• Gundar

  • Mate the Stars, Book 1
  • By: Loretta Johns
  • Narrated by: Audrey Lusk
  • Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (49 ratings)

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Gundar  By  cover art

Gundar

By: Loretta Johns
Narrated by: Audrey Lusk
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Publisher's summary

Newly re-edited.

The Mylos came for genetic trade, offering a chance for the women of Earth to meet and marry their perfect other halves as well as advances in technology and education for all.

Darla Levin isn't looking for a husband. She is, however, looking for money for college. Falling short of her needs using financial aid, she decides to take a gamble and apply for the Bride Registry Scholarship.

It seems simple: You don't get matched unless you're a perfect genetic and psychological fit, and for the scholarship, the pool is limited to Mylos currently in orbit. Matches are so rare, she's never known anyone who has known anyone else who has been matched.

After her best friend Angie registers and received her scholarship funds immediately, Darla takes the plunge. Only the unthinkable happens, and she finds she is now the mate to Gundar, the commander of the Bride Fleet itself.

Romance with a happily ever after and no cliff-hanger. For mature listeners only!

©2017 Loretta Johns (P)2018 Loretta Johns

What listeners say about Gundar

Average customer ratings
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  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
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Performance
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Story
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Hated the narrator

Narration messed up this book I hated the country bumpkin voice and just the way she made her sound. I brought this title because I started to read it and it was good. Will read the second book

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

Loved the book - Narrator not so much

Darla did not receive enough money for college so she registered for the bride program for the additional funds after her mother talked to her about it. Her friend had already signed up and was not a match. When Darla signs up, there is an immediate match to one of the Mylos.

Love when the Mylos brought several human (distributors) to the ship. The humans were trying to mislead the Mylos into purchasing more expensive goods, especially designer clothing. I like how the Mylos dealt with them.

This book had a really good story and I am invested in completing the series.

There were some really funny parts of the book when Gundar misunderstood - like when he called Olive Garden – Garden of the Olives and when Darla was brushing his hair, she asked him for a ponytail holder and he told her he didn’t have a horse. There were a lot funny things like that.

This book has just the right amount of romance and suspense and I highly recommend it! The narrator was OK. I started to get used to her voice as I continued to listen and really got into the story.

I was given this free copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

narrator made me cringe.

Story was odd and and the narrator was horrible...struggled to finish the book. pass on this one.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not a fan of narrator

Story is good but Lusk is awful. She does not have a voice for romance books.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

The Narrator Ruined the whole story!

The narrator was so cringe worthy, it was like listening to someone scratch a chalk board with nails for over four hours. She made the lead characters sound like they were out of breath and had nasal issues at the same time. Ruined the whole book for me. Can't tell if the story would have been good or not. Couldn't get past the horrible imitation of character voice.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gunder

Great book want more new ones so the stories go one new adventure for them

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

Good

The story was fun but the narration was lacking. I personally found the voice of the narrator irrigating. Perhaps I would have enjoyed the book more with a different narrator. The story was something new and out of the ordinary and overall really nice

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

entertaining concept

• Did the story keep me engaged: reasonably
• Did I feel an emotional connection to the characters: eventually
• Would I listen to it again: wouldn't be my first pick - but more so for the choice of narrator not story
• Were there any parts I found annoying: (for me) given how short the story is, at times there's a little too much detail for items like food and clothing etc. (but I understand why).

Reasonably paced with entertaining characters and a unique take on an alien "mail order bride" story. I enjoyed the humor around Gundar learning English idioms and Darla discovering the technological advances of the space ship.

Audrey Lusk did an OK job on the narration giving each character a distinct voice, however I didn't really become as immersed in the audio as I have with other narrators.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

Fun book to listen to!

I asked to receive this Audible book and voluntarily wrote this unbiased review. I know several of the reviewers were not happy with the narrator but I really did not have any problems listening to her. Several of the reasons they cited would be ones that would bother me. The author wrote a very enjoyable story. Although Gundar was a dominant warrior, he went out of his way to please and support Darla. Darla never intended on being matched but she gave Gundar a chance and fell in love with him. I loved the comical moments that were created by trying to understand the idioms used on earth. There was a tense moment towards the end.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

Good sequel to Tellan, Brides of Mylos BK. #1!

Minor Spoilers Alert

My tags for this Sci-Fi Romance: Great world building / Entertaining / Happily Ever After / Easy to Read / Funny / Whimsical

Format Collected / Read: Unabridged Audiobook courtesy of a free redemption code

Series: Mate the Stars, Book 1 / Brides of Mylos, Book 2

Ratings:

Story - 4 stars!
This is my second novel by this author. From what I understand, Gundar is actually the first novel in the original series entitled Mate the Stars which technically predates Tellan, Brides of Mylos, Book 1. I recommend reading Tellan first since remains my favorite story in this universe so far.

If read as a sequel to the novel Tellan (Bridges of Mylos, Book 1), Gundar further introduces the reader to the cultural challenges of human women being matched to alien Mylos men. We learned that there will also be the future possibility of human males being paired up with Mylos men which was a necessary and nice plot point discussion to include in my opinion. Of course, since alien female Mylos are rare, the reverse pairing is unlikely to happen but not impossible I'm guessing.

There was a lot of well-timed and charming humor sprinkled in with the steamier moments and with the low drama anti-alien and human mating plot points. That humor mostly centered around Gundar learning the nuances of English idioms and Darla discovering the technological advances of the Mylos engineered space ship and the customs of the Mylos alien species.

Performance: 3.5 stars!
I felt very conflicted while listening to Audrey Lusk's vocal acting. Overall, I enjoyed her very enthusiastic delivery. Additionally, she was dedicated to giving each character a very distinct vocal personality. The conflict for me was that I simply loved Ashley Taylor's performance on Tellan so much more that Audrey Lusk's style of narrating couldn't compete as favorably and win me over 100%.

Still, I wouldn't hesitate to read / listen to the next audiobook in the Mate the Stars series which is Junrig, also narrated by Audrey Lusk.

Overall - 4 stars!
This series has a very cool premise to me. I enjoyed experiencing Gundar and Darla's adjustment to each other, and I appreciated the fact that the sinister plot wasn't too over the top dramatic.

Final thought:
I would love to re-listen to Gundar with Ashley Taylor replacing Audrey Lusk as the narrator to see how that change would impact my reading experience. Since the Tellan audiobook was produced / published by Pahoa Paradise, I'm hopeful that maybe Gundar and eventually Junrig will be re-published with Ashley Taylor as the new narrator.

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