GRR Review: Alien Mine by Lucy Varna

Alien Mine by Lucy Varna is a pretty standard "strong protector" trope romance with the exception that the protector, in this case, is an alien warrior. It tried to address the various logical issues, with varying degrees of success, and the story was enjoyable, if a bit long, but some bits can be explained better.  To recap

Pruxnae Dyuvad ab Mhij was sent to Earth to protect a young girl, but he had no idea from what, as Earth is in the far frontier beyond normal civilization. He was not expecting to find a goat farm, a temptress in the form of the girl's mother, and another daughter.  Rachel Hunter has no time to spare among her goat farm, her two daughters, and her eccentric brother. Her ex-husband is in prison for murder, and a gang leader tried to kidnap her family supposedly for her ex-husband's "debts". When a georgeous tattooed big guy crashed into her fence, then offered to pay for staying on her farm for six months, she's in no position to refuse. Dyuvad soon found the danger accosting Rachel is lurking closer than ever, even as they fall for each other...

The problem with this book, as with most "sci-fi" romances, is the trope that the alien warrior is basically "better man than Earthlings", but let's leave that aside for the moment. The problem with Dyuvad is he's just so... bland. His "wound" or ghost is merely that he didn't seem to have much accomplishment or have a bride.  His alien tech wizardry was enough to save everyone, even at the end. After all, he has teleporter, super armor, AND ray gun.  Except those gadgets somehow didn't help him much in the final battle. However, the big fight was far too fast and over in an eyeblink, and I think the author lost count of the number of thugs in the room.

SPOILER

AHEAD

IN SMALL PRINT

GRR Review: Trail of Kisses by Merry Farmer

Trail of Kisses by Merry Farmer is a western historical romance that concentrated on the Oregon Trail and one of the various wagon trains that moved hundreds of people across the nation, hoping for a better life. The setup was quite good, and the author was able to leverage this setup for multiple books by simply concentrating on different parts of the wagon train and different couples. Here we have volume 1. To recap...

Lynne Tremaine was forced by her father, a famous judge, to go West to Colorado after the judge sentenced two of the Briscoe Boys to hang and the rest vowed revenge. Lynne had no intention to go West to live with "Uncle George" but she must go with the hired escort... Cade Lawson. Cade had let George down earlier and saw this supply run as redemption. He did not want to escort Lynne, as she's headstrong and determined not to admit any weakness, even if it may kill her. But his responsibilities is to keep her safe... Which also means he can't make any moves on her. When threatening notes and messages appear in Lynne's belongings, suggesting a Briscoe Boy is among the people in the wagon train, Cade must do all he can... but will his heart survive? 

I find the "headstrong rich girl" enough of a trope that I almost tossed this aside, but the story got better. Still, the "opposites attract" trope held true, as they really can't get each other out of their heads. The threat started small and got worse, and the twist was quite shocking and made perfect sense.  I quite enjoyed the story, though it's not like a super must-read.

And yes, there is sex in this book.

Category: Historical Western Romance / Suspense

Primary Plot: Strong Protector / Damsel in Distress

NOTE:  Sex scenes

TL;DR: Woman reluctantly joined wagon train, still threatened by mysterious stalker despite having a dedicated escort

Overall rating: 4/5

P.S. Review for Book 2 in the series: Trail of Hope is already on Amazon.

GRR Review: Seaside Surprises by Stacy Claflin

Seaside Surprises by Stacy Claflin started fine as a "woman in peril" contemporary romance. This is a 'sweet romance', so no sex. But the further it went, the further it seems to go off the rails. The ending fight was a total let down when the bad guy arrived. But first, the recap.

Tiffany Saunders is on the run from her evil husband, and with her well-connected grandpa's help, she left town leaving no traces except for one phone that links to grandpa. She was just passing by this seaside town in California when she met the handsome local shop owner Jake Hunter.  Jake had spent years caring for his little sister, who finally succumbed to cancer. Now he's still running the family store, but he wanted his life back. When the pretty brunette who's obviously hiding something walked into his store, he found himself drawn to her.  But just as they got to know each other, Tiffany's past caught up with her. Will Tiffany and Jake let down their guard long enough to confront the danger together? 

While the first half of the book was quite good as Jake and Tiffany slowly circled each other, neither wanted to commit, yet drawn to each other, the escalation of tension really makes no sense. The evil ex was portrayed as nasty but never described as violent.

WARNING

SPOILER

AHEAD

Introduction and Welcome

Welcome to "Guy Reviews Romances" blog, where I, a guy, reviews a ton of romances. Yes, I read them.

This is an extension of my voracious reading appetite. I generally read two to three books a day, of all genres. I wish to understand what makes romance so... irresistible, that it comprises of ONE THIRD of all published fiction in the US.

Many of these reviews are also posted on my Amazon review page.

Every once in a while, I may lament on certain insights I have gained.