Reviewer: Holly
Brilliant Starlight by Anna Carven
Series: Dark Planet Warriors #8
Also in this series: Dark Planet Warriors, Dark Planet Falling, Into the Light , Out of Darkness , Forged in Shadow , Infinity's Embrace , Electric Heart
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: July 8, 2017
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Point-of-View: Alternating First
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler » No, Continuing Storyarc « Hide Spoiler
Content Warning: View Spoiler » Gore, Death, Destruction, « Hide Spoiler
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 220
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2021 Goodreads Challenge
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Series Rating:

Abbey We're back on Silence, orbiting the Dark Planet while my husband handles unfinished business on Kythia. For some reason, he seems a little bit tense. According to Tarak, Kythian politics can be complicated, especially when the entire Kordolian Empire has just been destroyed. I hope things don't get too complicated, because I don't want to be stuck here for too long. A warship isn't really the best place to raise a child.

Tarak The only way to ensure Abbey and Ami remained safe was to bring down the Empire. It is done. Now it is up to the statesmen and scholars to rebuild our civilization from the inside out. I'm just here to provide the muscle, but above all, I'm here to keep my mate and my child safe. If anything or anyone dares to threaten them... They know how I will respond. The problem is that not all enemies can be taken down by force.

Warning: This book is a science-fiction alien romance. It contains swearing, violence, sensual sex scenes, and silver aliens with fangs. It's definitely recommended for readers aged 18 and over.

Brilliant Starlight is Book 8 in the Dark Planet Warriors series. It will make more sense if you've read the other books in the series beforehand, but that's probably not absolutely essential.

Brilliant Starlight (Dark Planet Warriors #8) by Anna Carven takes us back to Abby and Tarek, the couple from book 1.

I wasn’t thrilled thrilled go back to Abbey and Tarak. I don’t dislike them, but I didn’t love them enough to want multiple books about them. I thought this was going to follow the groundwork that was started after the political upheaval in the previous books, but that wasn’t the case. It was more of a reaffirmation of how great they are and didn’t really advance the story arc. I’m bummed, because I really wanted more in terms of where things are now. I believe this book started out as a serial and it read that way. The chapters were repetitive and constantly went over the same ground again and again. I’m pretty sure this was just a loving farewell to Abby and Tarek from the author, since this book closes this chapter of the series. If you’re a huge fan of theirs I’m sure you’ll love it. I’m sorry I didn’t skip it.

I am looking forward to the spinoff series, which features other First-Division warriors as they adjust to life outside the Empire.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Dark Planet Warriors

Reviewer: Holly
Electric Heart by Anna Carven
Series: Dark Planet Warriors #7
Also in this series: Dark Planet Warriors, Dark Planet Falling, Into the Light , Out of Darkness , Forged in Shadow , Infinity's Embrace , Brilliant Starlight
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: April 1, 2017
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler » No, Continuing Storyarc « Hide Spoiler
Content Warning: View Spoiler » Blood, Gore, Death, Destruction « Hide Spoiler
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 260
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2021 Goodreads Challenge
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Series Rating:

Electric Heart is Book 7 in the Dark Planet Warriors Series. It will make more sense if you've read the other books in the series beforehand. Chronologically, it picks up where Forged in Shadow (Book 5) left off.

Riana's terrified of these fierce Kordolians. They fight like demons and possess strange alien technology which makes them damn hard to kill. After her nerve-wracking experience on the superfreighter Hendrix II, she wants nothing to do with them. All she wants to do is live a peaceful Kordolian-free life back on Earth. Too bad the Board of Corrections is on her case over past misdemeanors. Too bad someone's trying to kill her. She has no idea why. Too bad the only one who can keep her safe is a scary-hot, silent alien with coldfire eyes and a very sharp sword. But hey, at least she doesn't have to deal with flesh-eating insectoid monsters anymore. The only monster she has to deal with now is a silver-skinned one named Kail. And he's more than a match for her attackers. That's reassuring... right?

Warning: This book is a science-fiction alien romance. It contains swearing, violence, sensual sex scenes, and silver aliens with fangs. It's definitely recommended for readers aged 18 and over.

Electric Heart (Dark Planet Warriors #7) by Anna Carven follows Riana and Kail. I was anxious for their story.

