Awaken Me Darkly (Alien Huntress Book 1)

Great start to the series. Reminds me of the earlier Anita Blake novels, a strong independent aggressive female (Mia Snow) in law enforcement of supernatural creatures except in this series there are aliens. Aliens that are intelligent, sexy, evil, good and have unknown powers that humans have to police in this futuristic new world by Gena Showalter.

Mia Snow firmly knew that aliens were bad and her jobs was to be eliminate all that broke the law. However, her firm beliefs are shattered as a case of missing human males start turning up dead and the aliens she suspects are involved have the power of saving her friend and of turning up her sexual desire.

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I have tried 2 of Showalter's titles, and couldn't finish either of them. I'm going to have to give up on her I guess. She's not a great writer, and her editor doesn't bring her material up to standard.

The characters are poorly developed, and the relationships aren't believable. This woman's friends and co-workers support her totally, but we never see any real reasons for that type of devotion. The alien hero (Kyrin) is completely and intensely passionate and committed to a permanent relationship with the Huntress, but those feelings come out of nowhere so fast and intense it's really unbelievable (well, more than any alien story is unbelievable, that is!)

In, Awaken Me Darkly, we meet Mia Snow, an A.I.R agent that kicks butt! And I mean that literally. Her character was portrayed as overly aggressive for my tastes. Overall, the book was good because of the cop-mystery going on, but it lacked the "connection" between her and her lover. I may be a bit biased as to how the book was written since this wasn't the first book in the series I actually read. I bought, Deep Kiss of Winter because of the other author, Kresley Cole. Months later, I decided to read the second story, Gena Showalters. I gotta say, I loved it! So, I bought the first book, and...... not what I expected.

I read around a third of this book before I finally gave up. It has some interesting ideas in it -- an alien huntress is a nice change from all the other kinds of paranormal heroines -- but it's SO badly written that I couldn't stand to read any more of it. God, what was her editor thinking of, to let this through? Cliche after cliche, dialogue that's supposed to be tough and kick-ass but sounds phony instead: it's like someone put Anita Blake, Eve Dallas, and Spencer in a blender and pasted the result on the page.

There are a LOT of people out there now who are writing tough women, and all of them write better than this one; I suggest you read one of those, instead.

I'm not good at reviews, so please bear with me!

I love anything Gena Showalter writes and I was a little worried when I first started Awaken Me Darkly. I'm not into reading about detective work and scene of the crime type stuff, so that's the only reason I didn't give it the full 5 stars. However, there wasn't much of that going on, only in the beginning, then it got good...really good.

I loved how close Mia was to Dallas and how she did everything she could to save him, including getting around breaking the law in order to do it. Ghost, Kitten, and Jax were loyal friends and trusted Mia with any order she dished out. I just love to read about that rather than betrayals. :)

Kyrin....wow! He is an Arcadian (alien) that grabbed Mia's attention from the moment she sensed him (mine too). He's powerful, strong, and passionate. I'd love to be captured by him any day! What Kyrin revealed at the ending made my heart melt.l

Mia can kick some ass! She is a strong protagonist and a sexy hereon! Her past troubled life led her to be the A.I.R agent that eliminates criminal aliens off the face of our planet. And...it also led her to Kyrin. She finds things out about herself and her family that she refuses to believe. I even refused to believe them, but Kyrin was very convincing. *wink wink*

Awaken Me Darkly was a face paced read with entertaining fight scenes, enjoyable love scenes, and characters that are easy to fall in love with. Not only did I feel like I was in the story due to the amazing detailed description Gena's magical fingers entwine, but at times I felt I was Mia! Although I am nothing like Mia, I felt like I connected with her and I was living the story through her eyes. That was really enjoyable on a particular scene that you will just have to read about. ;)

LJ Lewis' review below pretty much sums up how I feel about this book as well.

I found this book a rehash of the whole "tough cookie" heroine and not in a good way. The behavior of the heroine, Mia, is brutal and off putting.

The storyline is that the Alien Hunters have complete authority over all Alien species, judge, jury and executioner. In just the first 100 pages alone you see the heroine committing various forms of police harassment and brutality, all the while thinking to herself how much she dislikes most Aliens. And she's supposed to fall in love with an Alien? Is this supposed to be enjoyable?

If this was a male lead I would consider him a villain-and I consider Mia Snow one equally. At one point she tells a suspect "you know I have no conscience" and I agree.

When did equality mean to be equally brutal?

0 stars.

