Forbidden by Tana Stone

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Be a tribute bride for some brawny alien warrior? Not on your life.

Ella is one of the few human females who rejected her Drexian warrior match. Sent to live with the other “rejects” in a special part of the high-tech space station, she has no desire to have her life dictated by a bunch of alphas on steroids. And no way would she ever be charmed by an alien playboy. 

Not only is Dakar a member of Inferno Force, which means he’s bigger, tougher, and more dangerous than other Drexian warriors, he’s also known throughout the galaxy for his ability to sweet-talk almost any female out of her panties. He’s the last warrior to desire a tribute bride, but his name has been moved to the top of the list. 

When he meets the beautiful and independent Ella, he’s startled by his own feelings for her. Too bad she’s not interested in taking a mate, and he’s got a bride on the way. He knows that as a tribute reject, she’s off-limits, but he can’t seem to stay away. Can he win her over or will he need to give her up forever to fulfill his duty? 

This standalone action-romance novel features steamy scenes on a holographic fantasy space station, deadly aliens hell-bent on invading Earth, and smoking-hot Drexian warriors with extra erogenous zones who are equally determined to protect Earth.

Forbidden

Third Son, First Crush: A Drexian Dilemma

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💚💜💙
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 😋🙂☺️😘🥰
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Solo Narration

🛡️ Hero Spotlight: Dakar

Meet Dakar: third son, zero bride prospects, and one very dramatic promotion. He’s part of the Inferno Force, aka the Drexian Warriors’ elite squad of galactic badasses who probably bench-press starships for fun. After helping his bestie dodge a treason charge and exposing the real villain (space soap opera twist!), Dakar’s reward is… a tribute bride. Cue confetti. But plot twist! He spots Ella, a human with cheekbones that could cut glass, and decides she’s the one. One tiny problem: she’s not on the bride menu.

📸 Heroine Spotlight: Ella

Ella’s backstory is basically a tragic Lifetime movie marathon. Raised by a single mom after her dad’s brain aneurysm, she spent her youth trying to be perfect while her mom emotionally checked out. College? Dropped. Caregiving? Full-time. Debt? Enough to make a Drexian accountant cry. Basically, she’s been through the wringer and still manages to rock holographic engineering like it’s a competitive sport.

🚀 Plot Pulse

Ella gets abducted from Earth (rude) and wakes up on a space station called “The Boat”—which sounds like a cruise but is more like a cosmic dating app with mandatory marriage. She nopes out of the tribute bride program and moves to the lower floors, where she designs holographic bouquets and dodges romantic entanglements. Dakar, meanwhile, is pining like a space-sick puppy. When he finds out Ella’s a hologram wizard, he proposes a project—not marriage, just yet. But you know how these things go…

💘 What Hit Home

• Forbidden romance? Yes please.
• Mystery-solving duo with sizzling tension? Sign me up.
• Drexian-Kronock hybrid drama still bubbling in the background? Delicious continuity.

🧐 What Fell Flat

• Why are the non-bride humans off-limits? Is there a cosmic HR policy we missed?

🎧 Narration Notes

Jodie Bentley juggles dual POVs like a pro. Her emotional delivery hits the mark, though Dakar’s voice occasionally sounds like he has a frog in his throat. Normally I prefer two narrators for romance, but Bentley holds her own and keeps the story humming. Stone’s writing still slaps, and Bentley’s performance gives it extra sparkle.

📝 Final Takeaway

Alien abduction, forbidden love, holographic flower arrangements, and a warrior with a soft spot—this story is basically The Bachelor in space, but with more explosions and fewer roses. What’s not to love?

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