Choosing Riley: Science Fiction Romance (Sarafin Warriors Book 1) by S.E. Smith (Epub)

Description

Readers’ Crown Finalist! A brash, kick-ass heroine with a hidden vulnerability and an arrogant king forced to be a slave…

Riley St. Claire has always followed her own rules. When she discovers her employer’s secret, she has to leave town in a hurry or end up buried with the dead guy she found, but when Riley is picked up by a passing trader from another world, she ends up a little farther away than she intended.

After the King of Sarafin, Vox d’Rojah, was captured and sold to a mining operation, the last thing he expected to find was his bride mate. Vox isn’t sure which would be easier: another war with the Valdier or holding on to the human who will be his Queen. Fighting pirates, traders – and Riley – this will be one heck of an escape!

Internationally acclaimed S.E. Smith presents a new action-packed story full of romance and adventure. Brimming with her signature humor, vivid scenes, and beloved characters, this book is sure to be another fan favorite!

Main Content: 242 (6×9) pages, 86,748 words

User’s Reviews

Review Reviews on Audible”I would recommend this as one of her best scifi fantasy stories yet. 10 stars plus.””Riley is just awesome! You will love this book!””I love Riley she is such a strong female and, man, the things that come out of her mouth.””Watch out Sarafin Warriors!!! here comes Riley with all her sassiness and her witty tongue and a bag full of tricks.””Narrator was awesome.”I LOVE DAVID BRENIN!! (the narrator) That man could narrate the story of SpongeBob Squarepants and I would listen to him.””Wonderful sci-fi romance – loads of humor””I loved this story even more on audible than reading the book with the different voices.””The humor and story are great. I laughed aloud several times.””I have read this multiple times and never get tired of it. S E Smith is a gem of an author for humor filled romances with protective, sexy male aliens.””Fantastic scifi fantasy” From the Author Riley came about from the exploits of one of my friends who had been a bailbonds man (woman). I couldn’t help but think what if’ someone with an over the top personality was kidnapped by aliens. What would she be like? Riley St. Claire from Denver, Colorado was born. She was one of those who always saw things a little differently, had a heart as big as Texas and a mouth to go with it. I knew I needed an alien male who was the perfect mate for someone like her. But, who? She would eat most males up and spit them out without even realizing it if they weren’t tough enough. Yet, if they were too tough, she would shy away. How could I find that perfect balance of tough and yet vulnerable at the same time? The answer came in the shape of a cat-shifter named Vox. He was tough as nails on the outside yet was totally enchanted with Riley. He was willing to learn, not change, and adapt, not give in. He was patient yet still macho. He was perfect. The supporting cast of characters only draw you in deeper as you see just how big and soft a heart Riley has for those she loves. She is willing to do anything, including die, to protect those she considers her new family; whether they are a two-headed lizard named Fred or a huge lime green blob named Bob. No one is safe when Riley is around. From the Inside Flap “One of these days, girl,” she muttered out loud to herself. “You are going to have an actual plan before you start shooting.”Riley’s nose turned up in disgust as she shoved the last of the dead bodies outside the door. There were some things she could handle; being in a room with dead guys was not one of them. She cursed again when she couldn’t figure out how to close the door to the room, so she stood back and shot the panel out. Her loud moans filled the air when instead of closing, it remained frozen open.”Oh, for crying out loud!” she groaned in frustration. “It worked in the movies, damn it all to hell!” There was nothing she could do about the door except shoot anything that tried to come through it now.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ It was like Melissa McCarthy meets Private Benjamin. The main character was just WAY too unbelievable for me. She is abducted be aliens and has snark and hijenks for everybody. Example: They are in a battle and are being overrun. Her romantic interest gives her an order in the middle of the battle and tells her to get her big ass over here. She throws a hissy fit in the middle of the battle and refuses to speak to him and makes the battle even worse. Small example I know, but through out the book there are these incidents where she is so insecure about her weight that she makes the worst decisions and comments ever and tey’re supposed to pass for comedy. My last little pet peeve is that all the aliens speak english. All the inhabitants of earth don’t even speak english…..but okay.

