Manga Review: Meteor Prince, Volume 1, by Meca Tanaka

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: January 6, 2015

Volumes: 2

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Strange accidents always seem to happen around Hako Natsuno--so much so that she's been dubbed "The Queen of Bad Luck." It's hardly surprising then that a naked alien prince falls from the sky to tell her that out of all the girls in the universe, he's come to Earth to mate with her. Does this mean Hako's luck has changed, or--?

Review:

I knew I was going to love it, just by the cover and a brief glimpse of the description. And I was right.

This. Was. Adorable.

Io literally crash lands on Earth from another planet, goes directly to Hako, and claims that she’s his soulmate, and they must mate. Hako, who has all her life had perpetually bad luck, doesn’t know how to take this.

Io is adorable; very happy go lucky, eager to make Hako fall in love with him, when he realizes that’s how things work on Earth. Hako is trying very hard not to fall for it, because everyone who gets close to her gets hurt, because of her bad luck.

This volume is very happy go lucky, very fluffy, but there’s also a few hints of something darker in Io, which gets shown later in the volume, and there's actual depth to Hako's feelings. Quite a bit was revealed in this volume, which I was surprised by. But none of it was rushed; it flowed perfectly, and the characters are all very easy to like. The way that the two fall for each other, all the cute moments between them, are very well done, and add up to a nice flow for their feelings.

The art is also very pretty, and now I’m hoping to find more of her English-released series.

I am really excited for the second, and final, volume. I know I’ll just eat it up.

I did want to mention a comparison/recommendation. Beast Master. (Maybe also Flower in a Storm?) It has a similar new-to-the-world element, and is just as cute as this one.

Novel Review: Close Encounters of a Sexy Kind (Planet Nerak, #1) by Karen Kelley

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5-4

Genre: Adult Sci-fi Romance

Publisher: Brava Books (Kensington)

Release Date: 2007

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Beam Me Up, Hottie. . . Sex with the perfect man is overrated, especially if your Mr. Perfect is a robot, and you know there's something better out there. Can Mala help it if "out there" is way out there? Her grandmother, an intergalactic traveler, left a diary behind describing the exceptional lovemaking talents of Earth men. There's also a documentary that depicts a comely young woman and a rugged-looking person she calls "Sheriff." There are no Sheriffs on Mala's home planet. Solution? Head for Earth and get one of her own. . .

Sheriff Mason McKinley is having one hell of a week. First, the local conspiracy theorist called a bunch of reporters to town in search of Bigfoot, and now he insists he's seen a UFO land out near Devil's Bend. But when Mason rides out to investigate, instead of little green men, he finds the sexiest woman he's ever laid eyes on. Though Mala's odd behavior--an obsession with the naked channel, straightforward offers of sex--might have something to do with amnesia, what red-blooded American male wouldn't feel lucky? Still, Mason doesn't want to take advantage of a lost soul. . .however much she wants to be taken advantage of. . .

The Cover:

There's the above cover, which I actually rather like. It maybe gives more of a sex vibe than is actually in the book, but I think the dark colors work with the sci-fi part of the book. It's also a hot picture, and I just like it, no matter how embarrassing.
Then there's this picture, which I don't like at all. The pink is garish and way too much, and then the shirtless man just looks weird, with the bright color behind him, just posed half-naked. It gives a better feel for the adult romance part of the book, but it still doesn't work for me at all.

Review:

I picked this book up by pure coincidence. I’d never heard of it before, nor had I read anything else by the author. But it sounded really cute, possibly steamy, and very funny.

I’m a sucker for “character from another world” type stories, like Tarzan or aliens, and how they have to get used to the functions and utilities of where they are now. That’s a big part of why I was so interested in this book.

I liked Mala from the start. She just wanted to try something new, different, not something so ordained and perfected and of necessity. And after watching a porno her grandmother brought from earth, she couldn’t help wanting to go to earth to find her own Sheriff to have sex with, even once.

