Ratings3
Average rating3.5
This is a Limited Illustrated Cover Edition of Taken to Voraxia. Available for purchase November 2021 to January 2022 only. All contents within remain unchanged. * * * He's come again and this time, he's coming for me. Blue skin. Seven feet. Strapped with corded muscle. The aliens have come to the human colony again and this time Raku, their king, is with them. His eyes are molten onyx and they watch Miari now with hunger. She's just an engineer, a mechanic, and a hybrid. She's got no interest in being taken when he comes to claim her, but he seems to think she's his Xiveri Mate, the being the universe fated for him. So Miari runs. Raku chases. And when he catches up to her, slaughtering in her defense won't be anywhere near as difficult as convincing her of the truth - She's his Xiveri mate, Voraxia's queen and his to worship. * * * ★★★★★ "I truly believe that you are what's been missing in the sci-fi romance genre. I feel like I'm reading unknown Octavia Butler and not a new self published writer...I'm glad that you're giving the new generations of women better ideas of what romance should be with awesome leading ladies who look like them. Now if only aliens did come to Earth." - Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★ "This series still continues to amaze me. I loved that every new couple is not just that. It's a whole new world with its own mysteries, adventures, and rules, of aliens of all shapes and sizes and of course of romance and the way to overcome trauma and find acceptance in a family of your own making." - Milky Way of Books Blog ★★★★★ "I love this series every book in it is so well written and feels slightly different in flavour. The world-building is also top-notch and so easy to immerse yourself in this series is a definite one-click for me and not one story has disappointed." - Beckie Bookworm ★★★★★ "If you are a sci-fi romance reader, look no further, your next series addiction is here." - Book Snob Sue ★★★★★ "I've read all the books in this series and this writer is hands down one of the best in the genre and beyond." - Amazon Reviewer * * * Cover Illustration by Alyssa Denis (@mermammal) Cover fonts by Amygdala Design
Featured Series
3 primary booksXiveri Mates is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Elizabeth Stephens.
Reviews with the most likes.
Contains spoilers
💬: "This female…there is no doubt in my mind that she was created for me, and me alone. She is my prize. Worthy of a Raku. So why is it then that I sense that something is wrong…
Stephens, Elizabeth. Taken to Voraxia: A SciFi Alien Romance (Xiveri Mates Book 1) (p. 22). Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: romance, sci-fi, sci-fi romance, aliens, fantasy romance
📚Page Count: 358
🎧Audiobook Length: 10h 28min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 3.5/5
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TW - <spoiler>Blood, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abortion, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Murder, Violence, and War</spoiler>
*I read this story because it was recommended by romance author, Katee Roberts*
Taken to Voraxia by Elizabeth Stephens is the first book in the Xiveri Mates series. Miari is a survivor on the moon colony where, every three years invading aliens, the Voraxians, come "hunt" for the most beautiful women on the colony. The aliens take the women away and then they don't return for another three years. It's a pact between the moon colony rulers and the King of the Voraxians. This time the King of Voraxia, Raku, is here himself and he's set his eyes on Miari. Miari decides that she is not going to be taken by the King so she sets up an escape plan with a few of her friends. The plan does not go smoothly and Miari needs to be rescued by Raku and soon after she's taken to Voraxia to be the King's mate. Will Miari and Raku end up getting along or will Miari keep trying to escape?
(TW - mention of sexual assaults' and rape)
I really enjoyed most of this book, I was interested in the story the entire time I was listening to the audiobook. I do have an issue with WHY Miari tries so hard to get away from Raku at first. It's explained in the story that the previous hunts on the women on the moon colony <spoiler> had been horrible, brutish, kidnap fests where the women always ended up sexually assaulted and brutally raped. This doesn't happen on page, it's just explained. It's also explained later that those same women who were raped were sent back to the moon colony, probably impregnated by their alien captors. In the end they almost all were forced to have an abortion because their bodies could not withstand the pregnancy process with that alien species. </spoiler>
(TW - mention of sexual assaults' and rape)
Another issue I had was with the climax scene at the end of the book. One of the main characters friends is <spoiler>attacked with the threat of rape and then a fight and struggle is described but no rape occurs in the end, as the character is saved from the perpetrator.</spoiler> I don't understand the itching need for sci-fi romance authors to include so much sexual assault in their stories. This is the second sci-fi romance I've read (the first being Ice Planet Barbarians, and I gave that a 2 stars because <spoiler>there's an alien gang rape scene at the very beginning of the story, it's definitely described as that.)</spoiler> I'm tired of the women always being threated with being sexually assaulted!
The audiobook narrators were great! I really loved the voice actors for both Miari and Raku. I could listen to the voice actor for Raku speak all day. I believe the audiobook was actually published by the author herself. The quality is good and I enjoyed listening to the story.
The spicy scenes were really good, I really enjoyed them. The two main characters have a few miscommunication issues but once they start properly communicating, the intimate scenes are so sensual and romantic. I'm giving the spicy scenes four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies
Overall, I liked this book but I did have a problem with the threat of sexual assault always looming so I'm knocking off a star for that.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 3.5/5 Stars
I listened to this audiobook for free on [Libbyapp.com]
In my opinion Taken To Voraxia didn't contain much romance, the moments between Raku and Miari weren't very long and neither were they very convincing of their love. There was a lot of action that I found really engrossing, Stephens does really well when it comes to world building.
Miari was really smart and I loved reading about the things she invented out of scrap parts. I especially liked her character a lot. I wasn't as keen on Raku, I found him just fine but that's about it, I feel as if he didn't really have any personality outside of Miari and their mate bond which is a shame.
Overall it was exciting and filled with fast paced action packed moments, but the romance between the two MC's left much to be desired.