Treasured by the Alien Rogue by Ava Ross

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stolen from Earth, I was sent to a distant planet to become the bride of a big blue alien. Do I dare let this gruff guy inside my heart?

With my boss out to kill me, I run, only to be abducted by robocops. They knock me out and the next thing I know, a tiny pod I’m riding in crashes into a purple lake and a loincloth-wearing alien with lots of muscles, tusks, and a sardonic smile rescues me. Xax takes me home to his clan and announces I’m his new mate. There goes my dream of opening a tea shop in a cute little coastal Earth town.

But between building me a tea shop and protecting me from every scary thing that comes near, I’m finding Xax hard to resist.

Our plant god has gifted me with a mate, and I’m going to do all I can to satisfy her in every way possible. I’ll pluck leaves in the forest to make tea. I’ll call vines to construct a structure to house her new business. And I’ll happily kiss her toes.

Can I convince Amanda to remain on Zuldrux as my bride?

Treasured by the Alien Rogue

Zuldrux Called, They Want Their Tropes Back

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 🖤💙❤️
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗
World building: 🌏🌍🌎
Character development: 🙁😋🥰
Narration: 🎙🎙
Narration Type: Dual Narration

🧡 The Heroine – Amanda

In a future Earth setting, Amanda works as a bookkeeper for a corrupt businessman. Her discovery of financial deception—two sets of books, one rigged—leads her to alert the FBI. She plans her escape, only to be abducted by futuristic law enforcement…or so she thinks. In a twist that escalates quickly, she’s seized by aliens and launched in a crystal escape pod toward a foreign planet. The setup is high-stakes, but the logic of her sudden interstellar exile feels arbitrary, lacking narrative weight.

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💪 The Hero – Xax

Xax, a warrior from the planet Zuldrux, brings a survivalist edge and clan loyalty into the mix. His introduction—diving into a lake teeming with eel-creatures to retrieve a mysterious object—is evocative and sets up a connection to a previous discovery: magical translation stones. His immediate claim that Amanda is his fated mate aligns with genre norms but sacrifices tension and emotional buildup for instant chemistry.

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🍷 The Storyline

Amanda’s Earthbound dreams of opening a cozy breakfast-and-lunch tea shop offer a relatable counterpoint to the alien drama. Her conflicting desires—attraction to Xax versus longing for Earth—create friction, though the narrative never fully interrogates this tension. Xax’s protective instincts and clan-based backstory add emotional texture, particularly when rival Tribon emerges, setting off a classic “mate rivalry” arc. Their conflict provides the story’s most dynamic interpersonal stakes.

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🔎 Highlights

• Tribon’s interest in Amanda forces Xax to assert his feelings, adding dimension to their bond beyond the overused “insta-mate” premise.
• Xax’s backstory as an orphan raised by a clan elder injects emotional nuance that feels earned.


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⚠️ What Fell Flat

• The fated-mate trope is overplayed, especially when paired with a heroine who resists the connection for an extended period. It stifles narrative momentum.
• Amanda’s repeated insistence on returning to Earth feels detached from the emotional journey she’s undergoing; her resistance lacks evolution and introspection.
• The plot leans heavily on familiar alien romance conventions without subverting or enriching them, leading to a predictable and somewhat stagnant arc.
• Given Ava Ross’s reputation for imaginative twists, this entry felt surprisingly conventional—an underwhelming installment compared to her previous work.


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🎧 Performance Matters

The dual narration structure offered alternating perspectives, which enhanced immersion but stumbled in execution.

• Alexandra Cohler brought energy and clarity to Amanda’s voice, yet at times veered into overacting, particularly in emotional or romantic scenes, which disrupted narrative believability.
• Ross Pendleton delivered Xax’s chapters with warmth and control, though his softer vocal tone undercut moments that demanded more gravitas. The intimate scenes struggled to convey intensity.

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