I really liked both Riana and Kail. Riana had a mysterious past that we learned more about here. I liked that Kail didn’t immediately fall in love with her, as that’s been a theme throughout the series. There was a lot of action in this novel, which kept the story moving. I wasn’t as invested in the conspiracy aspects of this book, but I did enjoy the way Riana and Kail partnered up.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Dark Planet Warriors

Reviewer: Holly
Infinity's Embrace by Anna Carven
Series: Dark Planet Warriors #6
Also in this series: Dark Planet Warriors, Dark Planet Falling, Into the Light , Out of Darkness , Forged in Shadow , Electric Heart , Brilliant Starlight
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: December 5, 2016
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler » No, Continuing Storyarc « Hide Spoiler
Content Warning: View Spoiler » Death, Destruction, Gore, Betrayal « Hide Spoiler
Genres: Science Fiction
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2021 Goodreads Challenge
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Series Rating:

Rescued from captivity by a group of rather intimidating Kordolians, Noa finds herself recovering at a strange facility in the middle of the desert. SynCorp's medical experiments have left her with an impossible ability she can't control, and nobody really seems to know how to help her. She's fragile and shattered, a mere shadow of her former self, and she has nowhere else to go.

She doesn't know what to make of the Kordolians, especially when she can't stop their thoughts from leaking into her mind. The silver-skinned warriors are both terrifying and protective, and when she encounters a dark, mysterious presence in the most unlikely of places, she realizes that at least one of them might possess abilities similar to her own.
The question is, does this intimidating being intend to help her, or harm her?

Warning: This book is a science-fiction alien romance. It contains swearing, violence, sensual sex scenes and silver aliens with fangs. It's definitely recommended for readers aged 18 and over.

Infinity's Embrace is Book Six in the Dark Planet Warriors Series. It will make more sense if you've read the other books first, although that's probably not absolutely essential.

Infinity’s Embrace (Dark Planet Warriors #6) by Anna Carven takes us away from the First-Division Warriors and focuses instead on the deadly assassin’s who are trained to take them down.

Ashreal was taken from his family at a young age, blinded and forced to train as an assassin, all because he showed signs of having strong psychic power. He’s sent after Tarek, the former general of the Kordolian army, who defected with his elite First-Division warriors. Ash can’t disobey a direct order from his mistress, but when he’s captured Tarek helps him find a way to break free. Ash only succeeds in breaking his bonds because of Noa, a recently rescued captive.

Noa had a beautiful life until a shady corporation kidnapped her and experimented on her. Now she can hear everyone else’s thoughts in her head and it’s slowly driving her mad…until she meets Ashreal and he puts a shell over her mind to protect her. With his help she’s able to learn to shield on her own, but there is a deep connection between them and she can’t seem to let go.

This might be my favorite of the series to date. I really liked Ashrael and Noa. Their personal struggles were so heartbreaking, which made their connection and romance so much more powerful. The overall storyarc is really progressed in this novel, and I’m interested to see where things head next.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5

Dark Planet Warriors

Reviewer: Holly
Forged in Shadow by Anna Carven
Series: Dark Planet Warriors #5
Also in this series: Dark Planet Warriors, Dark Planet Falling, Into the Light , Out of Darkness , Infinity's Embrace , Electric Heart , Brilliant Starlight
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: October 5, 2016
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler » No, Continuing Storyarc « Hide Spoiler
Content Warning: View Spoiler » Death, Destruction, Gore, « Hide Spoiler
Genres: Science Fiction
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2021 Goodreads Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books

Series Rating:

Sergeant Arin Varga has a problem on her hands. She's supposed to be in charge of a squad of peacekeepers. That's something she would normally handle with ease, except that now her people are stuck in Earth's orbit on a doomed superfreighter. To make things worse, they're being held hostage by a group of very threatening, very menacing silver-skinned Kordolians, who are insistent that all they want is safe passage to Earth to kill oversized insects. One particular alien, who goes by the name of Rykal, seems be constantly getting inside her personal space. He isn't just threatening, he's friendly and threatening, and if Arin isn't careful, that could become a major problem.

Warning: This book is a science-fiction alien romance. It contains swearing, violence, sensual sex scenes and silver aliens with fangs. It's definitely recommended for readers aged 18 and over.

Forged in Shadow is Book Five in the Dark Planet Warriors Series. It will make more sense if you've read the other books first, although that's probably not absolutely essential.

Forged in Shadow (Dark Planet Warriors #5) by Anna Carven follows Captain Arin as she leaves the asteroid mining station where she was sent as punishment. The series weaves back and forth in time and story-arc, so the storyline is kind of all over the place. I was a little annoyed at first that we went back to where the series started, since the other books had advanced so far past that, but I ended up enjoying where the story went.

Up to this point, the romances in this series have been of the insta-love variety. While that happened here on his side, she held out longer and I found it to be more believable. I really liked Arin. She’s the commander of the Peacekeepers and she’s very well suited to the position. I liked that she was the sort to just handle shit. I also liked Rykal. He was a freak even by First Division standards, which made him a total badass. There’s a lot of action and adventure here. It’s definitely an edge-of-your-seat read.

This series is cracktastic. I just can’t stop.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Dark Planet Warriors