4.5 hot alien stars
When I read the description for this book I was thinking Ewww
The aliens in this book are not from My favorite Martian, no they are men gods.These aliens have skills in the bedroom and outside as well. In their world skills and practice are admired. Wait this book is not all about sex, there is a story.
A young woman having a bad day stops into a resale store and buys a pice of ugly jewelry. Boom sexy guy shows up and will not leave, he's an alien from wherever and he must stay with her. Oh he is clueless to her world, he bumbles and trips along the way making for some fun in the story. Blah Blah Blah, thing charge up and he makes his move, Boom they are bound. She goes huh ? he goes yeah !
And they travel off to finish a quest that he was set upon. Here on his planet she meets his ultra hot brother who can change into a cat. He purrs. : P Ok, so they go to his home he introduces her to all as his wife, she says NO I'M NOT- the challenge is set. They complete the quest, learn about each other have great sex and there is a HEA. What else can you ask for ? A perfectly fun B movie type read. ( )

I read this book a long time ago and when the audio-book was recently released, I just had to experience it again. Although the book was written ages ago and does not contain some of the more steamier sexual exploits, it does deliver a well rounded story-line and set the stage for book 2 Rejar. I was not disappointed; the hilarity of the situations and the smoldering desires really standout as the story unfolds. I highly recommend the audio-book. ( )

There were several things I liked about the story and a couple that annoyed me. Let's start with those that annoyed me and go from there.

1) Some of Deanna's reactions. I know that statement is rather vague but at the risk of spoiling moments in the story, that will have to suffice. I will say that if I came home and some strange man was in my house, I would not have reacted like Deanna. And, there are moments when the character becomes a little two-dimensional which threw me while reading.

2) The over "alpha"-fulness of Lorgan. There's alpha male and then there's domineering/jerk. I spent most of the novel either hating Lorgan (the main romantic lead) and sometimes liking his softer side. Color me too modern but I don't think if I were a damsel in distress I would want him coming to my rescue.

Now on to what I liked about the story.

1) The secondary characters. For me, Rejar, Lorgan's brother, stole the show. His wit and snappy comebacks kept the story alive when it lagged in spots.

Also the wizard who reminded Deanna of Merlin was another breath of fresh air.

2) The Con scene. I won't say anymore. For those of us who have attend Cons of any type, you'll understand why I found that scene in the book hilarious.

3) Description of the various worlds. I enjoyed the changes in scenery and the author's descriptions of the various areas the characters visited.

Recommend? Yes, I would recommend this one. If you are a feminist, then steer clear because this heroine is not one you'll like. ( )

Knight of a Trillion Stars was my second read by Dara Joy and the first in her Matrix of Destiny series. Having read and loved her stand-alone historical romance, Tonight or Never, I was really looking forward to this novel, and for the most part, I'm happy to say it lived up to my expectations. When I finished the book, I was left somewhat undecided as to how to rate it, but eventually settled on four stars. I thoroughly enjoyed most of the story, but there were a few weakness, enough that I didn't feel it was quite worthy of keeper status. However, Knight of a Trillion Stars was definitely a solid four stars, perhaps even a tad higher. Overall, a delightful read that was quite steamy for the 1990's when it was first published.

When the story opens, everything is going wrong in Deana's life. She was laid off from her job, sat in something nasty on the train, and then was trapped in a parking lot when two other vehicles were involved in an accident behind her car. While waiting for the accident to be cleared away, she goes into a junk shop to browse and ends up buying an unusual necklace. She finally arrives home to find a gorgeous stranger in her apartment who claims to be from another world and who insists on being her protector. As it happens Deana is a sci-fi geek who is on her way to a convention in San Francisco, which I think made her a lot more accepting of the idea of Lorgin being from another planet. Of course, that doesn't stop her from being frightened and stubborn when he unexpectedly takes her to his world. I could hardly blame her though, given that she was practically “kidnapped” and taken to outer space, but she does start to warm up to the idea gradually. Although Deana slowly beings to accept a relationship with Lorgin and decides to enjoy it while she can, she adamantly refuses to entertain the fact that he views her as his wife and that he intends for her to stay with him in his world. This is where I thought the author could have dug a little deeper with her characterization. I felt like Deana's reasons for not believing Lorgin truly wanted her as his mate were lacking in clarity. It took most of the story for me to figure out that part of it was rooted in self-esteem issues and part of it was that she stubbornly believed that she was not the woman destined for Lorgin (ie. He had made a mistake). This being the case, it took until the final pages of the book for her to finally embrace her destiny, and it came about without any particularly deep introspection on the matter. Deana and Lorgin also had a few too many misunderstandings based on misinterpreting each other's language and culture, which could be funny at times, but once Deana had her translator implant, it seemed to me that she shouldn't have had as much of an issue with the language barrier. Also, I felt like she should have been asking more questions. Oftentimes, she would start questioning Lorgin, but when he gave her a muddled answer, she would simply stop. If I were her, I would have asked as many questions as it took to fully understand what was happening. Overall, though, Deana was a nice heroine who was pretty relatable if a tad obtuse at times.

