Choosing Riley (Sarafin Warriors Series, Book 1) MP3 CD – Unabridged, June 28, 2016

I LOVE this book! LOVE IT!!! It's one of my all-time favorite books ever! This is pretty much a "Perfect" story to me and I wouldn't change anything about it. Here's what I loved:*****SPOILERS*****1. The story! Wow! I loved the idea behind the story and the entire world that Ms. Smith has created here. Riley is a human who was kidnapped from Earth and finds herself on a mining asteroid having to choose a "mate". She has to do this because the task masters have learned that "mated" males are easier to control. She chooses 5 males to be her "mates" but make no mistake she does this to save their lives and NOT to sleep with them. She has no idea that one of the men is Vox, a Sarafin Warrior and King of his planet. He knows the SECOND he sees Riley that she is his mate. After the selection process, Riley and the males are escorted to their room. Riley makes it clear to them that they are to stay on their side of the room and leave her alone. This, of course, doesn't sit well with Vox who is so overcome with his need for her that he can barely restrain himself. He wants his mate - now! Next follows some hilarious antics as Riley skillfully evades Vox and drops him to his knees...several times. The things she does are pretty dang funny. You can imagine how well this goes over with him. Uh huh NOT!2. The characters - I loved Riley. She is a size 16, very feisty woman who has quite the mouth. She is strong, determined and a total spitfire. She has no intention of "mating" with Vox even though he is extremely good looking. She's seen Aliens with Sigourney Weaver and pretty much figures that when aliens and humans get together it doesn't turn out well for the human. Vox - Wow! What's not to love about him? He is a total alpha male and a shape shifter. He's strong and exceptionally possessive of Riley and at the same time very caring of her. He isn't mean to her AT ALL. He is just relentless in his pursuit of her because he KNOWS she's HIS. He also happens to be a VERY fierce Sarafin King; a feared warrior that others are wary of. Of course Riley isn't wary of him. She acts like he's harmless (and to her he is), as she constantly antagonizes him.3. The tension between the characters was amazing! The simple fact that Riley did NOT agree to mate with Vox and resisted his claim to her created for some smoking hot tension between the two of them. It pinged back and forth as Riley did her best to stay one step ahead of Vox. I loved this. I love cat and mouse games between the H and h and we have that here in spades. Ms. Smith also gave us the time to believe in Riley and Vox's relationship before they slept together. I really appreciated this and it added to the tension greatly. Vox wanted her so badly but couldn't catch her!4. The humor - It was laugh out loud funny and highly entertaining. The things Riley did to avoid being mated to Vox were so fun to read about and then we have Vox who can't believe the things his mate does. He thought she'd be putty in his hands (wrong!). After all, he is a king, a feared warrior and she's just a female. LOL!5. The worlds - and all the sci-fi elements that Ms. Smith has created felt very real to me. There were no jarring elements in the story that caused me to shake my head in disbelief. Given the situation, circumstances, people and locations within the story - it was believable and well described.6. The ending was a HEA! :)If you are someone who doesn't like swear words; feisty/mouthy/sarcastic h's; funny, ridiculous but hugely entertaining scenes - like H getting sprayed with pepper spray; and a delayed sexual relationship then you won't like this book. If you are someone who likes a super hot OTT possessive/jealous alpha male who is DEVOTED to his mate and you enjoy cat/mouse games - this one's for you.

