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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Review: The Learner by Alan Nayes

Today I have for you my review of The Learner by author Alan Nayes.  Released on February 1, 2013, this book has been categorized as an adult sc-fi paranormal romance.  Honestly, I wouldn't go as far as putting into the adult category, I'd say Mature Teen or Young Adult suites it best.
 
 

An alien being from the dark side of the universe has come to visit Earth. NayéLi is a Learner. She has assumed the form of her host species, a young woman. NayéLi was sent to Earth to learn as much as she can about this third planet from the sun and communicate her findings back to her rulers on her home planet.
NayéLi is bound by her specie’s strict laws of planetary exploration. One of the laws states that no Learner can ever become involved with a member of the host species. But NayéLi is more human now than she realizes.
NayéLi falls in love.
When her rulers suspect NayéLi is deviating from her assigned mission, they order her to leave this man the human side of her has fallen for. If she continues to violate her learner code of conduct, a powerful retriever will be sent after her to enforce the strict code.
When she refuses to obey her rulers, NayéLi places not only her entire sojourn on Earth at risk, but also imperils her life as well as the life of the human she’s come to love. 
 
 
MY REVIEW
 

I want to thank the author for gifting The Learner for an honest review. 
If you know me, even a little, you know I’m big into science fiction and out there books, movies, etc.  When this book was offered up through AToMR, I was all over it.  And here, to have a gorgeous alien who sticks by the rules go and fall in love, you know there’s going to be trouble! 
As I read it there were many interesting moments.  Regeneration taken to a whole new level, romance that has never been experienced before, discovery from both the alien and human views but the moments were a bit dulled down by the story going on and on and really not getting anywhere for a really long time.  The over use of the alien term for humans and the alien race/rulers started to grate on my nerves.  After so many references to humans in the alien language, I was like, ok, I get it, now get on with the story, stop with the alien language use.  Heck, she’s been there long enough, and changing enough that the whole alien language barrier should have been long shrugged off. 
Jared, jarred into wanting to knowing more about NayeLi, due to an odd occurrence which becomes even odder when he discovers not only that people can’t seem to remember her, even after just seeing a photograph of her, becomes the friendly stalker.  A man with a kind heart and a deep loss, he soon finds what he’s been missing in his life.  He finds it a bit hard to come to terms with the fact that she’s an alien, which should have pretty obvious after several things he’s seen her do. 
A romance that shouldn’t be, a romance that has never been before, a romance that can only end badly, this is a romance worth watching, worth feeling the newness, worth the discovery.  An ending that even after all the earlier monotony will surprise you. 
Again, I wish to thank the author.  I recommend this book to anyone who likes a bit of scifi alien/human romance mixed with mystery and intrigue.   I had started off giving this book a solid 3 stars, but with the last ¼ of the book finally breaking free of the backstory and getting along with the present story, I am upping it to 3 ½ stars.




About the Author
 
Alan Nayes was born in Houston and grew up on the Texas gulf coast. He lives in Southern California. He is the author of the horror/thrillers, GARGOYLES (Resurrection Trilogy, Book One) and THE UNNATURAL. His most recent releases are BARBARY POINT, SMILODON, GIRL BLUE,  PLAGUE (Resurrection Trilogy, Book Two), HEMLOCK POND, THE LEARNER (Book One of the Learner Series), and RETURN TO UNDERLAND, a children’s adventure story.   
An avid outdoorsman and fitness enthusiast, he is one of only a few individuals to ever swim across Wisconsin’s chilly Lake Winnebago. When not working on his next project, he enjoys relaxing and fishing at the family vacation home in Wisconsin.
 


 
 



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