"I would chase you to the ends of the universe
if it meant that you would accept my claim."
if it meant that you would accept my claim."
Darrok
Kaldar Warriors, book two
T.J. Yelden
Kindle Edition, 261 pages
Published December 15th 2016
Samantha always had a hard time letting people in. The only person who truly mastered that was just kidnapped by the same aliens that have been parading around Earth promoting their undying respect and protection to the female population. Right. Because it’s every girl’s dream to be whisked away to some far off planet with a bunch of aliens. One small decision leads to big changes and Samantha is about to find out how far she will go. Both to save her planet and her growing feelings for a certain green-eyed alien.
Darrok knew he had his work cut out for him. Six months searching for Samantha and keeping an eye on the growing problems near their borders. Along with finding and claiming his mate, he also has to make a decision that could give his race valuable information regarding their enemies. The catch? It would mean putting Samantha directly in harm’s way. It goes against everything that the Kaldar warrior stands for, but there is no other option. They must find out who is aiding their enemies and Darrok must ensure the cost is not his mate’s life.
I enjoyed this book, despite Samantha's role, up until about seventy precent- when the Altu came into play. From there, it went downhill in a barrel. It's sad, considering how long I, and others, have waited to read Karac's sequel. TWO YEARS.
Allow me to just rant because, truly, it's my fury at this story that's driving me to even type out a review. I'll take it character by character. And yes, here be spoilers.
Darrok...
He did everything right. I was in his corner through every argument. Until the fool did the one thing that had kept Samantha from being open to him all along. He leaves her. After railing against her father for abandoning Sam at such a young, defenseless age, Darrok, too, walks away. And practically disappears from her life.
Granted, ..and this brings me to Samantha....
Sam had mommy/daddy issues brought on from a rough childhood which tainted her view on relationships. Despite the instant pull to Darrok as everything that feels like home, she erects a wall between them and insists on biding her time until she can regain her pathetic career-oriented existence back on Earth. Time after time, Darrok attempts to relate to her. To get to know her. To just be with her. And she not only shuts him down, she turns to other males to fill the void. I allow that it's easier to go to Taegin or Kinric because they're not looking for anything from her. There's no expectation from them so it feels safer to her to feed those bonds. But damn, woman....
And then there's Kinric.
He overstepped his place and he was never held accountable. Simple as that.
The Altu...
My problem with this branch of the story lies with, again, Samantha. And I don't think I truly understood the threat. The leader, sadist that he may be, wants to understand the human brain. (Without dissecting it! Kudos!) So he starts, mostly unbeknownst to Sam, rifling through her memories and her brainwaves and all that good stuff. Then she starts fighting him. For reasons beyond me. There was no great trauma she was looking to avoid. No hidden, long buried memory she was looking to escape. She was just being selfish in the 'these are my thoughts, my memories, they're what make me me' blah blah immature ranting gone wild. The guy didn't give a damn about her memories or her emotions. There was no judgment. No nothing. He just wanted to see the mechanics of how human minds work in a purely scientific study type examination. What. am. I. missing? Did Sam not have the ability to let him in. In that case, was she fighting in vain? The only destruction to her mind came when he was forced to push his way in. Had she just let him do it, she could have saved herself. Right???
And back to Darrok...
After attempt and attempt to woo his truemate, and having her turn to Kinric for answers and teammates for companionship, Darrok has very little to feel secure about. After failing to protect her from losing her mind, he has nothing. And yet, he did the one thing, the *one* thing, that was never an option. Sam's greatest fear, that which drove her to swear off relationships of almost any kind, was being abandoned. He knew it. And, with his weightless justifications, he did it anyway.
There's no happily ever after here for me. A warped biology sustains Darrok and Sam's relationship. Nothing more.
2 out of 5 stars.
Previously in the series:
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