This short novel classifies itself as "erotic romance", though personally I thought it leaned more toward the romance side than anything. That's not a criticism, but more a praise on the author's part for keeping the story in focus, and maintaining the idea of a nonphysical connection between Mari and Ekkatt over a sexual one. Everything moved a bit too fast for my liking, but then again, I'm used to 800 page novels or five-part book series where each book is at least 500 pages. I definitely felt the connection and understanding between Mari and Ekkatt, though I still feel that Ekkatt changed his mind about her a little too fast.

However, despite that small little aspect, I loved the book. I normally do not "do" romance in the least bit, but this was very raw and real (as raw and real as it gets in terms of sci-fi, anyway), and Ms. Barrett definitely provides her readers with a connection and a sympathy for both characters. You're definitely going to be rooting for them in the end. ( )

Disclosure: I received this book as a Review Copy. Some people think this may bias a reviewer so I am making sure to put this information up front. I don't think it biases my reviews, but I'll let others be the judge of that.

I am pretty sure that I am not the target audience for this book. This fact, however, did not prevent me from enjoying it quite a bit. An erotic science fiction romance in which a human woman is abducted by an alien slave trader and then seduces him into removing her from the auction block and is in turn seduced by him into falling in love.

The book opens up in media res, with Mari, the female protagonist of the story, waking up to find herself in a cage on board a ship full of other abducted human women on her way to parts unknown. After some confusion, she sees her captors: cruel yellow eyed aliens who regard her and all other humans as nothing more than beasts, not even fit for clothing. It is in these early sequences establishing the initial relationship between the feisty redheaded Mari and her captor Ekkatt that are probably the most critical and the most dangerous for the story. Unless Barrett is able to define the extreme distance between the two characters, then their later journey towards a loving relationship would be less effective. On the other hand, the danger is if Ekkatt's point of view is not explained well, then he can become a character too abhorrent for the love story to be accepted by the reader. After all, Ekkatt's job is to travel to alien planets, abduct their women, and then profit from selling them to be used as sex slaves or to be killed for meat. Fortunately, Barrett is able to walk this fine line, and although Ekkatt at times seems just a little too able to empathize with his quarry to be in his profession, the initial animosity Mari displays towards him makes up for it.

Mari strikes up her relationship with Ekkatt purely out of a sense of self-preservation. Having woken up unexpectedly while all of the other abducted women are still unconscious, Meri finagles her way into being allowed to stay awake for the duration of the trip, insinuating herself into Ekkatt's frame of reference out of a sense of self preservation. In short, Mari has to try to cajole Ekkatt into seeing her as more than simply a beast in order to survive. An interesting point about the story is that even though Mari is the protagonist and viewpoint character, the character with the most interesting personal arc is Ekkatt as he struggles with a lifetime of prejudices and is forced to confront the horror of what he has done. While Mari does everything she does driven initially by a desire to not be made into a dinner entree - making her character motivations crystal clear, Ekkatt's motivations are a little more opaque, attracted seemingly to her feisty nature and the dragon tattoo on her back, but he does eventually see her as a thinking being, and then eventually as someone to be respected, and finally a companion.

Given that I described the book as an erotic science fiction romance, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Mari and Ekkatt eventually become lovers. The book contains plenty of intense interspecies sex as Mari and Ekkatt consummate their relationship in a variety of steamy scenes. Leaving aside the moderate absurdity that an alien would be sexually compatible with a human at all, the one element that really demonstrates (to me at least) that I am not really the target audience for this book is the somewhat idealized nature of Ekkatt as a sexual partner. He is tall, lean, well-muscled, and well-endowed. He is also, gentle, caring, and, in the heat of passion, animalistic, but only in a way that is erotically arousing for Mari. Although Mari is described as an attractive fit and sexy woman with an independent streak, she is ordinary enough in some ways that a female reader could put herself in Mari's place and enjoy the fantasy almost from a first-person perspective. Although this comparison may seem juvenile to some, Mari's attraction to Ekkatt seems to me to be drawn from the same sort of impulse that makes Jean Grey lust after Wolverine in the X-Man series, although in this story there is no counterbalancing "good guy" Scott Summers for her to be committed to. Instead, the choice given to Mari is essentially between the Wolverine stand-in Ekkatt and Pana, who seems much more like Sabretooth. In short, her choice is between the "bad boy" and the even worse boy, and isn't really a choice at all.

