My #bookreview of Books 1 to 4 of BRIDES OF THE KINDRED by Evangeline Anderson
I ran across this series on a blog that I follow. I can’t remember who the blogger was, but she had a really good review about these books. At that time, book 17 hadn’t been published. The review intrigued me, and I wanted to give them a try. The first 4 books came as a box-set, so I went ahead and bought it. Now, I’m hooked. This is definitely one of my guilty pleasure series, and I will be reading the rest, one-by-one. You can buy the whole set, but that’s a lot of money to fork out all at once.
To read a preview of the books, or to buy them, just click on the book cover.
BLURB:
Olivia Waterhouse has just graduated from nursing school and has her whole life ahead of her—until she gets drafted. Problem is, she isn’t being forced into the Army, she’s been chosen as a Kindred bride.
The Kindred are huge alien warriors—a race of genetic traders whose population is ninety-five percent male. After saving Earth from the threat of invasion they demand a reward—the right to find brides among the population. The chances of being chosen are about the same as those of winning the lottery—guess it’s just Liv’s lucky day.
Baird is a Beast Kindred who recently escaped imprisonment and torture at the hands of the malevolent Scourge. Through the torment and pain only one thing kept him sane—the thought of finding and claiming his bride—Olivia. His need to possess her is a burning intensity that threatens to consume them both.
Angry at having her future and her family taken away from her, Liv vows to fight back the only way she can—by resisting. She has one month on the Kindred Mothership with Baird—their claiming period. If she can keep from having bonding sex with him during that time, she can go home and get on with her life on Earth.
But Baird isn’t going to make it easy for her. Every week he is allowed to touch Liv more and more intimately and according to the contract she signed, she has to let him. She’s determined to resist him but his touch sets her on fire. And just as she thinks she knows what she wants, a twist of fate and an attack by the faceless Scourge AllFather changes everything…
A race of Genetic Traders from beyond the stars
Three very different types of men
All looking for one thing…their brides
Beast Kindred—Savage in battle these dark, brooding warriors from Rageron bring their passion and intensity to the bedroom. They possess a very special endowment that ensures every sexual experience is a tantric one.
Blood Kindred—Cold as ice to their enemies, these tall, blond warriors from Tranq Prime warm up when they find the right woman. But be careful…they bite.
Twin Kindred—Muscular and rugged, these warriors from Twin Moons always come in pairs and cannot be separated. They experience physical pain when parted from each other…or the one woman they both choose to love.
And then there is the enemy…
The Scourge—A genetic trade gone wrong, these menacing outsiders have twisted desires and sexual needs fierce enough to frighten away even the most adventurous. Their need to dominate and possess their women completely has led to a strange prophesy that they must fulfill…or die trying.
MY REVIEW:
I will say right now, you have to read these books in their order to understand what’s going on. Each book adds new elements of the Kindred and characters, so you don’t get overwhelmed with too many facts and people.
Claimed introduces us to the Kindred Warriors, who they are, and why the are mostly a male species. The only way they can repopulate is by claiming females of the different worlds they contract with. Olivia happens to be one such female, and she fights the bonding tooth and nail. She doesn’t want to leave her new career and twin sister, Sophia.
The Kindred Warriors are huge, powerful males. There are three types: Beast Kindred, Blood Kindred, and Twin Kindred. Each type has their own mating/bonding rituals. They are very sexual animals, but they also worship and protect the females they bond for life with.
Baird is a Beast Kindred, and as he tries explaining to Olivia what’s involved in the bonding ritual, she wants no part of it. The breeding organ of a Beast Kindred can be overwhelming for a small, human female. Kindred Warriors also love talking dirty, and aren’t afraid of telling you what they’re going to do to you. That part gets a little repetitive, but that’s their nature, so I can forgive them.
The story is very well-written with the fighting back and forth between Olivia and Baird, as she tries resisting his mating scent and the bonding. The characters are well-established and I couldn’t help but fall in love with both of them, hoping they would finally find each other.
My favorite part of this book was when Olivia went to visit a friend who was mated to Twin Kindred’s and she ended up in the unmated area of the ship. Baird hadn’t been able to scent mark her yet, so she was open prey to any unmated male that wanted to claim her.
BLURB:
Sophia Waterhouse has always been afraid of needles and vampires so there’s no way she wants anything to do with a modern day Count Dracula—even if he does come wrapped in the package of a huge Kindred warrior with blond hair and ice blue eyes. She’s only on the Kindred Mothership to participate in her sister Liv’s wedding and that’s all.
Sylvan is a Tranq Kindred who has made a sacred vow never to call a bride. After a devastating rejection on his home planet, his heart is a block of ice no one can melt—or so he thinks until he meets Sophia.
When their ship is forced down in the middle of a rugged mountain range Sophia and Sylvan are stranded. Running for their lives they have only each other to depend on. Will they give in to the intense attraction between them or will the evil hunting Sophia take its toll?
MY REVIEW:
Hunted is the story of Olivia’s twin sister, Sophia and Baird’s brother, Sylvan. The attraction between these two started in the first book, but they fought it as Sylvan was dealing with a previous failed bonding, and had sworn to never claim another bride, and Sophia had a fear of needles and vampires. See, for a Blood Kindred to bond, and implant their seed, they need to bite you. I would have to agree with Sophia’s take on this. I hate needles myself. YUCK!
This book goes into more detail about the AllFather and the Scourge and why they are mortal enemies of the Kindred. The AllFather had a prophecy about a girl with a mark on her chest, and he thinks that girl is Sophia. She could be the restart of their race, by breeding with her and siring new offspring. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many true Scourges left. I think it’s only the AllFather and his son.
