LauraJ’s review of Cosmic Sex (Nekarian Aliens, Book 2) by Karen Kelley
Contemporary paranormal romantic comedy released by Brava 29 Jan 08

I’m the one who loves to read books with quirky, off the wall humor. I don’t remember how I heard of Karen Kelley. I think a friend of mine told me about her and thought I would like her books. Close Encounters of the Sexy Kind had just came out and I picked it up, mostly because the title caught my attention, read the back and decided I had to read the whole book. I knew within the firs few pages that Ms. Kelley was going to be an author I liked.

Cosmic Sex is the second story in the Nekarian Alien books and features Mala’s cousin Kia. Kia has come to earth to find her cousin who didn’t return home after going in search of the “sheriff”. After she lands, Kia is “rescued” by Nick, an undercover cop who thinks Kia is in trouble during a botched undercover sting. Kia, who is a warrior on her planet, thinks it’s cute that Nick tried to rescue her and decides to get him to help her search for her cousin. Nick is reluctant at first and is quite shocked when Kia informs him she is an alien, which he refuses to believe thinking that Kia is mentally unstable or suffering from amnesia. He does agree to help her finally and can’t resist his attraction to her. Kia plans to return home with her cousin, but while on the search for her cousin she finds there are a lot of things on earth that are hard to resist like Nick and chocolate and it’s going to be tough to say goodbye to both.

Ms. Kelley has put together a quirky and humorous cast of characters that I absolutely loved. Kia, who from one viewpoint may look ditzy and like a stereotypical blonde, she is anything but. Normally I don’t like this type of heroine, but Ms. Kelley has created Kia both intelligent and naive and it works very well. Nick is adorable and doesn’t quite know what to do with himself or Kia and it makes him all the more lovable. I like for the hero to tough as well as sensitive and Nick does this. This book wouldn’t be complete without some crazy secondary characters and these come in the form of the bumbling villains and Nick’s partner Sam (who gets his own story in Bad Boys Guide to the Galaxy).

This book had me laughing at loud many, many times. I couldn’t put it down because I had to know how Kia would react to a new earthly pleasure and how poor Nick would handle it (the book cover pretty much has Nick down to a tee). This book is going in my keeper pile and whenever I need something to lift my spirits I’ll be picking this book up and reading it again. I can’t wait for the next book, which comes out next week and hope she continues with even more stories after that.

Grade: A

Summary:

Take me to your leader. Come to think of it, just take me.

Planet Nerak was perfect—no disease, no darkness, no hunger—until an expedition to Earth brought back an unwanted guest. Enter one talented Nerakian named Lara, sent on a special fact-finding mission in the vast region called Texas. Fortunately, a warrior (he calls himself a “cop”) named Sam Jones has offered to help. Unfortunately, Sam’s skill at sex is quite distracting—as are plenty other earthly delights, like the dangerously addictive substance called chocolate. Temptations such as these could seriously compromise Lara’s—ahem—research…

Crazy, that’s what Sam is. What sane man would voluntarily isolate himself in the Texas woods with an alien, not to mention a female one with a superiority complex, legs that won’t quit, and a penchant for walking around buck naked? Between bragging about her home planet and levitating, Lara wastes no time getting on Sam’s last nerve…and even less time getting into his bed. Talk about going where no man has gone before. Of course, when you’re from Texas, nothing—not even an entire planet—is going to stop you from getting what you want.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

And coming soon: