Alien Incognito
Author: Cara Bristol
Reviewer: Sophia
Rating: A
What I’m Talking About:
He fooled her once and broke her heart and her trust. Is he fooling her now? Her sister’s freedom and life may depend on a male who trades in lives. Or does he?
Alien Incognito is the second in the closely tied Forbidden Bonds series.
Set in a future when earth is destroyed by their own hand and only the human colony’s existence on a new world prevented their extinction. More advanced alien races have determined to keep the volatile race out of intergalactic affairs. Only, lately, someone has decided that owning humans and other sentient beings is a lucrative business and species trafficking must be rooted out and stopped. Joule is part of a clandestine team doing that very thing, but he can’t let anyone know he’s not a slimy flesh peddler including the human female who broke through his emotional barriers when he rescued her and then had to put her back in the slavers hands. But, then he discovers her sister in the hold of a ship during one of his missions and Giselle insists on being part of Nicole’s rescue attempt.
Alien Incognito was a swift read with a pair of characters I already enjoyed meeting in Alien With Benefits. As the reader, I was allowed to know that Joule wasn’t as dastardly as Giselle believes. It was hard to see her hating on him in the first half of this book and he was kept from telling her the truth because of the nature of his work. Plus he might have to make a tough no win decision to do his job. Even with the truth, she’s not inclined to believe him though she needs him to help rescue her sister.
It was crackling with tension and emotion even as the exciting plot had some good action and suspense sequences as Joule sneaks into the palace to see Giselle about her sister and then she goes with him on his next assignments as a procurer between the slave ships and the buyers. They got into some tight spots.
I liked the way the romance built along with Giselle’s softening toward Joule. His backstory was interesting and played a role in how he saw himself and his issues with getting into a relationship.
All in all, this was a well-rounded and layered book. It had an exciting standalone romance story that was part of a larger ongoing series plot. I can’t wait to see what comes next after the reveals in this one, seeing who would be the new romance pair, and where things ended. This is a sizzling sci-fi romance series I can heartily recommend.
My Rating: A Loved It
Sophia
About the Book:
Being saved from a slave ship and given life-saving medical attention by a tall, muscular furry alien with large curling horns is enough for Giselle Cartier to think she’s found a hero.
Having him deliver her back into the clutches of the same traffickers shatters her trust and the belief that anything she’d felt was real.
But just as she’s rescued by the League of Planets and is about to be repatriated to New Terra, Joule reappears with the devastating news that Giselle’s sister has been taken.
What’s even more shocking is his promise to find her. He’s already betrayed her once; what’s to stop him from doing it again? How can she trust anything he says?
Regardless of the risks, she has to go with him. He’s her only hope for finding and saving her sister. This time, she won’t let her guard down. She also won’t make the mistake of falling in love with him again.
Long ago, Joule hardened his heart to the cruelty, misery, and death he’d witnessed in the alien species trafficking trade. As an agent with the League of Planets working deep undercover to combat the trafficking of sentient beings in the galaxy, he can’t afford empathy. To benefit the greater good, he’s often forced to make difficult, even reprehensible, decisions.
But something about the vulnerable, critically ill Giselle Cartier pierces through the protective wall surrounding his heart. Choosing to save her life is startlingly easy—too easy. He should have known better than to let himself get attached.
Because circumstances force his hand, leaving him no choice but to take her back to the slavers. He couldn’t risk blowing his cover for a single human woman—even if he had fallen in love with her.
Now he’s involved all over again. When he learns that Giselle’s sister has also been abducted, he can’t hold back from offering his assistance. Unable to reveal his real role, he must continue to let her believe he’s a trafficker —one who’s already betrayed her.
Giselle will never trust him again… which is smart.
Because she still can’t.
Release Date: August 14, 2023
Publisher: Cara Bristol
Series: Forbidden Bonds #2
Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
Format(s): paperback (313 pages), e-book
Book Source: Author
Purchase Info:
Amazon (affiliate link)
Reviews in the Series:
Alien With Benefits by Cara Bristol (Forbidden Bonds #2)