Alien Mine by Lucy Varna is a pretty standard "strong protector" trope romance with the exception that the protector, in this case, is an alien warrior. It tried to address the various logical issues, with varying degrees of success, and the story was enjoyable, if a bit long, but some bits can be explained better. To recap
Pruxnae Dyuvad ab Mhij was sent to Earth to protect a young girl, but he had no idea from what, as Earth is in the far frontier beyond normal civilization. He was not expecting to find a goat farm, a temptress in the form of the girl's mother, and another daughter. Rachel Hunter has no time to spare among her goat farm, her two daughters, and her eccentric brother. Her ex-husband is in prison for murder, and a gang leader tried to kidnap her family supposedly for her ex-husband's "debts". When a georgeous tattooed big guy crashed into her fence, then offered to pay for staying on her farm for six months, she's in no position to refuse. Dyuvad soon found the danger accosting Rachel is lurking closer than ever, even as they fall for each other...The problem with this book, as with most "sci-fi" romances, is the trope that the alien warrior is basically "better man than Earthlings", but let's leave that aside for the moment. The problem with Dyuvad is he's just so... bland. His "wound" or ghost is merely that he didn't seem to have much accomplishment or have a bride. His alien tech wizardry was enough to save everyone, even at the end. After all, he has teleporter, super armor, AND ray gun. Except those gadgets somehow didn't help him much in the final battle. However, the big fight was far too fast and over in an eyeblink, and I think the author lost count of the number of thugs in the room.
SPOILER
AHEAD
IN SMALL PRINT
There were at least four enemies in the room: gang leader, the ex, and two thugs. Yet Dyuvad tossed merely ONE stunner onto one guy, with threat of activation, and all four surrendered. WTF?
There was also no full explanation on "Tiny" (the protectee)'s condition, which is another spoiler I won't mention. The book even broke the 4th wall a bit by joking why didn't he just take the entire family away at the beginning, haha.
There really isn't too much to recommend this "bodyguard" trope novel. Dyuvad was just not that interesting aside from domineering but sweet personality. Rachel is okay.
Category: Science Fiction Romance
Primary Plot: Strong Protector / Damsel in Distress
TL;DR: Alien merc must protect mother and two young daughters from evil gang
Overall rating: 3/5
