"She saves him, names him Jex and barely gets their asses out of the ship alive. But when the explosion doesn't have the desired effect she finds herself hunted across space. It doesn't help that she begins to develop feelings for the man who is no more than a machine, but when he begins to show interest in her everything she knew about biomechs flies out of the window."
Author: L.J Garland
Pages: 110 pages
Publisher: L&L Dreamspell on February 2011
Form: E-book (
from tour for an honest review)
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Amazon: Buy / $5.47 (Kindle) (
EU price, click to see yours )
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $2.99 (Nook)
A bio-mechanical soldier JXS241 is injected with a formula to take to another planet, within him is the solution to winning against the angelic but demonic Darch who plan on feeding on humans until there is nothing left.
Raven is determined to take down a Darch mothership no matter if it kills her, planting the explosives she comes across JXS241 being tortured. She saves him, names him Jex and barely gets their asses out of the ship alive. But when the explosion doesn't have the desired effect she finds herself hunted across space.
It doesn't help that she begins to develop feelings for the man who is no more than a machine, but when he begins to show interest in her everything she knew about biomechs flies out of the window.
I couldn't stop reading, I went through the novel in a jiffy, I simply didn't want to put the book down! Entertaining from the first page on,
MechMan was an adventure, chase and run, both plot wise and romantically.
I loved the plot, it wasn't too obvious, and there was enough static to keep you guessing what was the cause of the hunt. I also really liked how
MechMan ended, I loved Jex's role in it. I really enjoyed Raven's spunky attitude of "do it yourself to get it right", she had the captain and boss in charge down to a tee, with the emotional vulnerability with Jex and her feeling for him as a cherry on top. I also liked Raven's crew of supporting characters. I first thought they intruding on the story, but ended up liking them a lot.
The romance I loved loved loved! Okay maybe I'm a bit of a sucker for the machine discovering emotions, desire and jealousy. So delicious! I don't know what it is but something about it is so sexy to me. It's like attraction at first sight on crack. :D I could go on and on about this, but you'd get bored... lets move on.
You'll like this if... you love sci-fi romance, half machine/half men and spunky heroines who know their spaceships and aren't afraid to boss men around! Go get yours!
Rating :
Niina : Welcome to For The Love of Reading, L.J. Garland, I’m glad you could make it!
L.J. : Thank you so much for having us!
Niina : Let’s get started! Can you tell my readers here 4 fun unknown facts about you so we can break the ice?
L.J. :
1. L.J. Garland isn't one person but two! We're a husband-wife writing team. Been married over twenty years.
2. We have three kids - 8, 6, & 3. What's the unknown fact here? They're all boys and they've driven us insane. Well, okay, some people out there probably already know we're insane...
3. We're both helicopter pilots.
4. On our tenth anniversary, we flew our helicopter from Georgia to California. Stopped in Palm Springs for the big night...but were too exhausted to even enjoy that huge hot tub in the room.
Niina : Tell us little about your book
MechMan, what’s it about?
L.J. : Raven is on a suicide mission. Jex is a biomech on a mission to save humanity. They discover their mutual passion to destroy the enemy isn't their only desire.
A war against the Darch has raged for years, and humanity is on the verge of extinction. Scientists have created biomechs to supplement as warriors, but it's just a temporary fix on what appears an insurmountable problem. One desperate scientist injects JXS241, a biomech warrior, with what he hopes is the solution for mankind's survival. But the biomech is captured by the enemy.
Raven Nirvanni survives on the fringes of a shattered culture. While on a self-imposed suicide mission to annihilate an enemy destroyer, she encounters the imprisoned biomech. Deciding the fate of humanity far outweighs the destruction of a single ship, she rescues him and decides to ensure he reaches his destination. With the enemy anticipating their every move, Raven is completely taken aback when she realizes she's falling for JXS241. But can she really love a machine? And if so, can he reciprocate?
Niina : What made you want to write sci-fi romance?
L.J. : The worlds can be as amazing as you want. You can three-armed pirates who are deathly afraid of Jell-o or you can have humans who have moved out into the stars and have sex with weird creatures. The planets can be hostile or welcoming. Characters can travel on luxury liners, warships, or in the brig. The possibilities are endless. And then there's all the hot sex SFR allows.
Niina : What makes a man, half machine, a great hero for a romance novel?
