Posted in Spicy Romance

Guarded by the Kraken

By Cassie Alexander

Narrated by Avery Caris and Jonathan Lake

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars, Narration 5 out of 5 Stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Guarded by the Kraken is one story in the Monster Security Agency series, which comprises many different authors, all writing smutty monster romance. I have reviewed another MSA book of Cassie’s, Guarded by the Spider. It has the same narrators.

Elle is hired to go below to the deepest trench in the Ocean for a science research project. She is given the chance to discover a potential new language, race of monsters, etc. There is a large metal mechanism at the bottom of the ocean, and Elle is tasked to discover its secrets! She is assigned a body guard that is from the Kraken population. Ceph is required to bond with her in order to keep her safe, however, he ends up mating with her.

The two begin their adventure together, working together to solve whatever this puzzle is. Meanwhile, they get to know each other better. One thing I really appreciate about Ceph is, even though the mating was accidental, he does not force her into wanting it. He would let her return to the land if she chooses to do so.

I did not see all the twists and turns that happened. I constantly wondered a LOT of things while listening to this story. My brain kept working to find how this was going to work. Elle and Ceph could not even touch. She could not leave the science center without a special suit. I will let you read for yourself what happens, but you will not be disappointed.

I highly recommend reading this book via the audiobook. The narrators are class acts. They make you feel a part of the story. At one point, I thought my chest was going to explode, others I sad cried, I happy cried, I laughed and giggled…I kicked my feet happily.

Definitely check your triggers, there is violence, also some breeding kink in there. Spoiler: Epilogue contains the pregnancy, so if you don’t want that, skip the epilogue.

Posted in Spicy Romance

Guarded by the Spider (Monster Security Agency)

By Cassie Alexander

Rating 5 out of 5 Stars

Audiobook Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

I received a copy of this ARC to read and listen, I am leaving this review voluntarily.

First, let me preface with saying, I do not like spiders. At all. They make me pukey and give me the heebie jeebies. HOWEVER. I LOVED this book. “Nine” and Sloane are honestly perfect for each other and I could not get enough.

“Nine” is what most of the characters in the book call Nia’n’an throughout the book, he is the spider type humanoid-ish monster. He is dying because he has not found his mate. So he is sent on a mission to rescue a billionaire’s daughter who has been kidnapped. He is sent by himself, since he is dying, so as to not put any of the other team at risk for an impossible mission. They are unsure if they are bringing out Sloane alive, or as a corpse.

Sloane is probably one of my favorite FMC’s to date. She is such a strong character. She was kidnapped at her concert after it was shot up and people died. She was underground for over a month, caged like an animal, by her captors. She is taken by Nine who she can’t communicate effectively with because his translator broke. She falls in love with him quickly and does not understand its because they are fated mates. She is terrified of him, and then turned on by him. She is incredibly funny with her comments she makes, often thinking he does not understand her.

The majority of the story goes back and forth between the two of them and their self monologue. Nine definitely has those touch her and d!e vibes. I also like that he has his own organic, all natural, self made shibari rope because he just trusses Sloane right on up wherever he can make her stick. He also uses it to hold her in place during the few spicy scenes they have. There are only a couple of spicy scenes, but boy are they spicy. They each have their own self spicy scenes, Sloane can’t stop with the self pleasure because she does not know or understand it is her body’s reaction to being by her mate.

I do wish the book went on a little bit longer. Towards the end they are trying to conceive a baby and it would just be nice to know if the vial provided by Sloane’s father actually helped them produce a child, and what that child might be like. Nine is really great with other people’s kids, and I love the way he responded to her when she was upset thinking she was infertile. That entire scene had me cracking up, he was very nonchalant with his “sacs” of his baby making juice and hiding them LOL.

The narrators were *chef’s kiss*. They were very EXPRESSIVE in their scenes. The spicy scenes made you feel like you were a fly on the wall or apart of it. The duet worked really well together. I will be looking for more of their works in the future. It is Avery Caris and Jonathan Lake.