Emperor by Anna Hackett

 

4 Star

Poppy is on a test flight that ended up across the galaxy unable to go home and transformed into something else. Emperor Brodin took her in to help her with her shift but is distracted by an enemy sent to get him in line with his father. Will they be able to stop the attacks and keep the citizens of Damar

Safe?

I enjoyed Poppy and Brodin finding their way to a HEA. There were a couple of twists I didn't see coming. I am curious to see what the next book brings and what happens with Brodin's father. I am also interested to see who ends up with the last brother. Can't wait.

Book 2 Galactic Kings

Amazon

Cyborg by Anna Hackett

 

3 Star

Magnus Rone can’t remember who Ever is even though she carries his baby.  Ever remembers their steamy night together and wants to get to know him better while still looking for the other humans.  He may not remember who she is but he feels a connection to her and wants to keep her safe.  She is determined to track down the other humans as well as connect with Magnus.

I had a few issues with this one.  The biggest being Ever being too stupid too live.  She is heavily pregnant and is running off into danger.  I get the wanting to save the other people but actively looking for them when you’re that far along is asking for trouble.  That and her actions lead to Magnus being taken a second time.  If she had just stayed behind and let the others go after the humans everyone would have been better off.  I still enjoyed the book and I liked seeing Magnus and Ever discovering how they would be together.  Here’s hoping the next book is better.

Book 10 Galactic Gladiators

Rogue by Anna Hackett

 

4 Star

Dayna Caplan is relieved to be free from the desert arena of Zaabha but now she is unsure what to do with herself.  She’s trying to figure out the symbiotic being she’s hosting.  To better understand it she has to live with mysterious Rillian.  He is all powerful casino owner who keeps a tight control of his life.  He doesn’t really want that life to be interrupted by Dayna but he can’t turn her away and he doesn’t want.  When people start turning up dead in the casino he will need to utilize her skills to find out who is killing his people.

I really enjoyed reading this story.  The struggle Dayna had in excepting her new life was a good read.  It was also a different story then some of the others as it mostly takes place in the casino and not House Galen.  Dayna is also able to sort of go back to her old job.  I loved reading Dayna’s interactions with Rillian’s staff.  She liked to poke at them to make sure they did their jobs well.  I had more issues with Rillian’s character and didn’t necessarily see the connection between him and Dayna.  It did get better between them towards the end of the book.  What sold it for me was really Dayna and the secondary characters.  This was a really good addition to the series and I can’t wait to read the next one.

Book 9 Galactic Gladiators

Rogue by Anna Hackett

 

This book is two short stories. Each book is reviewed separately.

Information Rogue: 4 Star

Zhim has been helping the House of Galen with finding the humans who have been trafficked.  He thrives on discovering new information and selling it at a premium.  He is thrown for a loop when he meets Ryan who is just as good as he is with a computer.  They team up to try and find the rest of the missing humans.  Zhim didn’t want anything permanent but he’s not sure he can let her walk away either.

We were able to see these two interact in other books leading into this book and I really enjoyed seeing it fleshed out in this story.  I also liked seeing someone outside of the House of Galen finding his lady love. 

Desert Rogue: 3 Star

Neve doesn’t want or need any help.  She will find her sister without any help.  Corsair is the desert leader of the Corsair Caravan.  He is drawn to Neve even though she has made in known she’s not interested.  However, much Neve thinks she can do it alone she will need the help of Corsair to discover the location of her sister.

Where I liked both Zhim and Ryan I can’t say the same for Neve.  I loved Corsair but she just frustrated me to know end.  I didn’t like her character which led me to enjoy this story less since I really wanted to like who Corsair ends up with.  This was also more insta love then the other short story.  The other couple had spent a lot of time talking before getting together and this couple hadn’t.  This story did help progress the overall world story with another House and I can’t wait to read the next book.

Book 8 Galactic Gladiators

Beast by Anna Hackett

 

5 Star

Vek’Ker was rescued and is now trying to get rid of all the drugs that were pumped through him.  Mia helps calm his rage from the drugs.  When the slavers keep going after Mia the only way to keep her safe and save the other humans is to go after the slavers. 

I loved this book.  You felt bad for Vek’Ker because he had been given a crap hand and kept getting more shoved at him.  I loved how much Mia didn’t care about any of it, she just wanted him to be happy and secure.  The flow of the book was good.  There weren’t any slow points in the book.  The only big ish issue I had was I really wanted them to find all the humans already.  It was a good addition to the overall series.

Book 7 Galactic Gladiators

Barbarian by Anna Hackett

3.5 Star

Nero Krahn is brooding warrior that House of Galen uses as their hunter and tracker.  When they rescue Winter they are still missing two other women from earth.  Nero just wants to keep Winter safe and secure within the House of Galen Compound.  However, she refuses to not be involved in looking for the women even though she is blind. 

This book was more about finding the other women and not the romance between Nero and Winter.  I also got a little tired of Nero telling Winter what she could and couldn’t do.  I get that he was trying to protect her but if he had worked with her some of the issues would have never been a problem.  The book was also a little to close in storyline as the last book.  Overall, it was an ok book and I am hopeful the next book will be better.

Book 6 Galactic Gladiators

Champion by Anna Hackett

 

4 Star

Space Marine Blaine Strong has been rescued from the alien slavers but is on a mission to rescue the women the slavers still have.  He’s adjusting to his new life on Cathargo and trying to get back to the man he was before the slavers and the drugs they pumped him full.  Saff Essikani has been trained from a young age to fight using her abilities to anticipate what moves are coming her way.  She will need to help Blaine through all of the changes and try to rescue the women still held captive.

