Kindle Unlimited
Unlimited reading. Over 4 million titles. Learn more
Read for Free
OR
Kindle Price: $0.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Follow the author

H.E. Trent
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Erstwhile: A Sci-Fi Romance (The Jekh Saga Book 1) Kindle Edition

by H.E. Trent (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 540 ratings
See all formats and editions
As an adamant opponent of Terran settlement on the planet Jekh, Owen McGarry made his family name synonymous with “traitor” on Earth. Lobbyists standing to profit from off-world colonization hinted that the Jekhans were preparing to declare war. Nearly twenty years after Owen’s supposed death, his granddaughter Courtney wants to learn the truth—even if she has to travel to the far-flung colony to do it.

Court soon learns that not only was her grandfather right about the Jekhans, but that conditions on their world are far more hostile than she feared. Terran forces decimated the population of the resident human-alien hybrids, and the people who remain seem to be all out of fight. That is, except for the pair of men Court finds hiding in her basement.

Fugitives Murki and Trigrian see a future in Court. On a planet where so few women remain, she has the potential to be the mate the lovers need. And more, she could become the advocate for their people that her grandfather didn’t get the chance to be.

When the corrupt local government seeks to punish Court’s friends and family for her actions, she has no choice but to make a stand. If it takes a riot to make the people on Earth see that they were misled about Jekh, she’s more than willing to start one. After all, her reputation couldn’t possibly get any worse.

___

Also in The Jekh Saga:
#2 - CRUX
#3 - SALVO
#4 - WAGER
#5 - ROYAL
#6 - MATCH
Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 7
    The Jekh Saga
  2. Print length
    409 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    August 9, 2016
  6. File size
    1919 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Next 5 for you in this series See full series
Total Price: $16.95
By clicking on the above button, you agree to Amazon's Kindle Store Terms of Use

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01FYHWGNM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (August 9, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 9, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1919 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 409 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 540 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
H.E. Trent

H.E. Trent

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

H.E. Trent is the science fiction romance pseudonym of award-winning author Holley Trent.

Learn about her paranormal and erotic paranormal romances—including the psychic Viking ménages in The Afótama Legacy—at her website: holleytrent.com.

Subscribe to the H.E. Trent newsletter to get first glimpses of upcoming Jekh Saga installments and new release notifications at https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/i0g9w2.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
540 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

