Bridal Pact (Warriors of Phaeton #1) (2024)

Kindle Unlimited read the first time, but I had to purchase it because a re-read is about to occur.
(Follow-up story in Alien anthology was really wonderful)

This book was great! Excellent bad guy setup of Alien elitists thinking humans were impure.
Side characters were enjoyable too. Rich world-building.
Heroine was enjoyable and level headed.

Totally Recommended! Can't wait for the next one.
Steamy with warm fuzzies
HFN

Only ONE unanswered plot point that I gritted my teeth over.
** SPOILER **
(Something the girls overheard at the beginning about other women they took reacting badly)

Check it out bish ;)

The Bridal Pact was a 2.5 star book for me.

I was first introduced to the series and this author through the Alien anthology. The short story even though was a ménage (I skipped most of those pages) got me interested in the couple. I hoped for a better storyline than the ménage.

It was a typical "Mars needs women" story that didn't surprise me even a bit.
The heroine -Poppy (?!)- was the average Jane/ girl next door without much natural beauty but some spunk who gets a hunk of an alien. That seems to be the norm: chubby woman gets the hubby, skinny woman is the bad character. Stereotype much???
Her attitude and expressions made me consider her a little immature. But hey she was liked by all the Warriors (eye roll again).

The alien, Wheaton didn't impress me. A warrior who didn't show his worth. There was not much to endear him to me. No redeeming qualities except in bed (?!). He jumped way to fast to sample another woman on the basis that he could be wrong about the first one. Logical, not so much when love is full of illogical actions. Cue my eyes rolling because that was a weak plot.

The other woman made no sense. Her attitude and presence just created an artificial problem and her jump in another's warrior's arms was as sudden as her appearance.

The bad guy was predictable and didn't add enough action or angst. That was all created by the women and their lack of thought process. They were asked to sign the papers to cancel their marriages and they complied. Even worse, most of them took some pills without questioning and lost their babies. Stupid much? That action added to an already weak plot because a sane mother never takes pills that could harm her baby if she doesn't know their usefulness.

So, in the end one of Poppy's potential matched saved her and the day. The same suitor who will become her sister's matched husband. Huh !?!?

When genetics are involved in the romance if it's not well written becomes somethings else. In this case this genetic match didn't work for me because the characters became stupid and guided by what, if not feelings? Still unsure.

Considering that this is the first book of the author I give her points for her imagination. I wish the delivery was better.
I am not sure how and if I can recommend the book because there was nothing outstanding coming through. It was an ok read. Both characters didn't have enough qualities to be memorable or be compared with better one on the market.

I really enjoyed this book and I devour many, many Mars Needs Women books. This one was Kindle Unlimited for me but no longer is. As someone who reads a lot and needs less expensive books or free ones, I don't think I would pay the $7.55 price that Amazon is currently showing. The second book which I am interested in reading is currently $6.15 and for me, it's just not worth it for only 280 pages. I wish I could afford it but it is what it is. Maybe I'll be able to catch it on sale or something:)

Anyhow, back to the review:

Quick Rundown: Chick who lives a super normal boring life (kind of like me,lol) finds an opportunity stemming out of a fanciful but possible situation-- waking up one day to find the skies filled with alien ships and no knowledge if our planet is about to be overrun or just destroyed. Very realistic human responses occur, the president (I imagined Obama) lets us know what the score is. These aliens need chicks and will trade medical and tech advances for trade...as well as a substantial dollar amount to sign up for the "mate matching" program for possible brides. Despite having a very close relationship to her sister and her only relative, Chick takes a chance hoping for a situation that will bring her some meaning and happiness and if not, well then, at least a huge handful of cash. Ah, but of course, things aren't always that simple and are awarded with a nice scifi romance/mini adventure.

Characterization: This was very well done for the most part. I really enjoyed the "realness" of the Chick in this book. For me, she came off as "everywoman". She was a bit quirky, realistic and someone I would be friends with. I didn't find her particularly hilarious but then I'm not prone to LOL'ing when reading. The Dude was okay for me. But I didn't find him terribly endearing bc of all the time spent away from the Chick, some of which he could have avoided if he had a backbone. The secondary characters were all very well done and again, I'd love to read the sister's story but the price is too high for my poor ass:) The Big Bad was completely predictable but I don't think the author really even tried to keep it from us.

