Saturday, June 25, 2016

Review: Close Contact by Katherine Allred (Alien Affairs, Book 2)

Synopsis: GEPs just want to have fun. . .A Genetically Engineered Person and self-proclaimed "party girl," Echo Adams loves her diplomatic job entertaining alien bigwigs for the Galactic Federation. But the Bureau of Alien Affairs has discovered she's much more than she thinks-that a rogue scientist endowed her with skills and psi abilities dwarfing those of common GEPs. And suddenly Echo's luxury life is over, replaced with a far more dangerous one: a special agent expected to not only chase bad guys, but eliminate them. Echo's hates being stuck on Madrea-a planet of technophobes off limits to Federation visitors-hunting for a stolen quartz crystal with a powerful alien lifeform embedded inside. She despises the Bureau's restrictive rules-especially the one warning her away from the dangerously seductive Commander of the King's Forces. And if she doesn't learn how to use her alleged super-psi powers soon, her partying days-in fact all of her days-will be over for good. (from the back of the book)

Review: Once again, Allred's book is a mix of entertaining and clichéd. We learned more about the GEPs, and the super GEPs, like Kiera, through watching Echo. Pulled from the place she was made to be and sent to a place she never should go, Echo has to deal with doing things she never trained for - and doesn't want to. Thankfully, she did not spend the book whining about it, but makes the best of her situation and takes on challenges with her own style and flair. The world-building was interesting, and the villain, although stereotypical, was at least sort of intriguing. The mystery, while not edge-of-your-seat, was enough to keep me coming back to the book when pulled away. The ending was predictable, but reasonable, and I liked it. The secondary characters were slightly flat, but entertaining, and have purpose to the story. I laughed a few times, and enjoyed the action scenes – swords and laser guns are a fun combo! The romance happened WAY To fast (again) and while the previous book played into the stone-age fetish, this one mixes the sci-fi with the medieval man-of-war fetish. It’s a unique mix, but cheesy and again, makes the book crowded. The hero and heroine smash into each other and then – presto – instant true love. Insert huge eye roll. But, it’s a romance novel and that’s normal for the genre.
Despite this, in the end, like the first book, this is fun, entertaining, and mindless – perfect to read by the pool or in the shade on a hot summer day. 

Prude Note: Kissing and a few graphic sex scenes - which can be skipped without any loss to the story. 

Bookmarks:  6 of 10

Awards: None

ISBN: 978-0-06-167243-9
Year Published: 2010
Date Finished: 6-14-2016
Pages: 324


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