While running from the AllFather, Sophia and Sylvan crash land in a remote area on Earth. There, they must hide from the AllFather’s beasts, and the only way to do that is by marking Sophia with his scent. There’s a lot more sexual tension between these two than there was between Baird ad Olivia.
Sophia is the weaker of the twins, but she rises to the challenge. I think I like her character better than Olivia’s. One thing I noticed, her name was spelled several ways, Sophia or Sophie. I’m not sure if that was the Kindred way of saying her name or not. My favorite scene is the book was while they were in the cabin. It was pretty hot.
BLURB:
One Woman, Two Hot Guys, A Galaxy of Problems…
Kat O’Connor is no pushover. She’s a no nonsense girl with a commonsense approach to life. But there’s nothing common about what’s happening to her lately…
First she was forced to have a kinky mind ménage with two of the hottest and most irritating men in the galaxy—Twin Kindred warriors, Deep and Lock—in order to locate her kidnapped friend. Then she couldn’t get their feelings out of her head. And now she’s on her way to their home planet, Twin Moons, to find a cure for the debilitating illness their unorthodox joining caused, when all she really wants to do is go home.
Locks Tight, the light twin of the two, is already in love with Kat. Her curvy plus-sized body is the epitome of beauty on his home planet and her sharp mind makes her doubly attractive. But though he fell for her the moment he saw her, Twin Kindred are unable to mate a woman alone. Lock knows nothing can happen between them without his brother…
Stabs Deep. The dark twin has a secret agony in his past—a tragedy he feels he and he alone is to blame for. He too, hungers for Kat, but he hides his fear of rejection behind an impenetrable wall of angry sarcasm. For if he lets anyone get too close, the unbearable pain he has already endured once may happen again.
Now Kat and her twin warriors are on a quest—but they’re all looking for different things. Kat wants to find a way to dissolve the half-formed bond between them so she can be alone in her own head again. Lock wants to convince both her and his brother to complete the bond which will keep them together forever. And Deep is trying to protect his heart and love Kat from afar…though it grows more and more difficult to deny the hunger he feels for her growing inside him.
Their travels will take them from the uncharted wilds of Twin Moons to the Deadworld of the Scourge home planet. Will Kat find a cure for having other people’s emotions crowding her mind? Will Lock convince his brother and the woman they both love that they’re all meant to be together forever? And will Deep ever unshield his heart long enough to let Kat in?
MY REVIEW:
Out of the four books I’ve read so far, Sought is my second favorite. I really identified with Kat as I’m also a curvy, plus-sized gal, and I would love having two studs lusting over me.
Kat, Deep, and Lock were introduced in the second book. See how the author does that. Each story gets more detailed with characters, and world building. The story line behind these books is plotted very well. It just keeps you wanting to read the next one to see what happens with the new characters that the previous book ends with.
This was a longer book, as the characters had to travel over several different planets, looking for the cure to save Kat. I loved the light and dark twins of Lock and Deep. I favored Deep the most. I felt their anguish as they tried reconciling their differences with themselves and Kat. Out of the three different mating bonds of the Kindred Warriors, this is the one I would opt for. I would love having two males fawning over me. Sigh.
As with each book, the animosity between the characters drive the story forward, as well as the sexual tension. The Twin Kindred requires the mating of both brothers at the same time with their female. Pretty kinky, and hot. The best scenes were when Lock, Deep, and Kat mind-melded to search for Sophia and then Lauren. But this also caused their problems.
BLURB:
A warrior with a scarred heart who doesn’t know how to love. And the woman who must teach him how before it’s too late…
The son of the evil AllFather, Xairn is filled with conflicting emotions. On one hand, he has finally gained his freedom and cut the ties that bound him to his race and the sadistic male who is his father. But doing so has unleashed feelings in him Xairn would rather keep buried. Desires that he prayed would never manifest now rage through him and they are centered on one woman alone…
Lauren Jakes is the long lost cousin Liv and Sophie never knew they had. Abducted by the Scourge, she formed a connection with Xairn more meaningful than any other in his life. But though Lauren thinks she knows him, there is more to the huge Scourge warrior than she comprehends. A nightmare childhood and a cruel father have scarred Xairn’s heart almost past the point of healing. But that is nothing to the secret inside him—the forbidden desires coded into his very DNA itself, which urge him to commit unspeakable acts in order to sate his newly awakened hunger.
Now a conflict is brewing—both in Xairn’s soul, and aboard the Fathership where the twisted AllFather has hatched a new, malicious plot to bring his estranged son home. Can Xairn resist the brutal lust growing within him? Can he fight against his very nature which urges him to dominate and control any female he mates? Can Lauren heal his heart before the AllFather’s trap closes on both of them?
And can she teach him how to love before it’s too late?
MY REVIEW:
Found is my favorite of the four books. I felt very deeply for Xairn in the last book, and I couldn’t wait to see how he overcame his father, and the rising brutal lust that was part of his DNA. I’m not into BDSM, so that part of the book didn’t really do much for me, but it was all the evil and horror he endured at the AllFather’s hands that endeared him to me. And Lauren was a great buffer to his hurt soul, though she also suffered at the AllFather’s hands.
We travel off world with this book too, and once again are introduced too a wide range of alien life forms and ideals. Trying to escape his father, Xairn takes them to a planet where they can change their DNA signature. I agree with Lauren, I preferred Xairn when he looked like a Scourge instead of a human. That’s what made him unique.
Once they got back to Earth, I thought the pace slowed down too much. The see-sawing back and forth between should Xairn relent to his feelings, or should he keep trying to hold himself under control was a bit much.
I do have to say, each book could’ve done with a bit of polishing in the proofreading department.
If you love hot, steamy books, with a terrific science-fiction, paranormal storyline, you have to read this series. I give the box-set 5 feathers
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