Unexpected Mate

Holland Brothers, Book 1

By: Toni Griffin

Narrated by: Dominic M. McCartney

Length: 4 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

Brian Townsend was having one hell of a week. He was rejected by his parents, kicked out of his pack, and now his car breaks down on his way south. What else could go wrong? He soon finds out when the police rock up, and the sexy cop turns out to be his mate. What he didn't expect was his mate to walk away from him without so much as a backward glance.

Marcus Holland was having one hell of a week. He broke up with his girlfriend and then copped an earful from his mother about settling down and having kids. All he wanted was to go home and relax. Little did he know, one last call-out on his way home would change his life forever.

Can Marcus come to terms with the fact that his mate is a man, or will he risk losing Brian forever? However, not everyone in the pack is entirely happy with this mating.

©2013 Toni Griffin (P)2015 Toni Griffin

Great performance and an OK story

This is the Australian version of the Brac Pack. A very basic, sweet and predictable shifter, soul mate story with the added twist of three openly gay brothers (one the Alpha) and the one "straight" one falls for a man. Since he is straight, he rejects his mate; and we all know how successful that is in shifter stories. Add a lot of sex, a crazy ex and a supportive family and you have the makings of an enjoyable listen; just don't expect too much. There is a little more character development than a Siren shifter book, but not much. The narrator is an Australian, which goes a long way to making this a four star instead of a three star listen. He does a great job bringing the story to life. I look forward to the next one.

Not worth your time

The storyline isnt something you havent Seen before - and it has been told much much better. And i know that an Australian narrator is of cause Right for an Australian story but i really hated the winey voice that he gave one of the MC. Find another shifter story to listen to.

Can't wait for the next book!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I love this book. I am so glad it has come to audio. Dominic M. McCartney did a fantastic job with the wonderful characters that Toni Griffin has written. I hope the next book in the series gets put to audio soon. I hope Dominic continues to narrate this series. I highly recommend this. You'll enjoy it.

What about Dominic M. McCartney’s performance did you like?

Crisp, clear and was great with the different voices. I would read another book narrated by Dominic

love this book

a sweet story. I can't wait for the next three books to come out .

Predictable, but entertaining

Any additional comments?

Though it doesn't offer anything new to the shifter genre, and was in fact totally predictable, and even though Brian could have been a woman for all the masculine qualities he was given (hint: a penis is pretty much the only masculine quality he has), I still enjoyed it.

Sometimes predictable is good. It's comforting in it's own way. This was just what I needed, right when I needed it and by the time I finished listening I was smiling.

Bottom line? I enjoyed it enough to want to pick up the second book, which is Alex's story.

Narrator is blah

A lot of the reviews are very favorable for the narrator but he's not that great. He's got a lovely accent but his reading is flat. I did like the story, though.

Sassy meets big bad wolf

This story is one of my favorites....It broke my heart when Brian was denied his mate multiple times.......But luckily he stayed strong and Marcus got his head out of his butt.......I think this drama in the beginning made them stronger for what happens in the end of the story. Please go buy this....it is worth it and more.....

Cute Shifter Book

Brian is having a terrible week... then he finds Marcus, his mate, who only makes it worse... Marcus, who has always thought he was straight suddenly finds his mate is a man.. needless to say there is a whole lot of drama that goes on.. Brian is dealing with pain. Marcus is dealing with a mate that wasn't the expected gender.

However, somehow, it all comes together so perfectly. This was a great story. I really enjoyed watching Brian open up as he became more and more comfortable with Marcus and their mating.

This was quite the fluffy love story since there wasn't all that much angst, but I still found that I liked it more than I normally do such light stories since there was the whole unexpectedness of Brian being Marcus' mate.

I do have to say I didn't particularly care for the narrators voice for Brian, but that's the only real issue I had with the narration.

I received a free copy of this book to read for Inked Rainbow Reads in exchange for an honest review.

“Why couldn’t this man belong to one of his gay brothers?”

I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I was just looking for something short to listen to to kill some time before dinner. 5/5 would listen to again. Unexpectedly funny, tender, and sweet. Hurt/comfort to the max. I fell in love with Brian’s sweetness immediately. The spice is a 10 for me. Happily ever after included.

Enjoyable and sweet

I enjoyed listening to the story of Brian and Marcus, it was a sweet and unexpected treat. I'm yours but I don't want you...how many times have I been in that predicament? :-) A nice read and a sweet story!

Bleh

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, it's strange how you can enjoy reading a book but don't like listening to it, it seemed to have more, well story, in print, but actually has very little interesting content. The narrator sounds like Dave Gillies to me and I do struggle with his reading style as his oh so careful pronunciation of every single word does grate after a while.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It's okay

How did the narrator detract from the book?

As already mentioned the reading style jars with the style of the book, which is essentially sex, pause, sex etc

Do you think Unexpected Mate needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

There are the other Holland Brother books, which again I enjoyed in print.

Any additional comments?

Only that if you're looking for sex buy this book, but if you want a story, don't waste your money/credit.