Bona Fide Reflections is happy to have Kendra from Reader's Edyn over to share one of her reviews.
Realease Date: July 15, 2008
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Format: Kindle
Book Blurb
Half -man, half-beast, untamable…except by the one woman born for him.
The Orion series:
As a novice interpreter aboard the space ship Orion, Calla Fellura is in uncharted territory. Especially when it comes to figuring out how to approach the ship’s sexy navigator, who seems to have no shortage of willing women vying for his attention.
Tryon Jag is an alpha male tyger, one of the few who possess the instincts to guide a ship safely through the deadly Cattarus system. Handsome, wealthy, and of royal blood, Jag controls his universe—and most of the females in it—as easily as he navigates the Orion.
But when Jag unexpectedly undergoes his mating shift on board ship instead of safely on his home planet, he must have a woman or go mad with rage and lust. With an eco-saboteur somewhere aboard, there couldn’t be a worse time for him to lose his mind.
For the sake of duty, Calla forces herself into Jag’s lair. And finds herself blossoming into a true Tyger lily, a woman born to enchant a powerful beast.
The only woman who can save Jag—and the entire crew—from certain annihilation.
Book Excerpt
“I believe that explains why I’ve called you in for a meeting,” he said dryly. “As you know, our navigator on this run must be a Tygean native from planet Bryght. Only they can navigate safely through the Cattarus system. We have one of the best on board—Commander Tryon Jag. Unfortunately, under the influence of their home moons, the Tygeans undergo a yearly mating shape shift. Jag has shifted into full Tyger mating mode. Something’s got to be done.”
His second-in-command, Commander Navos, a tall, spare Indigon, raised one arching brow. “Sedation seems the logical course. A Tyger in shape shift is a dangerous creature, with uncertain temper, and the claws and fangs of a predator.”
“Yes, I could get some type of palliative into his food,” the ship’s physician, Dr. Tentaclar, offered. His several eyes lit with interest, the upper set waving about on their stalks.
“We can’t drug him,” the captain snapped. “We need him awake and alert. Without a Tygean navigator, we will never make it safely through the Cattarus asteroid belt. The gravitation of all the moons will pull the Orion into a crash. Every ship lost in the Cattarus has had a non-native at the helm.”
“It is unfortunate that our departure from Earth was delayed,” said the Indigon. “The moons of the Cattarus system have risen to their male phase, inciting the predictable hormonal reaction in Commander Jag.”
“Yes, we were supposed to be through here days ago. It’s these damned terrorists. The Earthland Security regulations have become so tight; it sometimes takes days to get through customs instead of hours.”
“Is it the ecoterrorists this time?” asked someone. “Or one of those religious fundamentalist groups? I can’t keep them straight.”
“They are all equally dangerous,” cut in Navos, his deep blue eyes cold as an Indigon glacier. “Creatures who are willing to destroy others and themselves to make a religious or political point.”
“Yes, and speaking of going through customs—was it really necessary to body search the entire crew?” growled Ogg, the systems mechanic. “Most of my guys and gals have been with the company for years.”
“Oh, it’s necessary. The terrorists have gotten very tricky with their little bombs.” Dr. Tentaclar leaned forward, all his eyes focused on Ogg. “They’ve discovered how to create organic explosives. Hide the devices right in their body cavities, so they can’t be detected by a holographic search. Then, when the ship is out in space—squersshhh!”
A few of them winced, and Craig held up one hand.
“Thank you, Doctor. I think we all know the results of a bio-bomb on a ship’s systems. Now, back to our immediate problem, if you will.”
“If we cannot proceed without our navigator, we must persuade him to resume his duties,” the Indigon said. “By my reckoning, we will enter the hazardous portion of the Cattarus system in four days. We have until then to deal with the problem.”
“But how will we reason with him?” asked the interpreter, a small Pangaean woman who shimmered with a faint green aura, the result of lifelong exposure to the rich vegetation of her home planet. “Everyone is afraid to go near him. He nearly frightened to death the young couple who chanced to be in the ship’s arboretum when he shifted.”
“We don’t reason with him,” the captain said. Then his eyes sharpened, as he looked at the Indigon. “Unless Commander Navos can assist us.”
“I cannot help you.” Navos shook his head. “It is his feline-enhanced faculties that enable him to do his job. Any attempt at thought control would result in disaster.”
They all looked at Craig, who sighed.
“In that case we get him what he wants—a mate.”
