Beast Unburdened by Robin O'Connor is entertaining and uplifting. In this sci-fi romance story, Ms. O’Connor paints an amazing landscape and builds worlds that open us to new and transformative vistas. Her imaginative rendering of alien life forms is mind boggling. When Abigail awakens, she is far from Earth and in dire straits….aboard an alien vessel and at the mercy of villains. When she is placed in the same space with a man who appears to be more beast than man, she is sure that she is about to meet a tragic end. However, while Ziame appears to be savage and violent, with her he is gentle and caring. The pair form both a romance and a friendship and together they work out a plan to free themselves as well as their fellow captives. The book is told from the perspective of both main characters, and we are given a tense and enthralling adventure as they slowly work to regain their freedom and secure their future. Ziame is such a strong character, and he is one of the most complex and unique aliens ever described. I totally enjoyed this story as well as the other supporting characters. Since I did feel that there was more story to tell, I was truly excited to see that Kitan will tell his story next!!!
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing to me read this ARC for my honest opinion!

This was okay story. I feel it could have used a bit more depth of the characters, so that I would feel more for both of the main characters. The action was great though! Overall, a good start to what could be a fantastic story!

This is the first time I downloaded an ARC and neither the novel nor the author were in my radar but I stumbled upon it while discovering how Netgalley works and I saw the word monster and without even checking out the blurb, I dove in head first. No regrets here ! 50% in and I was already considering a 5 star rating which is rare for me. 5 star ratings are for the books that have an impact on me either by being the ultimate comfort book or by changing the way I see the world, both of which are essential to me. After finishing the book, I’m confident in my 5 star rating. It’s just an amazing comfort book that I’ll be rereading for years to come. 400~ pages of pure escapism.

Abigail, the heroine, wakes up in a pod and realizes she's been abducted by aliens who plan on using her as a slave. One key element that endeared this book to me was the kick-ass heroine and weirdly, her stilettos ! I have to admit, the stilettos are one those things that I would never expect to be important in a novel about human women getting abducted by aliens and then getting it on with humongous, scaled aliens but they totally are and they felt like such a powerful symbol of the self confidence and determination the heroine possessed.

Not that high heels are that meaningful in our awful real world but every time Abigail mentioned her stilettos it was as if she was drawing power from them. They were reminders of her true self. And then she went and did what she did with the stilettos, well, the readers will understand how important the stilettos were ! Abigail may actually be one of my all-time favourite heroines.

In general, the novel was very low angst and more focused on the plot. I enjoyed the action scenes, the plot was intriguing, leaving room for exploring the supporting cast and future conflicts if there were ever more books in the series. Most importantly, I enjoyed the two leads. They were so mature and level-headed and it’s a rare thing in the romance genre. I think they had good chemistry. I also appreciated some of the parts that weren’t the main focus of the plot, like the camaraderie between the gladiators, the unexpected ally that was the doctor with his creepy face and mousy demeanor (I really hope he gets his own book in the future) and the spice that involved tail-play, however mild it was.

“You may touch, tiny-female-of-the-big-hair,” he rumbled at me then, the corners of his mouth pulling up to reveal sharp fangs; though the expression clearly showed mirth.

Stray observations :

- TW : surgery w/o anaesthetics, slavery, the amount of violence and bloodshed you might expect from gladiator fights and carnivory.
- It was reminiscent of Victoria Aveline and Ruby Dixon novels and I would recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi romance.
- The winged Tarkan ??! My Turkish blood is dancing in my veins !
- It was an adorable detail but I loved it exactly because of that : Abigail and Ziame were so much in the same head space that they would think of the same things and see the same problems. Their outlook was very similar and I think it was a really nice touch.

Abigail wakes up on an operating table in an alien ship, with an alien doctor prepping her to mate with The Beast. Previously an Earth dweller it's a mystery to her how she got there & why she was in this situation. Abigal becomes ever more terrified when they shove her into the cage with Ziame an eight foot tall beast of a man, with green scaly skin, huge horns and long tail. The alien slavers want her to mate with this beast so they can profit from the sale of her babies, but things don't turn out the way they planned.

