Close Liaisons

The Krinar Chronicles, Volume 1

By: Anna Zaires, Dima Zales

Narrated by: Kathleen Godwin

Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

A dark and edgy romance that will appeal to fans of erotic and turbulent relationships....

In the near future, the Krinar rule the Earth. An advanced race from another galaxy, they are still a mystery to us - and we are completely at their mercy.

Shy and innocent, Mia Stalis is a college student in New York City who has led a very normal life. Like most people, she's never had any interactions with the invaders - until one fateful day in the park changes everything. Having caught Korum's eye, she must now contend with a powerful, dangerously seductive Krinar who wants to possess her and will stop at nothing to make her his own.

How far would you go to regain your freedom? How much would you sacrifice to help your people? What choice will you make when you begin to fall for your enemy?

WARNING: This book contains strong sexual content and explicit language and is not suitable for listeners under 18.

©2013 Anna Zaires (P)2013 Anna Zaires

Critic reviews

"If you're looking for some sexy summer reads, you'll want to check out the new book series, Krinar Chronicles. Author Anna Zaires brings you a kind of 50 Shades of Grey meets Star Trek tale...." (Marie Claire)

"For diehard fans of the paranormal romance genre, author Anna Zaires's risqué new book could be your next guilty pleasure. Zaires's most recent read, Close Liaisons, combines a love story with science fiction in the tale of Mia, an unassuming college student whose life gets suddenly entangled in a dangerous, otherworldly affair." (Woman's Day)

I can't believe how much I enjoyed the book

I don't usually like books without answers, the ending or arrogant/disrespectful male characters... But this book not only kept my undivided attention, but I also listened to it twice in a row. As of right now, this author is on auto download for me. I really hope the same narrator will continue with the series. I will look for other books narrated by Kathleen Godwin, she did an excellent job. I really think this book should be included in erotica section.

Pretty good story, narration could use some work..

I really got into this story. I usually don't do Alien romance because it is never done right...but this was done pretty good. I read all the reviews and I am glad I didn't past this one up. The narration was well... after like chapter 2 you just kinda fall into it. You just don't notice the same female voices and the same male voices. I liked it actually. I really did. Maybe book 2 which is due to come out in August will have another narrator...but I if not, I think I will still pre-order. This was simple a great listen. Nothing spectacular...but a great story none the less. I really want to know what Korum is gonna do, after he got all betrayed on! LOL.... Plus I really want to see what the Alien compound is like... Book 2.. is definitely on pre-order lock down..

Good credit. Save your money...It wasn't that great due to narration...but great great credit.

Predictable weak and dumb heroin

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The female character and the narrator....

Would you be willing to try another book from Anna Zaires and Dima Zales ? Why or why not?

Not too sure if I will listen to any more books from the author. I stop listing to this one by chapter 7 because of number of reasons, 1st the narrator, 2nd the female character came across weak and clueless, 3rd I couldn't understand how a 2000 years old guy was even attracted to her. For example, she tried to put him off by herself stink with sweat, ate garlic and onion, than she gets drunk and made out with him. The next day, she doesn't bother to take a shower or brush her teeth, but at least she decides to chew on gum and walk over to his place (I thinking by than she smelled even more sweaty) and has sex with him. Absolutely revolting, I thought she was disgusting. From that point on I just could not get into it. The narrator did not help either!!

Would you listen to another book narrated by Kathleen Godwin?

Not again, she made the book sound boring, and I kept falling asleep. There was no excitement, enthusiasm or much emotion in her tone. Completely, annoying. That I could not decide it was the book that I dislike or the narrator. I guess, it was the narrator that made me dislike the book so much… completely annoying!!!!

Did Close Liaisons inspire you to do anything?

Yes - not eat garlic and onion before a date!!

Any additional comments?

Waist of my money!!!

good book i enjoyed the story line and will recomm

This was s a good book with a good story line and I will recommend it

Bravo!! What a talented, brilliant author!

