Leko (Lunar Uprising 3) by Cyndi Friberg-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release January 18, 2022

Hating aliens is Julia’s family business. Can Leko reach beyond a lifetime of resentment and teach her that love knows no boundaries?

Leko, a powerful lunar raider, is working undercover in an anti-alien militia when he encounters Julia. Instantly he knows she is his mate, but he came to Earth to uncover a Morax plot, not succumb to bonding fever.

Julia knows there is something special about Leko. She has never reacted to anyone the way she reacts to him. Still, she refuses to consider the reason. Circumstances soon throw them together and force her to face the truth. The “man” she is falling in love with is an alien, and her father is not what he seems.

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REVIEW: LEKO is the third instalment in Cyndi Friberg’s adult LUNAR UPRISING sci-fi, romance series. This is lunar raider/recon commander Leko aka Lee, and human female Julia Levitt’s story line. LEKO can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion as there is an ongoing premise throughout.

SOME BACKGROUND: Eight years earlier, six Pylorian spaceships arrived on Earth asking for asylum claiming they were fleeing their immortal enemy, the wolf-like Morax, but in the ensuing years, the Pylorian began to take control, using their considerable powers to force the governments of Earth to do their bidding. In an effort to protect Earth, the Pylorian’s claim to have cultivated aka created the lunar raiders, a hybrid of three alien species (Morax, Pylorian, Dox Tory) one of which reacts instantly when their destined mate is near.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Julia and Leko) LEKO follows Leko, a lunar raider who has been sent to Earth, on a covert mission, to ferret out information about the human male Hank Levitt, and his relationship to the lunar raider rebels, a relationship that may be predicated upon a need for war. Earth has been target in a war for power and control, and the influx of Pylorians, Morax and Lunar raiders means someone is lying, using humans in the process. Leko is determined to uncover Hank’s relationship and involvement with the rebels, a mission that places Leko side by side with his fated mate. Enter Hank’s daughter Julia Levitt, and the woman with whom Leko will fall in love. What ensues is the quick building relationship between Leko and Julia, and the potential fall-out as the Levitt family has been targeted, and not everyone will survive.

Hank Levitt believes the enemy lives among them, and has sided with the Morax, in an attempt to save Earth from future invasion but Hank’s trust has been misguided, and the result places his family, including Julia, in the direct line of fire, a fire that Leko and his troops must stop before it destroys the woman he loves.

The relationship between Leko and Julia is quick to develop- an insta lust/love due in part to fated mates. Leko knows immediately Julia is his mate but pretending to be a human hybrid more confusing to our story line heroine. Julia believes the edicts of her father, and finds herself one of the instruments of potential destruction. Falling for Leko means going against her father’s rulings but our heroine will discover that her father’s directives are those of a power-hungry someone else. As Leko bides his time (a few days) before claiming his mate, Julia realizes nothing can stop the fated attraction between herself and the man with whom she is quickly falling in love.The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters included Leko’s guardian Numid; commander Dracus; Julia’s friend Addison; Julia’s father Hank, her brothers David, Jess, Billy and Kyle, as well as the return of Zorak and Cat; and Rogar’s mate Marisol. There is something developing between Addison and Dracus. The requisite evil has many faces including Kwamar, Morax warrior and commander.

LEKO is a story of betrayal and lies, obsession and vengeance, racism, discrimination and specieism, friendships, family, relationships and fated love. The fast paced premise is entertaining and moving but unlike the previous instalments, most of the story line takes place on Earth; the romance is heated and intense; the characters are colorful, energetic and determined.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Zorak
Rogar

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy