Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Invaded by Melissa Landers - REVIEW

Invaded (An Alienated Novel)                                
by Melissa Landers
Cara always knew life on planet L'eihr would be an adjustment. With Aelyx, her L'eihr boyfriend, back on Earth, working to mend the broken alliance between their two planets, Cara is left to fend for herself at a new school, surrounded by hostile alien clones. Even the weird dorm pet hates her.

Things look up when Cara is appointed as human representative to a panel preparing for a human colony on L'eihr. A society melding their two cultures is a place where Cara and Aelyx could one day make a life together. But with L'eihr leaders balking at granting even the most basic freedoms, Cara begins to wonder if she could ever be happy on this planet, even with Aelyx by her side.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Aelyx, finds himself thrown into a full-scale PR campaign to improve human-L'eihr relations. Humans don't know that their very survival depends on this alliance: only Aelyx's people have the technology to fix the deadly contamination in the global water supply that human governments are hiding. Yet despite their upper hand, the leaders of his world suddenly seem desperate to get humans on their side, and hardly bat an eye at extremists' multiple attempts on Aelyx's life. The Way clearly needs humans' help but with what? And what will they ask for in return?

Goodreads Link

Amazon Buy Link


Jennifer's Review:

Cara is on the planet L'eihr and is trying to adjust to life there. She is definitely pushed to her limits in this book both physically and emotionally. She arrives on L'eihr and is treated poorly by almost everyone. She becomes a L'eihr citizen (which was no easy task) and is still not accepted. On Earth she was valedictorian of her class but on L'eihr she struggles especially in their form of PE!  She does have her moments of doubt for both the alliance, her ability to live on L'ehr and her own "happily ever after" but she never gives up. If you liked her in book 1, you are going to love her in this sequel.

Meanwhile Aelyx  is on Earth with his own set of problems. He is miserable without Cara but is trying his best to create a favorable alliance all the while dealing with multiple assassination attempts. I liked Aelyx POV chapters but there was definitely more going on with Cara and her exploration and trials in a new world.

Love triangle? Well it seemed like it was or could of gone that way at the end of book 1 but thankfully it goes in a whole different direction!

Melissa did a great job with the romance in this book despite the fact that Cara and Aelyx were physically apart (the ultimate long distance relationship) they were never far from each other's thoughts. Melissa's switched POVs so we get to see into both Aelyx and Cara's thoughts as well the pressures that the distance created in their relationship. Romance is not the main theme in this book like it was in book 1 (mostly because the physical distance) but honestly there is so much else going on (world building, sci fi aspect, Cara adapting to life on L'ehir) that the lack of romance is not a detractor at all. You can get your romance fix by reading the novella  "Until Midnight" that Melissa published over the holidays that is free on Amazon :-)

The secondary characters were great in this book as well. We all met Syrine in book 1 and we all probably did not like her. Her development was great and even though you may of wanted drop kick her in book 1 you will definitely grow to like her in this book. David was a new character. I really enjoyed the development of his friendship with Aelyx and I could say more but I don't want to include any spoilers :-)

The plot was well paced and  keeps you hooked. Secrets, unexpected twists, and several revelations come about that change the game. The ending does not end with a cliffhanger but is definitely open ended. I am not sure if there is a book 3 but I certainly hope so!

To top it all off I have signed copy of both books and that is just soo cool!




Melissa Landers is a former teacher who left the classroom to pursue other worlds. A proud sci-fi geek, she isn’t afraid to wear her Princess Leia costume in public—just ask her husband and three kids. She lives just outside Cincinnati and writes adult contemporary romance as Macy Beckett

Melissa Landers Website

No comments:

Post a Comment