Dialogue Highlights
Of all these, the female was the most problematic. By this time, he should be getting a bit tired of her, nearly ready to present her with an expensive baubble of some kind, and kiss her goodbye. He should have discovered that she had an irritating giggle, or that her tenacious arguments made him want to gag her. But instead, he found that he enjoyed the feminine logic of the way her mind worked, even when it was incomprehensible to him as a male. He enjoyed the sound of her soft, husky voice, even when it was scolding him. Especially when it was catching breathlessly as she gave into him. He looked for ways to make her smile, just to see the way her full lips curved up, and her pretty eyes sparkled.
******
“How many times have you been out?”
“This noyage is my third. I stayed on Earth for a furlough to take some new interpreter training. I hope my roommate hasn’t killed the plants in our apartment,” she added, frowning. She had been going to call him before she was summoned to this tryst. :He isn’t good with them.”
“He?” The word was a snarl.
She tilted her head back up to look at him, startled. He had a dangerous look in those tyger eyes. He was jealous! She refrained from rolling her eyes – just.
“He would love to be here right now, taking my place,” she said wryly. “Renne and I have been friends since we were cubs – we’ve always known that he was gay.”
He grunted, relaxing again, and lifted her hand to his face. Wordlessly, he showed her how he wanted her to stroke her fingers through his hair. It was silky and yet crisp, twining about her fingers as she massaged them through it. She sighed to herself. Men – now he wanted to be petted out of his bad humor.
Review
I read Tyger, Tyger Burning Bryght as few months ago and am only just getting a chance to write the review. As I recall, this was the first sci-fi, paranormal romance I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Ms. Cade does a fantastic job of creating a believable, futuristic world of alien species and technologies dreamed of. While there is a lot of language used, somehow it fit. I suppose I can attribute such raw acceptance to the fact that this is a science fiction novel. Within my mind, as far as science fiction goes, anything goes. You just have to be open-minded enough to be able to both accept it and recreate it in your head. But I am no strange to the realm of science fiction. In books yes, but not with television. My Dad raised me on Star Trek, so from a very young age I was exposed to all types of creatures. It is kind of funny to watch the original Star Trek series now when you see how far we have come with special effects. As I got older I watched shows like Stargate: SG1, Farscape, all of the Start Trek spin-offs, and many more. But I digress. I believe my point it that such an exposure has allowed me to broaden my mind when reading outside of the box.
Maybe I should get back to the book now. *coughs* Ahem. So Tryon is a Tyger and has been caught off world and mid voyage in the middle of his mating shift. Needless to say, he needs sex and lots of it – fast. The consequences could mean the deaths of many crew members should he be unable to satisfy the sexual need deep within. Calla is also a Tyger and took notice of Tryon when the voyage began, but when he looked right past her, her hope for a tryst faded and he instead became the object of her fantasies. Now she is the only hope for the crew and, well … Tryon’s only hope to regain control and ability to perform his duties.
I can honestly say that I really enjoyed the time spent reading this story. It was the first time I have read Ms. Cade and I will definitely be back to read more of her work. Perhaps even within this series, The Orion Series. From what I found on the publisher’s website, Tyger Tyger is the first book in the series with 5 books currently published. I wanted to share some other excerpts with everyone, but I am guest posting and thought I should try to keep it clean. I don’t mind saying that I had one heck of a time finding passages that were “clean”. This story is loaded with graphic sexual encounters, and dang! Let me tell you just how smokin’ hot they are! Good lawd!
That said, even with all of the sexually descriptive scenes, Ms. Cade manages to craft a workable storyline between them. I liked that Tryon is an alpha male that is unexpectedly paired with a strong female. Calla gives as good as she gets most of the time and inevitably, this dense alpha finally gets the clue that he likes it. Unaccustomed to females giving him attitude, Calla well and truly rocks his world. And in the midst of all of this is another component to the story. A group of terrorists has snuck on board and plans to sabotage the ship. The intruder is eventually left to Tryon to sift out. Meanwhile, Tryon makes a muck of his relationship with Calla. Seems crazy, right? A shifting male Tyger, his unplanned female mate with sass, a saboteur on board, the fate of many depending upon it all, crazy amounts of hawt sex, and a potential future relationship gone awry by the ever-present male without a clue. Yeah, I know. But it works and I was completely entertained by it. I mean if a shifting male Tyger and loads of awesomesauce sex don’t grab you, then I really have no idea what else I could dangle in front of you. It is not a deep story that is going to explore the inner angst of the main characters, but it is entertaining at the very least.
(Digital book purchased for personal library)
