His Virgin Mate

The Interstellar Brides® Program: The Virgins Series, Book 2

By: Grace Goodwin

Narrated by: Joshua Macrae

Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

One look, one touch, and there is no denying the heat....

Twenty-one and single, Alexis Lopez hopes her lackluster response to men is a problem she’s eager to solve by volunteering for the Interstellar Brides Program. One look at the large, dominant alien who claims she belongs to him sets her body on fire. When he tells her, in explicit detail, how he’ll claim her in every way, she is eager to give her mate everything, body and soul.

Von of Everis is a ruthless and high-ranking hunter who’s spent years fighting in the Hive wars. But his bed, and his life, are empty until Alexis arrives. One look at his innocent little bride and he knows she belongs to him.

Simple, right? Nope. The match is challenged by one of the most feared warriors on the planet, and stolen kisses and mind-numbing pleasure won’t save Von from a deadly duel. But Von is a Hunter, a warrior, a protector, and someone is trying to take what belongs to him. Only him. He will do whatever it takes to protect, save, and claim his virgin mate.

©2017 Grace Goodwin (P)2021 KSA Publishing

No. Whispering male narrator.

So sorry I bought this and the next on sale. Not sure what story was about. Male and female voices exactly same. All whispering. Just no.

Not up to usual Interstellar Brides standards

After having a lot of fun reading over a dozen of the Interstellar Brides Program (IBP) books, I was really left flat by His Virgin Mate.

What I liked
I liked Alexis and Von, the main characters. I especially liked that the three brides from the Miami IBP center became BFFs and supported each other through the ordeal of going to a strange planet to meet their mates. That’s possibly my favorite part of the story.

What I didn’t like
One of the great strengths of the IBP series is the well-developed setting that perfectly supports a number of different races and planets. Unfortunately, in this book Goodwin ignored her own excellent setting, muddying the waters for both the established IBP process and the fated mates trope. The same story could have been told better without introducing elements that seem random and contrary to the setting.

Another inconsistency is that it’s stated several times in the book that the bride has the final say in who she chooses as a mate. Yet, time and again, some man comes along acting like he can claim Alexis without her consent (and, in one case, without having even spoken to her!) and she has to accede to his will. Why? Why isn’t it enough that Alexis says she has chosen Von? Everyone should respect that. It’s annoying that the book isn’t even following its own rules.

Also, the plot hole. I can’t specify what it is without major spoilers. So, I’m just going to say that there’s a big ‘ole hole in this plot. It never even gets mentioned in the story, let alone explained. And it’s another example of the book not following its own premise.

Finally, I am exhausted by all this talk about virginity. Stop. It. I mean, I accept that Alexis is a virgin. The explanation about that is one of the few things in this messy story that actually supports Alexis and Von as fated mates. But then we get to the supposed “customs” on Everis, and suddenly it’s all about virginity every third sentence. At this point, I’m thinking, “I have to read about this for how many more books?”

About the narrator
In The Alien’s Mate (The Virgins, book 1), Josh Macrae drove me crazy due to his weird emphasis on random phrases, like he went to the Captain James T. Kirk school of voice acting. I am very happy to say that he toned that way down in His Virgin Mate. Turns out that when he’s emphasizing words in a normal way, he’s quite good at verbal characterization. Still not my favorite narrator, but certainly acceptable.

My current project is to listen to all the IBP books in chronological order according to the stories (not publication order). However, I may skip the rest of the Virgins series.

Poor Narrator Choice

The reader was not a good fit. The reader was hard to hear and understand. When he was read from the female perspective it came off as perverse. When he was reading the main male charater he sounded effeminate. Only when he was reading from the antagonist 's perspective did he do OK. I could not sink into the story. Infact I was constantly wondering when it would be over.

Slow

Terrible Narration Flat Voice. I had to check if it was AI. Story was really slow. I own the entire series but this is a disappointment.

Completely in Love!

I love everything about it. The mellow vibe of the narrator adds to the sexy and enticing story.

I love the story but..

I am upset because I like the book. I think it is interesting but I preorder the book and paid for it but it never showed up in my library and then I had to pay again to get the book so they got money from me twice. someone else should have read the book because this person was boring and made the book uninteresting. I hope they find someone else to read the serious when the next book comes out otherwise I won't be ordering anymore. I won't be preordering any books anymore because I will not pay for a book twice.

not as much storyline as others in this series

although I enjoyed the book, there wasn't as much storyline to this book as I was expecting, as many of the other interstellar brides series I have listened to, have had storyline to accompany the spice factor. if there had been more depth to the story it would have been great.