Review: Acquainted with the Night by Tymber Dalton

Dale despised the Terran military. He was drafted, not a volunteer. He never expected to get captured by the Algonquans and sold as a breeder pet, either. He only prays his new owner is kind and doesn’t eat him. Then he meets fellow pet, Mark, who informs him getting captured was the luckiest day of their lives. Mark also hated the military and now spends his days in a life of sexual leisure, enjoying poetry and totally at peace with his fate.

Dale settles in and finds not only does he enjoy this life, he loves Mark, too. Despite tragedy striking too close to home in their protected world, they find room to love their Master’s newest pets, Cooper and Nate.

When the war ends and the Terran pets are granted their freedom, the men are faced with a choice: return, or stay with the owner they’ve grown to love?

First up, there is some weird-ass shit in this book. No lie.

✓ humans as sex pets
✓ collars and ear tags
✓ dick milking machines
✓ eggs implanted in asses
✓ multiple... erhm... egg laying 

FORGET ABOUT ALL OF IT. FORGET IT. IT DOESN'T MATTER.

This is a story with such an emotional punch it knocked me right off my feet. Is it for everyone? No, probably not. There is a lot of weirdness to digest to be able to get to the good stuff. But, for me, the weird stuff was more fascinating than off-putting. I loved it, I loved the dynamics of the master and their pets. I loved the introduction to their planet, there was no doubt that these men were seen, literally, as pets. 

They were in frames, in a strip mall, waiting to be purchased. Before they were bought the aliens inspected them for breed-ability. Once they were bought, they had an identification tag pierced in their ears. So, yeah. They were pets, no doubt. Did that make their relationships less loving and real? Absolutely not. 

I love the love that Dale and Mark shared. The unconditional, forever, no-matter-what love they had for each other. Just thinking about them gets me all gooey and weepy. Yes, they were in a relationship with their master and (eventually) his two other pets. Yes, they loved their master and needed him almost as much as they needed each other. But Mark and Dale put each other first, always. They had this complete, all-consuming need for each other that I could feel almost from the moment they met.

Acquainted with the Night spans about 40 years or so, there was a lot of heart ache and changes for Mark and Dale along the way, including the introduction of two more pets into the household.  I always enjoy books that have a large time span. I like being able to see the couple(s) survive through life and the crap that happens post-HEA. Because that's what happens in life, a bunch of crap and being happy with someone amongst all the crap is hard work. So, despite the cuh-ray-zay world building, there was a believability to their relationship. Seeing all the ups and downs and the struggles only added to my investment in these characters and the life they shared. It was wonderful and beautiful and, in the end, heartbreaking.

There are definitely some things I could gripe about, namely, all the sex. There was a lot. No really, I don't think they had any cum left in their balls. More sex than I've ever read in a book before, ever. That much. But I had so many damn feels in every scene that I don't even care. So I have complaints, *shrugs* I'm still giving this bad boy 5 hearts.

This was an odd story, set in odd circumstances. But ultimately, it's an intense, highly emotional, character driven love story. One I won't be forgetting and will most likely be rereading in the future.