In the beginning, Lorgin is an arrogant alpha which isn't my favorite type of hero. In much the same way that Deana should have been asking more questions, I felt that Lorgin should have been more understanding of Deana being a “foreigner” in his strange land who wasn't familiar with the customs and culture. He should have taken the time to explain what was going on and gently coax her into accepting certain things and doing what was necessary for her safety. Instead, he basically compels her into many things, including getting the translator implant and making love the first time which made me rather uncomfortable. In particular, he should have explained the Transference ritual, which among other things, bonded her to him for life, instead of performing the ritual without her full understanding of it. However, despite being a little miffed with him about these things, I can't deny that later in the story he lightened up on the uber-alpha act and transformed into a kind, loving, gentle hero who was a seductive and sensuous lover. I adored how the men from his planet are trained from an early age to weave their wives' hair, and when he did this for Deana it was so sweet, a beautiful way of marking her as his.

The secondary characters were wonderful too. Yaniff is a wise old mystic who reminded me of Gandalf or Dumbledore with a side of Yoda thrown in for good measure. He is Lorgin's mentor and a good friend to all of them. I have to admit that I'm already half in love with Lorgin's brother, Rejar, and his childhood friend, Traed. Rejar is a shape-shifter, known in his world as a Familiar. He has an extremely sensuous nature which essentially makes him a man slut, but I loved him anyway for his charming ways. The story ends on a bit of a cliffhanger for him, but he becomes the hero of the next book in the series, Rejar. I'll be interested to see how one woman manages to tame him. Traed intrigued me almost from the moment he was introduced. He harbors a painful past with a father who abused him. He's a classic tortured hero, and I'd love to read his story. I thought perhaps his would be the third book in the series, but alas, I was wrong. Unfortunately, it also looks like I may never know what happens to him. Due to Dara Joy's hotly contested dispute with her former publisher, Traed's book was never written and sadly might not ever be. Even if it was, I'm not sure I would read it, because it appears that Ms. Joy's more recent self-published offerings are lacking in the quality of her earlier traditionally published books.

Besides the slight deficiencies in characterizations, there were two other things that bothered me a bit about Knight of a Trillion Stars. First, was the author's penchant for head-hopping which could be a little distracting but not as bad as I've read in similar novels. The other was the overall plot of Lorgin being on a quest that is typical to many fantasy-type novels. The problem wasn't so much the quest itself, but the fact that the reader isn't exactly made privy to all the reasons for his quest and how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together until very late in the story. We learn that Traed's father, a dark wizard, is causing trouble in some vague unknown location on the edge of their world and that Lorgin will presumably have to do something about it, but I felt like the author took a little too long to state what the ultimate objective was. This being the case, my interest occasionally waned slightly, but I did enjoy all the adventures the characters embarked upon while getting there. Once Lorgin got over his hot-headed alpha phase, the romance was tender and swoon-worthy with lots of steamy, sensuous love scenes. Overall, Knight of a Trillion Stars was a very enjoyable story that has left me eagerly looking forward to continuing the series soon. ( )

Knight of a Trillion Stars by Dara Joy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Knight of a Trillion Stars is the first book in the 'Matrix of Destiny' Series by Dara Joy. As the book begins, our heroine, Deana Jones, is having a super rough day. She loses her job, sits in (what may be) urine on the train ride home, gets caught in a traffic jam-- which leads her into a junk shop where she buys strange piece of jewelry-- to finally make it home and find an alien chillin' in her house. The up side? It's a super hot alien! And so the chaos ensues...

This was definitely a fun read. I read a lot of romance and it was a great experience to try reading "futuristic romance," or romance with a sci-fi twist. For those of you who think that sounds scary...it reads more like a fantasy novel than sci-fi...but it does qualify since there is time/space travel. Don't worry though, its not too crazy. :D

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