Book Review: The Orc Who Kneeled by Nellie Voss

 

Book Description

I'm not looking for true love on another planet. I'm just looking for a way out before there's nothing left of me to give.

I'm the woman who handles everything — my mother's dementia, my brother's money issues, my sister's emotional breakdowns — and I'm bone-dry empty.

So I walk into an alien matchmaking facility expecting to get on a list for “someday.” I’m not expecting a seven-foot, scarred, forest-green orc rounding the corner and dropping to his knees like he just took a blow he wasn't braced for.

Ruhn isn't even in the match pool, but his biology doesn't care. One scent of me and he's shaking. I haven't been touched in years and my body just volunteered as tribute. Neither of us planned this.

I came here to take something for myself for once. I didn't expect him to kneel before I even got his name.

For readers who love: short and spicy fated mates, orc romance, scent bonds that bypass all higher brain function, "who takes care of the caretaker?", snarky first-person heroines, monster size difference (everywhere), he-falls-first-and-harder, claiming bites, a warrior who will ruin you and then make you midnight porridge, and the kind of heat that soaks through the pages.

My Review

Maeve has always been the responsible one, the one her family calls on when they need something. But what about when she needs something? She's decided to be 'selfish' for once and do something to maybe, hopefully make her life better. She's signing up at the alien matchmaking building and getting herself a husband/mate. 

What she isn't expecting is for a huge Orc to walk near her and for him to fall to his knees in front of her after he scents her and realizes she's his mate. Ruhn hasn't even signed up to find a mate, he's at the facility for a completely different reason. So, the powers that be have to expedite some paperwork so these two can get to know each other and figure out if they want to try and give this a go or not. 

Ruhn isn't the only one to feel the mate bond pulling at him though, when they are put into a room to talk, Maeve realizes that she can barely keep her hands to herself. 

This was a cute, sweet, quick read. I am loving all the Orc/human romance stories that I've been finding, and this was a fun one. Ruhn is so caring, so attentive to Maeve, when she's not used to anyone caring about how she feels or needs. Ruhn was exactly who Maeve needed and it turns out, she was exactly who he needed as well. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon