All praise hot aliens and that freaking planet! Desidre is a god-send for us to enjoy this awesome series, and you can’t convince me otherwise! I’ll fight you, don’t try me!

So, remember Gahnin? The Ssedez who had lost his mate? Didn’t I tell ya guys he’d find another HEA?! Well, not easily, mind you. Because it seems that his instincts are trying to point him towards Assura, one of the humans that crashed on that lust-crazed planet, and of course he’s not too keen about it. Her, too. She’d rather die than sleep with him! But guess what, dearies? You can’t escape your hearts’ true desires for long!

Honestly, this series keeps getting better as it goes on. One would think that one book about a chemical in the atmosphere of a planet causing aliens and humans to sleep together unless they want to suffer would be enough, but really, it only escalated from there. The second book was even more complex, and had more action, and tension, and sooooo many twists! And the emotional heartbreak was out of this world!!! (also, let no one tell you that the sexy festival scenes are nothing short of a masterpiece!)

I simply cannot praise this book and the series enough! Assura’s past and all that inner turmoil she was going through, plus Gahnin and his own past and problems because of Ssedez traditions, it all added to the pressure! Plus, those bad guys that Nemona and her crew were talking about? Yeah, they’re here, people! Which means the humans, Ssedez, AND Fellamana are in danger! Time to buckle up!

I just love how this series works in a way that makes you thirst for the next book, without leaving you hanging or feeling unsatisfied! A total recommendation, all around!

Next up is Koviye, and let me tell you, I’ve been waiting for this blue boy for a looong time! His sarcasm and lack of restraint, plus the fact he’s clearly set on Jenie, will surely not disappoint!

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.***

Captive Desire is the second book in Robin Lovett's Planet of Desire Series. While I recommend reading the series in order, starting with Toxic Desire, this book can totally be read as a standalone. Assura and Gahnin have a serious enemies to lovers relationship going on. When they're forced together on a long journey because of an airborne toxin known as desidre. The toxin causes your sex drive to shoot way, way, way up. If you don't give in and have sex with someone the toxin can be lethal. I really really enjoyed this book and I hope there's a third in this series. I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is actually a love story with beings from other planets and humans. The Ssedez have captured a human ship and Gahnin has been charged to watch over the fragile human Assura who has to be treated. Gahnin hates the humans as they are responsible for his mates death but something about her calls to him. Gahnin has mourned his mate for a century and he still has another to go but the desidre in the air is making Assura impossible to resist. Along with everything else the leader of the Ten Systems is out to capture both of them. Both Gahnin and Assura are very tough but even though they are foes their attraction to each other overrules everything.

Captive Desire by Robin Lovett is book 2 of her Captive Desire series and I went into it not having read book 1 and wasn't lost at all so I always consider that a plus! This was just a complete crazy-pants erotic romance and I loved it so much. The heroine crash lands on the alien planet and is thrown together with an alien who *hates* the human race for a good reason, what could go wrong!? There's essentially a fated mate thing going on and the heat level is HIGH. I had so much fun reading this and it was exactly what I needed. 4 Stars.

A title like Captive Desire may put you in mind of a 1980’s old school romance with a Fabio cover and indeed if you do a search of book lists for that title, there are definitely some that fit that description out there. However here its the second erotic science fiction story in Robin Lovett’s Planet of Desire series. It’s an opposites attract romance featuring two species previously at war who are stuck on a planet where desire can be deadly. While sex is definitely a big highlight of the book, combine it with some unique world building and intriguing character dilemmas and you've got an enjoyable read.

Assura is a military operations specialist, recently defected from the human Ten Systems brutal regime. She along with her crewmates stole a ship, the Origin, and crash landed on the planet Fyrian after a fierce battle with the Ssedez, an alien golden skinned species seeking revenge for the human decimation of their race over a hundred years ago. For both species, the air is toxic, making them crazed with lust that is barely slaked by sexual acts (solo or otherwise).

Ssedez General Gahnin was widowed when his first mate was killed by humans during that disastrous war that caused his people to obliterate their home planet to fool humans into thinking they'd been exterminated while escaping to a new home. He's expected to observe another traditional century of mourning before looking for a new mate and his attraction to the enemy human is more than just disturbing – it could ostracize him from his people. But like Assura he is powerless to stop the urge to relieve the lust. Forced to work with Assura as the human crew works to repair The Origin, they agree to use each other to keep the madness at bay. There is an antidote to the atmospheric poison that helps in some circumstances, but isn’t enough for Gahnin’s mating urge not to be triggered. Is Assura his real destiny or is fate playing a cruel trick on two strangers forced to work together to survive?

