Reviewer: Tracy Champion of Her Heart by Juniper Kerry
Series: Warriors of the Augur Nebula #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: June 30, 2020
Format: eBook
Source: Author
Point-of-View: Alternating 1st person
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 227
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
Series Rating:
Smart-as-a-whip Callie has a doctorate in Alien Studies. Unfortunately, her grant money has run out, and with it, her rent money. Desperate for a job, she turns to her high-power father, who has an idea: he will appoint her as the liaison for the Xalke - a race of aliens looking for breeding partners. With his daughter in charge of introductions, Grant Holland knows he can find a way to build new business partnerships. Callie is willing to make connections for her father. ...That is, until she meets Prince Dek. Now, the idea of introducing him to beautiful women makes her stomach hurt.
Dek has been sent to Earth with a clear purpose: find female volunteers and bring them back to his planet to breed. Unlike some of his fellow princes, Dek isn't against the humans, nor is he against babies. When he sees Callie, he knows right away that she is the woman for him. But for some reason, Callie resists. Though she seems to melt when he touches her, she also keeps pushing him into another woman’s arms. Dek has only a week before he must return to his home; can he win her heart in time?
Champion of Her Heart is the fifth book in the Warriors of the Augur Nebula series by Juniper Kerry. It is a steamy romance, featuring inter-species pair-bonding, love at first sight, and a guaranteed happy ending.
Callie has finished her PhD in Alien Studies as she lives in a world where Aliens are friends of Earth. Certain aliens (the Sarta) have been on Earth for years and have started factories and stripped the Earth of its resources. Why would we want to continue being friends with them? Not only are they friends, but Earth’s governments go a bit far in keeping them happy, obviously. One of the ways they are doing that is allowing representatives of the Denne race from the planet Beshtast to come and collect human women who would like to move to their planet and breed with them. All voluntarily, of course.
The Denne have discovered that human woman are compatible with them (see books 1-4 to see how that came about), and they don’t die after giving birth, which is what has been happening for centuries with other alien races that are compatible. One of the Denne Princes, Dek, has come to Earth with 4 warriors to choose women who would like to live on Beshtast and breed with the Denne.
Callie is the liaison between the Denne and the women who have volunteered. She’s planned events to keep them busy, show them a bit of Washington D.C. and coordinated gatherings to meet pre-selected candidates. When Callie first meets the aliens as they step off the spaceship, she never imagines that she would be so drawn to Prince Dek.
Prince Dek is shocked when he steps onto Earth for the first time and finds his pair-bonded mate right in front of him. He must convince her to come back to his homeworld with him, which is not going to be as easy as he thinks, as Callie has no intention of leaving Earth.
CoHH is book 5 in the Warriors of the Augur Nebula series. It is a little different from books 1-4 as it takes place, for the most part, on Earth and not on Beshtast like the other 4 books.
In this book Callie and Prince Dek are pair-bonded – basically fated mates. They feel a pull towards each other. Dek knows what he’s feeling almost immediately, but obviously Callie is a little confused as to why she feels such a strong pull to this alien. Dek is all that is strong, kind, thoughtful – I’ll admit, he’s a pretty good guy (considering I didn’t care for him all that much in previous books) but Callie keeps herself away from him. She has no desire to leave Earth and she’s determined to find him a mate that’s not her. This really confounded me, I must admit. She’s down on her luck, no job, nowhere to live, her dad isn’t making anything easier even though he’s got pots of money, and she doesn’t want to go live with the prince who she’s falling in love with. What is wrong with you?? Lol Ok, I see that it’s scary to consider leaving the life you’ve known for something completely unknown, but really, why stay?
The author does a pretty good job of making us understand that Callie wants to feel needed and that she’s making a difference in her life and others. She also finds a solution to the problem, but I won’t tell you what that is. 😉
There are things about this series that I really like. I like that it’s high on girl-power and that the human women in the books are trying to make the aliens see that they aren’t just things to breed, but people with emotions, needs, rights, etc. That part is great. On the other hand I find it a bit ridiculous that the aliens throughout the series are so well versed in just about everything, but they have no idea what tears are, or that little nub that is part of a female’s anatomy. But they know all about going down on a woman? Lol Ok, whatever.
Overall I find the series entertaining. The books are pretty short (200-250 pages) and are quick reads. If you like sci-fi and alien romance, then this might be one for you to check out. This does say that it’s a stand-alone, but I would recommend reading from book 1 to understand everything that’s going on.
Rating: 3.25 out of 5