Plot: This is nothing terribly new in the genre but I did find the progression of the alien's arrival to their request for brides a new take. And the consequences was very interesting in itself. The Big Bad was all pretty predictable but I still enjoyed that conflict.

Overall: I did enjoy this book but like I have already said several times, there are similar and equally well done books with the same theme that were more cost effective.

Can we talk about how absolutely amazing this book is. I love the idea of aliens to the rescue and all Earth has to do is give up a couple thousand women. hehe

Just playing, but a bridal pact is a great plot device. The only downside to this book is I wish it were longer. :)

I cannot wait for more in this series. I cannot wait for Pixie's story and a revisit to Hannah, Poppy and Val's stories.

I love the idea of different warrior classes, but they're all warriors.

Amazing book, hilarious female characters, steamy love scenes, action packed, tension up the wazoo, slimy villain. I loved every piece of this book.

This did not go over well in the beginning. Poppy seemed too much the self-pitying type for someone who "loves" herself. And Wheaton . . . I don't even know where to go from here.

It did kinda get better later on or maybe I just got used to the flow of things and if I'm being completely honest, it was probably the latter cause thinking back I don't know why/how it got better.

But it was okay enough to pass the time.
I really liked Behyr. I mean I'm totally interested though I have no form of investment in Hannah whatsoever.
Have to say, the side characters definitely kept the book going.

3.5

This book read a little different from other similar books in the genre. It was pretty slow at the beginning but I enjoyed the build up and going through the exerience of First Contact with Poppy, most of these books skip right over that part.

This is pretty typical Mars Needs Women fare. I enjoyed it for what it was plot holes and all.

Entertaining Book but Cursing Was Seriously Overdone

This easily could have been a four or five star book; I felt like giving it zero or one star, except that the writing mechanics were good. The problem was that there was so much cursing that it became tired very quickly.

I am not a prude. I have been known to use four letter words, including the dreaded (by some people) “F” bomb. I have friends and family who swear, I read books with swearing, and I normally I don’t get upset when I hear or read swearing. However, I have never, in my entire long reading experience, seen so much cursing in one book. Page, after page, after page, ad infinitum. I swear (pun intended) that if just three quarters of the cursing had been removed, the book would have been a novella.

I liked the plot and world building. The villain was suitably obnoxious, creepy and villainous. The hero and his friends were engaging characters. Secondary female characters were also engaging. The heroine and her sister were actually nice, once one washed their mouths out with soap. Oh, wait, no one did that.

I was so disappointed that the excessive swearing ruined this otherwise delightful story for me. Maybe it’s an age thing because I’m a senior citizen. Maybe a younger reading audience actually likes the cussing, or at least isn’t bothered by it.

The book has sex scenes, which should be no surprise to aficionados of this genre. I mention that, because for some weird reason, the clean romance brigade often seems to gravitate towards this genre and then gets upset when the books aren’t clean reads.

I don’t know if the author reads her reviews, but if she does, I hope she doesn’t mind that I have a suggestion. By all means, leave in some swearing, including the “F” bomb, but cut back on the amount. Doing so should still keep your younger readers happy, while expanding your audience to include old dinosaurs like me.

Bottom line, I recommend this book to those who can get past the quantity of swearing.

For the first Leora Gonzales book I've read... I FREAKING LOVED IT!
Back to serious mode. I sincerely had a great ride with this one. Same good, entertaining, smooth feelings I experiment, or as close as to when I read a Laurann Dohner book. In my opinion at least... That interesting taste. Sexiness fused with humor and world building. Really good stuff!

Mars-needs-women/ Scifi/Erotic-romance/Series with definite potentiol
Poppy is bored and kind of depressed with her life. She has a lovely sister, a job, a comfy home and a routine, but it just isn't enough... So when aliens arrive her world changes. Spiked by curiousity and determination, she decides that she needs to take a new route. Aliens came in peace and need to females, so she signs up for an adventure and high hopes for happiness.