The sex parts of this romance are plentiful and not only provide some erotic titillation (especially the ‘sex games’ that Gahnin and Assura have to participate in for the pleasure of the planet's local inhabitants) but are a useful device for keeping our main characters attached by various body parts. It’s an extreme version of a forced proximity romance. When Assura and Gahnin aren’t making out, they are sharing their life experiences with each other and discovering that labelling someone ‘an enemy’ is a lot easier when you don’t see them up close and personal. Having hated humans for so long, Gahnin reluctantly comes to admire Assura for her strength and courage, more important to him than his physical attraction to her body. Developing real feelings for her, the stirrings of the mating bond are alarming but when it comes to the point where he realizes he would risk his life to save hers, he can’t deny those feelings any longer no matter that his mourning period is not over. But these are extraordinary circumstances and his fellow Ssedez aren’t as quick to judge as he’d expect (especially since his commanding offer has also fallen for a human in book one of the series, Toxic Desire).

Assura’s feelings are more complicated, made so especially by her role on the starship Hades under the brutal leadership of General Dargule before she joined The Origin and defected. She'd been in charge of prisoners and forced into situations requiring her to do things she despised. One of her prisoners was a Ssedez, and she worries about what Gahnin will think when he finds out. Her brash exterior hides a damaged psyche and it will take more than a roll in the hay to make her believe she's worthy of Gahnin.
There are some action packed scenes throughout the story, and the Ten Systems regime is not about to let a bunch of rebels get away so easily making for an intense finale. While our couple finds a compromise to get their happy ending, there are more Origin crew suffering the same lustful toxicity who will be seen in future books. Captive Desire doesn't pretend to be a serious science fiction novel and won't be for everyone. But sometimes hot aliens, imaginative sex scenes and otherworldly adventures are the perfect escape read.

This review has been posted at All About Romance and feedback updated with the link. It has been posted at Goodreads.

an okay romance with a good plot. Just felt a little flat in spots but the dialogue did help move the story along.

I think this is being billed more as erotica than straight romance, though it does have an HEA, so I’m just going to call it a romance. A completely bonkers bananapants romance, but still – I have a particular soft spot for scifi romance, and this really hit the mark, plus it’s got the enemies-to-lovers trope. While this is the second book in the series, it works pretty well as a standalone, as I read it without reading the previous book. The only area I felt a bit out of place with was the rebels and their place in the whole galactic war thing, but I got enough of the gist to understand what was happening.

Assura and the rest of the human rebels have crash-landed on a planet inhabited by the Fellamana, the natives, and the Ssedez, who’ve been at war with the humans for centuries. Things happened in the past book that have led the Ssedez to ally with the human rebels, so Gahnin, one of their commanders, is sent to find and rescue Assura. Why does she need rescuing? Well, many of the rebels got separated after the crash, and it just so happens that the planet has some sort of airborne toxin that turns people into sex maniacs (and then kills them, painfully), but, luckily, the Fellamana have an antidote that reduces the worst of the symptoms. Gahnin is in mourning for his wife and child, killed nearly a hundred years ago by humans, so it’s definitely unexpected and unwanted for him to feel the beginnings of The Attachment (basically a fated mates type bonding) with Assura. For her part, Assura’s struggling with her past as a torturer under the orders of the evil human general. So, we’ve got a hot snake-like alien man, a sex planet, some sort of rebellion set in the midst of a galactic war, and two extremely horny but ill-suited people.

“Don’t die,” he breathes against my mouth. “I forbid you to die.” His guttural tone holds the kind of authority that I bet even nature couldn’t defy.
I shake my head. “I have no plans of dying. But I do have plans of saving. Let’s do this.”


