The Alien's Bite

Craving the Heveians, Book 1

De: Ella Blake

Narrado por: Dani California, Eric MacArthur

Kora

My nightmares didn't prepare me for this.

Abducted off the space station where I teach the standard galactic language, I'm imprisoned with two other women in a cold, dirty cell on an alien ship. We're destined for something worse than death until a fierce, blue-haired alien male rescues us. We recover on his ship with his group of Heveian pirates. There, the attraction that formed when he first carried me in his arms grows into a force neither of us can deny. But something else has taken up residence on the ship. Something that will stop at nothing to destroy us all.

Ryland

I was trained from my royal youth to fight. Even here, as a rogue raider in exile with my rebellious friends, it's the role I play, until I hold Kora in my arms. She makes my fangs ache. She makes everything ache. My protective instincts roar as I vow to protect my mate against any who would harm her. But how can I protect her from an enemy so insidious that it can turn our crew against each other? I will keep Kora safe, even if it means the ultimate sacrifice.

Contains mature themes.

©2023 Ella Blake (P)2024 Tantor

just ok

just okay! it needs some work. plot was not deep. smut was very limited. it was just okay.

Aliens Bite

3 women are rescued by Heveian Warriors.

I liked this story but wasn’t a fan of the narrators. I also felt like some info was missing from the story. I was a major fan of Blake’s other story with the Solas. Also, corkscrew peens?? How would that even work??

Hot Fangs, Cold Cells and Lukewarm Narration.

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💜💚
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Chemistry: 🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌎
Character development: 😋😀😍
Narration: 🎙🎙
Narration Type: Dual Narration

🦸🏼‍♀️ The Heroine: Kora

Kora’s journey begins on a bustling space station, where she teaches the standard galactic language to a rotating cast of alien visitors. Earth is in her rearview mirror after a traumatic miscarriage and a failed marriage—her ex wanted kids, she couldn’t, so she launched herself into the stars to escape. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans: she’s abducted by a hostile alien race and thrown into a freezing cell with two other human women. The food? Rancid and inedible. Survival isn’t a given.

🦸🏻‍♂️ The Hero: Ryland

Meet Ryland—a fang-sporting, brightly haired space pirate from the heveian race. He’s the security chief aboard a rogue vessel crewed by exiles who pillage their way across the galaxy. Ryland’s people were once victims of a deadly virus engineered by the United Coalition for Peace (UCP), who wanted their mineral-rich planet for themselves. Salvation came via a human woman whose rare blood carried the cure—setting the stage for the “fated mate” trope that Ryland seems ready to embrace the moment he lays eyes on Kora.

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📚 Plot Snapshot

Kora and her fellow captives share the same rare blood as the woman who saved the heveian king—making them highly valuable to the UCP (for reasons that are a bit hand-wavey, considering the cure already exists). Unable to return to Earth, they find reluctant refuge among space pirates, with Ryland taking a particular interest in Kora. There’s chemistry, danger, and just enough teeth to keep things interesting.

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🌟 Highlights

• Space pirates. Yes please.
• Fangs. Vampire-adjacent aliens always earn style points.
• Bright hair, bold vibes. The heveians bring color—literally.

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💔 Misses

• Plot originality? Thin. Classic alien romance tropes abound.
• Narration letdown. A performance that lacked…performance.

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🎙️ Narration Breakdown

Eric MacArthur and Dani California alternate POVs, but the execution left much to be desired. Their delivery felt more read than lived—flat, monotone, and lacking the emotional intensity these interstellar stakes deserved. MacArthur’s voice didn’t carry the depth or presence expected of a commanding alien male. California’s tone was passable, but ultimately unremarkable.

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🔚 Final Thoughts

If you’re here for space pirates, fated mates, and a dash of galactic drama—this audiobook scratches the itch. Just don’t expect a fresh take on the genre or gripping narration. It’s popcorn sci-fi romance with familiar seasoning.

Bad Narrators

It's difficult to enjoy a book when both narrators are not good. The story isn't too bad and falls in line with quite a bit of other books in this sub-genre, however, some of the writing seems like words were thrown in because the author couldn't think up a better line. If that makes any sense to you.
Is it worth getting? If you're like me and struggle with an actual book/ebook due to poor eyesight, I would look elsewhere until you run out of better narrators. I've heard worse but I wish I could shake some sense into authors. They need to realize that a narrator can destroy any hope of selling a series, let alone a single book. And, the sad part is that the entire series is read by the same narrators.

ok story absolutely ruined by poor narration

This is the first book in a follow on series from the book Virgo's Prize, which I really liked. This story would be easier to follow if you have already read that one but it isn't a deal breaker or anything like that.
This story is short, self contained, and sets up all the characters for the other books in this series. so overall, a good start. However, it is absolutely killed by the narrators. they are both stiff and stilted in their voice acting/reading and it just kills any sort of vibe. If I hadn't bought this on the cheap, I would've requested a refund because it was just miserable listening to them. The rest of these books I'll be reading on Kindle because I'm not going to subject myself to more of these awful narrators.

Mid

Nothing new here. The plot was okay. The 'meet cute' (or 'meet ugly' in this case) was in an alien holding cell. The heroine (Kora) is a mistreated human abductee, and the hero (Ryland) gets roped into rescuing her by his crew. He was pretty ambivalent as to whether she lived or died. But of course once he touches her he realizes she's his fated mate. The romance was below average. Besides the obvious new species adjustment period, there are other external conflicts in this book. Conflicts that eclipse the courtship and passion. I didn't really feel anything for the couple. Or want them together. They are literally fighting for their lives until the last second.