Bound by Lust (Owned 5) by Anitra Lynn McLeod at Siren Publishing
Genre | Gay / Futuristic / Science Fiction / Aliens / Other Planets / Erotic Romance |
Reviewed by | Serena Yates on 02-August-2013 |
Genre | Gay / Futuristic / Science Fiction / Aliens / Other Planets / Erotic Romance |
Reviewed by | Serena Yates on 02-August-2013 |
Lust was only the spark…
Keenan Hastings thought delivering the envelopes for the Eoean lottery would spare him from being selected. He was wrong. When he finds himself on an auction block being pawed by horny aliens, he feels he deserves his fate.
Oco Mig Nuhull’s unique gift—the ability to read sentient creatures by touching them—has made him wealthy but also isolated. He’s unable to experience the depth of physical love because he can’t touch without reading his lover. Bored with his lonely existence, he goes to the auction to see a rare and much talked about Earthling. When he touches Keenan and finds his ability blocked, Oco must have him.
Despite Keenan and Oco’s instant, powerful, and mutual connection, their struggle to be together is thwarted at every turn. Lust may have sparked a far deeper bond, but how will they battle against the lust of Keenan’s true owner?
In a further installment of the "selected by the Eoean lottery" theme, this story is about two men who have been rejected by their society. Both are unbearably lonely, for very different reasons, but the effect is the same. Both don't expect to ever find someone to love who will love them, but both secretly still hope they will. I really liked that, even as different as their cultures and sexual needs may be, this one unifying factor is the same for both of them: the hope they hold out for a compatible partner despite all rational thought telling them it will never happen.
Keenan is a very unusual human. He works for the Eoeans, delivering the envelopes to those who have been picked by the mysterious "lottery", and in a way he feels like a traitor. But he was desperate for money when he started five years ago, and feels as though he has no choice. He definitely isn’t any happier now, with no friends (they all hate his job), and a desperate longing for a man to love. When he is picked exactly day before his twenty-fifth birthday which would make him ineligible, he figures it's only fair. His self-esteem is at rock-bottom already, but when he's put on auction and treated like an animal, instead of like sentient being, his despair reaches new depths.
Oco is an equally unusual Alzimian. He can read other beings' thoughts when he touches, and that has made it easy for him to make money, but he cannot find a lover. Feeling everything they do every time he initiates intimacy is not conducive to him having a satisfying physical relationship. It is to distracting. So he walks around in thick protective clothing and wears gloves so he doesn't touch anyone inadvertently. When he touches Keenan in the auction house, out of curiosity how a human's mind is structured, he doesn’t feel a thing. It is a revelation to him and, inevitably he bids to buy Keenan. Unfortunately, he has two rivals and he ends up losing to his cheating rivals.
What follows is a mixture between an adventure, as the two men get to know each other and have to figure out how to escape the authorities, a mystery – how exactly did these other aliens manage to cheat and what will be the consequences, and a great cross-cultural love story with all the getting to know each other discoveries that I really like in this series. And the suspense, on top of all that, almost killed me. I mean, I wanted Keenan and Oco to be able to stay together almost as badly as they did, but it looked really bad for them for a good long while.
If you like science fiction stories with men from two different cultures who discover their physical differences in the most delightful way while finding out they are totally compatible on the mental level as well, if you enjoy reading about the curious effects this Eoean lottery has on humans and aliens alike,, and if you're looking for a hot read that offers a wonderful romance of the insta-lust-and-love-follows-closely kind, then you will probably like this novella as much as I do.
DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been purchased by the reviewer.
Format | ebook |
Length | Novella, 35758 words |
Heat Level | |
Publication Date | 13-July-2013 |
Price | $5.50 ebook |
Buy Link | http://www.bookstrand.com/bound-by-lust |