This book sounded like it could be a lot of fun for a light read. However, the book quickly proved me wrong. The main character was constantly was spewing out what felt like an alt-right propaganda pamphlet, just subbing in "Aliens" for gay/black/hispanic/feminist/muslim. I honestly felt like I needed to take a shower after finishing the first chapter.

Now, obviously, the author was setting up the main character to a learner curve about how not all aliens are bad or something. But I just couldn't bring myself to wade through any more of that hate speech to find out if our main character improves.

Mia Snow is an alien huntress who doesn't like other-worlders and works for A.I.R. in the city of New Chicago. In a time when aliens walk amongst us. She heads an invastigation about a series of killings involving something that goes much deeper than first appears and winds up affecting her personally on many levels.

This is my first Gena Showalter book and I will definitely return for more. And not only to the Alien books! She delivers a wonderful, layered and rich story weaved with mystery and terrific characters. The A.I.R agents are a total blast -- all of them! And Mia Snow is as tough as nails, though she's usually underestimated by the opponent.

I loved the voice, it was flowing, smooth and richly descriptive in a way that made my senses tingle like I was in every scene - watching from a corner. Such an amazing experience reveals a deep character with flaws, real pain and a past that had me sighing, WOW! I just didn't want to put the book down until I knew what was going to happen... and so I sat down until I got to the end. And wasn't disappointed.

And let's not forget about Kyrin en Arr. Woah, excellent character and I love the way she described the Arcadian race. Beautiful. Mia and Kyrin have a great love-hate-can't-stop-fighting-each-other chemistry that sizzles -- of course, she's doing most of the ass-kicking!

I definitely RECOMMEND this book to absolutely anyone and everyone! You just gotta check it out... NOW!

Well, I started this book on a Friday and by Monday morning I was done. I consumed this book like a five-star dinner. All I can say is "wow." I am so not a regular reader of paranormal stories or alien books, but this book just sucked me in from page one. The voice is clear and distinct and Mia Snow has my sympathy from the get go. She's tough. She's weathered. She's hard. She's lovable. She's sympathetic. The tone of this book was very much like Anne Rice's THE WITCHING HOUR, at least it was to me. I completely bought into the premise, the story and the characters. Honestly, I NEVER give 5-star reviews, but I can't NOT give this one 5-stars. I will definitely be picking up anything else Ms. Showalter wants to write. = )

Not bad at all. Great female heroine, strong sub plots, characters and in depth world building.

Negatives: For the love of God, please Miss Showalter stop having babies as a sub-plot/plot in every book!!!! I would love to read a story, series or novella where babies and children are NOT involved by Gena Showalter!!! Aaaahhhh!!!!!

In general, I do enjoy Gena Showalter's books. But this book left a bad taste in my mouth from page one.

The main character, Mia Snow, is extremely unlikable. No, not because she's a tough chick. I like tough chick leads in books. It's because she is brutal, egotistical, narrow-minded, and self-righteous. How am I supposed to like our heroine, who, in one scene, was disappointed she couldn't kill some thugs because of all the paperwork such action would create? She really wanted to kill those men, because a little killing would have helped work of some of her tension. Yikes.

Mia leads a team of agents that pretty much work outside of normal law. She can target and murder any alien being on the planet who is even just suspected of having harmed a human. No proof necessary. Just a suspicion is enough for an execution. Bear in mind these aliens are supposed to be in large populations and acting as members of our society. This isn't just a few random aliens hiding out on the planet, like Predator, The Thing, or Alien. Think more like Star Trek or Alien Nation. All I could think of to compare Mia's agency to were the SS from Nazi Germany. How are these folks to be viewed as heroic?

And then I was confounded by the whole history of the aliens on this planet. Apparently when aliens came to our planet, the human race went ballistic and started a war with the aliens. The aliens managed to slap the human rebellion down, so in an attempt to salvage what was left, humans agreed with the alien powers to allow them to stay on the planet. Really? The losers agreed to let the winners get what they want and stay on the planet?..... How gracious of those losers to allow the winners to claim their winnings. So now we have aliens on the planet. Many different species. I guess Earth was invaded by some alien coalition. Anyway, some of these aliens cause problems among the humans, and so the leaders of the aliens have agreed that the humans can form this SS-like task force to go around and kill, without any kind of due process, such evil aliens. What government would allow that? What people would allow their government to allow that? And, as these aliens were the apparent winners of the war, how are the humans able to make such a demand and take such liberties?

Well, since I don't like the main character, I don't like the idea of the team she works for, and I'm not keen on the flimsy core backstory of this particular universe, I have to give this book just one star. And there is no way I'm jumping back into this world. No more Alien Huntress books for me. Ever.