I usually do not go for futuristic, sic-fi genre .... this book was the exception because it had so many accolades. It exceeded my expectations. There was a plot in addition to healthy libido's by H/H. I did find one minor transgression and that was attributing their chemistry and sexual relationship to love. I am just beginning book 2. Perhaps there will be a "bonding" process that will convince me that the relationship is actually more than physical attraction. Credit worthy, buy worthy, in my humble opinion.

The story pulls you in!

What made the experience of listening to Close Liaisons the most enjoyable?

I always enjoy listening to a book I haven't read in print and I enjoyed the narrator.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Obviously Mia and Korum. Mia's best friends Jesse did get on my nerves though.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

She was a good narrator.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I always want to listen to books in one sitting but because of life I have to listen over a period of a couple days but it's still easy to get back into the story after taking a break.

Vol 1 Krinar a 2 or 3 part love story

This is a futuristic story about earth being taken over by aliens. the aliens have been here for a while so the story was confusing as to why the heroine didnt know much about them. this is a type of cliffhanger where to finish the story you must go to the second book and that is what I am doing. it is a love story, but only by the standards of I think I love him. give it a try and let me know what you think.

Wow what a ride!

Spoiler** I grew disenchanted with Mia and her choices. She never really matures. I found the overall story great but Mia was written like a teenage girl rather than an educated young college student.

Great story, so-so performance

Mia Stalis is an ordinary college senior at NYU when her life is forever changed after an encounter in the park. Earth has been taken over by the Krinar, a race of humanoid aliens who for the most part leave humans alone. However, when Korum, a powerful K (as the Krinar are called), sees Mia in the park, he decides he must have her.

As a general rule, I don't ordinarily read science fiction. Paranormal I like, but this isn't my usual preferred genre. That being said, the science fiction elements in this book are great. The world building is fascinating, and I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed these aspects of the story. There are suspenseful elements related to the science fiction, and the book ends on a bit of a cliff hanger.

Of course, the main focus of the book is the relationship between Mia and Korum. I use the term 'relationship' loosely, I feel that 'dictatorship' more accurately describes their interactions. There is a fine line between Alpha Male and a$$hole, and unfortunately, Korum crosses over to the a$$hole side much more than the Alpha side. Mia is given no choice in this situation. Korum wants her and what he wants, he gets. Mia goes along with this, for the most part, with very little protest (any protests she makes are entirely ineffective), mainly because of the intense sexual chemistry the two share. The sex scenes are quite steamy and for mature audiences only. The author uses some clinical terms for body parts, which is a bit jarring, but still, the scenes are good. One in particular - SPOILER ALERT - the scene in which Mia loses her virginity, is very detailed and gut wrenching, and listening to it really brings that point home.

Since the story is so good, the deficiencies in the performance seem all the more glaring. The reader has a breathy style, which I didn't particularly care for, and her dialogue readings didn't have the right inflections. She makes Korum sound like a robot most of the time and since the author made the point that he speaks perfect, unaccented English, that didn't sound right to me. This is especially glaring when he says her name. She has him pronounce it as "Meeeeee-ya" instead of "Mia." Also, the interactions between Mia and her peers sound a bit off as well, especially in the first part of the book. This does improve a bit toward the latter part of the reading, maybe because the reader was getting a better sense of the characters.

I definitely recommend this title based on the story alone. It is so good that the performance aspects can be overlooked. I also highly recommend the second title in this series, Close Obsession, although it isn't available as an audio book. I purchased it as soon as I finished Close Liaisons because I was dying to know what happened next!

Kind of Creepy

Any additional comments?

Interesting world and technology. The male lead is a total creeper one minute (obsessively controlling) and then completely solicitous the next (cooking and cleaning). It was ok and maybe I will pick up the next two, there is not all that much out there in alien romance fiction. More sophisticated/serious than Johanna Lindsey's Deep space/ Ly-san-ter series and certainly less misogynistic than Laurann Dohner's Zorn or Cyborg. I don't ever see myself re-listening to this.