Switched

by Diane Burton

Kidnapped by aliens...by mistake? Jessie Wyndom's life in Ann Arbor, Michigan is just fine. She has her repair business and the family farm. What more could a girl want? Except for the rebels... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 189389651X
• ISBN13: 9781893896512
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Imajinn Books
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Excellent.

Jessica "Jessie" Wyndom lives on the family farm and has her own repair shop. It is all that she has ever wanted in life. The next thing Jessie knows she is aboard an alien spacecraft and learning a family secret. The family secret is so secret that no one in Jessie's known family even knows it exists! (You will have to read the book to understand how that can possibly be true.) Captain Marcus Viator of the Alliance research starship "Freedom", is upset when he learns Jessie is beamed onto the ship by mistake. Jessie looks very much like his lieutenant, Veronese Qilana, who disappears about the same time Jessie appears. Scanners swear that Jessie IS Veronese, but that is impossible. Or is it? Before he can send Jessie back to Earth a Praetorium ship arrives. (They are renegades who prey on peaceful ships and "Freedom" is research, not military any more.) The captain is forced to flee with Jessie still aboard and one of his crew members missing. Jessie wants only to return home. Until this is possible she is determined to keep busy. When her skilled mechanic ears hear an engineering problem, she meets Chief Engineer Luqett (who sounds much like "Scotty" from the original "Star Trek" show). Thus Jessie becomes a temporary crew member. Shortly thereafter, mechanical problems turn out to be sabotage and the Praetorium are not finished with them yet. ***** Science Fiction and Romance blend together flawlessly in this novel. Some of the crew watch too much Terran TV, such as Luqett sounding like Scotty. There is also a sub-plot on Earth concerning Jessie's brother, Tim. However, I cannot even touch upon a partial synopsis of it without giving out major secrets. All-in-all, this is a fun romp through space that will give you adventure, romance, and humor. What more could you want? Excellent! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Is it romance or is it science fiction? Yes.

This is an amusing book, lightweight in both the genres it tries for - romance and science fiction - but not at all a waste of time. There are quite a few in-jokes for SF fans, several nice traditional cliches for romance fans, and a few jokes from other areas. For example, the name of our captain is Marcus Aurelius Viator. Leaving aside entirely the question of why aliens would be naming their children after Earth Romans, the name is certainly appropriate. Marcus Aurelius was, of course, the famous Stoic, Roman emperor during the 2nd century C.E., and knowing this telegraphs to the knowledgeable that our character is attempting to be a stoic person. Viator is a great name for a starship captain too, since it translates roughly as "traveller" (the latin via is a road - so this is "one who uses the roads.") Other characters include the ship's engineer, who has watched a lot of broadcasts of ST:TOS (oh, OK: Star Trek, the original show) whenever the ship swings near earth, and decided to talk like Scotty, deliberately, to annoy the captain. An alien engineer doing Scotty is a nice touch.The ship's security office is named Hrvibm - funny enough in spelling, funnier if you pronounce it Harvey-bem, where BEM is the traditional acronym for "Bug-eyed monster" a favorite in pulp fiction of the golden age.There's a scene with aliens involved in a DEA raid; there's also a chase up a college bell tower which will remind you of many gothic horror novels and movies. There is a geek teenaged genius brother - our heroine at first thinks that the events that happen to her are a prank by his Trekker friends.There's a pretty good underlying theme exploring nature versus nurture - can't tell you more without giving away the plot, but it does give food for thought, and in the end both nature and nurture win out - we find that both are important.There are a couple of annoying affectations - the word the crew calls their communicators is link, and it is italicized every time it appears, as though we wouldn't recognize what it means, as if it's really a foreign word. Sorta pointless given that this emphasis is not used for anything else on the ship, no matter how alien.For the romance fans, we have a comedy of errors with twins - complete with clothing exchanges, etc.The writing is not the best - this is not great literature - but it's good enough to make you snicker, and occasionally quote bits out loud to the unfortunate significant other who is trying to get to sleep.

Fun and entertaining

Diane Burton's "Switched" was a very fun, quick read. I am not much of a "romance" reader, but this is was different, quirky, and fun. I did get a little tired of the main character, Jessica's, constant comic book-y wisecracks and felt she could have dropped that once in a while. But, all in all, it was a good story, well written, and captured my interest. The love scenes were a nice diversion!

Switched

A fun, sassy, spunky book that is a Star Trekker's newest episode. It's fun, a quick read. The main character has quitea sassy ("yeah right!") personality which is quite refreshing.I am certainly looking forward to the next installment!

Killer dialogue and a sense of humor make Switched amazing

In reading the first three chapters of Switched, I was enthralled, amazed, and a little uncomfortable. After all, the author is my mother and mom's are not suppose to write like this! But, after seperating "Mom" from the author of this book, I fell in love with the sassy main character who teaches what a real woman is. She's not into the frills and goofiness of being a girl, she's a real woman one can respect. Her obtuse captain adds the perfect straight man to balance her quick wit. What a great first novel! I can't wait to read the sequel.