Devil in Exile
By Angelina Avery
Who's In It?
Dr. Ada Charles - Biologist
Kyllell of Elysius
What should you watch out for?
Steamy scenes, an occasional swear word, violence
What's the story?
Ada is about to deep sea dive to check some rifts in the ocean floor when she and her crew are pulled through a portal landing on an alien planet.
Kyllell sees her ship appear while on a scouting mission on the planet he's been exiled too. He recognizes her as his mate immediately (His horns tell him) and ends up saving her from them other alien race that inhabited the planet to establish a black market.
They navigate each other, him trying to show her that he's a good man, while she is trying to ignore her feelings and find the rest of her crew - who have been taken by the other alien race.
Spoilers ahead.... Why I love this story.
Ada: Ada is a badass, she packs a punch in a tiny body and I love that she gives no shits and no holds when she wants something. She also isn't afraid to get physical or dirty, which automatically puts her high up there. In the beginning of the story she is hesitant to love, she was slighted in the past and we see that as the story progresses. She learns and evolves as the story progresses and at the end- I love her.
Kyllell: He is an alien. What can I say? I love that he is hunter green, retains some humanoid properties *ahem, down south*. He recognizes Ada as his mate (Ohhh I love these tropes, Alpha stories are right up there for me) and instantly sends out his telepathic pull, telling her to come to him. Yeah, it's mind control, and he uses it to get women- he's well known for it in fact. His beginning is wonderful, I love that he goes from this hunky alien that sees Ada as his by right, to this hunky alien who sees that Ada is a remarkable woman and that HE has to win her.
Soooooo, Ada is in a submarine at the beginning of the book and is working on analyzing a rift in the ocean floor. Surprise- it's a portal to a planet that was uninhabited up until 4 years ago when Kyllell was dropped on it. Two years later an alien race undertaking a black market operation decided that it was the perfect place for their outpost.
Ada's submarine pops up on the ocean surface in this now inhabited planet, Kyllell is out scavenging and notices her ship. Ada and her crewmate are on the top, checking out the new place when his body recognizes her as his bonded mate (ahhhh, the feels). He cloaks himself to travel closer to find out what he can, when Ada's ship is attacked by the bad aliens, and she is poisoned, falls in the water and Kyllell saves her (sorry crewmate, she is screwed and the bad aliens take her).
When Ada wakes from the poison, Kyllell tries to pull her aura into his to complete the bonding and Ada resists, mentally shoving him aside (see, badass). This goes on for a day or two, as Ada tries to tell Kyllell that she needs to get her crewmate, Kyllell is trying to protect her and keep her safe after the poisoning, all while getting a bit hot and heavy. Nothing more then a bit of play though. They learn about eachother, why Kyllell is exiled to this planet and about the disease that took out all the females of Kyllell's home planet (sad).
Ada offers her body in return for help getting her crewmates, Kyllell refuses because he wants to win her heart, but is determined to help her any way. This is the turning point for Ada, where she begins to see him as a man with integrity (beautiful). He saves her from a few scrape ups until we get to the point where they need to get off the planet. Ohhhh, and some good sex scenes (I want a hunter green alien).
Kyllell has been working towards being able to get off the planet by harvesting gems from a huge clam (or multiple clams) at the bottom of the ocean. He only needs a few more of them to be able to afford a private ship to fly off the planet. He dives down into the ocean, ready to take on the clam, Ada watching from up top on a boat. He enters the clam, being swallwed by the shell and fights to the almost death.
Ada thinks he is in jeopardy and dives down, cutting the clam shell open and saving Kyllell, who argues he didn't need saving. That done, they have enough "money" to purchase a ship and hopefully find her crewmate.
They enter the bazaar under cloak and find her crewmate, who is being helped by a good version of the bad breed alien. They make their way to the ships, ready to get off the planet when Kyllells brother returns to bring him back to Elysius. When Kyllell fights and refuses, his brother kicks his ass, steals Ada and returns to Elysius where he can get his brother back into power- it was all in his plan from the beginning.
When Kyllell wakes, he is in a pod that is traveling back to Elysius, furious with his brother and upon finding his woman hanging out with unmated aliens, takes her and claims her. He asks her if she is his, and she says yes, not realizing he is asking her to bond. So they bond (and it's actually really beautiful how the author describes it).
Then the rest of the book is putting Kyllell back into power while he and Ada figure out they are in love....
My one gripe of this book. Kyllell has never seen a human, but somehow seems to know exactly what her anatomy will look like, how she will feel, that their bodies will work together. I would have liked to see a bit more of exploration in terms of this.
Otherwise- I really liked this book! Hot, heavy, and actually pretty cute and sweet. No plot holes, I loved it.
Let me know if you read it and if you liked it.