-Amazing heroine POV. Truly loved the way she chained me to her experiences and made me want to discover what would happen. Good personality and background. Though simple in many points, she's so reachable and open that you can't help being entertained and falling for Poppy.
I was swoon by her relationship with her sister. It was interesting, funny and endearing. Very well done, because it made me care for them. I was truly compelled by their love to each other and the way they relate. Their dialogues, were an ingredient that played a big role in the presentation and build up of the characters. Some authors forget how important dialogues are, how they convey the characters personalities, but also the world they live in.
-Rich world building.
The alien world build up was strong. The society, their ranks and social traits, alluring. Along with the social structure and the alien elitism. The impact and change caused by the alien's arrival on earth, was very vivid. The human reaction, even if it was in just a portion of the globe, was detailed and comical. The politics, news and occurences, making the story believable and relatable.
-Adored secondary characters. They all have a story to be told, a role and there involvement with the hero and heroin matters. It made the story tons of fun.
-The plot pulled through and I was definitely hooked till the end.
-Romance ingredients...Hum... Sexual tension... And sex! etc, etc, etc. 8/10 points!

-Some of the action scenes lacked a little tension and the sense of danger.
-The hero was the only one who felt like a one dimensional character. Stiff kind of off. Sexy and with valid insecurities, but still off.
-The author's style was easy going, logical and truly fun to read. Loved how she describes events and transmits the character's feelings. In a way that intrigue me and spike my interest.

This book reminded me very much of Brides of the Kindred series by Evangeline Anderson, except more of a discount version. Though, I honestly don't know which came first.

Honestly, I liked this story. The whole 'mars needs women' trope isn't something that annoys me as much as I thought it would. I like the matching-of-an-odd-couple-and-them-finding-ways-to-make-it-work cliche. I also liked that when Poppy was upset, she sorted it out with Wheaton and didn't spend the entire book being pissy about it. They had problems but they discussed them and moved on. I also liked that there were no irritating misunderstandings, love triangles or lots of time spent denying feelings.

What did bug me and cause me to drop the rating from 3 stars to 2 is that were were a couple of problems with pacing. The beginning is so slow. She wakes up, watches tv, goes to the store, visits her sister, makes dinner, watches a movie, goes home, watches another movie, makes more food . . . . it takes forever for this story to get going. Then she fills in a form and boom! She's on the ship within like 24 hours.

The author also jumps in time a lot . . . 'two weeks later . . ' or 'for the next few days . . .' this happens alot. I know its not realistic to show every single day but it's happens too much for me to really became invested in the characters. I want to know what happened in those two weeks, you know? Character A is suddenly best friends with Characters B and C but how did it happen? This also brings me to the point that there's alot of tell and not show. Although I'm glad that the attraction between Wheaton and Poppy is instant but that it's not necessarily insta-love, I don't really believe in the feelings that develops between them. We're just told, 'and Wheaton told me of his upbringing' or 'we watched lots of movies'. I feel like I've been shortchanged.

There are also a couple of continuity errors that made aspects of the plot seem silly. The biggest one of these is that The trial period can only be ended if either party wants it to be terminated. This is highlighted again when Poppy wants to end it early and go home when Wheaton is being a dick. It's also mentioned again, as a loophole when the council is trying to dissolve their agreement and send Poppy home, as only Poppy or Wheaton can end the agreement, the council don't have anything to do it with. The council use this contract - and the fact that they're honouring the contract to force Wheaton to 'trial' the woman who was meant to be his actual match as he signed the contract agreeing to a 'trial' of anyone he was matched to. And while I guess I can see why he goes along with this initially, I don't get why he doesn't dissolve this trial after like - a day? As his surely his right? Why does it take them like 3 weeks to get around to it?

All in all, I found this to be entertaining enough to finish, I don't think I'll be reading the rest of the series, though.

Wonderful lightweight read with quite laughable plot and so-so characters. First- Poppy is truly stupid MC. Her reactions were annoying and I had a strong wish to slap some sense into her quite often. Weathon was less than pleasant.I did not see the appeal of either of them and the supposed love story felt like sucked out of finger. Zero chemistry and constant dissonance of character reactions.
Secondly-there plot was borderline ridiculous. The main evil guy was glaringly stereotypical, down to him looking like evil and acting mega evil. Openly. So to make sure reader knows to hate him,lol.