I enjoyed the story with these two.  All of the other books have been the female as the human and this one is the reverse.  It was interesting to see how much all of the humans were in the same boat but with some slight changes.  Saff was incredibly strong on her own and when she and Blaine got together, she was even stronger.  Relationship wise this one wasn’t as strong in the storyline as in the other four books.  The focus of this book was more on the slavers and rescuing the other women.  Overall, a good addition to the series.

Book 5 Galactic Gladiators

Weapons Master by Anna Hackett

 

4 Stars

Mechanic Bellamy Walsh was kidnapped off her ship and taken to a far-off planet.  Kept as a slave she is fighting for her life.  House of Rone had found and lost her.  House of Rone is determined to find her and rescue her. Maxon Shaye likes to be left alone to create his weapons but hasn’t been able to get Bellamy off his mind.  She has gotten under his skin and he is set on saving and protecting her.

This is the last book in this series and was an excellent way to conclude the current series.  There is talk of a spin off series so fingers crossed that happens because I love this world.  This is very much a book that you should have at least read the rest of the books in House of Rone.  You can get away with not reading the rest of Galactic Gladiators.  The pacing in the story was spot on.  There aren’t any lags in the story.  I was really hoping for some happy for both Bellamy and Maxon as their backstory was bad.  Definitely one of the better books I’ve read lately.

Book 6 Galactic Gladiators: House of Rone

Protector by Anna Hackett Book 4 Galactic Gladiators – 4*

Madeline Cochran had a successful career as a Civilian commander of a space station until the Thraxian aliens destroyed the station and kidnapped her and a number of other humans.  She suffered during her captivity but it isn’t anything compared to finding out she can never go home to her teenage son.  She has to navigate the strange world of Carthago and try to ignore Gladiator Lore and find her place on this strange world.

Lore Uma-Xilene is drawn to the hard-shelled but soft hearted Madeline.  He knows what she is going through being ripped away from you family and having everything changed in a heartbeat.  The two have to work together in an underground gambling den to try and track down kidnapped humans.

I loved learning more about what made Madeline tick.  The more that was revealed it explained her character and why she acted the way she did.  Lore was the perfect match for her.  He is a charming easy going man who compliments her need for control in all things.
This book was a little slow going for me.  But overall the itself was good.  I liked the romance between Lore and Madeline.  I liked learning more about both of them and seeing them come together.

Hero by Anna Hackett Book 3 Galactic Gladiators – 3.5*

Kace Tameron is military-trained gladiator on loan to the House of Galen.  He is at the Kor Magna Arena to hone his fighting skills and then come home to help his race win their war.  He was not planning on meeting and falling for Rory Fraser.

Rory Fraser an engineer from earth.  She was kidnapped with an untold number of humans by the Traxians.  With no way to go home she has to find her place with the other rescued humans in the House of Galen.  She is determined to find out how many humans were taken and rescue all of them from the evil Thraxians.

I liked Kace a lot.  He was strong and had a lot of honor.  Somehow in his stay with the House of Galen he made friends and found love.  Things he wasn’t supposed to have.  Watching him come to grips with these two things made the story for me.
I was not a huge fan of Rory.  She was let’s go let’s go.  Not really thinking through all of the consequences of their actions.   I get that she was trying to come to terms with her new life and that she had to give up a lot against her will but and that is a huge but she put others at risk because she just HAD to find Madeline. It just bothered me.

Overall it was a good story that moved the overall story along.  You find out there are still more humans needing rescuing.

Warrior by Anna Hackett Book 2 Galactic Gladiators – 4*

Scientist Regan Forrest is kidnapped and dropped on a new planet.  She was rescued from the Thraxians and is determined to make a place for herself.  She isn’t a fighter but she has other skills and she will use everything she has to take care of herself.
Sirrush warrior Thorin was sold into slavery by his own people when they couldn’t control him anymore.  He carved out a life for himself in the Kor Magna Arena.  He is perplexed by the humans but Regan perplexes him and he has to discover more.

I loved that Regan was a strong woman who even though her life has been turned upside down she is trying.  She was kidnapped, held against her will, tortured and she is still standing.  There are several attempts to kidnap her again and she still is trying everything to find her cousin Rory.  Once Thorin stopped being an idiot him being good enough for her the couple story was very well written.
However, Thorin was trying to turn her off through most of the book.  She was interested in him and let him know this but he felt he wasn’t good enough for her so let’s pretend to sleep with other women to show her how she ranks.  Once he realized his error it’s kind of swept under the rug.  No real apology about being a jerk.

The story moves along and even though there is some timeline overlap with the last book it doesn’t show in the story itself.

Gladiator by Anna Hackett Book 1 Galactic Gladiators – 5 stars

Earth Space Marine Harper Adams is abducted by aliens off her space station.  Taken to a planet where she becomes a gladiator fight in the Kor Magna Arena.
Former Prince Raiden Tiago long ago earned his freedom fighting in the arena.  He no longer fights for his survival but for revenge against the Thraxian aliens who killed his family and destroyed his world.  He is thrown for a loop when Harper is brought in by slavers.
Harper is determined to head home but first wants to rescue any other humans the Thraxians stole.  Harper and Raiden will have to work together to rescue the humans and get some revenge against the Traxians while ignoring their chemistry.

I loved the chemistry between Harper and Raiden.  She struggles to find her place and come to grips with new planet with new rules.  Raiden is thrown for a loop with her.  She distracts him in the best ways possible and he doesn’t feel he has a right to be distracted.  He has his family to avenge and this human is all he can think about.  The book is fast paced.  I didn’t feel there were any lags in the story.  Since it was the first book in a series there was some world building but not any that slowed the book down.

There wasn’t anything I particularly didn’t like about this story.  It was paced nicely.  There was humor, tears, and whole lot a sex in it.