All I Wanted Was to Become a Scientist but Now I’ve Got an Alien Boyfriend: Bubble Babes, Book 2 by Petra Palerno
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
JESSY
All I Wanted…
For the past few years, my life has kind of blown. On Earth, I dedicated my entire existence to science, even if my peers dismissed me as a pretty face. When I got abducted by aliens, I was forced to dance in a bubble for extra-terrestrial enjoyment.
When I escaped by crashing my alien captor’s bus, Gra’eth saved me from drowning and even offered me a place to stay. He keeps telling people I’m his mate, even though I keep telling him the human word for what we are is roommates, but he refuses to say it that way. Sometimes I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or serious—and for my very literal neurodivergent brain, that’s a big problem.
GRA’ETH
I never expected to have to save Jessy, and I certainly never expected for this strange human to be my mate. I’ve convinced her to stay in my apartment as what she calls a roommate. The mating bond won’t let me let her leave, but humans can’t even feel it. I don’t know how to keep things friendly when just the smell of her hair is enough to send me into a mating frenzy.
I don’t want to make her uncomfortable, but I can’t keep fighting the pull of this bond. This little speckled human will be the death of me.
Angsty alien romance
The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💚💜💙
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
World building: 🌏🌍🌎
Character development: 😒🤩😀🙂
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Dual Narration
The heroine: Jessy – she is now in group therapy on a planet far from earth after getting abducted by aliens and later rescued. She is not good at peopling, terrible at connecting with others, and neurodivergent. She is frustrated because she is not able to do what she was trained for. She was a scientist at NASA before she was abducted, a chemical engineer, not a rocket scientist. She had trouble in her field because she is beautiful, and nobody ever took he seriously. She has been living with her alien roommate Gra’eth who rescued her from drowning when she escaped her captors by stealing their vehicle which ended up in the drink.
The Hero: Gra’eth (a.k.a. Seth) – he is the Royal attorney on the planet, and is a bit of a germaphobe, always taking out his hand sanitizer. He has known since he first met Jessy that she is his mate, and he can’t stop thinking about her. He has been hitting on her since they met and at first, he thought she was playing hard to get but then figures out that she is just oblivious to the fact that he likes her. The mate bond has been going nuts and his thoughts of her in all sorts of sensual situations have been driving him mad. He is also very worried about any germs she might carry.
The Story: Jessy likes Seth, and thinks he was really nice for offering her a place to live. She thinks he hovers too much and is always asking if she is ok. She can’t even find time for some self care. He claims they are mates, though she has trouble with social cues and insists they are not mates, they are roommates. She doesn’t like to be touched, and he is underfoot all the time and is always smelling her. She is starting to think she smells awful. She tries to talk him into dating, asking if they have something like Tinder. He tells her they have the mate bond, which snaps into place when they see their mate. Like a biological Tinder.
I love the fact that these are both flawed characters. They are both pretty cute with their idiosyncrasies. Seth is kind of a stalker, and he just can’t keep his mind out of the gutter when it comes to Jessy. She, on the other hand, is determined not to be used or owned. She has been used for her body for too long and wants freedom. I kind of expected more of a romantic, comedy because of the title and the cover, but this was somewhat of an angsty alien romance.
“Good men don’t spy on beautiful women. Good thing I’m not a good male. I’m an attorney.”
The story surprised the heck out of me, when they go out to dinner at a restaurant on the planet and it turns out to be a BDSM (hierarchy gratification) themed night at the restaurant. Jessy is surprised but she is also hungry and would rather stay then spend the time to go somewhere else. Jessy especially surprised me as I thought she was going to be shy and nervous, but instead she cursed a lot and took things in stride more than I expected. I’m not sure I really liked Seth all that much either, he was too willing to do whatever Jessy wanted just to get her to stay.
This audiobook was told in multiple perspectives, done in dual narration and narrated by Ada Sinclair and Oliver Highpoint. Oliver has a nice, pleasing voice and does a great job. Ada Sinclair has a bit of a high voice, that grated at times, but she is very expressive. Though I wish it would have been done in duet rather than dual narration.
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