When I stopped expecting decent story,I actually quite enjoyed the read and managed to get a few good laughs where none was intended.

Honoring the pact

So many things went wrong for this couple, but so many more things went right for this story! The language barrier, the fact they’ve never been exposed to relationships, and a bad guy with a fancy facade almost ended this pair before they started. But never fear! The author, and some fantastic characters, save the day and the future for this hunky race of aliens. I started this series in the middle, and I am so glad that the beginning is everything the middle promised! The author has made me a fan of her writing and this series! I am looking forward to reading more stories of destiny coming to fruition.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story! The characters were great, the story was interesting, and consent is clear. I totally went and purchased the rest of the books! Please support this self publish and check it out!
Crassy or Classy 🌟🌟🌟
Story 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Enjoyment🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Human brides hunky giant aliens...will they stay together... after mistakes are made...will love win.. or will they get torn apart... this author has done a really good job with this book. I recommend you read it.

Great story, clunky writing. Which was too bad because the premise and characters were awesome!! But I ended up skimming a LOT just to get to the point.

Bland

Minor serious sad near the end but secondary to main characters which are childish and unimaginative. Bland all around. No real conflict..

Fun read!

The story is quiet detailed in facets of bridal pathan aliens just kidnapping women from Earth. That makes this story mode interesting to read...

To eternity and beyond.

I found this story to be funny and surprising and just plain fun. It's a combo of star trek warriors marry crazy human brides and the fun starts there. Two distinct cultures and sexes must find a way to become husband and wife without killing each other. Such a fun series!

2.5 Stars.

I almost gave up at 40%, but I'm stubborn. It got somewhat better towards the end in concept, but not in execution. There was more time spent creating drama between the two main characters in the first three quarters of the book, than there was on the kindnapping at the end. The whole thing was too obvious. Too cliche. Some of the initial drama was blamed on misunderstandings between alien and human, but it made me rather dislike the leading male.

****Spoiler alert (maybe...):

I see no reason a man should be in bed with another woman, no matter what they do there, when he's saying he loves you. Later, he refuses to spend time with the second woman, and even goes back to spending the night with woman #1...so if he truely wasn't 'required' to do so (supposed "council" decision), why would he be in bed with, or spend any extra time with, woman #2 at all ?
That would make sense if you read the book, I promise. The fact that there even is a woman #1 vs. woman #2, is enough said. But no, then we decide it's all a misunderstanding, and the women become friends. Oi.

*****End spoiler********

On a side note, why is it okay to have a full-bodied woman and have her be beautiful, but that man better not lose his eight-pack abs? Where are the BBMan books? Just saying...

Anyhoo....

I read the description of the next two books, and that's enough to leave me satisfied with who ends up with who (not that it's not already obviously thrown in your face in book one, but it confirmed it), without having to read through the drama there is surely to be, in abundance, through the rest of the series.

Ooooh!

Well, started slow with a lot of details, but as the story moves along those details really did established a great foundation. Once the story started moving it was fast and read like a Spanish novella.

This was a fluffy, crazy, (sometimes angsty), smutty, fun alien mates book. Poppy is tired of her boring life so when the chance to marry a hot alien comes she grabs her chance.

Poppy and Wheaton have a few ups and downs before they realize how well matched they are. Wheaton is a man used to logic and uncomfortable with feelings and it was sweet to watch him slowly open up for Poppy. We get a moustache-twirling villain and an OW trying to cut in on her man and all sorts of crazy plot shenanigans.

If you like the Mars needs Women trope, this is a perfect fit. The story drags at times, but it was a nice familiar plot with a few twists to add spice. Occasionally it requires a dose of suspending your disbelief, but it was a nice way to spend the evening.

SafetyNeither are virgins. Although the aliens have no females, they make trips to "pleasure ships". I don't think the opportunity comes along very often so it's not like the H is a manwhor* or anything. The OW drama consists of another mate for the H when they are told the matches were compromised. The H kisses the OW but feels nothing and the h lets him have it when she finds out so he learns his lesson quick ;)

Well all I can say is; if this is the first book by this author, she is one to watch and look out for her next book.

