"Non-stop sexfest in space while saving the universe."

Cea Knight and her cyborg companion Malcolm are simply trying to make a living harvesting space junk, and stay away from the law. After a brief stint in prison, thanks to her no-good lying lover Tal English, Cea has no desire to go back. When Tal reappears in her life, Cea fights against the attraction, until she discovers that some fires don't ever die out.

Tal has a job to do, and while he wants Cea to come to terms with the way they feel for each other, he and his alien partner Penny must focus first and foremost on their mission to save the universe from disaster.

The premise behind PORTAL is interesting: an alien device that causes hyper-speed travel, a portal into another dimension, and an old love being rekindled. Whereas the old love part was mildly entertaining, I found the plot behind the story idea to be a bit tongue-in-cheek.

Rated: NC-17.

SPOILER ALERT:

From the blurb on the website, I had the impression that PORTAL was going to be humorous and erotic both, but still contain an in-depth storyline. In my mind, I was thinking along the lines of a more serious sci-fi erotica story, with occasional comic relief, snippy lines, and a general good time.

What I found instead was a story that was written to be absurdly erotic, to delight in the humorous antics of the characters. An example of what I mean: An alien device is discovered and through trial and error, it is discovered that it is operated using sex. The captain has to be aroused, and think about where she wants to be transported to, during her orgasm.

To be honest, this story wasn't my style, but I am more into serious sci-fi romances. For those who love playful sex, who enjoy a good joke as much as an erotic story, PORTAL is more their speed. I do think that the blurb on the website might need to be touched up, to clarify the intent of the book, to avoid any possible confusion.

There was one thing that seemed a bit off to me about the storyline, and that was the exhibitionist aspect. Yes, that is an exciting part to some stories, and it did set the characters up for a few amusing conversations afterwards, but to me it just seemed a bit off. Cea is too against letting Tal back into her life to let him make love to her in front of her cyborg ex-lover Malcolm, even if he was on the spaceship floor doing the deed with the "sex on the brain" alien.

Reviewed by Michelle Houston
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted March 23, 2003

Summary

Bodicea Knight, a rogue starship captain and her cyborg navigator and companion, MALCOLM, an acronym for MALe COhabitational Luxury Mechanism, are trying to make a living, harvesting space junk. The captain wants nothing but to be left alone, after her one disasterous romantic encounter with Tal English, an undercover agent for the Earth Intergalactic Government; an encounter that cost her father's life and a stint in prison for her. But life doesn't always give you what you want. It frequently gives you what you least expect. In this case, Cea is destined to encounter Tal again. This time, his partner is Penny, an alien with a humanoid look who is obsessed with human sexual behavior.

Tal and Penny are on a mission to find and destroy an alien transport device, one that can bring the galaxy to the brink of destruction. The device is in the hands of an arch space pirate named Crowe. Along with Crowe, his mistress Raven and his right hand man Scorpion plan to rule to universe.

With the help of Cea and Malcolm, Tal and Penny must find Crowe's hidden base and the alien artifact, stop Crowe, destroy the alien technology and stop an invasion that will destroy the human race. As they approach their destination, Tal and Cea discover their passion has grown for each other, Penny and Malcolm discover what it's like to explore inner space with other species and the galaxy gets a shock when the aliens tune in to watch.

PORTAL is an erotic space romp that will leave you holding your sides with laughter while panting for sexual release.