Mated to the Alien Baller by Talia Rhea Book |Review & Discussion:

Summary:
Sandy’s grandma has passed away but not before making sure Sandy takes life by the horns. As a final goodbye she signs her up for True Match, a state of the art Mate matching agency, guaranteed to match you with your soulmate. Well turns out Sandy’s soulmate is a TrikBaller from Levtiram, a far off planet with a matriarchal system. Unfortunately his mother is quite literally the Telfay equivalent to the liquid at the bottom of a dumpster. Just absolutely vile. Is she surrounded by enemies? How will she get out of this? Or is he a victim too? Can she trust her “soul mate”?

Review-
This is my 2nd read though. By far my favorite Talia Rhea book. Teared up both times. Please read and come back to discuss. Rotfl.

One thing about Talia, we are going to explore the emotional side of life. And here we are.

The first time I read it I was shocked because I went in thinking it’d be the typical rich new husband storyline or “bad boy who changes his ways for a woman”. Oop. Yet again, not at all what the plot of this is.

We explore the depth of what led to the party boy lifestyle, while also helping Sandy find who she is as a person outside of her grandmas lifestyle chooses.

"Spoilers, Spoilers" – River Song

*The following is an open discussion about the book. Details will be discussed here and in the comments. If that's not for you, this is where we part.

Hey, if you are reading this I don't want to hear "but spoilers", you had ample warning. lol

Okay, let’s get into it.

Sandy: Her stubbornness really worked here. I think any other version of a FMC this situation would have escalated quickly. If she was more demure, Elffa would have ran her over. Rane definitely wouldn’t have been able to protect her. Physically? yes. Mentally? No.

If she came in hot and ready to fight that would have resulted in Elffa going full horror movie.

So her slow and steady pace worked best. She was able to observe, figure out the best palm and the execute it perfectly. She was even aware that Elffa would retaliate eventually, so it didn’t come as a shock to her and she was able to place enough doubt in the minds of others, plus build Rane up enough that the two sides would collide.

I like how she said it was her obsession with drama shows, in reality she is just really smart and observant. She is able to work through scenarios quickly, and determine the best route.

Rane: The way his entire community failed him at every opportunity. Yes, his mother is a master manipulator but also no one seemed safe enough for him to confide in.

Why couldn’t they see how depressed he was? And suicidal? We see him contemplate his death for several chapters. Just allowing himself to be beaten, by Green and Blue and by anyone else who chose to inflict pain. We see home drowning himself in anything he can get his hands on.

Which, he did say it’s better for him to make the choice and control the dosage but also we see him in the first scene choosing to down an alcohol that could be lethal.

And that’s just a slice of what’s he has been going through.

It makes me think of all the real world “party animals” we dismiss and what they are actually going through.

We know most drug/alcohol abusers start off by using it to cope and then it becomes an addiction. Yet we always belittle/demean and demonize them. Rarely taking the time to figure out what led to the addiction, the homelessness… well until they die. Then it’s “Why didn’t they ever tell anyone?” “This poor person, they just needed some help!”

But then the cycle repeats with someone else. Or really it’s happening simultaneously.

But I digress. Per usual.

Monster in law- I don’t want to spend anytime on her. lol. But how did she get her hands on Green/Blues brother?

Levtiram: I can see how the trial to adulthood could be a good thing but they have no goal system in place?

You’d think they’d then make the person attend different courses or something. (Unless it’s a medical related reason for being denied adulthood.)

And Yes, his mother had friends and bribed people but still no one put two and two together.

His friends need their butts whooped. How do you let your buddy fall so hard. No one thought to step in? No one thought to investigate a little bit?

Protector Embassy: I’m glad they updated their rules after this but really why didn’t anyone think about making sure the humans had a way to contact the embassy.

Especially after the many attempts to capture humans.

They should have been prompted to buy a combot on Holotulle, also they need a better on-boarding database. Each planet should have an introduction guide or something. You’d think it would already exist, that way Ambassadors know how to move around the planet and their society, so why not have that open for Mates that are matched cross culturally?