No Mercy [Paperback]

Giselle McKenzie, an Australian, was determined to get rid of her virginity that night. She was 36 years old and it was extremely embarrassing to still be untouched by man. It was true that Anthony was a disgusting loser, but better to get her first night over with and move on. She was just about to close the deal when she heard the strange growling and saw some startling blue eyes. Whatever it was, it also managed to stab Anthony with a fork and he lost all interest in bedding her for the time being. The next thing Giselle knew, she was on a spaceship flying out to who knows where with a gorgeous blond giant named Rem who claims that she is his sacred mate.

Giselle is determined to make Rem take her back to earth, but Rem refuses to listen to her and every time she tries to cover her nakedness, Rem starts growling and turning into a beast. To keep him calm, she has to let him suckle her breasts constantly and cater to his every whim. Giselle certainly doesn't like to be seen prancing around in public wearing nothing but two sheer scraps of fabric, but what else can she do? To make things worse, everyone seems obsessed with her freckles and keep comparing her to the Goddess Aparna. If Rem shows off his favorite configuration of spots one more time, Giselle thinks she is going to scream! Just when she thinks things cannot get worse, their spaceship malfunctions and they are forced to stop over in Joo, a backwards planet with limited flying capabilities and a long, hard walk to the nearest spacestation. As Rem and Giselle journey together, Rem takes the opportunity to show Giselle exactly what it means for her to be his queen - and he shows her no mercy - in anything...

This book started off just fine and I was intrigued to see how Jaid Black handled Rem and his growing madness (as we were introduced to him in The Empress' New Clothes, the first book in this series) and I liked Giselle because she is spunky and sensitive and funny, but it went downhill from the time they landed on Joo. I know that this is an erotic book and that a lot of people are into domination, but I found the entire planet to be quite distasteful. First of all, the native women are not allowed clothing on Joo, but men are, of course. In the first town, Giselle sees a public auction where they are auctioning off an 18 year old girl who is prompted to show everything she has (and I do mean everything) and then suck on the men who are bidding on her to show off her skills. In the village of Lii-Lii, the women are not permitted clothing - not even foreign women, noble or whatever - and must be leashed and collared. In another village, women are naked, leashed and have to open their thighs and let men have a good look when speaking to a male. In the village of Treeka, women are not allowed the use of credits and have to barter for everything by suckling on men. Giselle pouted over the situation, but didn't really try to protest and seemed to take to being displayed and having intercourse in public like a duck to water. She also forgave Rem for anything and everything he did - even when he was laughing at her! I definitely could not do this and I have a hard time believing a virgin of 36 years would be so comfortable. The men are really hot in the series, but they treat their women, Sacred Mate or bond servant or slave or whatever, as objects that are simply there and available for sex wherever, whenever and however they please.

I also felt that the story was extremely short. The book is not that long to begin with and only about half of it deals with Giselle and Rem. The remainder jumps back to Cam and Kara (introduced in The Empress' New Clothes) and Kil. I felt that the author was just trying to piece together the events that happened here and what she was going to do in the next book without really trying to make this a true story in and of itself. This is the second book in this series that I have read by Jaid Black and I won't waste my time on any more.