Viper

Naga Brides, Book 1

By: Naomi Lucas

Narrated by: John Masterson, Elizabeth Hart

Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

Long have we been alone; without brides, without females to warm us during the long nights, without sweet mates.

But we see them from afar, the brides that could be ours. Kept away from us by walls and weapons. Females we long for greatly...obsessively. Human females. And the one with red hair? I want her. I saw her first.

I will fight to the death for her. She is mine. So, we’ll come together and make an exchange with their men that will benefit us all. After that? To the winner goes the spoil. Let the hunt begin...but the red-headed female is mine.

Viper is the first book in Naga Brides, a series about bride-hunting aliens with the charm of a snake, the wiles of the devil, and the will to do anything for their females.

©2021 Naomi Lucas (P)2021 Podium Audio

Could Not Finish It

Writing the review I wish I'd seen before purchasing. Good prose with an interesting premise, but I struggled with the relationship dynamic. The male lead felt less Protective Alpha and more Controlling Abuser. He never really speaks to her, or respects her boundaries, or even treats her like a person. I could understand all that from a snake-man who's never seen a woman before. What I can't understand is why that human woman would ever start liking him. All of her justifications for warming up to him circle back to "he could have hurt me even worse but he didn't." At some point a switch flips and they hook up, but it didn't feel earned yet. If anything, told from his POV, it felt assault-y. I stopped halfway through and won't be finishing it. I get that some readers may enjoy this kind of thing, it just wasn't for me.

Exciting new world—and so dang steamy too!

I absolutely loved this new, exciting, post-apocalyptic world Naomi has created! All the naga males are so different in appearance and personality. But they share two traits—they are so insanely possessive and protective of their females. Those are some of my favorite traits in this genre! I love a possessive, growly male. And Vruksha did not disappoint! He knew Gemma was meant to be his the moment he saw her, and he was not going to stop until she was in his arms. Of course she wasn't just going to take this. The heroine definitely has fight in her, which is needed because our red viper has something to learn. She's also compassionate and a survivalist.

For the audio book, it notched it up a step to actually hear Vruksha's voice! I loved the male narrator. He gave the character such a primal, alien quality. It was perfect. I really enjoyed listening to this story and being able to experience it a second time. And Vruksha's and Gemma's interactions? Whew! They are so dang spicy. I think the way Naomi writes her hero's dialogue is always my favorite part in her books. It's steamy, naughty, and so dang dirty. I love it!

Not for me. Loved the spice tho,...

So you will love this if you enjoy alien romance where the guy is more animal than man, and has a snake body,.... no legs and he's super forceful with the seggsy times- I mean there's definite sketchy consent,... that was too much for me, but if thats your thing, then this is the book for you :) the spice scenes are frequent and pretty detailed, they're great. This just was not my favorite for sure.

Didn't like at all.

If you like forced sex and the telling of how painful it must be as he supported to be as large as a arm and forces himself to fit all the while saying her name over and over? he treats her like a object he owns not a mate.or partner its just.gross

Excellent story!

Epic, unusual story where humans have been killed off and left Earth barren. Well, they come back 1500 years later after the catastrophe (caused by aliens) . Except there are new aliens living on Earth now... and they want the few human females who have returned...
Gemma is fierce and strong, and she's captured during a bridal hunt by the alien naga, Vruksha. He's a posessive, domineering sort of fellow who will do ANYTHING for his woman.
And the steam... O M G
I don't want to give anything away but it's worth a listen! The narration is excellent, the worldbuilding wholly unique, and I'll definitely be looking forward to book two.

Interesting

Interesting series, not a waste of time or money.
The only con with this series is, the males have no legs..
so, the story is great but a legless man is cringeworthy as in uuugh.

Love!

So the book is sectioned up into two point of views. Which then are covered by the male and female voice actors. they did great but I'd like it better if they use the female voice to voice the female even during the males point of view. I'm just a sucker for full cast audio books. (which are super rare).

I love this story. I'm obsessed with the misunderstood bad guy vibe so I can't wait for the fourth book. I love rereading and relistening to books. This is definitely one of the books I will be relistening to.

The romance between the leads isn't so much a fluffy romance at the beginning but pure lust and I feel like more books should have that. I mean I'm here for the romance lovey-dovey books but man sometimes pure lust is what starts the attraction in the first place.

This novel is well written and flows so well. It leaves you wanting so much more. If you haven't read either, then I'd definitely suggest downloading every little book the author has because this book will send you down a path of no return. She has now gotten me obsessed with nagas and the like soooo thanks.

Ok

Book was okay but didn’t hold my attention as others in this genre. Narrators did a good job with characters; as best they could with storyline. I like a little humor added to the story.

Snakes DNF

Hmmm, this book has those annoying little triggers that for a middle-aged woman I find disturbing. However, after reading Billie Eilish’s interview about her exposure to extreme adult movies at such a young age, perhaps this is why so many younger romance authors write these types of abusive male heroes?

So, this audiobook is okay if you enjoy he-could-have-hurt-me-worse-but-he-didn’t-so-he-must-love-me trope. The male MC is very controlling in a way you’d probably find sexy if you have had the unfortunate experiences of Ms. Eilish in your formative years. If you want romance with two consenting adults this isn’t the audiobook for you.

The narration was good. I had already bought the second audiobook of this based on the good reviews (must be from people younger than 30 years old) before listening to this one and I may return it if I still have time. These kinds of male MCs are not for me and it’s no coincidence feminism in the US is taking a backseat if this is what young women want from young men-basically wanting to be treated like objects, not people and then be grateful for their lowly position in life. And I’m not a conservative and enjoy a lot of romance, but I draw the line at abusive sexual situations dressed up as romance.

Reptilian goodness.....

First off, hats off to perfect narration of the Naga Brides! Excellent storyline that made you feel like you were living in the moment of the story. Not all Reptilian's are bad! Can't wait for Book 2 to come out. Naomi Lucas rocked the story 100%!!!

Interesting

This is the first time I’ve listened to anything from Naomi . I enjoyed it but reading reviews I expected it to be extra steamy but it wasn’t 🤷🏻‍♀️ Although the story was good and the characters likeable I would have liked the steam i had expected .

One of my favourites.

This is one of the books I keep coming back to. The narrater is amazing he puts so much feeling in to it.

Sexy aliens

Well, this book was slightly different to the normal Galactic storyline is that I listen to. With intriguing characteristics of these aliens it certainly did brighten up my day. A good storyline and a fantastic performance I really did enjoy this book.