This book was quite entertaining for a while with what Riley's personality is like. She is so out there that at times you just couldn't help but laugh. But after some time, I grew tired of it and just wanted her to grow up. Seriously, enough is enough and she just kind of got annoying with how hard of a time she always gave Vox. Poor, poor Vox having to have her as his mate...Riley's life has never really been all that fantastic. Her and her sister having been abandoned by their mother were raised by their grandmother. Clearly not the best influence because Riley is mouthy, selfish, and mean a lot of the time. One thing that Riley has decided from seeing what she has as she grew up, is that she will not be with a man without a ring and no child without marriage. Oh, and one thing that surprised me was how old Riley was. From what we had gotten from her in Carmen's book, I had really thought she was a quite a bit older than just 24.Riley's life takes another turn for the worst after she finds out the horrible things her boss and his father have been doing. Fleeing with evidence to use against them, one thing after another goes wrong until she finds herself abducted by alien traders and sold to an Antrox mine. They use females in order to control the males and when it's Riley's turn to pick one, she picks all five presented to her. Including Vox. I don't get why the Antrox pretty much bend over backwards for her and allow her to get and do what she wants. Yeah, she beat one of them up or whatever, but seriously? There are a lot more of them and they have weapons. How is she that hard to control? Take away her damn suitcase or purse and you could probably cow her. Vox immediately recognizes her as his mate and he cannot understand why she does and says the things she does to him. And only making it worse is the four other "mates" she had taken in order to save all of them. During their time on the mine, Riley is constantly torturing our Sarafin king without even realizing it. And his two subordinates can't help but want her too. It soon becomes apparent that Riley is not like any other female they have encountered before and because of that they start planning their escape. Of course that doesn't go as planned, but they still get away because of some button smashing Riley does without thinking. But again, things just keep going wrong and they soon find themselves under attack. Que Creon. I remember that part of Carmen's book when they show up to save Vox. I was definitely curious to find out more about this couple then. While aboard the Horizon, Carmen tries to explain to Vox that human women don't usually react well to the warriors claiming them like they do and that he needs to give Riley space. And she tries to tell Riley that it's actually not bad to belong to them. They don't stay too long because Vox has his own traitors to weed out, and Riley is dragged along quite unwillingly. Where she continues to fight Vox left and right even after he tells her how much he loves her, and she knows she loves him. Mostly because he refuses to give her a marriage. Well maybe if she told him what it was he would have said yes! Ugh. This was another book where so much drama was created because the girl wouldn't explain anything and would rather lash out. When they eventually get to his palace, things are still rocky and Riley even attacks Vox's father. But then we jump ahead two months and Riley has finally calmed down and accepted her life. Umm...what happened during that time skip that finally had her calming the heck down? Is it simply because Vox asked her to marry him after she finally explained what it was? Is it something Vox's mother said to her? Even Vox's father did a 180 on his opinion of her. It seemed that a lot of the book was full of fluff so that when it got to more important things, it was all rushed or skipped to make it fit at the end. Which is unfortunate because I liked Riley more then.It was kind of sad that Vox is supposed to be a feared and powerful alpha male, but more often than not he was whipped by Riley. He's still all alpha, but Riley has too much control in the relationship sometimes. And she was always causing him to lose face in front of his men, which could be a disastrous thing for a king. Plus, I didn't think it fair all of the mean things she would say or do to him all the time.One thing that kind of disappointed me was the whole shifting thing. I was hoping it would be simply where the warriors could shift. Not that it was going to be the same as the Valdier where it's a separate entity within them. And that the mate could be changed in much the same way. Except with the Sarafin there could be some serious repercussions with what they do, which, by the way, we never even find out.

Very entertaining story with S. E. Smith's signature humor. Quirky characters you can't help but love. Even as you shake your head at some of their antics or beliefs.

Riley St Claire, trying to leave Righteous, New Mexico, in one piece with valuable information on illegal activities being run by the local law, when her car breaks down. Getting a lift from a trucker, only to be dumped on the side of the road, after refusing the offer made by the driver and being abducted by aliens.After being sold to mine as a worker, to be told to choose a mate from the "men" in front of her. On asking what happens to the remaining choices after picking one, to be told that they will be used as food. Just to be difficult, she picks all five as mates. Three of them are Sarafin warriors, Tor, Lodar and Vox, together with a stick insect like alien, Riley calls Fred and finally a large green blob with two heads that she names Bob.Unwisely, Vox annoys Riley, who decides to teach him a lesson by stunning him with a taser. Several hours later Vox gets a taste of pepper spray. Insulting her as Vox and others try to plan an escape without finding tools to help remove the control collars that they all wear, only to find that Riley carries an assortment of tools in her luggage. After various other amusing incidents which includes "killing" her favourite jacket, which doesn't go down well, to finding out that she is mated to a cat shifter and thanks to a gift, but she can also turn feline. A book with many laughs which I highly recommend.

At last Ms Smith has got her copy reading/editing sorted and I am thrilled that at last I can give her 5 stars.This tale takes us back to the universe of the Valdiers but focuses on their recent enemy the cat shifter Sarafins. No universe was ever going to be ready for Riley St. Claire of Denver, Colorado; she is a force of nature and takes no prisoners. What she does do is captivate everyone she meets (except for the bad guy who she bowls over like nine pins).An American reviewer gave the book one star and likened Riley to 'trailer trash' and advised that we give this book a miss. Well all I can say is that she seems to be in a club of one. This is a great story and rollicking good fun and if Riley is trailer trash I for one don't care 'cause I would want her on my team. She's loyal, feisty and doesn't sit around waiting to be rescued. She is just as likey to come to the rescue herself.Vox is the Sarafin King, an alpha male who finds out the hard way that Riley only does as she's told when it suits her - and it doesn't suit her very often.With an able supporting cast the story gallops along at a mile a minute.I recommend it.

I found this author by accident, my current bank account might regret my find, but i totally don't. i'm going to give a broad review here. as i'm going to add this review to every book of S E Smith i have ever bought, I've got them all now. every book of hers i'm assuming here that S E Smith is a woman (it could be a man!) i read the dragon lords books first and went on from there, i'm only just getting around to putting up a review and because of the amount i books i'm just beginning to realize i had just bought, i don't have the time to write individual ones, i'm not a writer i'm a reader. lolthe fact that i preceded to spend the amount of money i spent on to buy all of her books, should tell you what i think of her/his writing. i just wish i had them all to read again for the first time. :)

As the first book featuring a Sarafin warrior, I was looking forward to meeting King Vox we had heard quite a bit in passing during the Dragon Lords/Valdier warrior novels. Especially seeing their quite hilarious feature in Cornering Carmen (Book 5/Dragon lords) I warmed to the idea of Riley and Vox. I'll admit she wasn't what I was expecting, nor was the rest of the plot, but much like I felt about the Dragon Lords, the new species, worlds and cultures we get to explore are very interesting. Personally, Riley can be the best and the worst of the characters; she can be ridiculously funny, quite endearing but also incredibly frustrating. I pity Vox who I actually like. As a fan of the more conventional shifter types (lupine, felines etc - I'm a big Nalini Singh/Psy-changeling fan) I grew to like him pretty quickly, along with his fellow Sarafin warriors. In the earlier stages of the book the pairs relationship had a rocky yet amusing start and I feel for Vox not only getting (SPOILER ALERT) tasered but pepper sprayed as well for his caveman 'mine' attitude. It was quite amusing and there was some good exchanges between the pair, you could really see the indignation the Sarafin king had for not only being made to work in mines but to be denied his true mate.In the Antrox mines I couldn't quite wrap my head around the fact that Riley was as much a prisoner as the others yet she had a bulging handbag and suitcase, kitted out with half a workshop of tools, probably the kitchen sink and endless changes of clothes, even though she had broken down on earth and been captured by passing traders who just thought it entirely normal to bring luggage with them. Not to mention the Antrox were pegged to be this cold race of slave drivers but allowed her to have not one but FIVE chosen mates (need to read the book to understand this reference) and who jump to her every whim to provide living arrangements with the requested amenities. General inconsistencies or abnormalities that crop up quite often in S E Smith's books that I just come to accept as going with the territory. It doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the series but it is one of the reasons I cannot give higher ratings and reviews because it's not top quality writing or storytelling in my eyes. I look forward to reading of Vox's younger brother, Viper, in the second Sarafin book and am sure it will be interesting. Overall, a good read.

Great book - glad I didn't read all the reviews until afterwards as this is a very funny book. The heroine is very funny but also very loyal and it's nice to see a heroine who gets up and fights with the men, even if things don't go according to plan all the time. Riley grew up in the 'hard school of knocks' and has learnt to stick up for herself and cover her feelings, so when she is terrified she hides it by dressing up and going on the attack instead. I loved this book and can't wait to see what chaos Tina and Pearl create in 'Viper's Defiant Mate.' PLEASE write it soon!