I have to say I really liked this book. It was very well written from the romance to the fighting scenes, and the alien features & characteristics were really well thought out especially in terms of the gladiator fighting skills. Usually when you have an author that writes great romance, action scenes like gladiator fights are normally skipped over to get them out the way as quickly as possible, but I feel O'Connor did these scenes justice.

I loved the fact that the female love interest was an intelligent black female with naturally curly hair, a knack for picking up important intel and a problem solving mind. I liked the contrast of Ziame looking like a scary nightmare but actually came from matriarchal society, protected females, and was intelligent & cunning, besides the fact that he could handle himself in a fight.

I enjoyed reading Beast Unburdened and would definitely recommend. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Aliens, space travel, gladiators, prison breaks, and romance - what more could you want?
I loved the world building and character development in this story. Abigail was a wonderful lead - strong, willful, and caring. Ziame was a classic misunderstood, calculating, and clever counterpoint.
My only issue was a stylistic choice that may not bother everyone, but I found it very confusing. Having dialogue from different characters in the same paragraph took me out of the flow of reading.
On a whole, definitely worth the read!
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

must first say this is nearly a 5 star book. the gladiator and slavery aspect was so beautifully defined and world building that it was amazing. I do not see where this series could possibly go in terms of "gladiators of the Vagabond" after reading this unless there plans on being more in the story becuase it truly ends in a way that a book could. The romance in this while it was building and developing to be this great aspect it all was rushed at the end which kind of through me off. I would love to read book 2 to see where our characters wind up!

I chose this book nudged by a family member encouraging me to read outside of my usual genres.

This SciFi romance novel was set on an alien spacecraft. The main protagonist, a female black woman herself human, finds herself held captive by sentient alien beings, but that is just the story's beginning.

I enjoyed this story more than I expected. It was an easy read, complete escapism that left me wanting to understand more about the new world in which Abigail found herself. I hope there will be more in this series.

I would like to thank #BeastUnburdened #NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this advanced copy in exchange for my own honest review. This book was due for release on April 4, 2022.

Rating 4.0 / 5.0

This was a dark and disturbing read that also had a heart-warming element to it. It was well written with a compelling and gothic storyline and well developed characters. This was a really enjoyable read.

This is a very entertaining book. Abigail being kidnapped with her stilettos was a plus. Kinda gory how she ended up using them. The different species held with her was so different and plain weird but it all worked. I really enjoyed the ending.

Beast Unburdened was a very engaging Sci-Fi Romance whose plot although not a new one of human females abducted from Earth by alien slavers turned into an exciting read as the author infused her story with its own enticing vision of that happenstance and its ultimate outcome.
Populated with a variety of fascinating alien species encountered by the lead Abigail after she is awakened from stasis and then thrown into a cage to be breed with the BEAST a Lacerten male, the only known one in the universe and not at all what he wants his captors to believe he is makes the revelations even SWEETER as the story progresses.
I loved that the heroine Abigail was a woman of color which is always a pleasure to read in a narrative.
This one is well written and told from the perspectives of Abigail and Ziame (the Beast) with plenty of action, suspense and a delicious romance that blossoms between the two.
A story well told and enjoyed by this reader who is looking forward to reading more of this author’s works in the future.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

Beast Unburdened by Robin O’Connor
Gladiators of the Vagabond #1

Smiles for miles…loved this story! A good alien romance is hard to beat and this one swept me into an intriguing world with characters I fell in love with…or hated deeply. Great story!