AnnieK69
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2016
Verified Purchase
Great story! Loved the world building. Great characters. Courtney McGarry, is a petite, smart and tough cop heading to a Tarren colony as a police officer. The place her grandfather lost his life advocating for the native Jakh people, a human hybrid race. On Jekh, women are few, and are in high demand. Trig and Murki are Jekh friends and lovers, dying from a genetic flaw, their only hope of survival is a synthetic hormone, which is near impossible to get, or finding their female mate. When Court finds the men hiding in her house, she wants to protect them. Political corruption, and cultural misunderstandings, nearly pull them a part. Loved Court, Murk and Trig. Great secondary characters. Can't wait for Erin's story.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Surgical Recovery Stinks…Don’t Do It
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good MMF
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2022
Verified Purchase
This shouldn't have any real spoilers since I'll try to be vague. The author did a great job of worldbuilding and culture-building as well. Courtney (Court) is stubborn, smart, strong, generous, and kind. What she's not is super communicative. She went way too long before telling the guys she felt excluded. They likewise went way too long convincing themselves they didn't have to change their Jekhan ways for a non-Jekhan mate. They made far too many mistakes that should have been obvious. Once the communication problems disappeared, there was a good amount of dramatic suspense during the liberation of some people. The main characters show great evolution in personal growth as well as group dynamics. There is a lot of love here for each other and also friends, family, and native Jekhan people. The story continues in future books with people we meet here in Book 1, but this is a standalone. Language seems mild to me. It's there but not frequent. Heat? Pretty scorching hot at times, sweet at others, and not always detailed in pages and pages of text. Jerry the dog is an adorable meatball. I wish there were more scenes with him in them. I'd give this 4.5 stars; I rarely give 5s.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
RatherBeReading
3.0 out of 5 stars Anticipation, with Reservations....
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2016
Verified Purchase
This is about 2 alien males- Murk and Trig, and a human female- Courtney, in a fantasy future on another planet. This story is well written, and the plot kept me anxiously reading until finished. It does have an HEA, but I didn't feel that "A-h-h-h-h" feeling at the end. I felt this trio, although settled, still had a long way to go in understanding each other, so it left me wondering if they truly were deeply in love with each other. It seemed like there was a lot of miscommunication within their relationship that should have been avoided, if they'd only expressed their feelings. This should have been obvious, especially when trying to mix two different and opposite cultures. Also, there's an unusual dynamic with these three- the most sexually dominant of the them- Murk- is also not the strongest or the most heroic. Despite being arrogant and demanding he stays back from the fighting. Petite little Courtney is the most aggressive of the three being a police officer and a 'McGarry rabble-rouser'. And Trig- although being the quietest, is the strongest, is also very heroic, a fighter, and the submissive of them all- and not just in the bedroom. Despite all of that- when I finished this book I very much wanted to find out what happened next with the sub-characters, and the future of this planet. I guess I do recommend this book after all.
11 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
NancyV
5.0 out of 5 stars DANGER AND SEX
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2018
Verified Purchase
A good plot and not all erotica, as most alien love stories are. This one has enough sex but the main focus is the the humans are taking over the planet Jekh and subjugating the natives. (sound familiar?). Our heroine has come to the planet to find the real truth about her grandfather's death. She is a policewoman and her boss has no respect for her, or any woman. Does this stop our heroine, or course not. Along the way she joins the Jekh tradition of having two lovers in a menage-a-trois. The story continues with other interesting sub characters and danger. This is very enjoyable and blushing read. I did get the book for free and am volunteering this review. I'm fact, I going one better, I have purchased the next book.
Helpful
 Report
S. Fullington
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent storyline!
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2018
Verified Purchase
This book is amazing! The plot is well thought out and keeps reader attention. I couldn't stop reading because I needed to know what would happen to everyone! I won't go into detail about characters or plot because I prefer to find out that information for myself as I read the book. I will say that the character development is great and makes the reader invested in what happens to more than just the main characters. I feel like this series could go on FOREVER because I want to learn more about so many of the supporting characters. The ONLY reason I didn't give 5 stars is due to the aggravating lack of editing for repeated words/phrases as well as errors in gender pronouns (he instead of she, her/him). Usually when there are errors like this that make me have to reread anything, it is so aggravating that I won't buy any other books in a series. This story and the characters in this book made me overlook all of the poor editing and purchase the 2nd book without much of a thought. PLEASE find someone to proofread before releasing your books! Seriously. I would totally do it for free just to keep reading these amazing stories.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
ICU2QTPI
5.0 out of 5 stars Alien Love Story
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2017
Verified Purchase
This is one of those "I couldn't put it down" kind of stories. I am a first time reader of Ms. Trent, and I was very impressed. I love sci-fi romance but, I need my romance to have a healthy dose of sci-first and not just a porno with aliens. This book was definitely a delicious alien fest, with an intelligent backstory, very interesting aliens, an exciting plot and a host of quirky secondary characters to keep the story flowing smoothly. The heroine and two hero's were different enough that the miscommunication between them because of their cultures, was very understandable and realistic. I am so excited to begin the next book in the series.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
H11223
5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant surprise
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2018
Verified Purchase
TBH, i thought i was going to be reading something pretty generic and short, just a sweet lil story. but no! there is a whole world building, the book is pretty long, and the following books that's ensue just keep adding more to this story and its amazing. The author actually tried to make characters different. Females aren't stupidly weak. The plot continues in each book. The series is really good and i hope more people read it.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Margaret
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in Australia on January 31, 2019
Verified Purchase
I couldn’t put this book down . Interesting and keeps you wondering
Report
And don’t call me Shirley
5.0 out of 5 stars loved it!
Reviewed in Canada on October 11, 2016
Verified Purchase
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I loved that this was a substantial read which gave me something I could really sink my teeth in to. I am SO tired of supposedly full length novels which are barely 200 pages - or less!
Although it needs better editing, the book is well written overall and has a fast-paced story that sucked me in from page one. The author did an excellent job of describing a richly detailed world, it's people and their culture, bringing the story to life and making it easy to visualize. I found the characters likeable and interesting, with plenty of depth, and felt they were entirely believable. I really appreciated that this was a less saccharine romance than similar stories. The difference in cultures created realistic tension and conflict, which made the romance all the more interesting and the story more believable. I also appreciated that despite being a Menage romance, the sex scenes weren't too numerous or graphic and did not feel gratuitous. Put simply, they had a point, and helped give the reader insight into the characters and their relationship with one another.
I would strongly recommend this book to any lover of Sci fi romance, and particularly fans of authors like Michelle Diener, Sandra Harris or Penelope Fletcher. I am now eager to read the next book in the series. Bravo H.E. Trent, please keep them coming!
Report
SFF Dragon
5.0 out of 5 stars An action packed and steamy alien invasion SFR with a twist or two. Thrilling and suspenseful. I loved it.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2016
Verified Purchase
Erstwhile: A Sci-Fi Romance (The Jekh Saga Book 1)

