Release

By: Claire Kent

Narrated by: Kirsten Leigh

Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

Kyla was born the younger daughter of the royal family of a planet known throughout Coalition space for its indulgence and debauchery. Travelers come from all over to give into their deepest desires in the decadent royal court, but Kyla has been surrounded by sex and physical indulgence since childhood. Now she wants nothing to do with such empty pleasures - at least, until she encounters Hall.

Hall is irresistibly sexy and mysterious, and he seems to know her from the inside out. He makes her want to explore the sensual side of herself for the first time. But he has already declared himself as a potential suitor of her sister, which means he's completely off limits to Kyla. He's also hiding a gift that makes him as dangerous as he is attractive.

When she discovers a plot that threatens to bring down the iron fist of the Coalition on her peaceful planet, Kyla is forced to rely on a man who has been hiding secrets from her all along - a man who makes her want things she's never wanted before.

©2017 Claire Kent (P)2017 Claire Kent

Sci-fi space romance!

Release is the 2nd book in Claire Kent’s Hold series and I’ve been having a fun time with this series. I’m on a Claire Kent kick after loving her post-apocalyptic romance series Kindled. This Hold series is a sci-fi romance series that takes place in space in the future, basically each book in the series has been on a different planet and each is vastly different (ex: a prison planet, a royal planet, and a prehistoric/cavemen planet).

In this book we are on Evalon, where the women get to choose who they partner up with/get sexual with. Unlike the prison planet of the first book which was using sex as a bargaining tool for survival, here on Evalon sexual relations are common occurrences (like everyone doing it everywhereeee, all the time). Hall, the hero in this one, even talks about how he lost his virginity super young and since has done everything since, “he’s tried everything but a serious relationship”. The heroine Kyla is the sister of the Empress and lives in a royal palace. The Coalition Council took over a multitude of galaxies populated by humans who had spread out from Earth in the past thousand years and is kind of the ones in charge of space it seems like. So there is some political complications with Kyla’s sister wanting to enforce her royal powers over what the Coalition wants to control. Hall also has some special abilities, he’s known as a Reader. Readers are people with the ability to tap into others minds. But Hall can actually do more than read what others are feeling, he can also turn it around and make them feel what he wants them to/feel something different.

So this read is more complicated/a bit confusing with everything going on in regards to the Coalition, the royals/palace setting, and even Hall’s abilities. I did enjoy the first book more because it was a bit easier to follow and the couple just worked for me better. That said I’m fascinated with this series as a whole and have already continued onto the next book which is my fav so far!

Just ok for me

The original version of Hold is my favorite book, and I have read it ten times if not more.  It’s my go-to book when I’m just not in the mood for something new.  I didn’t care for the changes Kent made when she re-wrote it and introduced Hall, but I understood because Kent wanted to expand on the universe and it made a great jumping off point.  Now that I’ve finished book 2 I am starting to see the bigger picture.

Hall story was good, but when I compare it to Hold, it just wasn’t as gritty and raw and didn’t have the same intensity.  Also, Kyla and Hall didn’t have the same chemistry and desperation.  It just didn’t have the same magic for me that I was looking, hoping for.  But if I was to read the story by itself and never to compare with the first in the series, I may feel differently.  It is hard to judge.

Hot, sexy, futuristic audio

This was a quick enjoyable listen. This is the second book in the series and I loved this Audio as much as the first. The author knows just how to write of a future where each planet is uniquely it’s own. From the customs and beliefs to the appearance of the natives. On this planet pleasure is everything. Sex is expected and enjoyed for the pure physicality of it. The Empress takes a new lover each week to test drive to become her concubine. However she may call herself the Empress, the title has been outlawed and the coalition will not stand for it for long. The main character is a wallflower, who does not participate in the politics of court and definitely does not participate in sex. She stays to herself and tries to go unnoticed. That is until one sexy smuggler with a talented secret spots her and the real action begins. The narrator did a fantastic job once again of performing both POV’s. The control in the timbre of her voice allows you to sink into the story and not get distracted. If you love a futuristic romance with a side of mystery and intrigue this audio is perfect for you.

Surprisingly god!

This was a new author to me and I found this audiobook to be quite enjoyable with well written characters and plot. The heroine is the younger sister of a somewhat vapid and hedonistic female governor of their planet. The heroine feels out of place at all the public debauchery that goes on daily at court and keeps to herself for the most part. The hero is a mercenary who is in disguise at court-as one of the governors potential suitors/lovers. He has a mental power that he can use to gently dissuade her from choosing him, but he notices the heroine right away and is fascinated by her. Wen the governor goes against the interplanetary coalition and declares herself Empress, it only a matter of time before soldiers will arrive to arrest them. Can their budding romance survive? I was really taken with the entertainment of this story and narration was also well performed.