OMG, what a book! It had me hooked from the opening scene, and never let me go. It was exciting, it was mysterious, it was action-packed, it was sexy, and it was even a bit dangerously romantic. I immediately fell in love with Mia Snow, and as for Kyrin . . . wow, just thinking about him makes me giddy with anticipated pleasure! Heck, I know it's probably wrong of me, but I'll even admit to a serious girl-crush on the kinky, sexy, outrageous Lilla!

This was a good start to the AH series, and while I really enjoyed the book it isn't something I will pick up again and again to read like her Atlantis Series or LOTU series. I would still recommend it because it's something "new" and overall well written. I liked it well enough to purchase #2 in the AH series.

I thought it was okay. You have the cop trying to find the serial killer. Only this cop seems to have little to no hold backs. There's no one to tell her she can't do anything, including out right killing anyone she believes to be the suspect. (This concept dropped one star for me). Mia specializes in alien murderers. So she basically goes out, finds the killer, and then kills them. Only this case is driving her batty, because her suspect has a sexy alien brother who basically wants to f*** her. (author's words, not mine)So he kidnaps her and shows her who the true killer is. After that, she basically just has to neutralize the killer. The other problem with this story is Mia is too tough. She's rude. Aggressive. Mean. Hateful. Has little to no morals. I just don't like her, and when you find nothing you can relate to a main character to, or the main character is totally obnoxious, like this one, you find yourself rooting against her instead of for. (That dropped the second star) This was a book I could have done without reading.

Mia Snow is a top cop with the Alien Investigation and Removal unit. She runs around dealing with illegal immigrants from a long way away, and extreme violence is good when it is necessary.

A partner is critically injured and she ends up in a relationship of sorts with an alien that reveals something about who she actually is, and why she can do what she can do better than other humans.

This book was ok, I didn't care for the first person narrative but the rest of the books in the series were really good and I'm glad I got through this one. I have the Audible edition and I really, really don't care for the narrator Justine Eyre. She narrates the entire book like she's 900 number operator. All the male voices sound exactly the same. Mia Snow is supposed to be a cold, hard AIR agent and Eyre doesn't portray that at all. Every sentence sounds like she's trying to portray an extremely sexual scene even when she's talking about shooting someone.

My advice? Read the book, don't listen to it.

At first I didn't like this book because the main character, (female), is not that likeable, the writing style was very simplistic and it seemed to be one cliche after another. The male character and his interaction with the female character saved this book and actually made it enjoyable.

Mia is an alien huntress, who's tough as nails and married to her job. She meets up with an alien name Kyrin and she decides there may be something more interesting to do with her time other that her work. It's set in a world where all kinds of aliens are living on earth too and everybody is trying to get along.

After I got into this book, I found it fast paced and hot. There is kidnapping, bondage and violence between the lovebirds that some might find distasteful, but I personally loved those parts. It was neccessary and added to the chemisty between the characters. It's not going to be the best book you ever read, but it is ejoyable.

If you like sci-fi, first-person thrillers with romance, then this is the book for you. Showalter's book may be labeled chick-lit by some, but I think men will love Mia Snow's independent, get-it-done attitude. The romance is taut and exhilirating but don't expect erotica here. It's sensual but not explicit.

It's the kind of book that would make a great movie because it weaves many threads together: sci-fi, thriller, mystery, romance...The result is a book that will touch you on many levels and ends up with an intriguing twist.

Showalter is a dynamic new force in the writing world. I can't wait for more.

First, the cover design rocks. I was one of the people who thought this was a paranormal romance, but it's more of a science fiction mystery. It's a darker story about an alien hunter, Mia, who has to work with a dangerously attractive -- and plain dangerous -- alien because her partner will die if she doesn't. It's one of those who-do-you-trust? stories and I liked it a lot once I got into it. I was reminded of the politics of non-humans vs. humans in Charlaine Harris's novels.

I think this may be my favorite Showalter book. It has her trademark wonderful world building and well paced plot but unlike many of her books I really like the couple. The heroine is really fierce in a believable sort of way and the hero is so pretty and so underestimated and so arch.

And then they combust. Love it.

I think this may be my favorite Showalter book. It has her trademark wonderful world building and well paced plot but unlike many of her books I really like the couple. The heroine is really fierce in a believable sort of way and the hero is so pretty and so underestimated and so arch.

And then they combust. Love it.

