Savor Me Slowly

SMS is a passionate, you're-the-one-for-me type of love story, with steamy enough sex to satisfy even me! It's also a fun futuristic paranormal too boot. What sets this series apart from some of the other paranormals out there is the fact that the protags and baddies are not just magical- they're alien's! Sci Fi buff that I am, you know I'm digging it.Showalter managed to intrigue me with the set of characters this series is based around- the AIR (Alien Investigation and Removal) team. They're tight knit and fun to watch together and it's obvious they care about each other. (Although in this story I was getting a bit pissed with Mia (Awaken Me Darkly). She rubbed me the wrong way much the same way Lilian Bowman did in Scandal in Spring by Lisa Kleypas. She just wouldn't back down, even when it was obvious she was wrong about Mishka!)Jaxon was totally sexy to me and it seemed he made a change from the earlier books- I'm anxious to see the progression, even though I'll be working it backwards. Mishka's own tortured past and the other's obvious dislike of her facinated me as well, especially after knowing why she did the things she did in her past.Because I started third book in, I can't say for sure that I'm in love with this author- but there's a definite infatuation! I'm anxious to see how our relationship progresses after I've read some more by her- and I will!

Savor Me Slowly is book #3 of the Alien Huntress series but the first one I picked up. After reading this one I am very interested to start the series at the beginning get the entire background to what led up to this novel. The simplest way to describe this novel is to think; MIB meets Anita Blake and their love child is the killer cyborg Mishka (Le'Ace) of Savor Me Slowly. The novel begins with Jaxon Tremain hanging from a rack, having been tortured for days by an alien race intent on gathering information about the Schon. Jaxon is part of A.I.R.; Alien Investigation and Removal for New Chicago. Enter an assassin known as Mishka (Le'Ace). Jaxon believes, as do the aliens who have him captured that she is there to continue the torture. Instead she rescues Jaxon and takes him to a hideaway where she is ordered to find out what he knows. It is Mishka's mission to find out about the Schon herself. The Schon are an alien race who have taken on the appearance of incredibly attractive human beings. In doing so, they are infecting the humans with a disease that drives them to violent madness. As well as all the infected becoming pregnant with the alien seed. What they find out together is more evil and deadly than what they thought they were facing alone. In Mishka (Le'Ace), Gena Showalter has created a complex character. Part human, part alien and part machine. She has been engineered and genetically mutated as a child. Trained to be the perfect killing machine. Kept in line by a chip inserted in her body that brings excruciating pain."...Men could do any dark deed, and it was for the good of mankind. Yet with the slightest hint of a woman's malevolence, no matter the reason, she was utterly wicked. Eve with the apple. Pandora with her box..." As with the Vampire hunting Anita Blake series there is a lot of violence and sex to go around. Only it is not with vampires or werewolves but with aliens from another world. The storyline is crisp and fast paced and the violence and sex are just another extension of the strong storytelling. A good read!

Love this series, and love an abused (but tough) heroine! Re-read reminded me to give it 4.5 stars, at least.

Savor Me Slowly
4 Stars

Engineered and programmed to be a heartless killer, Mishka Le’Ace has accepted the cold and lonely existence forced upon her by her creators and has reconciled herself to never loving or being loved. That is until she is sent to rescue AIR agent Jaxon Tremain and he gets under her skin. Tortured by the memories of his past, Jaxon has vowed never to get too close to a woman, but something about Mishka touches him deeply and ignites a passion between them that can and will overcome all obstacles …

Series Note: Although this is book #3 in the Alien Huntress series, the plot diverges significantly from the storylines of the first two installments. Moreover, the narration changes from 1st to 3rd person.

Mishka is a very intriguing mix of innocence and experience. Given her horrific childhood and the life that she has been forced to live, it is very easy to identify with her and root for her HEA. Jaxon’s past and his devotion to Mishka also make him particularly appealing. Nevertheless, he is too similar to the majority of heroes in this genre and as such does not really evoke any strong emotion.

As this is one of Showalter’s older series, the romance is masterfully written and the sex scenes are suitably steamy.

In terms of the the plot, there are two interwoven threads. The first involves an alien race called the Schon who are spreading a deadly virus amongst humans and the second revolves around Mishka’s diabolical controller. While the first is well developed and interesting with numerous twists and turns, the second, unfortunately, falls flat and the resolution is terribly anti-climactic.

The secondary characters are well written although Mia and Eden’s interactions with Mishka reveal some new and not so likable traits about the two women. That said, there behavior is true to character so it all makes sense in the end.

In sum, Savor Me Slowly is a solid addition to the series and I am eager to find out what happens next with the Schon.

Listened for Review (Simon & Schuster)Tracking Books Read Review (Short)Read in Oct 2013Overall Rating: 4.50Story Rating: 4.50Character Rating: 4.50Audio Rating: 4.00First Thought when Finished: Savor Me Slowly was freaking fantastic! I am glad I am getting to this series finally :)Overall Thoughts: This has to be my favorite in the series to date. Mishka (love that name) and Jaxon were not only smoking hot on the combustible scale but they both tugged at my heartstrings. I was so invested in their storyline that I would make tasks last longer so I could keep on listening to the audiobook. I am so glad that I am finally getting to this series because it was well worth the wait!Audio Thoughts: Narrated By Justine Eyre / Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins Justine does a fantastic job with the narration on this series. For this one, she nailed Mishka and Jaxon. Her voices for both were pretty spot on!

