Convergence (Intersolar Union Series, 1); Etta Pierce

Oh boy, I don’t even know where to begin here. Did I love the fact that this book is so obviously inspired by Mass Effect? Especially the Shepard and Garrus relationship? Yes. Because I, too, am obsessed with that and will play only that relationship arc each and every time. But I guess I was also expecting more of the story, and the sexy bits, too? We have a plot: Olivia is abducted by aliens because they need a profiler like her to help their commander infiltrate a human sex trafficking ring. Cool. Or it would have been except the trafficking aspects were only present as a vehicle to get Olivia and Thel into sexy situations which… I did not love. But it could have worked if those elements of the plot had been woven into the book, which they were not. Allow me to explain.

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Basically, the reason that Olivia gets kidnapped is over before the 50% mark in this book. The rest is kind of a miscommunication trope sprinkled with reluctant fated mates. Which, I could have forgiven, if there was more to Thel that felt like Garrus beyond his physique and the fact that he works in law enforcement. But what I couldn’t forgive was that one of the earliest sexual tension scenes comes when Thel and Olivia are trying to fool the cameras and rescue two abused CHILDREN at the same time. Thel and Olivia aren’t really pretending to get hot and bothered and the fact that two minors are literally huddling, crying in a corner, doesn’t seem to dampen their hormones in the slightest. While I don’t mind romances tackling darker themes and tones, this was a really odd way to weave that darkness into the book, especially when it felt so pointless. The sex trafficking mission ends so fast and so easily that I question why that was the avenue we went with to start. There’s some logistics around the humans they rescue afterwards but there’s really nothing too gripping happening on that front.
 
The book entertained me for perhaps the wrong reasons, but I was entertained and I did finish the book, so there is that. But I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope most of the time. If it’s done well, and there’s a solid reason for withholding information then I’m all for it. But Thel doesn’t have a good reason for not explaining things to the woman he absconded with and then tells can never return to Earth. Like, the least he can do is explain these alien races to her that she now will be living with. And while I liked the use of the linguitor to get over the speech issues, it did mean that a lot of the “alien-ness” of this world and the races don’t feel all that alien, especially when Olivia drools over Thel for the same reasons she would a human man (abs, baby!).

If the book had remained purely smut driven, since the plot was barely a vehicle to drive these two characters to bed, then I expected more smut. Sadly, most of the sexy bits don’t come until after the 85% mark in the story. So, while I enjoyed that the book pulled from source material I love, the book didn’t really seem to know what it was doing story wise. It was entertaining at times, and given this is a debut and the start of a romance set in a shared universe, it’s a promising start. Personally, I was just expecting/hoping/wanting more/better, hence the 2 stars. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be staying in this series, either.