Reviewer: Holly Menagerie by Lara Santiago
Publisher: Siren Publishing
Publication Date: July 1st 2008
Genres: Fiction, Erotica, Fantasy
Pages: 212
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MENAGERIE [Erotic Sci-fi/Multiple Partner Romance] What's a girl to do with five hot guys who need her for their sexual survival? Create a weekly schedule.
Accidentally transported to an alien spaceship, Valerie Thornhill inadvertently volunteers to be a virtual sex slave for five men. A shortage of females and her blatant curiosity aboard the alien vessel conspire and set fate in motion. The fact that the five are sexy and attractive is helpful when she learns the term of service is three years.
Forbidden to show favoritism within her unusual household for the duration of the long trip, Valerie still can't help falling in love with the most intriguing one of her male harem. The fact that she is apprehensive about his demeanor and overall size only heightens her desire for him. When the aliens discover Valerie's indiscretion, the ultimate price for her desire may jeopardize the return trip to Earth for all of them.
Valerie is minding her own business on a jog in the park when she sees two people getting into a motorcycle shootout. She hits the ground and wakes up on board a spaceship where she’s about to be “chosen” as a sex slave for up to 5 men. She figures she’s dreaming and just plays along.
On her way to the “gauntlet arena” where she’ll be paraded in front of hundreds of men, she accidentally gets separated from the group and meets Hauser. He’s on his way to the arena for the gauntlet ceremony (where the men vie for the ladies) to find a mate for himself and his 4 roommates. Since this is just a dream anyway, Valerie asks Hauser if she can just pick him and be done with it. He’s attractive and she knows she’s going to wake up before any of the good stuff happens anyway, so why not play along? He agrees and says he’ll meet her in the arena. The arena isn’t quite what Valerie had in mind, and it isn’t long before she’s being mobbed by hundreds of desperate men. For you see, if the men don’t get some w/in 60 days of being there, they die a slow, horrible, painful death.
Eventually Hauser catches up with her and they agree she will become the mate of him and his 4 housemates. She agrees to have sex with each of them twice a month – so a total of 10 times a month she’ll “service” her men. Hauser is overjoyed by this, because apparently that isn’t normal at all. Mostly the women are bitches and only agree to doing it once every 60 days with each guy, which is the minimum requirement. They kiss to seal the deal, but the fun is only beginning. Because this isn’t a dream, and Valerie has just agreed to “service” 5 men for a period of 3 years. Since she sealed the deal with a kiss, she can’t get out of it either.
In a daze, Valerie goes with Hauser to meet the rest of the guys in the group. It turns out all five men are tall, well built and absolutely gorgeous. There’s Hauser, who’s sweet, gentle and compassionate; Johnny, who’s very playful and funny; Frasier is a buttoned down, conservative type; Marcus is very approachable and sweet, but also has an adventurous side; Dominick is the last of them, and he’s the biggest of them all. He has a darkness about him that frightens Valerie, but he’s also the one she’s most attracted to.
I really did end up liking this a lot more than I expected. There was quite a bit more emotional depth here than I thought there’d be, along with quite a bit of humor and a fairly well drawn story arc. There are certain rules Valerie has to follow besides having relations w/ each guy twice a month. She has to cook them breakfast and isn’t allowed to work, which annoys the crap out of her (me? I could probably deal with being loved by 5 men and just chillin’ at home all day, but whatever). She meets a friend, Daisy, and the two of them stir up mischief together. They keep getting called before the “council”, which are 3 aliens who monitor what goes on inside the starship. As time goes on, Valerie finds herself falling for one of her guys, which breaks the cardinal rule in Alien world – don’t give one more attention than another. She can’t seem to help herself, though. Then, as the guilt from keeping the secret starts to weigh on her, she begins having horribly frightening dreams that effect her relationship with all five of them.
In the end it turned out be a fast paced tale and one I enjoyed. Though there’s certainly some cheese involved, it was still rather compelling. I’d recommend it.
4.0 out of 5
This book is available from Siren Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.