In the Arms of an Android by Tracy Lauren

⭐⭐⭐⭐

With a little bit of free reign and wanting to try to pick up a lot of paranormal and sci-fi romances throughout the rest of the year (to fill up some bonus prompts for my year end brackets), I decided to finally pick up In the Arms of an Android. This is the first book of Tracy Lauren's Android series. I was able to use this book to cover the Heaving Bosom's Reading Embrace prompt Jimmi Simpson's Robot Adventure, the Fall in Love prompt Photo Cover and Color Me Romantic prompt for Silver (story with travel).

Valens and his friends are out on an exploratory mission after he finds a ping in his scans. Being an android, he is the only one allowed off the ship to explore the new planet and try to find the source of the signal. When he finally finds it, it looks like an old cryo-chamber. When he opens it up, he finds Andrea. She is just starting to wake up. Once he can get her out of the chamber and back to his ship, they learn the truth. Andrea was kidnapped by a crazy billionaire and sent out to make 2nd contact almost 2,000 years ago. She has to struggle to find a new place in this new life and leans on Valens for support. He starts to feel protective over Andrea, especially when fellow androids start realizing he's feeling emotions that have escaped most of the rest of the them.

I've read cyborg romances before, but I think this is my first full android. I wasn't quite sure how "robot" he'd feel going in and thought it was a really done well. I could believe when he was confused by some things, but starting to understand emotions. Now, they are not 100% like we expect from a robot, but also a lot more advanced. There's discussion about how he has a more advanced learning and computing system (even more than the technology he uses) and it grows and adapts as he learns. I thought it was really interesting how it worked so that it felt natural that he was learning to feel emotions and not a "sudden miracle." It also helped that while he wasn't in love beforehand, he did experience some of the more shallower emotions for his friends and himself.

Now, this wasn't quite a full 5-stars for me for a couple of reasons. The biggest was Andrea. It felt like Tracy was torn in how to balance which direction she wanted to take her. At first there was a lot going on with Andrea, as to be expected, with night terrors and being scared around the other alien species and just dealing with her new situation. She definitely like imprinted on Valens, so I wasn't sure how much was actually love and not dependence on him. Now it could be both, but she went from dealing with all these issues to I'm 90% fine. I just wished that either there was more working through those feelings or even a time jump instead of just a flip being switched. I also wanted there to be more to what happens with the other androids. There could've been more pages to really delve into the issues and what the other androids were wanting to learn. It just felt really quick and then was resolved quickly as well.

It was a great start, but I could tell that this was an earlier work of Tracy's. I'm super excited to have finally read one of her sci-fi books and will definitely continue my way through her backlist while I wait for new books. This was great for my first android and I'm excited to see how it'll continue in the series. If you are looking for a sci-fi romance with an android and not necessarily an "alien," this would be a great option; even more so if you're interested in getting into Sci-Fi romance.

Have you read In the Arms of an Android?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: In the Arms of an Android, Tracy Lauren, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 184 pages, published in 2019, indie published

Enthralling the Orc by Tracy Lauren

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After reading Broken Chains, I needed something I could count on to keep me from getting slumpy. I went back through my FaRoFeb tbr and decided to pick up Tracy Lauren again! I went with the second book in her Perished Wood series, Enthralling the Orc. I used this to cover the prompt epic fantasy for FaRoFeb. I was also able to use it for the prompt forbidden romance for Winter's Kiss board 2.

Ellyn is desperate to find her niece Adelaide (from Tamed by the Troll) after learning about the Orc attack on her village. She teams up with tracker and half-orc Ash to escort her into the Perished Woods. At first mistaken as human, when Ellyn learns of Ash's true genetics, she turns against him. As they travel together they both learn more about the other and can't deny the attraction between them. When they run into the Orc army, things quickly change and it's everything Ellyn and Ash can do to escape alive and together.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the first one as well, but I was more invested a little bit here. I do want to do a little warning though, it gets darker towards the end. Now I can handle the dark, but it was just unexpected. I just wanted to warn those that might be more sensitive about kidnapping and emotional manipulation. Outside of that, I really, really loved this book. I connected a lot easier with Ellyn in the beginning and loved how the progression of her and Ash's relationship progressed. She thinks he's human and they have such good banter. When she finds out he's actually part Orc, her mannerisms completely shift towards him. I loved that Ash made a point to call her out and point out her prejudice. While Ellyn fights against it since he's the monster, I love the way that when they get back to friendly terms it quickly becomes more.

