There are not enough good sci-fi romances in the world, and make it Sapphic as well? I'm sold! Definitely in this for the chemistry between the main characters, as the plot and world building were kind of two dimensional. Regardless, Cedra and Twyla manage to carry the show.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

I recently started this series and had to go back and review.
I am not really a reader of sci-fi and am not going to comment on whether or not that part of the story was good or bad. I liked it, I have nothing really to compare it to. I felt the world building was as good as the character development, both of which were extremely successful.
Starting with Stay with Me, Lily X paints a story of interspecies, lesbian love in a time far into the future. The Earth has been polluted so horribly, that humanity finally manages to repopulate a small star cluster. This story takes place generations after that colonization.
One could dig deeply and speak of the different themes of class and race. With that being said, this is not that review. I'm here to tell you that this is a fantastic story at the beginning of a fantastic series that is hot and steamy, and unputdownable.

Stay With Me was a book I requested on a whim, based on this premise: sapphic sci-fi romance. I honestly wasn't too sure what to expect, given that Lily X is a new to me author, but I was so invested in this story from the get-go and really enjoyed the story.

Cedra lives on a closed farming-colony planet and when she decides she need some assistance around her home, she orders a service bot to assist her. When the box turns up, it reveals a human woman on the run from an arranged marriage who pleads with Cedra to let her stay. 

The concept of this world/universe is very cool. The humans who live on the colony planet are all hybrids (for lack of a better word) who's genetic structure has been manipulated to best suit the environment of the planet they inhabit - some have vampiric qualities, others have beast qualities, etc - and this informs some of their behaviour at a biological level. It adds a bit of a paranormal/fated mates element to the story that I was expecting.

Overall, I think this was an interesting set-up for the premise of the series and I would be interested in exploring more of the books set in this universe.

3.50 Stars.For my first book back, I wanted something fun and easy to read so I was thinking something that you could call a beach read or similar. This book I picked had the clarifier of being a “sexy new sci-fi romance series” so I had a feeling this would fit right into what I was looking for, and luckily I was right. The sci-fi elements are pretty light which I’ll talk more about l later. This book is mostly a romance with the kind of conflict plots you might find on a soap opera, and has a level of heat that is above a normal romance but not quite at the level of an erotic romance.

For those non sci-fi fans out there I would not let this bother you too much. The sci-fi is pretty light and is used to mostly set up the story of a young woman of a wealthy family who makes robots. Twyla’s father is marrying her off for a political power match so she runs away by pretending to be a robot that is going to a faraway peaceful farming planet. The reason she can pull this off is because her father patterned the domesticated robot workers after her likeness (Is it me or is that totally creepy?). What Twyla doesn’t know is she is on her way to the farm of the very sexy butch Cedra, who promised she would never love again. Can Twyla find a way into Cedra’s broken heart, or will Cedra send her back to her family?

I also wanted to mention that this has a light F/F Omegaverse feel. Cedra is a “Fanger” and while it is not flat out said, she has a very alpha feel to her character and Fangers in general can have bonds and one ‘true mates’. I don’t want to go into too much but a character can even go into heat. I’m not an expert enough on exactly what classifies what F/F Omegaverse is, but I think fans of it would at least consider this a fun and lighter version that still has some heat.

I gave this book a 3.50 rating and that is what it truly deserves. 4 stars it’s just too high and 3 stars feel too low. In the end I have to give it 3 stars since on Goodreads I can’t give it the score it really deserves. However, I want to reiterate that for the kind of mindless fun and steamy book that it was, it was an enjoyable read. This author can write and she successful wrote the kind of book she set out to write.

Stay with Me is the first book in a new sci-fi series, New World, with four more already planned. In this first instalment, instead of the bot she ordered, Cedra gets a real live woman, fleeing an engagement she wants nothing to do with.