I liked both Assura and Gahnin and found their conflicted emotions towards their relationship very understandable. Gahnin’s worried about his betrayal – as he sees it – of his mourning period for his family with someone from the species who killed them, and how that would be viewed by the rest of the Ssedez. Assura has her own trauma to deal with, including feeling unworthy of love due to what she sees as her unforgivable past crimes. She’s fiercely independent and unwilling to let Gahnin help her out, let alone open up to him. What they do share a lot of, though, is sex, absolute bucketloads of sex, some just for the heck of it (hiii, maybe don’t have sex in a random corridor if you don’t want the other Ssedez to hear you!) and some, well, also just for the heck of it, but with higher stakes. So, for example – at one point, soon after they first meet, Assura has had enough with Gahnin insisting on accompanying her to find the rest of the crash-landed rebels, so she basically starts a fight to try to escape. The Fellamana, the indigenous species of the planet, are strict pacifists and take a dim view of the violence, and threaten to withdraw the sex toxin antidote as punishment. The only alternative is to pass it off as a sort of weird alien foreplay, meaning they’ll have to be participants at the Fellamana’s appropriately named Sex Games, where you gain points for creativity and number of orgasms. But, ok, as much as I’m joking about it, it was ridiculously fun to read. There’s some pretty fun action bits as well once Assura joins back up with the rebels, and I thought that added a nice touch to the book. There’s also some particularly interesting bits about consent, both sexual and in terms of Assura and Gahnin sharing their secrets with each other.

“All right, in the name of diplomacy.” I face the Fellamana. “We consent.” I can’t say it with a straight face. Never would I ever have thought diplomacy and sex could go together, but however these games are going to work, I’m into the surprise of finding out.

As for cons, I wish the book was longer. Things at the end felt a bit rushed, with both characters succumbing to The Attachment, Gahnin especially, a bit too quickly after all his protestations. And one more minor pet peeve – part of The Attachment is that by giving in to it, Gahnin’s venom will basically turn Assura into a Ssedez. The loss of her humanity seemed to not bother Assura at all – I think her reaction could be paraphrased into “Sweet! Armored skin and a longer life span? YES!” – but was jarring to me.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book, and I’ve already bought the first in the series to read when I have the time. If you’re looking for a very sexy, somewhat angsty romance with a side of action, this fits the bill!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Omg...I'm sold on the whole sexy alien romance obsession that other romance readers have been raving about. Captive Desire was such an addicting book. I couldn't put it down!!

Captive Desire works as a standalone even though it is the second book in the Planet Desire series. I enjoyed this book so much I went right ahead and purchased the first book, Toxic Desire.

If you're in the mood for a super sexy alien romance, I highly recommend this one! On top of being super sexy, it packs a lot of crazy banana action and awesome character and relationship development. I was totally captivated with Assura and Gahnin from the very beginning and couldn't wait for these two find their HEA.

Nov 23, 2018: Toxic Desire is on sale for 99c
Next book: Stolen Desire (Jenie and Koviye!!!)

This packed the heat and then some! I'm going to have to read the first book in the series asap but I didn't feel lost not having read it. Captive Desire is erotic sci-fi romance and it kicked off with quite a bang.

Assura and Gahnin cross paths once Assura's ship is shot down by Gahnin's team. Are they drawn to each other because they're on a sex planet or because there's something more? The desidre, the toxin in the air which makes everyone want to have sex, can have deadly consequences if you don't have the antidote and it also serves as a handy excuse for them to act on their lust.

But there are big barriers in place. As is Ssedez custom, Gahnin has been grieving the loss of his mate for 100 years and has 100 years to go before his period of mourning will end. Moving on any sooner is a huge taboo for his people but to complicate things further, Ten Systems killed his mate and Assura is Ten Systems. He really struggles with knowing what to do, especially when he's so drawn to Assura. It was really gripping to watch him wrestle with his grief and his attraction to Assura.

Assura, on the other hand, is torn because, as a Ten Systems rebel, she has done some horrible things to the Ssedez. She wants to make amends but she doesn't feel worthy of anything more. But she also doesn't want to give up her sexy times with Gahnin. It's a quandary and I loved watching these two give into their desires, while also grappling with what the other person means to them and whether they can have a future together. When they weren't fighting each other, they were really good to one another and I especially enjoyed how Gahnin saw the best in Assura once he got to know her.

The world-building was well-developed, particularly what makes the Ssedez and Fellamana (who live on this planet) unique. This was a super steamy, fun read! I really enjoyed the ride and look forward to reading more from Lovett.

Gahnin, a Ssedez general, hasn't had a woman since his first mate died a century ago. And since his kind can live for a thousand years, he's still bound by traditional mourning. If he breaks mourning, he could lose his position in the Ssedez military. His friends and family. Everything.

That means no falling in love. No lust. No sex. For another century.

Then he's ordered to guard Assura, a human woman and military special operative, on a planet whose atmosphere causes a sexual arousal so fierce, it drives people insane if it isn't satisfied.

