Royal Alien Mate by Sue Mercury

4 Stars

This novel was well written and edited, with few if any typos that I caught in the ARC version of this manuscript. The world building was excellent in this novel. I must admit, when I thought that the alien hero was going to be a Martian from Mars, I almost didn't read the novel, even though I really like this author. I was so relieved that the aliens were not originally from Mars but simply terraformed it and adjusted the gravity when their own home world died. Therefore, I was able to relax and enjoy the story. Apparently, I can believe in interspecies fertility without issue in a sci-fi romance, but aliens from Mars is too unscientific for me to be able to let go and enjoy! Funny, huh? The characterization of these two characters was excellent, with both of them being vibrant, sympathetic individuals. The development of the romantic relationship was fairly natural and organic, considering everything that was going on in the plot. The plot and pacing was exciting, with me rapidly turning the pages wanting to know what would happen next with the anti-human bride terrorists. There was some angst on the heroine's part about her attraction to and growing affection for the hero, which was totally understandable with how the Martians were abusing their Earthling subjects. The stakes were high throughout the novel too, which tends to be one of my preferred narrative structures for a romance novel. This novel uses the Mail Order Bride trope and the Enemies to Lovers trope. The world building, plot, and pacing rated four stars. The characterization and development of the romantic relationship rated four stars. That means that the combined score for this novel was four stars. This novel ends on a Happy Ever After ending instead of a cliffhanger, so that is a big plus to this story. I recommend this novel to readers who enjoy sci-fi romance novels with alien heroes. I may buy myself a keeper copy of this novel. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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