Review by Ronny
Series Name: Cosmic Chaos, # 1
I had high hopes for this book, but it was just a big old miss for me.
Book Synopsis:
Dorothy Valentine is close to getting her PhD in wildlife biology when she’s attacked by a lion. On the bright side, she’s saved! On the not-so-bright side, it’s because they’re abducted by aliens. In her scramble to escape, Dory and the lion commandeer an escape pod and crash-land on an alien planet that has…dinosaurs?
Dory and her new lion bestie, Toto, are saved in the nick of time by a mysterious and sexy alien, Sol. On their new adventure, they team up with the equally hot, equally dangerous Lok, who may or may not be a war criminal. Whether it be trauma, fate, or intrigue, Dory can’t resist the attraction that’s developing in their trio….
As this ragtag group of misfits explore their new planet, Dory learns more about how and why they’ve all ended up together, battles more prehistoric creatures than she imagined (she imagined…zero), and questions if she even wants to go back home to Earth in this hilarious and steamy alien romance adventure comedy romp.
Review:
I love wildly, bonkers, crazy books that are just so utterly ridiculous that I cannot help but watch the chaos unfold on the pages. So, with a title like, I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com, I know it’s going to be a banana pants crazy wild ride, and it is. This book feels as if you took Ice Planet Barbarians and injected a whole bunch of ridiculous silliness into the world-building and plot. It is a lighter, fun version of the Ice Planet Barbarians series. Now, that being said, this isn’t a copycat of Ruby’s series; the world(s) and plot are quite unique and entertaining. I really loved two things about this book: first, the tongue-in-cheek explanations for why things are the way they are, or how things work in this alien world. Romance bookworms have often heard of things being explained as “romance reasons”, which is to say that something conveniently or unrealistically happens in a romance book that would never happen in real life. Romance reasons are often used to bring the two MCs together, to simplify a complicated detail in the story, or to guide the plot in the direction the author wants it to go. Kimberly takes that notion of romance reasons and really runs with it in the most delightful way. Things happen and are explained in such a wild and absurd manner that it’s just perfection. I loved it.
The plot and the world(s) that Kimberly has created in this book are interesting, wild, and just so highly entertaining. I love how crazy everything is. This is meant to be a fun and light read, and the world-building really leans into that notion. Kimberly doesn’t dip her toes into that banana pants crazy pool; she cannonballs into the deep end and takes her readers with her. With that in mind, I am going to warn bookworms that this book isn’t for those who cannot suspend that sensible part of their brain. You cannot ask too many questions about why things are happening the way they are. You have to be the kind of reader who can just go along for the wild ride.
Now, you may be wondering why I gave this book such a low rating, and the answer is the dialogue. I’m pretty easy to please when it comes to romance books. I’m not an overly analytical romance reader; oftentimes, I read romances for the vibes and can easily ignore missteps in writing. So, when I say that the dialogue in this book is rough and hard to read, it’s pretty bad. Part of me gets it; comedy is a tough genre to do in the pages of a book. You have got to find that right balance, and I’m afraid in this case, there was no balance. The dialogue was meant to be funny, especially from Dory (our heroine), but it often comes across as juvenile, confusing, and poorly worded. It felt like the dialogue in this book could have done with some serious editing and refining. I loved the story, but every time the characters opened their mouths, I found myself cringing, and that is not something you want in a romance book or any book, for that matter. The only character that I didn’t mind speaking to was the talking lion. Having your characters come across as immature juveniles is also not a good thing, especially when, with a flick of a switch, the three main characters all become incredibly horny and go from this silly dialogue to incredibly aggressive, dirty talk. It’s very disconcerting. The dialogue was so bad that I couldn’t even finish this book, which rarely happens to me.
So, in summary, this book is a knock-out in some areas and a complete nightmare in others. I was disappointed that I couldn’t enjoy this book as much as I was hoping to.