Even though he tries to keep Assura at arm's length, he's hooked. Forbidden desire called to life by a human, the same species who killed his first mate. Assura needs his body if she is going to live. But if he gives in to his passion, it could destroy him.

Review:
Another super sexy story in this series!

This is book two in this series, taking us back to the "Fire" planet. This erotic sci-fi story is full of action and not just the sexual kind. I loved the enemies to lovers story and that it was set out in the universe was very enticing to me. In this story Assura, a human, part of the rebels who crashed on the Fire planet and Gahnin, a Ssedez are of enemy species who have been at war for 100's of years. Gahnin has been asked by his general Oten to look out for Assura leads to an attraction that neither Assure or Gahnin want to happen. Both have their reasons, which I will not give away as to why this attraction should not happen, but both are not capable of fighting it or the planet and it's effect on their sexuality. The story is filled with action, suspense and sexy goodness, to keep the story well-rounded and the reader interested.

I really loved this second story, it has a lot of depth besides the sexy goodness.

4Stars
*I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book provided by the publisher.*

I received this ARC from Netgalley for an honest review. I have not read book 1. I hadn’t heard of it, but I will ASAP. This book starts off with a bang. High points for real alien with actual alien features. This book has really good world building. I’ve read ALOT of alien romance and this one surprised me ALOT. I enjoyed the adversarial nature of the couples relationship. It can appeal to many different types of readers. This book has the classic trope of dead spouse. I hate those. The dead spouse is hard to live up to. Not a spoiler because it discusses it in the blurb. His has been dead a CENTURY!
He is still considered a widow and it’s faux pas to even be thinking of another female let alone a human female. The Fellamana people are fascinating. If your a sci-fi Alien romance lover this is one you can’t miss.

This is the second book in the series and can be read as a stand-alone. Gahnin lost is mate a century ago and is in mourning. That means no sex for another century when he is sent to guard Assura a human woman on a planet that causes sexual arousal will he save Assura or keep his position within his planet’s military? Fast-paced with lots of twists and turns. Entertaining story with plenty of steam. I liked it.

Captive Desire is the second book in a series set on a planet where the very atmosphere is an aphrodisiac. The hero is a Ssedez General named Gahnin, who has remained celibate since losing his mate in the war with the humans almost a hundred years ago. His people tend to be very long lived and remain in mourning for at least two hundred years. To form an attachment with another too soon is to disrespect his deceased mate. When he is tasked by his commander with caring for a human rebel who stumbles into the main camp suffering from extreme pheromone poisoning, he knows despite her status as his enemy he must service her needs.

Assura is more than the average human ship mate. She was also the main enforcer and torturer for the Ten Systems leader who helped slaughter the Ssedez and drive them from their home world. When she is rescued, nearly out of her mind with lust and in pain from masturbating, she is taken to an infirmary run by the Fellamana, who are the native inhabitants of the planet. Gahnin gives her release from her lust and she falls into a peaceful sleep. When she awakens her first reaction is panic and distrust and to battle her way out of the closed room. What she doesn’t realize its that violence is against the law. No biggie though, their punishment ends up being a entry into the sex games where they end up being the star attraction. They put on quite a show and are rewarded with their freedom.

HOLY SMOKES THIS BOOK IS SEXTASTICLY HOT.

Assura and Gahnin have sex a lot. A lot, lot. In every possible position. With people watching, without people watching, bent over railings, tied up, tied down, half dressed, undressed, half delirious with pheromone poisoning, if you can think it it probably happened. And there was always consent between them. There might have been some dirty looks afterward and two people trying to convince themselves they only did it for the relief, because after all this is an enemies to lovers romance, but there was always consent and I LOVED IT.

BUT WAIT, there’s more!!! There is a subplot involving that Ten Systems commander I mentioned earlier and I won’t give spoilers, but it did help me understand Assura better and led to some pretty hot sexy times and helped our couple finally accept their HEA together.

This was good stuff and I thoroughly enjoyed. I can’t wait for book 3.
Final Grade- B+

Loved this paranormal romance! The passion and the web of the story drew me in immediately. I’m hoping the other books by this author is as good as this one. Great job!

