Queen!
Profile Image for Sara.
605 reviews1 follower
December 31, 2009
What would you do if you lived on the perfect planet, without any pain, or men? Fly to earth to meet you a man, of course. An entertaining look at a sex-starved female's attempt to find herself a man.
Profile Image for Karmen.
872 reviews44 followers
December 23, 2010
Very fun to read - Mala and Mason are well written and developed. It's great to watch their relationship grow especially as it's set in a small town. The small town adds a 3rd character to the plot.
Profile Image for Veeta.
49 reviews
May 11, 2011
3,5 stars...


dah lama bacanya jadi agak2 lupa ceritanya gimana tapi seingetku hot dan cukup kocak...cewenya alien jadi aku kurang gitu demen..tapi ceritanya lumayan sih...
Profile Image for Nancy.
696 reviews1 follower
April 14, 2013
must read more from this author
Oh goodie
the library has another
yay
Profile Image for Marcia.
1,923 reviews31 followers
August 14, 2014
Silly for anyone who reads Sci Fi, but nevertheless a delightfully entertaining Romance.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews

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