Title: Traded to the Orc
Author: Tara Phillips
Published by: Independently Published
Publication date: 25th July 2020
Genre: Erotica/Orc-Smut
Pages: 57
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Series: Orc Brides

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Blurb/Synopsis

Taryn is rescued from a vicious troll attack
But the orcs who saved her village want payment for their services
And they’ve decided to take her as their bride

Taryn’s life is turned upside down when trolls attack her village. With her crippled leg that never healed right running isn’t an option. So she hides, and prays, and fears that her end is near… but then the orcs come.

Her village is saved, but the band of orc warriors want payment, and their price is a bride. A fertile young woman to marry one of their warriors and bear their clan many orclings.

The orc who saves her is tall, scarred, and rugged. He swings an axe as easily as he attends his patients. As the orc’s healer, Gedu is determined to set Taryn’s crippled leg. As a warrior, he’s determined to prove his fitness as her potential husband.

He’ll fight in the bride battle, and prove his worth, because he wants Taryn’s heart, and a baby.

Review

Well, back onto the Orc-Smut reviews, because why the heck not? It’s been hard to focus on anything other than this sort of thing. Sure, these books aren’t mind-blowing, but they’re easy to read and I figure it’s keeping me going. So, why not ride the Orc train a bit longer?

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Traded to the Orc is the second book in the ‘Orc Brides’ series by Tara Phillips, but can easily be read as a stand-alone too. It features two new main characters, Taryn, a physically impaired human and Gedu, the Orc’s healer. When an Orc raiding party rescues a village from a troll attack they demand payment in the form of a bride, they’re given Taryn and, honestly, no one really cares that she’d picked so off she goes to start a new life with the Orcs. A ‘Bride Battle’ commences where all the Orcs that want a bride fight against one another to the right to breed Taryn. Honestly, these Orcs are a lot more civilised than you’d think considering the inhuman description! The battle is resolved, everyone is happy, kinky sex ensues. 

The lead characters in this novella felt more developed compared to the first. I felt like we were given more time to get to know them and the subtle hints of how things were to end up threaded throughout the story were particularly well done. As a lead character, Taryn had more personality to her. Gedu, the orc medic, was an interesting specimen and reading about him, how he develops, was pretty captivating. The ‘romance’ that blossomed between them was short and sweet; things do get pretty hot and heavy in the last quarter of the novel, but I am glad to say that the rape-fetish of the previous novel stays well away! It’s replaced with another sort of fetish, but one that felt much more in keeping with the characters.  

Gedu himself is a bit of a tighter-lipped, stoic sort of character who seems to be just going through the motions of his new relationship – maybe it’s all happening a bit fast for him? It would have been nicer to have his thoughts and feelings come across a bit more; maybe that way the romance aspect would have felt a bit more realistic? What I struggled with in this particular book wasn’t the sudden introduction of a fetish; it was how soon the two took part in it. Having just met someone and allowing them to tie you up to the point you can’t move, speaks of nothing but danger. Sure, it’s all consensual, and I’m happy for that, but it all felt a bit rushed and far too soon. The two needed to build up more of a rapport for this to work better than it did. However, what we are given is a really well-written kink scene that’s clearly been well researched by the author! 

Traded to the Orc builds on the world already established in the previous book and it was great getting to know more about their culture and seeing more of how they lived, where and the whys of what it is that they do. What the author has built about the Orcs is original compared to many of the other books I’ve read like this and seeing more of that world opening up is delightful.

Sadly, there are grammatical errors throughout this book, a few auto-corrected words that have come out wrong, but nothing that really detracts from the telling of the story too much. At least the names don’t switch to others! 

There’s also the same breeding kick that’s already established in the series, which, at this point feels like standard affair with these sorts of books. Orcs want human women to carry their babies for one reason or another. It’s a bit odd, but it is what it is, I guess? I’m trying to branch out a bit and try to avoid the ‘My Dad sold me’ or ‘I want to breed you’ tropes of this genre, but I don’t want to count myself out of it entirely! 

Summary

Author, Tara Phillips, has written another book in the Orc Brides series – at this point, I’ve already read it – so I’ll be reviewing that one soon! Traded to the Orc was a much better read than the first one in the series, features more favourable kinks and characters that feel more realistic and develop as the story goes on. More time spent world-building really aided the novel.