Emerge: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance

Hosting Gods Series, Book 1

By: Lena Mae Hill

Narrated by: Brandon Utah, Stephanie Wyles

Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Love can save you...if it doesn't destroy you first.

Gwen has spent her life on the road, picking up and moving every few months when her mother has a mental break. They take care of each other. They don't need anyone else. Or so Gwen believes...until her mother announces she's met a man online.

When they arrive at his opulent home, Gwen is plunged into a world that seems too good to be true. Suddenly she's living in a mansion overlooking the beach and eating foods she's only read about in paperback novels. Her mother's new man has a gorgeous daughter and four irresistible sons who apparently don't mind her complete social incompetence. At last, her dream of going to school and being a normal 16-year-old is within her reach.

But the family they've joined has more than its share of secrets. Not all of them want her there, and her inexplicable attraction to each of them only complicates matters further. When strange phenomena begin to occur in their presence, Gwen must emerge from her protective shell and embrace a destiny she's never imagined.

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Lena Mae Hill (P)2018 Tantor

Story definitely had potential

This story had the potential to be really good but the insecurities of the characters really held the story back. I still enjoyed it but it could have been much better if there was more character growth.

Story is interesting. Narration is painful

I thought the story topic was new and interesting, but then the male narrator started. UGH Why did he have to do a heavy Boston accent? I would have enjoyed it more if he would have just done a normal narration.

Beautiful Connections

I love the realness of the characters and how they deal with the stickiness of life and struggles and still deal with it all amazingly. The connection between the characters is fulfilling.

Serial not series

The story was workable enough until Gwen stops Xander from pummeling Joaquin; then it took a major leap into Too Stupid To Live territory. In a logical progression, they would have interrogated him. They would have made more of Gwen’s throat being slit; following that, they would have made more of her healing. If healing was common, it would have been mentioned earlier in the story.
And going back, if caterers and florists invaded the house, why did they have the ceremony on a beach they had to drive to, not in the house? Or beach by the house? As a small town, there would absolutely be gawkers watching them on the beach. Why no big gossip at school about mega wave, caterers and florists, or the wedding?
What ending? It just stopped.
Wyles did a decent job of narration. Utah had wierd voices for the characters. Also, even a Midwesterner can tell the difference between Jersey Shore and what should be Cape Cod, or Boston.

good story, not so good narrator's

I probably would have enjoyed this book alot if I read it instead of listen to it as an audiobook. The storyline was good the characters were decent but I did not enjoy the way it was narrated by two people. due to the male and female narrators were completely different while portraying the same characters. the female narrator was pretty good and could have just done the whole book. The male narrator made tried to hard with the "Jersey Shore" accent making the characters sound hokey and Goofy.

It’s ok

The story starts out slow but interesting. I like the main character until she reaches the keens. Gwen becomes needy, constantly talks about how weird she is with low self esteem, no skills and no backbone. She becomes a little bit more interesting when discussing the overall story. This story had a lot of potential. The male narrator was awful. If he would have spoke without his accent, as he did several times, it would have been tolerable. I seen the reviews for the next book and it seems I will. It be purchasing it. It sounds like more of the same and worse with no real plot. I should have looked at that first before purchasing this book.

Potential

I finished the book b/c I had to find out how it ended. That’s the only reason. I wasn’t invested enough in the characters themselves to stick around. The dad comes off creepy. The mom is cuckoo. The lead characters are either dumb, jerks, weird or whiny. Can we please just get someone that is just, I don’t know 🤷🏻‍♀️, normal??

Narrator good, but uneven story

This story is uneven and sometimes weird, but it has an interesting plot idea. It's a tentative 3 stars for that, but the rest is a head scratcher. Why is the one brother so cruel to her? That story he finally tells, while interesting, doesn't explain it. And I got lost over some of the plot point. Which is weird with some of the repetitive aspects, you'd think I would understand, but new bits seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Yet, the basic plot about the young folk coming together to save the world and the slow burn....romance?....has my interest.

Interesting but not believable

The world building was fine. The character building less so. But what on Midgard was the motivation of the MC??
“Hey honey, we’re going to go live with a guy I met two days ago.”

“That sounds like a bad idea. More so because you aren’t appreciating that it should just be you depending on me for the rest of our lives than because that’s batshit crazy. But you know, sure. Let’s go. I can be okay with that. I’m not even really going to try to talk you out of it.”

And I finished the whole series, even though the MC continued to make bizarre choices. The reasons for those choices never adequately explained.

Every one of the siblings deserved better than the selfish, annoying, and incomprehensible MC.

Great book

I really liked this audiobook. The story was unique and layered. The characters were real , complex, and distinct from one another. The female reader was great. The male was way over the top exaggerated with the accent, which made it kind of comical at inappropriate times. Once I got used to him it was okay, though. I got really drawn in and wanted to keep reading. It's a "quiet" book that focuses on relationship between the characters. Overall, I would recommend.