L.J. : In regards to
MechMan, the hero has a sense of duty, to fight for humanity, to protect the humans who remain. It's in his programming. As far as in relation to the heroine...well, for her, he's forbidden fruit. Right? Sure, people use vibrators all the time...but a full-blown, anatomically correct robot? For this story,
MechMen are warriors...they aren't on the, um, menu.
Niina : LOL! Got it. ;) What chapter did you most enjoyed writing and why?
L.J. : The scene in the ship's mess hall. Lots of sexual tension!
Niina : Can you tell us five fun/quirky things about Jex that we didn't learn from the book?
L.J. :
1. He likes women's underwear
2. Hyperspace is boring (tho now that he has Raven, that's been taken care of)
3. He still pauses before getting into the shower...worried some important part might rust or he might blow his fuse
4. Secretly watches digicasts of As the Galaxy Spins
5. Thought Raven was nutso when he first met her.
Niina : LOL! Interesting! How did you find your cover and if you didn't take part in the search, what is your opinion of it?
L.J. : The book was pubbed at L&L Dreamspell. Linda Houle is the cover artist. I was able to give some input into what I was looking for and Linda did an awesome job of coming up with gorgeous cover. She hit the target on the first try...guess we were mind-melded or something. LOL But yeah, we love the cover. Very sci-fi-ish.
Niina : What do you think makes a story sexy?
L.J. : Mostly it's the sexual tension. The forbidden fruit, the angst of wanting something that you think you shouldn't want...and then learning that you can actually have it!
Niina : Now to more personal questions! What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
L.J. : Coffee. Yeah...it's great with chocolate, cheesecake, chocolate cheesecake, carrot cake, anything...even a spoonful of peanut butter! Yum! But for the two of us together? That would be bubble baths. Yep, that's where we come up with most of our plot ideas and characters. We work out story issues while we massage each other's feet...and, um, other parts. <g> It's very productive all the way around...
Niina : What’s the sexiest article of clothing on a guy?
L.J. : A tight t-shirt. Something about seeing fabric pulled taut over muscles...mmm...then it goes right into the "Wonder what it would be like to pull that shirt off?" *sigh* okay, why did you have to ask me that question? I'm getting all worked up now. Gonna have to put a t-shirt on Jeff and attack him.
Niina : LOL! Lucky for Jeff though. ;) What’s on your night stand?
L.J. : Seriously? Okay...you asked. An Droid pad for reading books, a monkey lamp, a costume jewelry box. Sorry...nothing that exciting. We've got three boys running about. Now, if you'd said "in" my night stand...well, that's a whole other question. ;o)
Niina : Heh, I worded my question carefully. ;) Before we finish, here are some Quick Fire Questions:
Night or day? Night
Pick-Up or MiniVan Pick-up
Boots or Heels? Heels
Beer or Wine? Wine
Cocktails or Shots? Shots
M&Ms: With or Without Peanuts? With
Treats: Sweet or Salty? Sweet
Date: Going to Park or Going to Movies? Movies
Winter or Summer? Summer
Jewels or Chocolates? Chocolates
Men: Alpha-male or Submissive? Alpha!
Men: Clean Shaven or Stubble? Clean
Men: Bad boys or Good guys? Good guy in the kitchen, a total slut in the bedroom
Tattoos or Piercings on a guy? Piercings
Brunettes or Blonds? Brunettes
Romance: Vampires or werewolves? Vamps
Romance: Fallen Angels or Sexy Demons? Fallen Angel
Romance: Cops or Cowboys? Cops
Time-Travel or Sci-fi? Sci-fi
Romance or Erotica/Erotic Romance? Romance
Male POV or Female POV (Point Of View)? Female
Times New Roman or Courier? Times New Roman
Niina : Thanks for visiting the
For The Love of Reading, bot L and J of LJ Garland! ;) Any news would you like to share with your readers, or websites they can check out?
L.J. : We can be tracked down at
www.lj-garland.com. Or we can be caught at
http://www.garland-and-gould.blogspot.com/ where we blog, chat about stuff, and interview other authors. Or, we can be emailed at mail@lj-garland.com - We love hearing from people who have enjoyed our stories.
We also just released another short SFR with Decadent Publishing,
Dead or Alive. Accused of murder, he turns to the only one who can save him...too bad she's a bounty hunter who holds a grudge.
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