I always have ambivalent feelings about fated love. On the one hand, it can be so freaking romantic but on the other, how consensual is it if you can’t help it? I like that the author addresses the issue, making Cedra, who has all the power in the relationship – at least initially – think it over deeply. By contrast, I didn’t feel completely comfortable with the age gap, not the age difference as such but the fact that Twyla looks young and that it’s repeated a couple of times and amplified by the height difference. All of this can be explained by the fact that Cedra is a Fanger, a modified human. And I may be oversensitive.

Since Lily X is a new author (to me at any rate), I didn’t know what to expect but I found the premise intriguing. There’s more to it than what I wrote, I’m as always careful not to spoil. I enjoyed the various twists, liked both MCs well enough, and got my eye on a couple of secondary characters whom I hope to encounter again. I know one of them is the MC of book two and I look forward to reading her story.

What I liked best was the worldbuilding. It’s the kind of mix I enjoy of new and familiar enough that I don’t feel lost all the time. It also promises a lot of possibilities, which I hope the author will take advantage of in future books. 3.5⭐️

An entertaining mix of romance and sci-fi that I thoroughly enjoyed. The world building is interesting, the characters fleshed, and the story is sweet.
It's the first in a series and i will surely read the rest of this series.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Twyla escapes from an arranged marriage by posing as a service bot, hoping that whoever she ends up with will hide her and let her stay. Cedra gets more than she expected when her new Servana bot is delivered to her farm.
This was an ok read, I wasn't super engaged with either MC but it was a fast paced story. It was very focused on the sexual relationship and was lacking in character development. It's a sci-fi book but had too many themes to really focus on developing the setting. There's aliens, humans, star people and royals and people with modifications, along with some kind of vampire species all thrown into a futuristic setting with some kind of galactic government patrolled by peacekeepers. There's a lot going on and being the first in this series I felt like some of their world needed a bit more explanation. Future installments may have some potential as the world is more fleshed out but I felt like this one wasn't as good as I was hoping based on the description.

DNF at 52%

Even though I didn't finish it, I still give it it 3 stars because the book is not bad, but I had my expectations in the wrong place I think. I read "sapphic sci-fic spicy book" and thought it would be something along the lines of The Lily and The Crown (which I loved very much) but it spends more time focusing on aspects of the this new world rather than the romance. That's fine but it's not really my thing.

For the romance part, I thought their chemistru was very unnatural because I kept being explained by their matting bond. Also, it should be noted that one of the characters is not 100% human - that was also a problem for me as I was not a fan of the "supernatural" aspects of their relationship.

I dropped it on the first sex scene as I thought the dialogues and the whole "heat" situation were too cringey for me.

Anyways, if you enjoy steamy romances with a supernatural touch this might work for you better than it did for me.

Thanks NetGalley and Carina Press for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review

Sexy sapphic scifi-romance
What a nice surprise: a sexy little sapphic scifi romp in a new world which is inhabited by a very diverse populace. The world is sketched out nicely with hopefully more to come in the next installments of this new series. In this case there is a pinch of vampire (okay: fangers in this world), a pinch of fated mating, a lot of good people and hot attraction and even hotter mating: The main focus is on the romance and I really love a good scifi-romance. The start was a bit cramped with information, but then the story rolled along very well and this light read entertained me for a few hours as it should. I look forward to the next one - Ana‘id is up for grabs. Watch out!

Thanks to Carina Press for providing an ARC. The review is left voluntarily.

I wish I liked it more. This is a sapphic sci-fi romance with a fated mates trope, which has a lot of potential. But for me, that potential wasn't met.

I liked the set up: Twyla is running from her engagement and pretends to be a robot (one that's modeled after her by her obscenely rich inventor father). Cedra, a Fanger (sort of vampire, but not really), is a farmer who desperately needs the help to keep her farm running an afloat. But, oops, that's not the droid she's looking for. And she just might be her True Mate.

The world building was lacking. This all could have taken place on earth with very few changes. I suspect the author has built the world deeply in her head, but a richness of environment is not translated onto the page.

