Reviewed by Tara
TITLE: Throwaway Mate
AUTHOR: Ellen Cross
PUBLISHER: eXtasy Books
LENGTH: 63 pages
BLURB: One man’s trash is another man’s destiny.
Aiden is the black sheep of his family. Of course, always being covered in grease hasn’t helped, but put anything mechanically broken into his hands and he can fix it. His cold-hearted parents have lived off his talent for years, but apparently, it wasn’t enough. They sell Aiden to slavers and plan to use the funds to buy themselves a life of high social standing within the city. Dumped on a refuse recycling planet along with other enslaved women and children, Aiden uses his talent to transform an ancient wreck of a cargo transport into their escape plan. His plan would have gone off without a hitch, if he hadn’t been shot in the escape. Bleeding, dying, Aiden locks himself into the cockpit of the ship the second help arrives and aids their landing, knowing that unlike the other slaves who have eager families to return to, he has no one. It’s just better if he fades away from this existence.
Jaylon lost all hope of love years ago, when his intended killed herself on the morning of their wedding, rather than face him over her betrayal. Now, as a medic, he has no time to think of what could have been, until a hunk of metal posing as a ship literally falls from the sky. When Jaylon breaks down the cockpit door to the sight of a pale, skinny, yet breathtaking man, bleeding out on the floor, he has to wonder if fate has sent him a second chance at a future, or if it is just reopening an old wound and pouring salt onto it.
REVIEW: Aiden has had a terrible go of life so far. In his family his sister and brother are treated with love while he is abused for reasons he doesn’t understand. But his talent for fixing anything mechanical that is broken has kept him alive so far has now run out. His abusive father and cold-hearted mother have sold him to be a slave on a refuse recycling planet where his talent as a mechanic is paid highly for. They use the money to pay for a higher living status and Aiden is sent away. Nine months later Aiden is escaping on a ship he found buried in the refuse of the planet. He along with thirty-six children and four women from his salvage crew our on their way to safety and he would’ve been too had he not been dealt a fatal blow before he could escape. His last thoughts as they are saved are at least he kept his promise and the women and children will have a good life especially with the repaired salvaged equipment to sell on board. Jaylon is the medic called in to evaluate the refugees and when a young girl mentions that the pilot had yet to leave, he breaks into the cockpit to find Aiden bleeding and is struck by the need to make Aiden his especially since Aiden is so ready to die. Jaylon has his own past to get over and the memory of his first bonded choosing to kill herself instead of living with her betrayal has haunted him for the past five years. But fate has a way of stepping in and making things right.
This was a very cute but too short read. I did like the whole sci-fi feel to the story. That was very unique and spoke to my inner geek. Aiden of course you immediately feel sorry for. You kind of figure out right away that something rotten was going on with the family situation. The parents were truly evil and to sell someone into slavery just to make money was ridiculous. Aiden though was very sweet and it was sad to know he had to live every day being abused without anyone to help him. But in the end the blessing was for him to be sold because it led him to finding out about his true self. Jaylon was a good man. As a healer he was tested because due to Aiden’s talent for machinery he was almost able to die. But of course like the good man he was he bonded himself to Aiden in order to save his life. I think what I missed for me was a bit more fleshing out of the story. I would have liked more of a background story of the galaxy they were living in because a lot of the time I got lost on what each species was. You pretty much got thrown in a readymade world without any way of knowing how you got there. That may not bother some people but for me I love the buildup and I missed the buildup to Aiden and Jaylons relationship. Everything happened within a span of two weeks and most of the time was glossed over until boom they are bonded, they are happy, Aiden is healthy, and they get some revenge in the process. All in all it was a very cute story but I would have liked to have a bit more added into it to give it some depth.
RATING: 
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