While Forbidden Desire is the fourth book in the Planet of Desire series, it is the first one I've read. It absolutely can be read as a stand alone.

I was hoping that a book subtitled "Kidnapped by an Alien Sex Goddess" would be a fun romp. And it is. But it's also more poignant and emotional than I had expected.

Niva is the titular alien sex goddess. She has the power to heal through sexual encounters, and also the power to destroy. She can have sex with anyone she wants, as long as they're not human. Graven is an enhanced human super soldier on the run from, well, everyone. He has no sense of touch and his feelings are deeply repressed as well, due to the experiments that were performed on him.

At the center, this is a story about bodily autonomy - Niva demanding the right to choose who her partner is, human or not, and Graven regaining the control that was taken away from him as a child. It's also about loyalty and duty and making hard choices. And there's also a lot of steamy sex. Like, a lot a lot.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this, but I am delighted. I now own the rest of the series and look forward to reading it.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.