Taking Stock by Barbara Elsborg
Science Fiction M/M/F Romance
September 2, 2014
Samhain

Reviewed by Helyce

Ms. Elsborg has quite a backlist and while I have only read two or three of her stories, I have had strong emotional reactions to both.  So, when this arc came to me and I saw this description in the warning, I knew I’d be in for something completely different.

“Warning: This book contains two hot aliens with interesting anatomy, one lucky human heroine, zero-gravity menage sex, male-male tongue worship, and all the toys one super store can provide.”

I am not ashamed to admit it was the “interesting anatomy” that hooked me in. Here’s a little bit of set up.

Zoe is a young woman who has recently been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and is given 3 months to live.  Since her situation is terminal, she decides that she’s not going to sit around and wait to die and books herself on a Caribbean vacation over the Christmas holiday.  The night before she is to leave, though, she realizes that she doesn’t have anything to read and heads out to the 24 hour Supa-Mart to rectify this.

While there, something fantastical happens and she finds herself trapped inside the Supa-Mart with 10 other people and absolutely no means of escape.  On the plus side, all the men are good looking, especially Kai and Rowe who seem to have noticed her and who she feels an unmistakable attraction to immediately.

Kai and Rowe are aliens beamed down to earth to be shut inside a Supa-Mart with 9 humans while the whole building is transported through space and time to the planet Tantula. The Tantulan people, who had somehow been able to get into and become addicted to Earth’s reality style TV shows, will be watching the antics a la Big Brother as the humans try to make sense of what has happened to them and just survive.  They are clueless as to the fact that they are traveling through space, but they quickly realize that someone out there is watching.

Taking Stock is a really humorous look what a reality series with a Big Brother-like set up would be if some sexy human looking aliens were thrown in the mix. While this story dragged a bit during the set up, once our characters realize they are not getting out, they form a cohesive unit where everyone has specific task or responsibility.  Because they are in a Supa-Mart which I would guess is a cross between a supermarket and a Walmart, they have everything they need to survive comfortably.

After all the initial attempts to break out are unsuccessful, they go forward and make do with an odd kind of acceptance to their situation.  They realize early on when talking that they have much in common, namely the fact that no one there has any family that would miss them.  A really huge clue. Of course, Kai and Rowe know exactly what is going on and they have to play along and stay in character even when things that they didn’t expect are thrown at them.  One of the most important things is that there were only supposed to be ten people including Kai and Rowe.  The fact that there are 11 means someone else was thrown into the mix unbeknownst to them.

Of course, like every house based reality series on earth, the Tantulans would obviously expect there to be sex, and Kai, Rowe and Zoe do not disappoint.  Initially it’s Kai and Zoe who seem to have an immediate connection, though they quickly become a threesome when Rowe admits his long time feelings for Kai.  It’s after their first encounter together that Zoe begins to think that something is not quite right with Kai.  When she shares her theory with one of the other men in their group he disappears.  This causes a bit of panic, as can be expected, and while everyone has come to the conclusion that they are being watched, they decide to go into hiding.  If there is no activity, and nothing to watch, then whoever is holding them captive will get bored and release them.

When the Supa-Mart arrives on Tantula, the story gets a bit more serious as the Tantulan people  have expectations their Earth guests do not really want to be a part of.  They just want to go home.  The focus of the story becomes Kai, Rowe and Zoe at this point.  Both Kai and Rowe love both each other and Zoe and they want to do anything to save her.  They believe their doctor is far advanced and can save Zoe by removing the tumor.  What happens next is truly straight up science fiction and really was entertaining as all get out.

Again, I admit that I was lured into reading this story because of the questionable anatomy of our aliens.  They do not disappoint and there is a lot of interesting sex in this story. Special genital endowments aside, there are even more interesting characteristics to the males of the Tantulan species.

Completely out there, I was entertained enough to keep reading, and what happens at the end did bring a cute kind of closure to the story.

Rating: C+

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