I loved also getting to see a lot more of the perished woods and seeing different creatures and situations that you can find yourself in. There's a portion where Ash and Ellyn run into a grandfather and his two children trying to escape the Orc raids and I love how Ash becomes a short-term mentor to the young girl with tracking and hunting. I would love to see a book featuring her set in the future. I also loved how while Ash identified more with his human side, Ellyn brought out the Orc in him. I was also really intrigued to learn more about his brother. I don't really want to spoil it too much, but we do meet him in this book.

It seems like the third book in the series is going to be about Ash's brother, and I'm nervously anticipating. I've love what I've read so far from Tracy Lauren and am totally looking forward to digging into her backlist. It seems like it's mostly sci-fi romance, which is right up my alley! I definitely want to read more from her by the end of the year!

Have you read Enthralling the Orc?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Enthralling the Orc, Tracy Lauren, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 343 pages, published in 2019, indie published

Tamed by the Troll by Tracy Lauren

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

Looking at some of the prompts I hadn't covered yet for Bang in the Night Bingo, I decided to find a monster romance. The one that's been on the top of my list for the past couple months is Tamed by the Troll by Tracy Lauren. This is the first book in her series The Perished Woods.  This also covered the prompts into the woods for Bang in the Night. I was also able to apply this to the prompt author I found in instagram for the 2nd board of Fall in Love.

Adelaide is struggling with her grief after losing her parents. She's been pretty much left alone to fend for herself and the property, but an Aunt has started taking advantage. Needing to escape the village and to find solace from her anger, she heads into the woods. Not so luckily for her the Orcs attack her village, leaving her the sole survivor. To escape, she runs into the Perished Woods. They have been the cursed woods that are warned about to every child. When the Orcs start chasing her down, Adelaide runs across Brom's bridge. Does she have the toll to pay?

First off, this book has been on my tbr for a bit now and actually was my suggestion when the Smart Women Read Romance Podcast did the Monster Romance Patreon live review. This didn't win the poll but I've been keeping it at the top of my list for when I was in the mood. This was definitely a fun fantasy romance and I really loved how much action was throughout. I feel like the story never stopped, but it also didn't feel too overwhelming. There were quite a few intimate moments between Adelaide and Brom as well that gave a little bit of breathing room.

Before I get too much into what I did like, I do want to mention something that might bother others. This is written with the feel of a historical fairy tale vibe. Adelaide's human village and world seem historical for sure with driving carts and there being knights. The speech though is very modern. At first it kind of took me out of the realism of the world a little bit, but once she was firmly in the fantasy part and just with Brom it didn't bother me as much. I don't need to have a fantasy to have the more high-born type language, but it is something that commonly happens. I just though I'd mention it.

I am so intrigued by the world and really loved Tracy Lauren's writing style. The world building didn't feel info-dumpy at all and I loved how little bits of creatures and villages were mentioned making the world feel full. I absolutely adored Brom. He was so sweet and caring for Adelaide. I also loved that he really pushed her to see past her anger and actually put words to her feelings. He was the perfect being for her at that time. Adelaide did take longer for me to connect with, but once she really started trying to deal with her grief and anger I started to connect her. Having lost a parent as well I couldn't imagine going through what she went through. While my grief journey didn't really include much anger, I can totally see why it was such a big part of Adelaide's. I also loved the road trip aspect and seeing Adelaide learn and explore the other world. There's some weird creatures and things that happened, but while putting me off slightly I also was super intrigued.

I'll definitely be picking up the second book in the series. It looks like it'll also be a road trip style romance and can't wait. I'm hoping to save it for a prompt in a reading challenge/readathon that is that or for FaRoFeb. Tracy Lauren's other books are mostly alien romance so I certainly want to try out her other series as well. I don't know if more is planned for this one, but I certainly hope so!

Have you read Tamed by the Troll?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Tamed by the Troll, Tracy Lauren, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 270 pages, published in 2019