Caught by Marteeka Karland

4 Stars

This story was cleanly written and edited, with no typos that I caught in the ARC version of the manuscript. The world building was deft and done with a light hand, which was appropriate for the length of the story. The characterization was competent, especially considering how short this story was. The development of the romantic relationship between these two leads was well done, happening organically in a short page count. The spicy scenes were well done and had a strong element of consensual non-consent, which I appreciated. The plot and pacing was great, making this story read very quickly. There was some angst in this story, but it was not overdone. The stakes were very high, which I tend to prefer in my romance novels. This novella used the Enemies to Lovers trope. The world building, plot, and pacing all rated four stars. The spicy scenes, development of the romantic relationship, and characterization also all rated four stars. The combined score of this novella was therefore four stars. The story had a Happy For Now ending instead of a cliffhanger, so that was a big plus to this story. I recommend this story for readers who are looking for a well written very short sci-fi romance to give a bite of fun to a very busy life. I do not plan to buy myself a keeper copy of this story, though I quite enjoyed it. I tend to prefer longer stories for my keeper shelf. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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