This is my first review to give so I hope I do it right! But I loved this book and had to share. It had an edge to it that was exciting and had me on the edge of my seat. Mia, the woman in charge, wasn't the kind of girl who would cry at the first hint of danger. She was very cool. And her boyfriend was hot. H.O.T. I loved their relationship. I loved all of the characters. There was something about them all that made me want to be a part of their group. I can't wait for the next book. After this one I'd love to travel to the new world and become an agent myself. So if youre looking for danger and excitement and love this is the book for you.

I love empowered women and Mia Snow has got it going on. She's the Alien Huntress in Gena Showalter's new novel "Awaken Me Darkly." Set in the future, Mia works with the New Chicago Police Department where she hunts down and sometimes eviscerates nasty aliens who don't play by the rules. When she meets alien bad boy Kyrin en Arr, sparks fly and their chemistry sizzles. This is sexy, wicked fun and I couldn't put the book down. "Awaken Me Darkly" is a must read.

Gena gives a whole new meaning to kick ass heroines and passion in this book and the added twist of aliens. I love how all Gena‘s stories are inter connected, so you have the background of all the main characters and how their linked to each other. Role on next story.

I see a lot of readers comparing this to Anita Blake, some people happy about it, some disappointed. I say it's not at all, and thank goodness for that. This is Mia Snow. She's a character all on her own. I love her toughness and her tenderness, and that she can kick butt and look good doing it. I for one can't wait for the sequel, Enslave Me Sweetly. And if I had to chose between an LKH book and a Gena Showalter book, I'd go Gena all the way!!!!

This book features a kick-butt heroine, which is something that I love in books. She doesn't take crap from anyone (or anything). The romance is nice but doesn't overwhelm the plot. Looking forward to the next title in this series.

I was looking forward to trying a new author, especially one who has already written several books. Unfortunately, I doubt that I will waste time on another one by Showalter. The plot and characters were one-dimensional. I liked the original premise, but it was not well executed. The whole book felt very surface. I wound up not really caring for the characters. Mia needed some very intensive therapy.

I'm a huge fan of paranormal romance. Unfortunately, there was very little romance in this book. The heroine was totally rude, immoral and a totally unlikeable person. I actually hoped that she and the hero didn't get together in the end, believe it or not. As a reader of romance for many years, I've never wished this before.

Overall, the book was badly written. I'm not just talking about it being written in first person, just badly written in general. My first time reading this author's work. I definitely won't try her again.

If you like a good paranormal with a kick-butt heroine, then this is as good a place to go as any, especially considering the mess the LKH books are right now. The main character, Mia, is smart, determined, and an excellent alien exterminator bent on ridding Earth of off-worlders. The mystery plotline is okay, a little predictable, but not bad, and the romantic lead is well done, if a bit cookie-cutter. But all-in-all, a great amount of fun.

I found this novel thoroughly riveting from start to finish, emotionally, sensually, and stylistically. I love badass heroines, and Mia Snow was not only strong but also showed the depth of character so many "tough girl" novels miss. I loved following her through the twists and turns. I say bring on the next naughty girl, Ms. Showalter, and keep them coming!

I hated the style of this novel. HATED it. Very self-centered. Some authors can carry writing a book in first person point of view, this author is not one of them. On top of that, I hate chick lit, and this reads like one. Chick lit with supposedly sci-fi (not horror, to dainty for that) and is as sensual as talking to my ex-mother in law. The dialogue and the fight scenes read like a bad B movie. And this was lazy--at least she could have done some research into fight scenes. The hero is an alien and he can "vanish" or as the author says "travel molecularly." NOTHING else. Again, no explanation, no research. But hey, it's a sci-fi romance so why do any world building? The readers don't care... As to being erotic? This author should continue to write Harlequin and leave erotica to those authors that know how to write it. Please, can I have my money back???????????

I to feel like this book was not written very well. Some of the things that happened in could have been explained better and the romantic aspect of it was not there. The story seemed more writing formula than plot. I have never felt more frustrated reading a book, as a matter-of-fact I put it down and started reading another book, before finishing it.

I won't be reading any more of her books.

On the other hand I have fallen in love with author Susan Elizabeth Phillips work. Here is a romance writer extraordinaire. Her books have great descriptive plots, her characters are well developed and she makes you laugh out loud or cry. She is a true erotic romance writer for the ages!

I do like the genre and don't mind chick-lit. What I do mind is a completely self-absorbed, racist, ignorant, narrow minded heroine - which is what we have here. If the book were not so poorly written I could put up with the unlikeable Mia, but I agree with the other review - it's all B movie-ish. I really like the LKH and similar books and was hoping to find another good author (especially now that the Anita Blake series has turned into what it has) but unfortunatley I'll have to keep looking.

