Lord of Population

Population, Book 1

By: Elizabeth Stephens

Narrated by: Diana Richardson

She thinks she can steal from me, the little human. Adorable.

I can't decide what will be more fun—the hunt or what I will do to her when I catch her. And I will catch her. There is nowhere she can run.

Abel was of perfectly sound body and mind when she looted the Other's corpse. He looked dead. Wait. Did he just smirk up at her? No. Definitely not...

Hiding out in an abandoned townhouse, Abel doesn't expect to hear that same bloodsucking alien come knocking on her door or that, when trouble finds them, he might stand at her back rather than stab her through it.

When he offers to help her cross the ruined world of Population, Abel knows better than to believe him. Because when he looks at her, it's with a hunger that seems to go beyond the taste of her blood, and when he asks for payment, he requires the one thing she can't give up—her trust.

Run all you like, little human. The sword you carry won't be enough to stop me from coming for you. You're mine. Blood. Body. Heart.

Dark and action-packed, Lord of Population is a steamy, end-of-days romance ripe with unexpected twists and epic battles, perfect for fans of JR Ward or Laura Thalassa. It ends with an HEA (no cliffhanger) and features a rebellious human heroine of color and an inhuman hero with fangs. This is a dark romance with medium-high heat levels for mature listeners.

©2022 Elizabeth Stephens (P)2024 Podium Audio

Couldn't finish

I couldn't get past the period blood eating semi-rape scene. I enjoy vampire romance but draw the line there.

Shook

This author, this story and this narration was chefs kiss. Top tier. 10/10. Absolutely recommend. Smash.

I am not typically a dark romance girlie but Elizabeth brings so much to dark romance that other authors don’t. And the voice actor and her was chosen for this recording was perfection. It felt like there were multiple actors. Cannot wait to listen to the rest of the series!

Interesting Story

This book is different than others I have read. I love Kane and Abel’s interactions. The book was a bit too long. As a human, Abel must have went through serious mutations to no longer be human.

amazing

one of the best books I've listened to do far! I which there was more

Loved every minute of this !!

Just wow !! I absolutely loved every moment of this story excited to start book 2! Very well written and made me fall in love with the characters!! Brilliant!

What a performance!

Diana Richardson slayed the audiobook, had me hooked for 20 hours!
To avoid spoilers, I’ll just say that I LOVED the story until Mikey happened, but it’s still a solid 4 stars for me and I’m excited to move on to the next in the series.

Dark and delicious

The audio narrator was fantastic. She did a great job with this dark, post apocalyptic romance.

There was a bunch of story here. It wasn’t your usual quick and easy alien romance. In fact, it didn’t feel very alien at all. The aliens in this story lost their home world and came to ours through portals, since our world was the best fit for their species. They didn’t come with any malice. Once here, they didn’t have much of their own tech, so besides being stronger and older than us, they could have easily just been vampires for all their similarities.

The aliens aren’t bad guys. Though, like humans, there are some truly rotten apples in the bunch. Only, these rotten apples are also a foot taller than most humans and way stronger and hard to kill. And they drink human blood.

In our fear of the bigger, badder species “invading” earth, we attacked them and they retaliated as anyone would do. They put us down hard in the beginning, but eventually they set up their own kingdoms and mostly left us alone. But, by then the world had fallen apart and most of America is now a post-apocalyptic zone filled with lawless gangs and the occasional evil “Other” (what they call the aliens).

The relationship grows fairly naturally. I love Kane’s possessiveness of her, yet he trusts her ability to take care of herself (at least to a point, since they are much stronger than a human, but she’s real good at fighting). The side characters are nice, though they don’t really get flushed out much. Some of them will get more time to shine in later books though.

The story does get rather violent at times. The heroine takes one HELL of a beating, repeatedly. So if you’re not cool with that, you might want to pass this up. If you’re a sick bitch like me who revels in it, then full speed ahead! I think it adds more gravitas to the story. I mean, some books paint the bad guys as sooo evil and vile, and yet when the girl gets captured, she’s just threatened or tied up. In real life, the bad guys aren’t going to treat their worst enemy’s lover with kid gloves. The big evil brute of an alien is going to be a big evil brute! He’s going to break her wrist and punch her and kick her and drag her by her ankle. That’s what bad guys do!! .... Plus, the scene when the hero finds her all beat up, but struggling to escape or survive, and he gets so choked up in regret and grief and rage and love is always so damn heart wrenching! Gah!!! I love that shit. 🥰

Kane is one of my favorite MMCs. He’s sooo protective of her, so possessive, so sexual, very violent (to the bad guys) and very sweet and kind (to her). I initially read this book, then listened to the audiobook once it was release a few years later. I think I like Kane even more now thanks to the narrators wonderful portrayal of him. She did the growly, possessive voice so damn well!! 🥵😍

The FMC is a great tough character. Some people might find her to be a big too abrasive and violent, but she’s the result of her upbringing trying to survive in a lawless, violent post apocalyptic world. When she’s taken to Kane’s home and meets humans there who’ve never lived outside that protected community, she seems practically rabid in comparison to them. Initially at least. It takes a few days/weeks to lose her understandably scared and suspicious nature. And Kane is very understanding any time she reacts differently than a coddled human would have. He’s the bestest.

Content warning for physical assault, violence, threats of rape, trauma from a past rape, implied sexual assault of minors, and a borderline non consensual oral sex scene.

So much love so much action!

I absolutely loved how much action was in this love story!! The author did a wonderful job making sure there was enough of both!! The spice was perfection as well!!

The narrator is top notch

A good narrator buys a lot of forgiveness for the story. The story was good but I no longer find being forgiveness and rationalizing the behaviors of others a virtue. It’s a failing. I wouldn’t have kept listening if I didn’t think the narrator was so special.

Paranormal apocalypse

Well written but not so much sci-fi as some alien invasion stories. Very dystopian post invasion and war and about what it takes to survive.