Taken (Warriors of Hir, Book 2)

By: Willow Danes

Narrated by: Kathryn LaPlante, Adam McLaughlin

Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Hope MacGowan is a city girl but reeling from a break-up on top of a layoff has her determined to have a weekend away in the North Carolina mountains - even if all her friends have bailed at the last minute. Hope's life is one big train-wreck and getting kidnapped by a tall, blond alien - even a gorgeous one - sure isn't helping. R'har crossed the galaxy to seek a mate on this newly discovered world and this delicate red-haired female is everything he's dreamed of - except happy to find herself mated to him. R'har knows in his heart he's her true mate, even if he's not human. But taking her doesn't mean he can keep her and somehow he has to convince Hope to choose him before time runs out....

©2015 Ariel MacArran (P)2015 Ariel MacArran

Taken ~ By The Warrior Of Hir!

This is a great sci-fi romance with a unique plot! Willow Danes did an outstanding job on world-building, and developing both the plot and characters.

I really enjoyed both the narration and the story!

NOT QUITE AS GOOD AS BK 1... BUT STILL ENJOYABLE

R'har is the next Hir Warrior to go and seek his destined mate so he heads to the same location where Ra'kur took Jenna and he's been secretly watching and waiting for just the right female to come along. Hope has just been dumped by her lying Fiancé and lying Best Friend - she's also been sacked from her job and decides to go to the remote cabin that was booked for their Honeymoon.

A long walk, plenty of regrets, tears, an angry Momma Bear with Cubs, a 7ft scary roaring saviour, run for your life, captured with a stun gun, wakes up handcuffed in a strange place, tension and the 'drink and eat' mating offering. Heroine scared of handsome but strange Alien Hero so stunned again, wakes up with language chip implanted, Heroine demands to go home - but one slight problem.... their now in deep space and, little do they know it, but they're both about to be in deep shit too. Which starts a frightening, catastrophic and deadly chain of events..... but they do manage to complete the mating bond with a few rounds of sex.

There's no hope for Hope because she sends out mixed signals all the time and very patient, thoughtful and understanding R'har gets frustrated at always being judged because he's not Human. I would have gladly throttled her by now and gone back for a better choice - but slowly Hope's feeling deepen..... right up until R'har is fatally wounded and gives Hope a deathbed confession..... one that, tragically for him, undoes everything.

Loved R'har but I thought Hope was a very stuck up, disagreeable and annoying Heroine with not a lot of likeable qualities.... I wanted to shout "oh lighten up and give him a break woman!". But the story did have more world-building, heartbreak, drama, angst, danger, tension, sex and there's more up-to-date news about Jenna, Ra'kur and their baby. Dual POV's but it was mainly Hope's and, once again, I found the narration ok but, for me, I still feel Adam McLaughlin's older voice just isn't right for a young, fit and drool-worthy Alien.

Worth a credit? Because of the selfish and heartless Heroine I didn't enjoy this listen quite as much as the first book. However, it is a very addictive series and it's one that I'm going to continue with because these possessive and passionate Warriors are in desperate need to find a woman to love, spoil, protect and adore and I'm totally hooked. So, despite the annoying Heroine, this was, IMO, a creditworthy listen.

Fantastic

Would you consider the audio edition of Taken to be better than the print version?

yes due to narrations

Who was your favorite character and why?

R'har

What about Kathryn LaPlante and Adam McLaughlin ’s performance did you like?

The bring the characters to life. Adam and Kathryne bring these characters to life.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Warrior of Hir

Any additional comments?

this is the second book in this series. This book has it all. Action and love. I felt like i was on a roller coaster ride. There were ups and downs with the characters. Just when you thought they were getting along fine then down they would go. I felt for each of these characters. Hope felt abandon and felt she always chose the wrong men and had trust issues. Rhar wanted someone to love so bad, he felt he had to tell a little lie in order to spend time with her and to make her care for him. I love the way it ended. i cannot wait till the next book. I will be starting Stolen soon. I recommend this series.

Solid Follow On

This second book in the series offers a different plot line with a twist somewhere I won't tell about. Though I like the novel there are gaping holes in justifications. Even in science fiction romance, the suspended disbelief has to hold together. Sometimes it just does not. If you can get over these gaffs, then I think you will enjoy the series and the second book in particular. Danes links the first book characters with second books character nicely so there it that.