I was really disappointed, this book reminds me of JD Robbs "In Death" series, the girls hard, the guy fights with her til he gets her, I picked up this one and I shouldn't have but I thought that I would give the author another try after I read Pleasure Slave that reminded me of Sherrilyn Kenyon's book Fantasy Lover. I don't think I will try this author again.

AWAKEN ME DARKLY by Gena Showalter confused me as to what kind of book it is. Since I've read two other Showalter novels, both paranormal romances, I had assumed this book was also a romance. However, the book was written in first person (a no-no for romances), and it took more than 100 pages for the hero, Kyrin, and heroine, Mia, to have a substantial scene together. In fact, I stopped reading the book at that point to look at the cover and make sure I didn't make a mistake. The cover shows a woman in slinky black leather holding a knife. The publisher logo also depicts handcuffs and talks about "Naughty Girls." Okay, so maybe it's supposed to be erotica ... but with no erotica to be found. So I went back to reading, wondering what was going on.

The whole story is actually more of a cop murder mystery (a la "Men in Black") in which Mia tries to figure out who is killing human men, with Kyrin the alien (and her love interest) being a possible suspect. There are a couple sex scenes, but as for love scenes ... well, let's just say it was lacking in that department. This book didn't come across as romantic at all. Mia was not a heroine I could (or would) want to relate to: she's crass and violent, and the actions she takes to feel "empowered" as a woman and/or cop are what I consider low class and tasteless. She's also constantly wanting to "kick ass" every five seconds. Kicking ass can get very annoying very fast in this book. I especially got tired of her punching the hero every other scene. A real man would not put up with that. Neither should an alien hero, in my opinion.

Plot-wise, I thought the story was interesting and I finished reading the book cover-to-cover in a matter of hours. Granted, I also thought there were way too many "easy outs" for Mia in this story, especially in relation to her alien hunter buddies and what they let her get away with. I also thought it strange that although Mia is an alien hunter and there were something like 80 species of aliens running around on Earth, there was very little discussion of the aliens themselves or their culture. Kyrin's super-brief description of his home planet just left me with more questions, like why he abandoned it for Earth, etc.

So, all in all, what does this mean? I think I can safely say that AWAKEN ME DARKLY is a lower-end sci-fi cop thriller for women. It has a couple of sex scenes, neither erotic nor romantic, just descriptive. The heroine has violent tendencies and a potty mouth, and the biggest mystery of the novel is how in the world the hero can possibly love her. Still ... I was entertained, I won't deny it. I just don't think I'd ever read the book again, or whatever sequels that might follow.

***Now, if you are interested in reading a paranormal romance with a compelling hero and heroine who are secret agents on a mission to protect humanity from monsters, read the Goblin Town series by Melanie Jackson. In TRAVELER, which is the first book, Jack and Io are both part fairy and travel to Goblin Town to foil a plot by flesh-eating goblins to take over the U.S. The romance is sizzling, the characters are likable and realistic, and the action is nonstop and entertaining. Plus, the author goes into fascinating (if gory) detail about a modern-day world populated with goblins, fairies, and humans. I loved TRAVELER. ***

Whats not to like? You have adventure in a future Earth with lots of aliens, a beautiful woman with deadly fighting skills (she enjoys fighting), an awsome alien who loves her, along with bad guy & good guys and a big secret she uncovers that changes her life. People who like this type of stuff will also enjoy reading this book.

I wasn't entirely certain I would like this book or not but much to my surprise I couldn't put it down! I read it in a day, non-stop. I LOVE Gena, her books are incredible! I am going through withdraw since she won't put out a new book until '06!

Maitresse Lee

I admit that I bought this book thinking it might be similar to books I've enjoyed by Laurel Hamilton or Charlaine Harris. It was not. I found it to be trite and formulaic. I just couldn't buy into it and felt that the heroine was one dimensional. The book is already in my bag for Goodwill. I didn't like it enough to even try to give it away to a friend.

The protagonist will remind you a lot of Anita Blake, only more of a spoiled brat. It makes you wonder why all the strong female leads in this type of book are written in the first person, and are tiny, dark-haired, dark-eyed women. The book started out well as a paranormal adventure, then degraded into a cheap bodice ripper. The "secret" that we discover about Mia was pretty obvious. There are lots of loose ends, and the romance between Mia and Kyrin was poorly developed.

Sorry, for those who compare this author to Laurel, you are barking up the wrong tree. I was disappointed when I sat down and started reading this novel. Not only was it highly confusing, but simply boring.

The Anita Blake look alikes must go!!!