Trauhn by Lena Grey

3 Stars

This book was fairly well written and edited, with some missing words and wrong word choices but not enough to significantly detract from the reading experience. This characterization in this novel was somewhat thin, but the hero and heroine of this novel were still somewhat sympathetic. There was nothing objectionable about either character. The world building was not especially vibrant. The world and culture of the Rakui was not exactly a character in itself. The development of the romantic relationship between hero and heroine was also clumsy, with me the reader not really seeing them go through the process of falling in love. The strength of this novel was the plot, with very interesting questions left unanswered at the end of the novel. What was Earth Gov hoping to accomplish by experimenting with the college girls? Who hired the mercenaries to kidnap the women if it wasn't Earth Gov, and why? That part was interesting and made me perhaps want to read the next novel in this series. This novel uses the Mars Needs Women trope, with the Rakui tribe experiencing a severe shortage of women. This novel also uses the Breeder trope, with the TEASE symbiont acting as the spur. This novel had low angst and high stakes, which tends to be one of my preferred narrative structures. The characterization and relationship development in this story rates two stars, the world building rates three stars, and the plot rates four stars, for a combined score of three stars. This novel has a Happy Ever After ending instead of a cliffhanger, so that is a plus to this series if the author continues that pattern. I recommend this story to readers who want a short, fluffy sci-fi to read after a busy day or in a waiting room. I will not be buying myself a keeper copy of this novel, but I still enjoyed it.

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

Book Link:

https://www.amazon.com/Trauhn-SciFi-Barbarian-Romance-Warriors-ebook/dp/B085H6P6XD/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Trauhn+Lena+Grey&qid=1583936315&sr=8-1