As Mari is essentially an escaped slave, there is conflict in the book, and this is the element of the book that I wish had been developed more. Through the book there are essentially only five characters, one of which is the villain in the piece, who is dealt with in an almost perfunctory manner. And this brings me to my only real criticisms of the book: I wanted there to be more of it. As an erotic science fiction romance, the book focuses primarily on the relationship between Mari and Ekkatt, and of course the sexual encounters between the two, but I wanted to see more of Ekkatt's world, and more time devoted to the hunt for and pursuit of Mari by the slave traders. As it is, the book feels too short, and the life changing decision that Ekkatt makes to avoid the religiously driven prejudices of his home world seems to come too quickly and easily. In the end, although the development of Ekkatt and Mari's relationship was more or less complete, I wanted to story to go on to explore the new life they had made for themselves. As a general rule of thumb, wishing that a book was two to three times as long as it actually is is actually a good sign, and this book is no exception. When an author leaves you wanting more story, as Barrett does with this book, that is a testament to the quality of the writing.

Captured is an excellent science fiction romance that is only marred by the fact that it should have had a more extensive story. With a pair of interesting and ultimately sympathetic characters, a well-written romance, lots of intense sexual encounters, and a fairly interesting (although too cursorily fleshed out for my testes) fictional world, this book is a very enjoyable read. As with most truly good books, this one left me wanting more, and my only complaints are that there wasn't enough time spent exploring the world, and that the story ended too soon. But if you want some science fiction mixed with eroticism, this is definitely a book to read.

This review has also been posted to my blog Dreaming About Other Worlds. ( )

Review posted here: http://offbeatvagabond.blogspot.com/2011/08/indie-book-review-captured-by-julia....

Thanks to the lovely author J. R. Barrett, I have had the opportunity to review some of her books. First down is Captured, an erotic science fiction romance. I must say, I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I was definitely enthralled by page 1.

I love the story Barrett has given us, it is quite an amazing concept. Mari, along with various other human women, is abducted from Earth and is going to be sold on another planet. They are considered nothing more than animals, so they are either sold as sex slaves or…entrees. I really didn’t expect it to be that dark, but it made me more intrigued. But Mari, being the strong woman she is, didn’t stay down like the rest of the “herd” and that makes Ekkatt curious.

Ekkatt is an alien, a humanoid, whose job is to travel to Earth and bring back the “food”, but he quickly learns that she is way more than that. While it is against the rules, he talks to the human and finds out that she is not the brainless animal he has been taught she would be. He finds out that she and the others are rational thinkers and he is now determined to escape with her even though it will cost them their lives.

I loved this book. I would gladly read it many times over. It was full of adventure and kept me on my toes. I really couldn’t put it down. The world (well worlds) Barrett has created were just brilliant. Even if you aren’t a fan of science fiction, there is still much to appreciate in the book. I love what Ekkatt and Mari learn from each other especially the sex. Barrett definitely knows how to write some sexy scenes. But I loved that neither of them complained about their situation. They know their lives are on the line and they were each other’s equals. Ekkatt never saw Mari as some weakling human, never thought “Hey I should have left her behind to save my own skin”. And Mari never saw Ekkatt as a monster; she understood why he did what he did.

The only complaint I have is that I wish there was a little more conflict between Ekkatt and those he was running from. I mean we get one main villain, but I would have loved if him and Ekkatt had a brawl of some kind. The guy got what he deserved and I was happy, but still. I also would have liked more to the ending. I mean I love where they end up, but just a few more pages where we get a sense of the place and the people. Maybe a little something about Ekkatt’s estranged “family”. I know, a little too Hollywood, but I couldn’t help it. Still, it was a great ending.

I highly recommend this book to SFR lovers and if SFR isn't for you, still read it just because it is a great read. It is sexy and fun. It is a great story, full of great characters, adventure, and survival. Barrett has created some amazing worlds that I hope you all will enjoy reading about. Make sure this is on your TBR list. ( )

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