⭐ I was a bit disappointed with this book, because I was hoping for a solid SF story with some romance and sex. However, it suffers from three egregious problems that the author ignores. First, it posits that sex with aliens is not only possible, but commonplace and that progeny is likely. If this doesn’t bother you, I suggest you find a copy of Larry Niven’s story “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex”. Without some external factor, sex with an alien is unlikely to be successful, and somewhat less likely to produce children than mating with a tree. This is a huge missed opportunity, because explaining it could drive the story into high gear. Why is Riley so attracted to the alien Vox, and him to her? How did they end up physically, emotionally and genetically compatible? Second, the first part of the book starts with the main character as a slave, but slavery that is completely unrealistic. Slavery is always about fear and control, and those are notably absent here. At the very least you would separate a slave from everything that they have in their former life, but Riley has a huge suitcase full of clothing, tools, and whatever else is convenient. The third problem is that the characters have no real depth or subtlety. Everyone acts and speaks without thought or heed for the consequences, and those consequences are invariably mild for the main characters. You’d find more depth of character in a typical web porn story.However, it is not a total waste. It is easy to read, and is generally coherent, with a fair amount of humor.

⭐ I really hate to do this but I have to be honest. This was probably the worst book I have read by this author and I have read almost all of them. This is book one in the Sarafin Warrior’s series. This is also set in the world as the Lords of Valdier so all of the characters are fairly familiar. We met Riley in Cornering Carmen. Okay, with all of that background here is why I couldn’t stand this book. Riley was probably the most annoying character I have read about. I think she was supposed to come across as a strong independent woman. She was however very impulsive and annoying. She just got on my last nerve the only reason I did not stop reading was because I want to be able to read the other books in the universe in order. Riley was very stupid at times because she would get mad because the Aliens did not understand her. I mean really! Then she would do stupid things because she was mad grr very frustrating.

⭐ I am a tremendous fan of this author, but this book is pretty terrible. I initially thought it might be a fun romp, but the heroine proved completely unlikable. Honestly, the hero doesn’t seem to have much between his ears either. I also didn’t really understand how the hero could “fall in love” with the heroine because she seemed pretty mean to him. I don’t know how many times I could be tasered or pepper sprayed by someone and still want to make them my queen. Either the King of Sarrafin is hard up or desperate. Honestly, it felt like reading about 5th graders who like each other and to show it they pulled each others hair, punch each other’s shoulders and play horrible pranks on each other. The only good thing about this book is Bob and Fred. They are very likable and sweet.As an FYI, I waited to post a review until I finished reading book two of the series. Sometimes the first book of a series can be blah, but the next book is great. Sadly, that is not the case. Book 2 is has a heroine that is equally unlikable.

⭐ I felt as if I were living this story right alongside the characters. Smith`s writing is so vivid that everything comes to life with ease. Getting a look at Sarafin was both beautiful & fascinating. I liked how the different types of aliens were developed. Each is so different yet vividly and fully developed, giving you a sense of the universe at large. The combination of war & intrigue, politics and friendship added an extra layer to this one of a kind romance. The every forward moving plot was fast paced, keeping me captivated, while also telling a steamy tale of two characters that I really enjoyed.There was a vast array of not just personalities but also of outlooks on life in this cast of characters. Riley was a bit over the top at times. It made her hard to take seriously, but also made the story pricelessly comical. The way that Vox continually botches everything when around Riley humanized him and made him so much more loveable. The Riley/Vox dynamic is telling not just of the characters involved, but also of the vastly different cultres that they come from.This novel was a great start to Smith’s Sarafin series. I enjoyed reading it on its own and also the way that it ties back in to some of her other series, showing just how vast yet small the universe really is.