If you look for some light airplane reading I suggest this series. The fall in the solid B camp, B+ if I am being generous.

Heroine Deserved Everything She Got EXCEPT R'har

Any additional comments?

Where do I even begin? I read the first book and I recall finding Jenna very sweet. She was always positive, always grounding in the upbringing her Gramps had giving her. Book two just made me appreciate Jenna even more. I felt sympathy for Hope, our Heroine for the first 5 minutes of this story.

Her finance left her for one of her best friends. They both told her by text. Her other best friend knew about it for months and never said a word. Then to top all that off, her job had her drive out of town to another office just to tell her they had to let her go. The girl was having a really bad day. That is pretty much where my sympathy ended for her. By the end of the book, I could see why her boyfriend ran off with her best friend. Something I would be totally against in real life but this Hope character sets you off that much.

R'har, was a sweet character. Very protective. He just wanted to love her and have her love him. Instead she pretty much kept putting him down for being a Alien. She just wouldn't listen to anything so he made up this story that he had to repair his ship before he could take her home. It was his last ditch effort to let her get to know him and vice versa. That worked, until he nearly died to save her life, thinking he was dying he confessed the truth about the ship never needing repair. They were rescued by his people but he nearly died. When he finally woke up, she wouldn't go see him. She told the doctor to tell him they were done and she wasn't his lifemate in front of everyone. Yes this is the same woman that whined about how her ex broke up with her in a text and she'd just basically did the same thing. This action of hers got his banned from his own home. Think she made any effort to get him un-banned?

And Jenna, she met her and she was just a total bit*ch to her. She even mocked Jenna's southern drawl as they were speaking. This character was completely unlikable. It was so bad even Jenna offered to help R'har find a sweet southern girl that would be happy to have him as a mate. But no, he only wanted b*tchy Hope.

These are just examples of how this character is and she is this way right up to the end of the book. I honestly don't know why R'har loves her. She didn't have any lovable qualities. She was so nasty that they didn't have any chemistry. And I ended up reading this book to see just how much more b*itchy she could become rather than their romance. I can't remember a book where I really wished the Hero had left her than this book. Sadly, I hear Summer in the next book is only slightly better. Why? Jenna was a great character. If WD is trying to make strong women, bit*chy doesn't equal strong. Hope was weak and whiny.

Despite my hate for the heroine, the writing was obviously good to make me feel such hatred for a character. The world building was great and I enjoyed reading more about the Hir universe and the men their. It was great seeing Jenna again and I liked that Kathryn used the same voice for Jenna as in the first book and she gave Hope a totally different voice. I think Adam also did a great job. He does sound older than what you would expect his character to sound, but he is also over dramatic and over the top with his performance and I think that is more to show he isn't suppose to sound like a human male.

Hopefully Jenna one day returns home and not leave that poor Sheriff hanging in limbo. I will continue with the series as I do love the universe WD has created and I'd like to see more of it.

Good but to long

Great love story, but the story dragged out to long. I did enjoy these Hero's and their love for their heroines.

I loved every bit of the book!

stayed up till four in the morning,could not put it down. it has action,romance it takes you to another world

Good Read to Pass Time

If you could sum up Taken in three words, what would they be?

If I could sum up Taken in three words, it would be funny, weird, & repetitive. Chapters 1 through 24 of 31 chapters were okay. After chapter 25 the story became repetitive & stretched out, as if the author ran out of things to say. It was a good read to pass time.

Any additional comments?

I downloaded the book for free through my Kindle Unlimited subscription & then added narration for $1.99. I don't think I would have use my credit. If I did use a credit I'd probably ask for a refund. It was good for $1.99

Attention grabbing story

A riveting story excellently performed. The voices of returning characters were amazingly accurate. I was hard pressed to stop listening when my schedule demanded. I finished the final seventeen chapters in one sitting. I look forward to the next book with great anticipation. I will be looking for other books narrated by these performers.

Loved Loved Loved it

The audio was awesome. I liked how his words were male an her female. cell phone calls were like listening in to her side an automated was as well. Awesome production. story was way better than the first. Although the first book was more of establishing the series this one makes me want more. But also in audio... :o)

Cracked me up! Thoroughly enjoyable!

Loved Hope's irreverence and mental chatter and R'har's narrator's voice had me in stitches, though I'm not sure that was meant to be funny. Great series. Fun read. Good narration.