Almost Christmas and Zoe doesn't feel like celebrating.
She's been hiding a serious illness and taking it one day
at a time. Going to the local Supa-Mart store for some new
books seems normal, but suddenly the shutters all come down
and nobody can leave. She's locked in with some staff,
customers and, though she doesn't know it, two men from
another planet. They are TAKING STOCK.
Set in Florida, this story is peopled by reassuringly
normal folks, whose annoyance turns to puzzlement and alarm
as their phones don't work, the staff door is blocked and
computers can't get connection. Kai and Rowe look like
handsome men and react like everyone else; they have hidden
symbiotic companions and can read each other's thoughts,
and they know what is happening. The shop has been enclosed
in a spacecraft and lifted clean away.
People start to fear that a sinkhole has swallowed them,
but when they discover strong metal doors they start to
suspect a plot - maybe a reality show. There's food and
other items in the store. Talking matters over, they
quickly establish a common factor - nobody has relatives or
partners. This seems like too much of a coincidence, so
have they all been selected? And what will happen if they
lose electric power?
As this is a romance we accept that Zoe wants to make the
most of what time she has left and propositions one of the
handsome strangers. Kai has some physiological differences
but she doesn't realise right away. When she does, oddly it
seems like a good idea to have a threesome with Rowe as
well. The second half of the story contains a lot of adult
action. Author Barbara Elsborg has worked out a biology
for her alien people which has similarities to ours but is
also dissimilar, so Zoe has surprises in store.
I liked the practical attitude and determined efforts of
the captives who tried for normality, even making a
Christmas Day for themselves, which separates the story
from something a horror writer might create. How would you
behave in such a trying time, and would you care for
others? The back and forth thoughts of the two men can be
amusing. SF fans or readers who like a sexy, lively romance
with a difference may find that TAKING STOCK by Barbara
Elsborg hits the spot.
Her last days on Earth could be out of this world.
Zoe has accepted that a brain tumor will make this Christmas
her last. She plans to spend it in the Caribbean, hoping
some gorgeous guy will scoop her off the beach for a
passionate affair, a one-night stand—anything just to be
held and wanted.
When she discovers—horror of horrors—she has no unread books
for the plane trip, she heads out for an early-hours run to
good old 24/7 Supa-Mart.
Rowe’s and Kai’s lives are so regulated by their home
planet’s equivalent of Big Brother they even have to hide
their thoughts. Not easy when a secret attraction exists
between them. When they’re chosen for an off-world reality
show involving unsuspecting humans, they jump at this
no-rules chance to open their hearts.
When the giant store’s exits clang shut, trapping Zoe and
several others inside—including two impossibly sexy guys—Zoe
figures she won’t need a beach for a no-strings romance. But
it doesn’t take long for her to realize she could be facing
the end of her short future sooner than she expected.
Warning: This book contains two hot aliens with “interesting
anatomy”, one lucky human heroine, zero-gravity ménage sex,
male-male tongue worship, and all the toys one super store
can provide.
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