The story is not necessarily perfect but it kept my interest. I enjoyed the characters, even though I think some of the warriors did start to sound a bit the same. Given they are clones and raised pretty much all the same way, their similarities are understandable.
There are times that I wanted a bit more info but that is mainly to do with the warriors, the brides and the council...I'm just very curious.
There are some good hot scenes. Most of the book takes place on the warriors ship.

DNF

Started out strong but quickly degenerated into nothing but p*rn with a sprinkling of plot. Lost me when Poppy heard Wheaton talking about her and making it clear he didn't want her. She shrugs and goes on with the marriage. Dumb twit. Then they talk about sex and it goes on and on......

Bridal pact

I enjoyed the storyline. I hope there is a follow up book to complete it. There are several things that were left hanging.

3 Stars

Good story premise

The premise was good and one that will grab the attention of those, like myself, drawn to this genre. The heroine has a really screwed up life on Earth at the time of contact. When the Bridal Pact is announced, she thinks "why not?". Then she thinks about it again, plays around with the application, then gets serious about it. The amount of thought given to the decision, the conversation with her sister about it, all of this rang true and I give kudos to the author for it. Then we come to the first few days where the heroine and her mate are aboard ship. His thought process is understandable, especially since he questions being mated to someone so opposite him. I also liked that the consummation was not immediate. It was a sexual relationship that was built, not jumped in to. I also enjoyed how the conversation about her not being happy, feeling alone, abandoned and unhappy and wanting to end the contract was handled. That conversation was one of the best moments in this book. These is something to be learned by both men and women right here on Earth in that conversation. Communication is a must, as is a dedication to making a relationship work.

The groundwork laid and the beginning if the world building were both done well, though it would have been nice to have been privy to more of the couple's conversations about life on his planet, and how he was raised, what they decided together to do differently with their child. I was also surprised that the news of the new addition was not immediately shared with the Council, to my thinking that would have immediately put an end to the second bride issue. But, I do understand that left room for the antagonist to make his move. The end seemed rushed, we should have been treated to at least more of a description than "beautiful" of his home world.

My biggest problems with this book are the excessive amount of cursing,as mentioned by so many others. While I can have a nasty tongue myself at times, and it was mentioned that the sisters took delight in creating and using curses, one would think that would be more reserved when not with each other, and certainly as a representative of Earth to these aliens. The other issue, to a milder degree, is the very graphic sex scenes. I am sure others would find it titillating, but personally I tend to space on those and flip past to where the story picks up again. My interest is in the story and the world building and I have little need for the descriptive sex, but I realise I am in a minority on this.

All told, it was a good story, a good premise for a series, but it reminded me strongly of another series I read a few years ago. There were a few differences, but honestly not enough that I could feel that there might not have been some copyright infringement issues. After looking ahead at the synopsis of the following books, I am further convinced there may be an issue of someone chooses to pursue it. I doubt I will read the following books, partly for this reason- my mind tells me I have already read them under another title/author- though there has been no mention in this book of a bonded set of males being the norm in this society and the fact that they would share a female mate as had been done in the other series I mentioned. Even the fact that one of the males is a dominant and the other is more gentle and loving is the same as the other series. I realise that there is probably only so much world building imagination one can reasonably expect in this genre, the series are just too close for me to feel like I am reading something new.

I love this book, however i loved the none romantic parts more than the actual couple. Which is weird but still good. I wasn't invested in the couple at all, in fact i rooted for Poppy to get with someone else because the author wrote so much more about how her relationship built with other men rather than her husband! And everytime her husband did something, it was a screw up! Don't get me wrong, I am DEFINITELY going to read her other books because of this book. I would have loved it more if the romantic aspect was just not there at all. Maybe if this was a prequel to the couples getting together, a short story of one woman's time with all the men as she tries to get pregnant. THAT would have been great, seeing all the interactions. But as a romance building action story? It lacked. The romance and the gooshy fluffy stuff that makes you invest in a couple getting together and gives you the "why"" they are ment to be together, wasn't there at all. It was written off as almost a passing of time in 2 pages and then started Poppy meeting (who i think) will be the next main heros in the up coming books. Which, again, I LOVED! This part, had the book stuck to like the intro of who everything on Earth change, did like a brief over view of a couple who went through the system, and then on to how her adventure began on the ship as a prequel to other brides coming, IT WOULD BE AMAZING!