Mishka Le'Ace is an alien/human/mechanical hybrid designed to carry out the bidding of her creators. She has been trained (read:abused) from a young age to obey commands even those against her will. When she's ordered to torture information from AIR agent Jaxon Tremain, she gets more than she bargained for. He is willing to be tender with her and tease her and love her and save her. As a whole, the series introduces a new alien threat that will continue to be significant and fascinating as it continues to explore this future earth populated with aliens, who, like humans are sometimes good and sometimes evil.

This is the third book in the Alien Huntress series and I really did not like it all that much. Compared with the previous two books this one definitely fell solidly into the romance category; way too much page space was given to the main characters needing each other, owning each other, and forgetting what they were doing because they weren't together.In this book Mishka rescues Jaxon (he appeared as Mia Snow's co-worker in the first Alien Huntress novel) from torture by Otherworlders. Mishka is a Shadow, an assassin that kills Otherworlders to protect humans. She is supposed to get information from Jaxon about a virus that a new type of Otherworlder has brought to earth. The virus turns humans into flesh-eating monsters of a sort. Of course, as you might imagine, Mishka and Jaxon hit it off pretty well. This is complicated by the fact that Mishka is part machine and her actions are controlled by a computer chip in her brain.The characters from the first two books join Mishka in this novel. Eden and Lucuis really do not play a large role. Mia Snow plays a slightly larger role than Eden or Lucius; but mainly she is a jerk like in the first book. It would be helpful to have read the back-stories on Mia and Eden, but not necessary to understand the plot of this book. The only ray of light in this book for me was Mishka's conversations with her internal computer; some of those were a tiny bit funny.There were so many things that I didn't like about this book I am not sure where to start. First of all Mishka isn't a strong character. She is distracted and whiny and needy almost the whole book; the only place she shines is in her kick-butt fight scenes...but those are rare. Jaxon, who I actually liked in the first book, sheds all his personality in this book and turns into an obsessed/possessive character. In fact Jaxon is just about absent of any personality outside of his unexplainable obsession with Mishka. Why are Jaxon and Mishka attracted to each other? This remains a mystery to me; I guess we are just supposed to accept that they are.Mishka and Jaxon's obession basically destroys what could be an interesting story line. In every scene they are apart (or together) Mishka and Jaxon can't work because they are thinking about each other. The whole thing was pretty intense (not in a good way), and pretty boring to read about for 300+ pages. The plot could have been very interesting with the new alien race and viruses and all. The action scenes also weren't as prevalent in this book and were constantly interrupted by Mishka or Jaxon worrying about each other. There were a lot of sex scenes and, while they were a bit more creative than in "Enslave Me Sweetly", they still weren't all that great. I also missed the humor in this book. Both Mishka and Jaxon were 100% devoid of any humor what-so-ever and that took a lot away from the story.The main plotline with the virus is never well resolved either. I am assuming it continues in Book 4 "Seduce the Darkness" of this series. I own book 4 and will eventually read it, but for now enough is enough. There was so much mush and needing/owning each other junk in this book that I fear, if the next one follows in this book's path, my eyes will fall out my head from me rolling them so much. After reading the first three Alien Huntress books in a row these books are also starting to feel a bit formulaic to me. Maybe I just need to clear my head with something a bit more substantial before I read another one.

This one was outside my box or else this is a new kind of romance ‘cause it was different than most romance I read. I don’t know if it’s classed as Urban Fantasy romance or not – I’m not too up to date on that kind of thing. The heroine Le’Ace or Mishla was one tough heroine let me tell you! She was forced to do many a Very Nasty Deed for the person in charge of her. If I’d read this one before voting – he would have made an excellent choice for nastiest villain that’s for sure. Mishla was a Very Strong heroine in this book and more than a match for Jaxon, our heroine. Yet inside she was so very vulnerable. I really enjoyed her. And I thought Jaxon did quite well as a hero. While I was reading this one I knew I’d have to get her previous books in this series and luckily for me, Awaken Me Darkly was available.It’s a different kind of world they live in. It’s set in the future where aliens to earth are commonly running around. But there is one class of aliens that are proving very deadly to the women and thus the men of earth and it’s up to Mishla and Jaxon to fix this deadly threat.This was a great book and I hope she has more planned in this fascinating series!

If you like your violence with a touch of science fiction, Showalter's "Alien Huntress" series is a good pick. The premise for the series is that, in the future, various species of aliens have struck up resident on Earth. A government agency called Alien Investigation and Removal is judge, jury, and executioner where criminal aliens are concerned. Within the ranks of AIR are some buttkicking, gun-toting, kill-you-as-soon-as-look-at-you women that serves as the heroine of each novel. In this book, Mishka Le'Ace has been genetically and cybernetically engineered to be the perfect agent. Not that she had any say in the matter. With her strings being pulled by her "creators," Le'Ace must fight, kill, and screw her way through whatever mission they throw at her. Orders are to rescue Agent Jaxon Tremaine from his otherworld torturers -- not fall in love with him. This book was good. Perhaps not as good as the first of the series, though more memorable than the second. I was pleased as punch until the end, which I felt was not only out of character but also too tidy to be anything but a cop out. My problem: Mishka and Jaxon are the misunderstood couple that well-intentioned friends try to break up. And when your friends are all armed and homicidal, "intervention" takes on a whole new connotation. So what do Mishka and Jaxon do? They forgive the pigheaded fools and get all, "gosh, let's just forget the whole silly thing." Puh-lease. Now, I'm quite the fan of Gena Showalter but I must protest when an author gets sloppy.