⭐ This book was quite entertaining for a while with what Riley’s personality is like. She is so out there that at times you just couldn’t help but laugh. But after some time, I grew tired of it and just wanted her to grow up. Seriously, enough is enough and she just kind of got annoying with how hard of a time she always gave Vox. Poor, poor Vox having to have her as his mate…Riley’s life has never really been all that fantastic. Her and her sister having been abandoned by their mother were raised by their grandmother. Clearly not the best influence because Riley is mouthy, selfish, and mean a lot of the time. One thing that Riley has decided from seeing what she has as she grew up, is that she will not be with a man without a ring and no child without marriage. Oh, and one thing that surprised me was how old Riley was. From what we had gotten from her in Carmen’s book, I had really thought she was a quite a bit older than just 24.Riley’s life takes another turn for the worst after she finds out the horrible things her boss and his father have been doing. Fleeing with evidence to use against them, one thing after another goes wrong until she finds herself abducted by alien traders and sold to an Antrox mine. They use females in order to control the males and when it’s Riley’s turn to pick one, she picks all five presented to her. Including Vox. I don’t get why the Antrox pretty much bend over backwards for her and allow her to get and do what she wants. Yeah, she beat one of them up or whatever, but seriously? There are a lot more of them and they have weapons. How is she that hard to control? Take away her damn suitcase or purse and you could probably cow her. Vox immediately recognizes her as his mate and he cannot understand why she does and says the things she does to him. And only making it worse is the four other “mates” she had taken in order to save all of them. During their time on the mine, Riley is constantly torturing our Sarafin king without even realizing it. And his two subordinates can’t help but want her too. It soon becomes apparent that Riley is not like any other female they have encountered before and because of that they start planning their escape. Of course that doesn’t go as planned, but they still get away because of some button smashing Riley does without thinking. But again, things just keep going wrong and they soon find themselves under attack. Que Creon. I remember that part of Carmen’s book when they show up to save Vox. I was definitely curious to find out more about this couple then. While aboard the Horizon, Carmen tries to explain to Vox that human women don’t usually react well to the warriors claiming them like they do and that he needs to give Riley space. And she tries to tell Riley that it’s actually not bad to belong to them. They don’t stay too long because Vox has his own traitors to weed out, and Riley is dragged along quite unwillingly. Where she continues to fight Vox left and right even after he tells her how much he loves her, and she knows she loves him. Mostly because he refuses to give her a marriage. Well maybe if she told him what it was he would have said yes! Ugh. This was another book where so much drama was created because the girl wouldn’t explain anything and would rather lash out. When they eventually get to his palace, things are still rocky and Riley even attacks Vox’s father. But then we jump ahead two months and Riley has finally calmed down and accepted her life. Umm…what happened during that time skip that finally had her calming the heck down? Is it simply because Vox asked her to marry him after she finally explained what it was? Is it something Vox’s mother said to her? Even Vox’s father did a 180 on his opinion of her. It seemed that a lot of the book was full of fluff so that when it got to more important things, it was all rushed or skipped to make it fit at the end. Which is unfortunate because I liked Riley more then.It was kind of sad that Vox is supposed to be a feared and powerful alpha male, but more often than not he was whipped by Riley. He’s still all alpha, but Riley has too much control in the relationship sometimes. And she was always causing him to lose face in front of his men, which could be a disastrous thing for a king. Plus, I didn’t think it fair all of the mean things she would say or do to him all the time.One thing that kind of disappointed me was the whole shifting thing. I was hoping it would be simply where the warriors could shift. Not that it was going to be the same as the Valdier where it’s a separate entity within them. And that the mate could be changed in much the same way. Except with the Sarafin there could be some serious repercussions with what they do, which, by the way, we never even find out.

⭐ Apart from being a great plot and fantastic (and memorable) set of characters, this book had me literally laughing my buns off! Seriously- to the point of tears! If you read “Cornering Carmen” – book 5 of the DragonLords of Valdier series, you get a sneak peak/intro of the main characters in this book near the end (and I guarantee you were laughing out loud when you read that snippet too). I won’t spoil it for you, though- you’ll just have to read it for yourself!

⭐ I love the sassiness of Riley. Several times I laughed aloud at the off-the-wall things she would say. I also loved Vox and how he grew from a dominating, commanding male into a still dominate male who also learned to take his mate’s feelings and opinions into consideration. He was still overly protective and bossy but learned the consequences, sometimes incredibly painful ones, of trying to order Riley around and be “submissive” to him. Riley also learned to move past her insecurities and negative experiences from the past and accept Vox’s love. Initially, she had a hard time knowing if he was mocking her like some guys did early in her life. Overall, the comedy and romance made this book an incredible read. Love SE Smith’s work!

⭐ After reading the other Lords of Valdier books, of course meeting Riley in Cornering Carmen, made me a little curious about the blond from Denver, CO. I am so glad I purchased this book! What a wild ride Riley took everyone on. She’s quite a lovable & compassionate character w/ serious insecurity issues, I might add. There were so many LOL moments from this book! Ironically, I actually read the book about Viper & Tina before this one, so after this I pretty much got the whole story. Love Grandma Pearl also, what a hoot she is. I’m hoping for another book from the Sarafin clan, as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed what I’ve read thus far.

⭐ You can never go wrong when you pick up ANYTHING written by this author. You, laugh, cry, and feel all the emotions you have with her stories. I find I call in love with the characters and want to be there to share in the hopes and joys of the characters. They are outstanding portrayals of what we humans should be.

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