Review by Vickyoreo86 -- The Bonding by Imogen Keeper

Vickyoreo86 · Post by **Vickyoreo86** » 22 May 2017, 10:34

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Bonding" by Imogen Keeper.]

3 out of 4 stars

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The Bonding by Imogen Keeper is a sci-fi romance set on the planet Trian and a spaceship called Sierra-6. It follows Nissa, a Princess of Trian, who is soon to be married to a man who was elected for her and Tam, one of the Warrior Tribe of the planet Argentus who resides on Sierra-6.

Nissa's planet has been invaded by the Vestige, an alien race of pale-skinned, barbarian like people who seek out quartz, a rich material. Trian has an abundance of quartz and the Vestige give the Trianni a choice between leaving or being taken over. The Trianni, a peaceful race with no weapons and made up of mainly farmers, refused to leave their beautiful home. The King believed the Vestige would move on. However, the alien race began executing the Trianni until the King made a decision to send 100 of the Trianni into space to seek out help in preservation pods. He believed within a few years they could find others to help reclaim their planet and rebuild.

The King was wrong. Close to 500 years later, Tam discovered Nissa floating in space. Close to death, as the pods can only function for so long, she is suffering from the fatal 'blue-tinge'. The only way to restore her health, with no healers on his small ship used for solo missions, is to give her his 'serum'. Meaning he must have sex with her as his 'serum' has the healing qualities she needs. This will also Bond them as mates for eternity. This is the way of his people, the Argentus, a planet that lost nearly all of their females to an incurable disease. Having saved Nissa from near death and sharing the Bond with her, Tam pleads for his Tribe to help reclaim the Trian planet from the Vestige. He would do anything to help his new Mate. But 500 years have passed and much has changed on Trian. There are far more pressures on a Princess and soon to be Queen then Nissa ever imagined, even giving up the one thing she loves the most.

At first, I was really not a fan of The Bonding. The beginning launched into a crazy sex fest which I felt Nissa lacked any choice in, despite the fact Tam seemed to genuinely care for her. The men of his Tribe are incredibly lucky if they ever spot a female in their entire adult lives due to most of them dying. The Tribe has a need to repopulate and so females are of high importance to them. I like a good erotic book and I love detailed sex scenes that make you blush but, unfortunately, in the first few chapters I found the descriptions moved from sexy to a little over-explained, especially when it came to Tam's 'serum' being literally everywhere. However, once that first quarter was out of the way and the true core of the story surfaced, I began to really enjoy it. It had a simple plot but it was joined with beautiful world building that filled the imagination and sweet scenes between Nissa and Tam as they constantly questioned the feelings that came with their bond. It even became quite emotional between them.

The last quarter of this book was by far my favourite, with things becoming stressful between Tam and Nissa as she was pulled between her people suffering under Vestige rule and her growing love for her life mate. Tam becomes this wonderfully selfless person who puts himself through physical pain to be what Nissa needs, to help her stand by her people. I felt so bad for her trying to be what her father and people wanted even after 500 years. The character development is enjoyable and though I did not agree with Nissa in many of her decisions and Tam's inner monologues during his POV's were frustrating at times, they grew on me as they learned and became stronger through their shared experiences.

My only complaints with the book were the first couple of chapters between Nissa and Tam's Bonding and how quickly things seemed to wrap up at the end. Just as it was becoming deep within the story, it suddenly became glossed over with quick explanations. I wanted to see the struggles on Trian against the Vestige and I wanted to watch the problems being fixed after all the stress of trying to reclaim the planet. In general, I wanted to experience the Vestige far more as we see very little of the evil the characters speak about.

The Bonding is a really good book and one I would recommend to romance/erotic and sci-fi lovers. I would say it would be more for those who don't mind a lot of sex, due to the racy beginning and descriptive scenes all the way through the book. Very little is left to the imagination and it leans further towards hardcore. I rate it 3 out of 4 stars as it is very well edited, has a gripping storyline and evokes emotion between the many sex scenes.

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The Bonding
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Spirit Wandering · Post by **Spirit Wandering** » 27 May 2017, 20:47

Great review! I looked over this one on the potential review list and I wasn't quite sure what to think about it. Your review gives a very good overview of it. I like books that do a cross over of SciFi and Romance but this one might be a little too steamy for my taste.

General Doc · Post by **General Doc** » 28 May 2017, 00:16

Spirit Wandering wrote:Great review! I looked over this one on the potential review list and I wasn't quite sure what to think about it. Your review gives a very good overview of it. I like books that do a cross over of SciFi and Romance but this one might be a little too steamy for my taste.

I just want to second the comment made by Spirit Wandering - way too steamy for me but great review nonetheless.