Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novella

An intergalactic whore, Pasha doesn’t know much else. He doesn’t remember his life before, not that he hasn’t tried, but the chip implanted in his brain prevents that. He knows he’s had two owners before his current, and to be honest, he prefers his current owner. At least the alien is allergic to him and can only use him to whore and cook. He’s had it worse. But Pasha has always known he’s meant to be more, only, he’s not sure what. Thwarted at every escape attempt, he refuses to give up, which is how he finds himself at Trell 57 on Warlan. Scanning the crowd in search of the perfect rescuer, Pasha spots a pirate—big, beautiful, and mouth-watering. When fate seems to be on his side, his owner spots the same man. Although they have different goals, Pasha has one thing in mind—leaving Warlan, but getting distracted by the sexy pirate will not be the worst thing that could happen to him.

For years, Captain Griffin Hawke has searched for his king and former lover, Helios Dayspring. Imagine his surprise when he follows his second mate’s need to land on Warlan, a planet known for its criminal activity and whores, and finds the king working as a whore. Getting him alone takes some work, but once he has Helios alone, Griffin tells the king everything—their friendship, relationship, about Helios’ wife and children, about the war that destroyed their planet and left their people dead or homeless, and about Helios, the hero of the war—even though he still doesn’t remember. Convincing Helios of who he really is takes some doing, but once it’s done, getting him off planet is a little more difficult, especially when they realize that they can’t trust anyone—even Helios’ own family.

To get back to his family and new home, he and Griffin must make a few stops along the way and hope the people who betrayed his family in the first place don’t find him first. And along the way, Helios finds himself, who he was meant to be, and a balance with the love he shares with Griffin that they’d never had before.

An Uncommon Whore is the first book in Belinda McBride’s series of the same name. Let’s begin with the title, shall we? I love it. Completely and absolutely. Rolls right off the tongue. It’s almost a term of endearment, yeah? And yes, it’s very true. Helios is a very uncommon whore, one that is so very easy to fall in love with. At first, he’s this stubborn, hard headed guy who wants to live his own life, then he finds out there’s more to him than he ever expected. The thing with Helios is that he pretty much jumps right in to the king role. And yeah, it might sound like a drastic leap from lowly whore to head of an entire race of people, but Helios, even as a whore, always felt he was meant to be more. So I don’t think it was much of a stretch for him to take on, although in his past he wasn’t king. He was a warrior priest in line to be king until the entire royal family was murdered in the war.

Next up, Griff. Who doesn’t love big, beautiful scarred men? Even the eye patch is sexy. Griffin and Helios in their past loved each other more than they’d ever loved anyone else, but they had one problem Griff was too dominant to bottom for Helios and the thought of dominating a royal didn’t feel right. So sex was an issue. But their lives weren’t all bad and their children are safe and now they’re back together, but that doesn’t make it easier. The dynamic in their relationship is the hottest part of this story. The willing exchange of power is a beautiful part of their story.

Besides the romance, this author does a great job with this world. The war and history of Helios’ and Griffin’s people is vast and well detailed. The travel through space is pretty par, but you can only do that so many ways. But the worlds and their many diversities? They’re a huge part of this along with the races and people. It’s expansive and the author leaves plenty room for growth.

My biggest and only issue with this story is the cliffhanger of an ending. The only thing that is resolved in this story is Helios and Griffin’s relationship. The war, the traitors, the state of their people—it’s all left hanging in the balance. After so very much build up, and there is a ton, to have nothing was frustrating to say the least.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story, so much so I can’t wait to read the next book. The characters and the world are fantastic, and the story is very attractive. Something to look forward for those of you who have read this series before—book three: Prince of Faith is set to release soon. I definitely recommend An Uncommon Whore by Belinda McBride.