Author: Samantha Cayto
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Pages/Word Count: 140 Pages
At a Glance: Not for everyone, but definitely a fun series with fascinating characters.
Reviewed By: Jennifer
Blurb: Sometimes surrender turns into victory…
Forced to be the sex slave of an alien warrior, perpetual bad-boy, Joel, finds himself tossed into the bed of a space station commander who tests even Joel’s cultivated bravado. While he learned to survive an abusive father, the Travian proves to be a greater challenge. Joel soon finds himself caught between the desperate need to fight his captivity and the unnerving tug of attraction he feels for his new master.
Born to one of the lower castes of his people, Arath has worked his way up to a coveted command. His drive for success has left him isolated from his crew. He has no time or interest in caring for the pesky human pet thrust upon him by his superior. His duty allows him no other choice, so he reluctantly takes what has been given to him. He is surprised by how easily he is seduced by his pet’s allure.
Joel and Arath dance around each other and their growing attraction, until politics intrudes and tests their tentative feelings. The stakes are suddenly raised, and the choices they make may change the course of history for both of their species.
Reader Advisory: This book contains sex scenes of a non-consensual nature, as well as scenes of dubious consent, violence, abuse and torture.
Review: Please pay attention to the warning on this book and this series. They mean what they say when they say non-con, dub-con, abuse, and torture. If that will bother or trigger you, then I recommend staying away from this series. However, if you are a brave reader or want a different type of adventure, then I really cannot recommend this series highly enough. Even though part of me knows it should be wrong to enjoy a book like this with those themes, I love it. The characters, the plot, the writing… it’s all just so well done that I get sucked into the world Samantha Cayto has created, and I don’t want to leave it.
Following the events of the first book, where Wid, Joel, and the other boys have helped save the ship that has imprisoned them, things have changed for them. No longer are they forced to be sex slaves for the alien Travians—their captors must gain their consent. Joel hates being held captive by his master, Firth, and considers himself straight, so he rarely, if ever, allows him to go that far. However, when Firth takes ill and must be transported to a space station, he brings Joel along with him. Once there, however, the female in charge of the station decides Joel cannot stay with Firth and gives him to Arath, the male in command of the station. Without the protection of Captain Kell, Joel’s protests are useless and his abuse begins again. Arath doesn’t understand why Joel doesn’t like his attentions, and considers him a pet, even if he doesn’t want the responsibility of one. But when a plot unfolds on the station, it’s up to Joel and his new friend Wen to help stop it.
So yes, there is dubious consent and straight up non-con. But as with the first book, it’s not done to be this wonderful thing. It is used to show how different the aliens are from humans. And that’s what I like about this series. The Travians are vastly different from humans, and Cayto does a good job portraying that. Let’s face it, if we were to encounter intelligent life in the universe, it’s very unlikely that they would have the same set of morals and social structures that we would have. It’s conceited to think so. And that’s why I can stomach what happens to the humans. I’m able to remember that these are not humans doing it, and that in the end, progress is made.
For those familiar with the first book, it might seem like the same idea is reused; I mean really, ship falls to mutiny, humans try to restore it. However, this book is not what it seems. I’ll leave it at that, because I don’t want to ruin anything, but let’s say I was pleasantly surprised and loved it.
Do you need to read the first book to understand this one? No, not necessarily, but it would definitely give better perspective. Cayto does a good job of relating events of the previous book to catch up new readers and to remind old fans without boring them. But I think it’s best to go back to the first in order to understand just what Joel and his friends were up against when they were first taken from their colony.
Now, I sadly must wait for the third book in the series, and I sincerely hope it’s about Stuart because I adored him in the first book and missed him in this one!
You can buy The Rebellious Pet here:
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