Duchess Loves Books

DNF at 20%...no ratingI think the premise is promising, and that's what initially grabbed me about the book. It's a futuristic sci fi story about humans living on another planet. The government forces a percentage of it's women (Hunger Games style) to be entered in the Grab...in which the large and in charge human like alien men come and chase them down, collar the woman of their choice, and carry them off to their ship, never to bee heard from again. It is said that unspeakable sexual things are done to these women, and the Grab is considered barbaric and lunacy by the general public, but the women cannot escape it.Sounds intense, right? But the execution was really very different. As soon as this heroine, Naya, is grabbed, our seven foot tall hero, Menace, begins to basically pat her on the head and reassure her that he is not a brute, not going to hurt her. WHich is fine, I guess. But then he throws her over his shoulder, cave man style....and I think "Now THIS is more what I was wanting!" Alas, that only lasts until they are on the ship. Menace once again reverts to this hulking placating conversationalist who spends the next pages...and pages...comforting his new wife. He also manages to chastise her...gently, that...for cursing too much. All the while, they are standing in his BDSM playroom and Naya plays the complete innocent yet strong willed heroine. More than one orgasm? Gasp!Add in some obvious political agenda, which is a pet peeve of mine, and I was done. I don't want a lecture on religious freedom or corporal punishment in my smutty romance book about alien BDSM. What I wanted, expected, and failed to get, was a huge, tough alpha alien human dude who comes down to the human planet to forcefully take a wife...willing or no. Then he steals back to his ship where he then proceeds to seduce the ever living crap out of her and occasionally gives her some punishment when she makes up excuses to try to escape. It's possible, I think,that this sort of thing could have taken place later on in the book, but I was losing interest very quickly. I think this could possibly work for women who like the more beta side of a hero...not the cave man variety that does it for me.ARC received from publisher via Net Galley