Venomous Craving: The Eok Warriors Series, Book 1 Paperback – January 7, 2024

Great story with a lot of intrigue and a lot of action. Great characters with lots of romance. Good read.

My first book from this author but I will look forward to seeing more. the story keeps a good pace, held my interest. I liked that it had a larger overall arch that goes beyond the initial couples. Great book!

I enjoyed this intense and suspenseful sci-fi story. Once you get into the story, it will hold you captive and at times keep you on the edge of your seat with all the suspense. The two main characters both understand the fight for survival and are willing to do whatever it takes, at all cost, even if it is to the death. For Karian, he has been held captive for ten long years; freedom is his first goal. For Rose, it isn’t just gaining freedom; it is the survival of her family and the other humans on earth that are hunted.In this battle of the galaxies, Earth has been nearly wiped out of its inhabitants, and most are contained in a Human Preservation Breeding facility and treated like lab animals. They are not considered free but as slaves. When she was three, her family and many others escaped and had lived in the forest. For twenty years, she has known freedom but must always remain vigilant to prevent capture. Unfortunately, while hunting, she will become the captured prey. A free female human is one of the most valuable commodities and worth the fortune of entire planets.Karian was the Commander in Chief of the Eok armies when he was captured by Cattelans and has been held in a cage for the past ten years. What a shock when a human female enters the escape pod, and together they escape the Cattelan ship, but for how long.“Humans are like unicorns and mermaids. Only fools claim they have seen one.” “She was a unicorn, a mermaid, and a golden goose if there ever was one.”The plot will have Rose and Karian escaping their Cattelan captures, but for how long. All escape pods have a beaconing signal. Convincing Rose to free him from his cage prison will take precious days that endanger them to be recaptured. She will finally give in and free him, and they will butt heads countless times, she is a huntress and doesn’t take orders well. He wants to protect her, and her smaller body cannot handle the harsh climate of the Saarmok moon. Together, they will have to learn to trust each other.“Karian’s terrible warrior face was drenched with the blood of his enemy, his fangs exposed and bloodied. He wasn’t a creature of nightmares. He was the creature nightmares were terrified of.”Together, they will fight to the death defending each other from predators, until Karian’s people can rescue them. But the fight has only begun as Trade Minister Knut claims he has claims over Rose as a human of Earth. Because Rose saved Karian’s life, he has pledged his to her, a life for a life. When he publically claims he in a mating ceremony as his mate, he shocks everyone, claiming her as a bloodmate, one that is not only for life but includes his own life.The story has betrayal, deceit, good versus evil, control, kidnap and capture, life and death, survival, passion, determination, and a love story. There are a few sex scenes, but not overly explicit.“They were tired by more than just flesh. His soul was branded into her, his bones knitted into hers. They were two parts of the same soul. “

PRO: The world building is good. It’s well-written.CONS: I didn’t hate the hero and heroine, but I wasn’t in love with them either. He had a habit of not giving her all the information she needed. And she had a habit of declaring her capability as a huntress to the point of stupidity. Of course, he was worried about her safety. He was constantly having to save her! What she constantly seemed to fail to grasp was that she was in unfamiliar territory and she knew nothing about the native animals.I thought as I was on my fourth day of reading this that it was just more adventurous that what I’m into these days. And that’s fine. I wouldn’t have thought less of the book for that. But then I read that final fight and it was like a John Woo fight scene in a movie—unrelenting. In it, Rose fights back with both hands—this with a broken arm even after it was mentioned several times how painful it was. At the end of it all, even I was exhausted.As another reviewer mentioned, I got tired of the constant threat of sexual assault that Rose faced. I’m just tired of it in books in general. I almost didn’t purchase this book because of the attempted assault in the book sample.AND NOW I’M JUST NITPICKING: The hero kept referring to his “seed stem.” I’d recommend the author drop that particular phrase. Maybe it’s just me, but it made me think of the stem of an apple—not at all complimentary when thinking of male genitalia.3 STARS: It’s a good beginning to a series. It’s not my cup of tea, but someone who likes lots of action with their romance might enjoy it.

I liked it! There’s some confusing parts and the way he doesn’t respect her enough to just TELL HER THE FACTS for a majority of the book was annoying but it’s a good read and I’m going to finish the series.

It was actually unexpected but a pleasant surprise! I really enjoyed this one. Adventure, danger, spice, and romance.Worth reading! I plan on looking into the author further.

Wow! This was a different kind of alien romance that kept me riveted from the first page. Rose is a human, raised on a nearly deserted Earth where the human race has been decimated by alien slavers and become protected pets. But the same alien company that supposedly protects only sees them as a commodity, when Rose is captured by slavers she does what it takes to protect herself. She winds up in a escape pod with a fierce Eok Warrior in a cage. Karian and Rose are immediately attracted to each other but danger dogs them on every side. They have to go through all sorts of dangerous nearly deadly altercations to find their HEA. I couldn’t put the book down. I love the world building and Karian’s family. I’m looking forward to Book 2.

Could not put it down.. who cares about housework.. the strenght and love was perfect. Combination. Now on to the next one.

Great characters who develop as the story unfolds. Action, near death, and a romance that would go a lot smoother if the mcs actually talked to each other but that would be too easy, obviously. Great villains and world building with what promises to be a fab overarching story. Looking forward to the next instalment and following the author right away!

A brilliant book, I totally enjoyed the story line. You get involved with the people in the story. I am looking forward to reading more of these books

Rose lebt auf einer Erde, auf der die Menschen fast ausgerottet sind, in einer Gemeinschaft von Flüchtlingen in einem Dorf. Zur Erhaltung der Rasse haben Außerirdische eine Zuchtanstalt eingerichtet, in der die Menschen wie Sklaven gefangen gehalten werden. Rose wird bei ihrer Rückkehr von der Jagd von einem anderen Außerirdischen namens Arrik gefangen genommen und auf sein Raumschiff verbracht. Bei einem Fluchtversuch trifft sie auf den Krieger Karian vom Planeten Eok, von dem sie sich auf seltsame Art angezogen fühlt ....Mir hat das Buch sehr gut gefallen, die Charaktere sind lebendig geschildert, die Handlung ist spannend voller Irrungen und Wirrungen und trotzdem romantisch. Ich habe das Buch in einem Schwung durchgelesen und kann es nur weiterempfehlen.

This is the first book I have read from Mary Auclair and I have to admit it was a very good read.I do enjoy a good sci fi Alpha Alien Romance and the storyline flowed quite well and was lightly suspenseful with a few twists in the story to keep you going to see how it finishes.