There's a new kid on the steamy sci-fi romance block and a hot new action packed series which is just a bit different. 'Erstwhile' is the first book in The Jekh Saga by H. E. Trent, one of my favourite paranormal romance authors, and is set in the not too distant future on a planet that's far enough away it takes six months in stasis to get there, but all is not well on the once thriving but now subjugated planet of Jekh and any information about the place that's available on earth is a pack of lies. This is not your average alien invasion story for any number of reasons, but top of the list is the part where the evil alien invaders.... are human.... from Earth....

For all intents and purposes, for the natives at least, it may as well be a concentration camp and the descriptions of Zone Seven reminded me vividly of the ghettoes that existed in major cities all over mainland Europe during WW2. The Jekhan population is starving, terrified, desperate and dwindling. Even before Earth invaded, their population was two thirds male and thanks to interference in their evolution by the Tyneali, men are only fertile if there are two of them and one female, so MMF triads are the norm. After the invasion, female Jekhans are almost non-existent on the planet and the humans are finding more and more brutal ways to wipe out everyone else. Into this quagmire of greed and corruption comes Courtney McGarry on a mission for information about the death of her grandfather, but she gets caught up in the fight for survival instead.

She's been a cop most of her working life, and being the grand-daughter of Owen McGarry meant she had to fight hard all her life for everything but none of the family believe the story they've been told about how he died and when the call goes out for Law Enforcement Officers on the planet of Jekh, Courtney 'Court' signs up, only discovering the true situation on the planet after she gets there. The environment is hostile to say the least and rumours abound, but she has her own agenda, skills, dog, friends she made on the journey out, at work and in Zone Seven as well as her family back on Earth. There's also a surprise in her basement that will have a significant and life changing impact on her.

There's so much going on in this book between building a new world and characters, then setting the scene and creating the social structures, societal norms and histories, it's difficult to know where to start. This is a terrific and action packed story, a fantastic start to the new series, it's part 'romance' and part crime thriller, filled with great characters, loads of intrigue and suspense, lots of steamy bits although I wouldn't really call the relationship between Trig, Murk and Court a romance, as well as lots of open threads about what's really going on. I don't want to give spoilers but in the beginning I broke my heart for Trigrian and Murk, for what they'd endured and the bleak, if short, future they were heading into before Court arrived. I definitely needed tissues, but my opinion of both men evolved as the book progressed. I really liked Trig from the start, but Murk is a completely different kettle of fish... him, I didn't like, at all. He seemed like a nice guy in the beginning, but as the book progressed, I found my increasing dislike of him turning into hate. He's an arrogant, selfish jerk who takes what he wants without a thought for the lives or feelings of the people he uses and even though he was starting to become a potentially likeable person by the end of the book, his actions at the beginning of the triad relationship with Court are not only reprehensible but worthy of a good kick in the family jewels, with steel toe-caps, and I find his actions unforgivable, regardless of what comes later. He'll have to change radically before I even consider liking him.

As the first book in the Saga, it can easily be read as a stand alone, but it left me with a lot of unanswered questions and I really need to know what happens next. I can't wait to read the next book in what promises to be a fantastic series.

I really didn't want to put it down. I got so engrossed in the story and the situation on the planet as well as the many different things that kept popping up and needed investigation, questions that led to more questions, that I lost track of everything going on around me until I got to the end. Definitely a book I'll be reading again.
2 people found this helpful
 Report
Hanbarn
3.0 out of 5 stars good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
Interesting sci-fi read and although it takes time to get into the story it’s pretty good. Liked the main characters and a gutsy female lead. Looking forward to seeing where the next book takes us.
Report
Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting world/series building
Reviewed in Australia on June 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
Took some time for the characters to work past their cultural differences. Given that this took a period of several months just didn't sit well with me given that Court is such a strong character generally. Can't see that she would leave it so long unresolved. That aside an interesting lead into the series. My first read of this genre for this author - I will be back for more!
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report