Mason, the Sheriff, has no idea where Mala came from, and is trying very hard not to do anything about his attraction. Their attraction was hot from the start, and I really liked the way Mala kept trying to come onto him, not realizing that earthlings don’t do that.

This was a really cute, and very funny, book. I enjoyed the way Mala tried getting used to earth. And her robot companion was sweet, and him getting his own romance was nice as well. Mason was frustrating at times, but overall I liked the way things worked out.

I hope to pick up the next book in this series, or just something else by Kelly. This was a surprisingly good book, and I want to read more.

Novel Review: Wild by Alex Mallory

Rating (Out of 5): ~4-4.5

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance/Tarzan Retelling

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: July 8, 2014

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The forest is full of secrets, and no one understands that better than Cade. Foraging, hunting, surviving— that’s all he knows. Alone for years, Cade believes he’s the sole survivor. At least, until he catches a glimpse of a beautiful stranger…

Dara expected to find natural wonders when she set off for a spring break camping trip. Instead, she discovers a primitive boy— he’s stealthy and handsome and he might be following her. Intrigued, Dara seeks him out and sets a catastrophe in motion.

Thrust back into society, Cade struggles with the realization that the life he knew was a lie. But he’s not the only one. Trying to explain life in a normal town leaves Dara questioning it.

As the media swarm and the police close in, Dara and Cade risk everything to get closer. But will the truth about Cade’s past tear them apart?

A YA Tarzan retelling.

The Cover:

This cover is all right. It's fitting, what with the wild looking hair and woods on the cover, and the colors are good. I like the font of the title, and the tagline is good. But something about it just seems... messy. I'm not quite sure what, maybe the hair or the formatting of the two images, but some part of it is not pleasing to me, and it bothers me.

Quotes:

•  "Engineered, but not intentionally. According to Cade’s mother, everyone had good intentions. She included herself in that.” (ARC, 317)
• "But he couldn’t help remembering what his mother had said about the Egyptians and the Maya. Two cultures, both building pyramids to lift them to the heavens. People were beautiful.” (Pg. 347)

Review:

I love this book.

The writing was beautiful. The characters were rounded and real and I grew rather attached. The story was perhaps a little slowly paced, but kept me interested the entire time. I loved it.

I do like the original story of Tarzan, but I also just like that type of story in general. I haven’t had the chance to read (or watch) many storylines where a person is brought to a completely new world, like a boy taken from the wild and brought to the modern technological world as in this book, but the idea is so interesting to me. That being the story behind this book is the main reason why I jumped on the chance to get my hands on it.

I loved Cade. He’s wild and he’s confused, but he’s also really sweet. He just wants to go home, but now that he’s been found, society doesn’t want to let him go. The way he grabs onto Dara is just made of swoon. He’s attracted upon first sight, and the way he thinks about her and looks at her, and just feels reassured when she’s around, is delightful. There wasn’t even very much kissing (and it doesn’t even happen until way into the book), but just the eye-contact and hand-holding is utterly romantic. The attraction between them was just jumping off the pages for me, and I was seriously impressed.

While Cade was by far my favorite character in this book, I did really enjoy the others as well. Dara was good and sweet and smart. Her friend Sofia was great, and a really good friend. Josh, Dara’s boyfriend, was a little frustrating, although maybe understandably. Dara’s father was the same way, along with her sister. I was impressed, actually, with how swept up I got in all the characters and their emotions.

The ending is really the only thing I’m a little unhappy with. It was just not quite as closed as I would have liked. I’m not sure if I think doing it differently would have been better, because even if I kind of wanted that I do think that what Cade wanted was what happened, but I still wanted more closure, mainly for their relationship. I also just kind of wanted more, after falling for the characters so much.

I appreciated the sentiment for why Cade’s parents did what they did, and I liked that storyline. It’s a little scary to think about, and I can understand how a person could get so scared and paranoid.

I am seriously impressed with this book, and am so happy about that. Alex Mallory will definitely be an author I will watch, and I know that it’s a pseudonym for Saundra Mitchell so I might pick up one of her books at some point as well.