Forced Mate
Grade : D

Forced Mate made me laugh, but more in that “you’ve got to be kidding” kind of way rather than a "this book is funny" way. First there are those wonderful new terms that I'm sure will really spice up my conversational technique: “Rut-rageous”, “Unsense”, and “Slack-damn!”. And then there's the hero, whom I felt terribly sorry for - it’s a shame the running of an inter-galactic empire interfered with his sex life. I hate when that happens. As you can see, I didn’t have to look too hard to find humor while reading this one, though I'm sure I found it in places quite different than the author, whose creativity is not at issue here, may have imagined.

Djinni-vera (pronounced Jinny) is half human and half Great Djinn alien. There are very few Great Djinn’s left, and in order to keep their line viable, they need to breed with each other. Tarrant-Arragon is the Tigron prince of the Great Djinn and is looking for a wife to breed his heirs. Djinni is the lucky gal. Her grandmother knew Tarrant-Arragon would be looking for a Djinn wife, so she hid Djinni on Earth. Unfortunately for Djinni, her grandmother also poisoned her against sex in order to protect her. You see, female Djinn send off a scent that sends the male Djinn into rut. Djinni was only allowed to be around her male Djinn cousins when she was young, then she was removed to protect her virtue. As a result she is scared of sex, and in particular, Djinn sex. Her grandmother and father hate Tarrant-Arragon and have formed a group to resist the Tigron Empire. They are know as Saurian Knights. They are Djinn warriors sworn to defy Tarrant-Arragon or die in the attempt, and Djinni belongs to this group. She is the strangest warrior I’ve ever come across, since she routinely pairs spike heels with camouflage. She even manages to sprint in heels, so perhaps she really is a warrior - who else could sprint in spiked heels?

Tarrant-Arragon kidnaps Djinni under false pretenses. He doesn’t reveal his identity and she mistakenly believes he could be her betrothed, an heretofore unknown Djinn prince named Djetthro-Jason. Djinni and Jason have been betrothed since they were children, but Djinni does not know what he looks like anymore since she last saw him before she was scented. Jason is a rival for Tarrant-Arragon’s power and a fellow Saurian knight. He also is a deeply entrenched spy in Tarrant-Arragon’s fleet and T.A. considers him a friend.

Once kidnapped,Djinni tries numerous lame escape attempts, and the two spend the rest of their time arguing. Poor T.A. has never know a woman to say no to him and just cannot grasp the concept. Djinni is a particularly poor mind reader since she never realizes her kidnapper is the dastardly Tarrant-Arragon. He manages to marry her before she figures it out. By that time, Tarrant-Arragon has seduced her out of her fear of sex, and she might not hate him after all, or wait! Maybe she does.

I won’t even bother going into the subplot involving the Saurian Knights, Prince Djetthro-Jason, and Tarrant-Arragon’s sister, it’s just too ridiculous. As the book progressed I stopped seeing Tarrant-Arragon’s name as two words and just called him Tarrogant, which describes his nature perfectly, overbearing and arrogant. I’m not sure how his Djinn race ever managed to form a galatic empire since all any of them are interested in is sex, sex, and yes - more sex!

Djinni vaciliates between frigid and whiny, which was not all that appealing, to wanting to be a kick-butt heroine. She also has to be a few cards short of a full deck to wear her ridiculous heels with every outfit.

“By all the Lechers of Antiquity!” this was a terrible book. However, if you see it at a second hand store, skim through it for some wonderful new conversational tidbits, I guarantee you’ll get a response from them. Go ahead, add “Loin-buzz!” to your next conversation and see what happens! New vocabulary is about the only thing worth reading this one for, trust me.

Reviewed by Liz Zink
Grade : D
Book Type: Fantasy Romance

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : January 9, 2005

Publication Date: 2004

Review Tags: djinni/genie

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