Heart's Prisoner (Dark World Mates Book 1) by Olivia Riley

4 Stars

The writing and editing of the ARC version of the manuscript was a little rough around the edges, with some typos and formatting issues. Hopefully those were resolved in the retail version. The world building of the lab and the heroine's profession, especially, were very well done. It was nice to see a sci-fi romance heroine who showed the reader how competent she was professionally. The characterization of the hero and heroine was very well done also, with both protagonists being complex individuals with strengths and weaknesses. Where this novel does not do as well is in the development of the romantic relationship between the hero and heroine. Perhaps some of that is that I personally found the merging of sci-fi romance and horror in this novel an uncomfortable fit. However, I personally dislike horror, and I was under the impression that this novel was going to be a dark sci-fi romance with perhaps some BDSM elements. I did not realize it was going to be a sci-fi horror romance. The plot and pacing were both very exciting, with me turning pages rapidly to find out what was going to happen next. There was little angst in this novel and very high stakes, which I typically prefer in my romance novels. This novel used the Enemies to Lovers trope and the Very Non-Human Hero trope sometimes found in sci-fi and fantasy romances. The world building, plot, and pacing in this novel were all five stars. The editing and formatting were three stars. The characterization was five stars. The development of the romantic relationship was three stars. The combined rating of this novel was therefore four stars. It had a Happy Ever After ending instead of a cliffhanger, so that is a huge plus. I recommend this novel to readers who enjoy sci-fi horror romance along the lines of The Last Hour of Gann. I am undecided on whether I will read further novels by this author. It was well done, but horror romance is really not my thing. I will not buy myself a keeper copy of this particular novel, but I would love to read a dark sci-fi romance or straight sci-fi romance written by this author.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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