What I liked:
* Abigail: human, female, captive, tall, dark skinned, curly hair, bank teller, open minded, good with numbers, strong, independent, intriguing, no shrinking violet…perfect for the story and for…
* Ziame: alien, from Lacerten, sentient, intelligent, skilled in subterfuge, gentle giant, lethal, strategic thinker and planner, team player and leader, fell for him just as Abigail did…
* The setting: on a spaceship out in space
* The introduction to the various species that were slaves and gladiators
* The gladiator theme and knowing that all the males were strong, lethal, and from various planets
* The plot, pacing, and overall story
* The growth of the relationship between Abigail and Ziame
* Meeting the characters that will no doubt be in the future books of the series – can’t wait to hear more about them and who they might end up with
* The wide variety of aliens and how they were able to communicate though from various species/planets
* The fight scenes in the arena
* That though the gladiators were lethal, they didn’t really enjoy what they did…at least most of them didn’t
* Being able to dislike/hate the bad guys
* Reading a new-to-me author and enjoying her story
* All of it really except

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Having to wait for the next book in the series
* Not a dislike but a notice that this version is an ARC and I am sure that the final version will have slight editing fixed taken care of

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC – this is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

Beast unburdened Robin O'connor.
Gladiators of the Vagabond Book 1.
Abigail
Monsters are real. And so are aliens…
The beast was terrifying. Eight foot tall, covered in green scales with horns that would make a bull jealous. When they threw me into his cell, expecting him to knock me up so they could sell his offspring, the last thing I expected was to find a gentle giant.
Okay, okay, not that gentle. He did kill a guy and tossed his corpse at my feet the moment we met. Not exactly romantic.
But he gives the best cuddles, that counts for something right?
Ziame
When the slavers threw a pretty human into my cell I knew I had to act. Everything had been building up to this moment.
To break out of this cell.
To free my brothers from a fate in the arena.
I have to step up. I have to be more than the mindless beast I’ve pretended to be.
To save the pretty female I have to be their leader.…and maybe I can convince her to stay by my side while I do it.
Absolutely brilliant read. I loved the story and characters. 5*.

This was the first time I had read a romantic monster love story, which also had a sci-fi/alien spin on it.

The writing style was a bit hard for me to get into at first as the text was broken into short paragraphs, which made it somewhat choppy to read, The punctuation was also a bit awkward at times. But, as I got into the story itself a did not notice it as much.

The actual story was surprisingly good. Abigail, a human, has been kidnapped by aliens and wakes up on a space ship). The aliens plan to use her for breeding, and intend to mate her with their prize gladiatorial fighter - referred to only as 'The Beast'. Abigail is taken to his cell and is initially frightened by the 8 foot tall, green scaled, horned, tailed mail (who is also venomous and breathes fire). However, it turns out the Beast is a kind, sentient alien creature named Ziame and not a mindless monster at all.

The narrative then alternates between Abigail and Ziame's perspective as they try to figure their way out of their situation, whilst also dealing with the attraction between them.

All in all it was a very enjoyable read that went quickly.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the set-up and the characters. It made for an enjoyable read.

So why only 3*?
(I feel I need to add at this point that 3* isn’t a negative. I very very rarely give 5* and 4 is an exceptional read).

I felt the writing could have been tightened up a bit. But ultimately I was left wanting more so if there’s another book I’ll read it. I’d like to know where the characters go from here.

I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

Not being a hug fan of science fiction or space related plots, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It starts off a bit dark with a kidnapping and enslavement, but the plot quickly becomes warm hearted and sweet. I loved that the main female character was strong, but had moments of true emotion (AND is a woman of color) and the male main character didn't fall into any of the classic misogyny tropes or attitudes while still being a strong and complex character. A few plot points felt a bit too long (the fight scenes were a bit too long for me), but it's a quick read that checks off all the romance tropes in a new way.

This book was pretty good. I had no complaints about the writing style. I do think we could have gotten more emotion from the characters. The story was really interesting but I felt like I wasn't as inside the character's heads as much as I wanted to be. I will definitively be reading the next one.

I really liked this concept and the storyline, but there were some editing issues that pulled me away from the story and that’s super frustrating. I’ll give the next book a shot.