Taken as Tribute by Luna Wren

2 Stars

The writing and editing of this short story was somewhat sloppy, with lots of typos and awkwardly written sentences in the ARC version of the manuscript. The world building was not great. The characterization was flat, with both hero and heroine being more like cardboard cutouts. The development of the romantic relationship was uninspired, with me the reader being largely unmoved by the romance. The plot and pacing was okay, though there were way too many convenient coincidences for my taste. That strikes me usually as lazy writing. There was little angst and fairly high stakes in this novel, which tends to be one of my preferred narrative structures for a romance novel. I think this novel intended to use the Fated Mates trope, though it was poorly executed, and the Tribute Bride trope common to sci-fi romances. The world building, plot, and pacing were two stars. The characterization and development of the romantic relationship were also two stars. This story ended on a Happy Ever After ending instead of a cliffhanger, so that was a big plus. I do not recommend this story to readers who want to read well written, thoughtful sci-fi romance. I am not interested in reading the next book in the series, and I will not be buying myself a keeper copy of this romance novel.

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

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