Review: Stolen Desire – Robin Lovett

Stolen Desire
by Robin Lovett
Series: Planet of Desire #3
Also in this series: Captive Desire, Forbidden Desire
Publisher: Entangled: Scorched
Publication Date: July 15, 2019
Genres: Romance, Science Fiction
Pages: 281
Source: NetGalley

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My rating:

Koviye
My people call me the Sex God, but I, Koviye of the Fellamana, am so much more. I read their every desire and satisfy them with a mere touch of my hands. I’m sworn to share my powers, and this thing humans call monogamy is biologically impossible for me, or so I thought until I met the human, Jenie, Lieutenant General in the rebellion against our mutual enemy determined to destroy us. Now, as though Jenie has some power over me, I cannot think of touching anyone but her.

Jenie
I’ve dreamt of Koviye every night since I landed on this sex planet where every breath I take is an aphrodisiac to my blood. I am not fully human, I am part alien, and the planet has awakened my body’s instinct to find a mate. The next person I have sex with I will form an attachment for life, which is impossible for the Sex God. I have a rebellion to lead. Mating a polyamorous alien would ruin me. I can never have him, no matter how much I burn for him.

But I need his help. My best friend was taken prisoner by our enemies, the Ten Systems, and the only person with a ship fast enough to save her is Koviye. And all those dreams I’ve been having about him aren’t just dreams, he tells me. They’re real. He can dream walk, so if I can’t have him while I’m awake, at least I can have him in my dreams—as if that will ever be enough.

   

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This whole series – set on an alien sex planet – has been absolutely and delightfully bananapants, and this book is no different. It’s the third in the series, and while I think you’d miss out on some backstory, this could be read as a standalone if you’re just looking for some blue alien sexy times.

“I have a rebellion to help lead, the Ten Systems to outrun, and a mission to fulfill. I have no time for a Fellamana male who has as much inclination toward monogamy as fire does to water.”

While the previous two focused on human women (refugees from the evil Ten Systems Empire) and Ssedez men, the main couple in this book is Jenie, who’s half-Ulreya, and Koviye, a Fellamanan native. Jenie was, basically, chainganged into the Ten Systems space force when they conquered her planet and has kept her heritage secret, since she mostly passes as human – but something about the sex planet seems to have triggered the Ulreya mating bond, meaning she could develop a lifelong dependency on the next person she has sex with (but only penetrative sex, apparently). As a leader in the rebellion, with her commanding officer kidnapped and possibly dead, Jenie really does not have time for that, or for her interest in Koviye, one of the Fellamanan natives who are, as a species, naturally polyamorous (sex, to them, is like eating). Koviye’s also something of a leader among his people, thanks to a sex healing gift that runs in his family. (Yes, I had that Marvin Gaye song in my head pretty much every time Koviye’s gift came up.) Per their culture, it’s expected that Koviye spread around his gift, but, despite that, Koviye is fascinated with Jenie, and keeps making up reasons to seek her out. Basically, them being together is a bad idea, so of course they end up together on a small spaceship for a rescue mission.

That’s the basis of the plot and the conflict, and to be honest the plot’s a bit of a muddle.  This book’s timeline overlaps with the previous book, so the tension in the first half of the book relies on a rescue mission that we already know the outcome of. The second half of the plot is new but a bit confusing – I had problems following along with what exactly they needed to do and the logistics of it. So, in terms of doing anything other than repeatedly throwing Koviye and Jenie together, it didn’t really work for developing their relationship for me.

What did work was the sex. There’s zero gravity sex, lots of physically improbable/impossible dream sex (so much blue come, SO MUCH) and lots of general lusting around after each other. The sex scenes were fun, if completely over the top (at one point Koviye’s “eyes blaze like licentious daggers”), and verbal consent is emphasized (even though Koviye can also read Jenie’s emotions from her aura). I thought it did a good job following the course of their emotional relationship, too, though I was a bit confused and conflicted about the resolution. I appreciated how both Jenie and Koviye were leaders for their respective people, and how both cared about each other’s emotions, even though they both knew that they couldn’t fully understand how the other felt.

Overall, while this isn’t my favorite of the series, I thought it was fun to finally get a deeper glimpse of the Fellamana, and I’m looking forward to the next book! If you’re looking for some scifi erotica with gleefully improbable alien sex, this is the book for you!

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