I had trouble with pacing. Between like 20% and 70% there was pretty much no action. And the fated mates trope was executed in such a way that I didn't feel a tension between the characters. And then in the final 30% we get action. Including the appearance of a character who'd only been mentioned previously - she shows up to make trouble, gets yelled at and goes away. It felt unresolved. I realize that this is a series, so maybe that character will continue to stir up trouble throughout, but in this one... I had trouble with it.

I wish I liked it more. Maybe you will.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

There is a lot of potential here - I love the worldbuilding, and want to find out more about the star that the characters live on and the society they've created. I'm afraid the romance leaves me wanting, though. I tend to lose interest when the attraction is purely physical, and here it's compounded by a fated mates situation where one character unwittingly has the other in her thrall.

Great for some, sadly not for me.

I requested this book off Netgalley on a whim and it turned out to be a delightful surprise!

This is a sapphic inter-species spicy sci-fi romance with forced proximity, instalove/mates situation, and a bit of grump/sunshine mixed in.

I thought there was just enough world building to really set the scene yet still remain accessible to the reader. The book takes place on a remote farming star and the descriptors support this small town/country-living vibe. Despite their isolation, there are interactions between the main characters and other star residents sprinkled throughout the story; the supporting cast was so colorful and each character had a distinct personality.

This book had a little bit of everything. I'm not too big on instalove but Cedra and Twyla's relationship development was lovely, the spice was nice, and there's even a little bit of an adventure in here. And there's no third act breakup!!! I would recommend this for anyone itching for a light spicy, yet charming, sci-fi romance read. :)

Rating: 3.5 (rounded up to 4) out of 5.

Yaaazzz!!!!!! This sci-fi book was an awesome read. Runaway bride rescued and nurtured by heartbroken alien. The author even throws a heat into the mix which drives the relationship. It's hot. The characters are perfect for one another and the drama that inevitably surrounds them is only surmountable together. I loved it. It's well written, the dialogue is refreshing, the plot is driven, the side characters are engaging... ain't a flaw in sight with this book. It had me from the unboxing:)

This was a fun light romance and I totally appreciate that it was a FF sci fi romance which I have seen very few of so far. Putting aside how this is a great edition to an underrepresented genre in the book world, I didn't love that it was a Mates situation, it was too much instalove for me, I could have used grumpy Cedra to be dragged out a little.

I liked the forced proximity of these two being forced together, I don't totally understand what Twlya's plan was considering robots don't eat of use bathrooms, or why Cedra agreed to it considering she already paid for the robot but now also has to pay for food also.

This was a really fun, quick read! Although it is a bit cliche I'm absolutely fine with it if it's gay, and this book is very gay. I loved the mcs, their romance is so easy to root for, which is the main reason why it was so hard to put down. I loved the way the author wrote the smut scenes, it was never too much but still so so good, and the fact that it was dual pov so that we got to know both mcs and their thoughts very well. I honestly think its got me out of my reading slump, so I would totally recommend in that case :)

This book is a light sci-fi romance and the first in a new series. Cedra is a Fanger species with altered human DNA. She had inherited a ranch on a closed star planet. This planet is multi racial but struggles to feed its inhabitants so no one can immigrate there. Cedra is struggling to keep up with her ranch and needs a helper so she decides to purchase a bot from the home planet. Meanwhile Twyla is a human and is the daughter of the robot manufacturer and is in charge of marketing for her father’s company. Twyla is being forced into an arranged marriage to the son of another prominent family. Twyla doesn’t want to marry this guy so she replaces a bot out for delivery with herself.

When Cedra receives and opens her bot package she discovers right away that Twyla is not a bot and it is quite humorous. Needless to say the romance begins and it is very charming with a lot of hot, hot scenes.

I enjoyed this light sci-fi book and would recommend it to anyone wanting to try a sci-fi book for the first time. The world building is light and the technology is pretty simple to understand. This is written in first person and the chapters alternate between the two main characters.

ARC received for a voluntary and honest review.