I love this series, I really do. It's definitely more of an erotic romance because so much of the development of the relationship between Gahnin and Assura happens through their sexual relationship. There is a pretty bonkers (and that's the highest compliment, really) sex Olympics part of the plot---but it's sort of a funny way to get these people to work together towards a common goal. I knocked it down a star because I found the narrative voices to be really similar, which just strikes me as kind of a problem---you literally have 2 characters that are from different species! It seems to me that they'd be more different in the way they'd think about each other and the world. I don't know, it's no secret that I find first person present narration super exhausting, and maybe that just didn't work all that well for me here.

Overall, if you're a fan of erotic romance, I think you will enjoy this book.

I’m speechless!
“Captive Desire” by Robin Lovett was the steamiest book I've ever read.

Assura and Ghanin have a lot going on from heated sexual attraction to heart retching backstories. Assura is ashamed of her actions on the ssedez and joined the rebellion, by doing this she hopes for forgiveness but closes herself off to people who care for her. Ghanin a ssedez has a hatred towards humans and is conflicted when he feels strongly for Assura. they are both to be mated but deny their feelings for one another and would rather use each other's bodies to satisfy their needs. But when the planet they are on is threatened, they must work together to save both their race.
I fell for their love story as heated as it was. Robin lovett really catches you by surprise as she goes in deeply into the characters' lives. this book is sexual so in the beginning, I didn't think I would continue reading but there is so much more to the story than that.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

I've received a ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have never read a fantasy erotica before so I decided to dive in and give this a chance. I wasn't too sure what to think of the plot, chapter, etc. but it's overall ok/mediocre (from what I've read up too). Lots of 'fun' times between the characters and if you want to step out of your comfort zone, I definitely suggest giving his a try.

I started this book a few days ago and at first I was like "what am I reading???" but I couldn't put it down. I read erotica but it was my first time reading "fantasy" erotica. And I really enjoyed it. I liked that the main character was a bi woman and she was really strong and independent. I liked the world that the author created.
There's a lots of well written sexy times and they were so hot!.
And I appreciated a lot that the author talked about consent.
I think it would have been better if it was a bigger difference between the characters being "normal" aroused and when it was because of the atmosphere.
Overall, If you want to read female friendly erotica you should read this book.

This book. *fans self*

Captive Desire is the second in Robin Lovett's Planet of Desire series of erotic sci-fi romances. Each book stands alone and I can confirm that I really enjoyed this one without having yet read the first, Toxic Desire. The premise is that a ship of rebel humans has been shot down and crash-landed on a sex planet. Yes, there's a toxin in the air that makes everyone need to have sex. Without an antidote, the toxin will eventually kill them.

On the planet are two groups, the Fellamana and the Ssedez. The Fellamana are native to the sex planet and have very fluid attitudes toward sex and desire and intimacy. The Ssedez are not so open, in large part because they have what they call "The Attachment," their version of fated mates.

The hero of this novel, Gahnin, lost his mate 100 years ago when humans killed her and their child. The mourning period is set at 200 years, so he's still in morning when the book begins. The heroine, Assura, is a human who's worked for years as a professional torturer for the human general, Dargrule. (We find out later that she took on the job so she could help the people she was assigned to torture, it's complicated.) True enemies-to-lovers.

Anyway, they meet up and she's taken prisoner for a short period. Then she and Gahnin fight, which breaks the Fellamana nonviolence laws. Their punishment? They have to participate in the sex games. By this point, the hero and heroine have already been engaging in all manner of sex-planet-induced shenanigans, and their "display" is intense. There's a lot of sex in this book, some of it rather inventive.

While this is an erotic romance, it's still definitely a romance. The two are reluctant to open their hearts, but all of the sex is enthusiastically consensual. There are repeated check-ins and it doesn't feel coercive like some sci-fi romances I've read.

There's also a substantial plot involving the spaceship that Assura and the rebels broke off from. I won't spoil it for you, but it was definitely rewarding. My one complaint is that I wanted the book to be a bit longer, with more of an emotional payoff for the central couple. There's absolutely an HEA, but Gahnin gives in to the Attachment pretty swiftly.

I have the first book on my Kobo and I plan to dig in this weekend. These are intense (and excellent) books, which means I read until around 2 am and that's not a weeknight activity!

Gahnin, a Ssedez general, hasn't had a woman since his first mate died a century ago. And since his kind can live for a thousand years, he's still bound by traditional mourning. If he breaks mourning, he could lose his position in the Ssedez military. His friends and family. Everything.When I started reading I couldn't put it down. Robin Lovett is magnifysent and amazing writer.I cannot wait to read more of there books.Keep up the great work.You should definitely read this book.Can't wait for the next book.