Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge: The Degan Incident by Rob Colton

Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge: The Degan Incident by Rob Colton

Lonely spaceport worker Devin McSmith meets Bastian Drago, an exotic and beastly alien from the planet Dega, and begins an adventure that takes him to the stars and beyond.

Devin and Bastian get to know each other and their relationship quickly heats up.  Just as they begin to fall in love, Bastian disappears without a trace.

When Devin's encounter with Bastian triggers a startling change in his body, he is taken captive and held in a top-secret research facility.

Will Bastian find Devin before it's too late?

I have had this sitting on my Kindle for a couple of years and now that I have read it, I am kicking myself for waiting so long to dive into this very fun, interstellar adventure.  Devin is one of my favorite types of characters in M/M romances: sweet, caring, hard-working, and a great friend.  He is smaller (which I also love) and quickly falls for the much larger Degan that he meets while working at the Spaceport.  Devin loves seeing all the new types of aliens that visit Earth now that it is part of a planetary union.  

Bastian is the first Degan that Devin has ever seen and he is fascinated by his large size, the two horns on his head, the lower canines that stick out over his lip, and the golden-brown hair that covers his body.  When Bastian inquires about a place to stay and advice on where to eat, Devin is happy to help.  He recommends a diner that is a personal favorite and is delighted to see Bastian there when Devin stops in for breakfast the next day.  It isn't long before Bastian and Devin are hooking up and even less time until they are falling in love.  It seems that both of their dreams are coming true when it is discovered that Devin is Bastian's truebond or destined mate.  Devin is thrilled to finally belong to someone after growing up in an orphanage and only ever having one really close friend.  Bastian is delighted to be able to have a beloved mate as he grew up in a close-knit family filled with love and wants what he has always seen his parents share.

Unfortunately, the next morning Bastian goes to check out of his hotel but then just disappears.  He never returns to Devin's apartment as planned.  And then when Devin begins to get sick and sees the doctor, the diagnosis blindsides him.  As if that weren't enough, on a follow-up visit to the doctor, Devin is grabbed by Union officials (think military personnel) and is soon locked up in a cell, taken out only to be poked, prodded, and examined.  Devin cannot believe that he went from the happiest he had ever been to worried about ever being freed again.  

I don't want to go too much further into the plot as it is best read for yourself but I will say that this book played into a lot of my favorite M/M tropes...and that I am planning to immediately dig into book two in the series to see if the fun continues.  I very much enjoyed reading about Bastian and Devin and look forward to seeing where the series goes next.