While this was a bit of a let down, i was TOTALLY PUMPED to read the next books! I want to hurry up and get the author writing about the other characters that were talked about, and the characteres NOT talked about! Like Kain! And the warriors with fangs! THAT'S SO EXCITED!

Either way, I'll be reading more books and hopefully it gets better.

This series man. The typos are out of the world bad. I'm not saying the books are ALL typos, there are quite a few--but I'm saying the typos are nuts. Like, when they do hit, there are three to a page and they mess up the flow of the book.
In book two there's a funny one where one of the guys, mid-dialogue, says his name instead of a girl character's. Not too long after that he accidentally says he 'will not do' something he means he 'will do.' The third book has quite a few, at one point I snorted because it says ha-d to-hand instead of hand-to-hand.

Anyway, they bugged me enough that I don't want to read past book three. I'm sure the other four books of the series aren't as typo-heavy, but it was still not enough story integration for me. Oddly, character backstories feel like they are both overwhelming long, and then underwhelming described. There was plot, both on the overarching storyline and the individual love stories, but they all felt a little rehearsed, and that was irritating. The flow between books stacks and not in a pleasant way, so it feels very chaotic. Just, a bunch of weird random problem/stuff that feels like 'new author-itis'--but the series concept is strong and the characters are dynamic, so it's not even bad writing, it just feels off.

Plus, the author killed off my favorite character, then did it AGAIN to another baddie I had high hopes for. So no. Not a fan, felt rude to build me up buttercup, baby--just to let me down.

So nah. There are others that are in my tbr that are catching mine eye over the additional sequels. But if you like space romance featuring tall af, alpha-warrior types, this could be a fun diversion!

Poppy, not happy in her job, with a non-existing love life, jumps at the opportunity to enter the Bridal Pact Program when an alien race of hunky warriors comes to Earth looking for women. Poppy soon falls in love with Wheaton, her match according to the computer programme. But when slimy councillor Demascus announces a glitch and presents Hannah as Wheaton's real match instead of Poppy, the battle is on!
Well written, although too forcefully funny on occasion to my taste, the author presents a very strong Poppy, along with the other female characters, and a weaker appearing big warrior in Wheaton. With Poppy using a lot of American Slang words, the situations with the translator programme not quite grasping the meaning are quite amusing. Poppy comes over too strong, and thus a bit unrealistic at moments, but on the whole appears quite genuine and likeable, as are the rest of the warriors and the women.
There is indeed a plot between the steamy scenes, which definitely is a bonus for any book I read - I do love well presented plots! Here it is the fact that some representatives of the race resent the Earth women (and that's not a spoiler as it is mentioned fairly early in the book).
The spelling could use some overhauling, as there were quite a few spelling errors, and the odd grammatical or sentence structure issue.
On the whole, though, I really loved the book, the plot and the humour in it - it made for some really pleasant reading.

3 & ½ stars.
IMO -Poppy’s cursing & odd slang was a serious detriment to the story. Slang is regional, what someone in Miami might say as slang is not necessarily what you would hear in Boston -type of thing. I don’t believe the swearing is because I’m too old or a prude, when I get mad or hurt, I’ve been known to let a few swear words fly. But the slang & swearing pulled me out of the story every time & made Poppy feel like a 14 year old – very immature. Poppy was a bit too shallow for me to like her. I wasn’t fond of Wheaton at all. I almost was hoping she’d end up with any of the other aliens she associated with {the 2 doctors, Behyer (can’t remember the spelling for sure?), or Wheaton’s close friend –Dathrow}. I didn’t feel the romance between Poppy & Wheaton at all, not even a friendship like she developed with the other aliens. The relationship really didn’t feel legitimate, it only felt like lust or chemistry. Plus Wheaton was missing for too much of the story to make the relationship seem legitimate. The plot had a bunch of loose ends that were a problem in my mind keeping me from enjoying this. Over all, it was good enough to finish, not good enough for me to want to pursue reading the rest of the series.