Matched

A Galactic Battle Series, Book 1

By: L.H. Whitlock

Narrated by: Anna Crowe

Golan is pillaging the galaxy, harvesting planets for their Synthnic, and destroying entire civilizations. The Renegade, a loose-knit band of thieves, warriors, and refugees, are the only force standing in his way.

Lily is a commander in the Renegade and leads a small team that focuses on relocating civilizations before their planets are destroyed. During an ambush Lily comes face to face with Ulrick, one of Golan's strongest generals, and a fire ignites inside her that threatens to consume her.

Ulrick has lived his life trying to redeem himself; to ensure that his sacrifices were not for nothing. He has grown tired of the fear he sees in people's eyes, and of the destruction, but the time has come when he will finally make his move.

Ulrick had long ago given up on the idea that his match existed, until one day the stagnant markings on his arm begin to churn.

While ancient Hilian rituals demand that the two are meant to be together, time and war have dirtied what may have once been a whirlwind romance.

©2016 Lyndsay Bailey (P)2016 Lyndsay Bailey

Interesting story which I did enjoy

I was given this book in return for my honest unbiased opinion. I enjoyed everything about this book. It was a different type of story and I can appreciate that. The narration was ok.

Enjoyed this first Galactic Battle Book

I received this audiobook free for an honest review. This is the first book I have listened to by L. H. Whitlock and the first book written by Lyndsay. She did an excellent job. You couldn't tell this was her first book. And she selfpublished it. What a great imagination. She did a great job with the flow of the book, creating and developing the characters and a very compelling story. I couldn't stop listening. Love it and look forward to many more creations. She chose a very good narrator for her work.

action action!!!!!!

This story is about a group called the The Renegade that work together to defeat an evil entity named Golan. He sucks the life from planets and kills it. The Renegade work to try and save all they can so the will not cease to exist. The heroine, Lily and her team face this evil, betrayal and loss and to top it all off, Ulrick, one of Golans top general is her mate. Her match. But all with Ulrich is not what it seems. I enjoyed this story and look forward to more in this series. I received this audio book free for an honest review.

Wonderful

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was given to me for a honest unbiased, review. This was great. The world and character building was incredible, not so much that you get frustrated and bored, and not too little information. This took you on a Galactic journey from alien worlds and cultures to active battlefields, to romance. Went from hating the hero to loving him. Went from destroying planets to saving them. The range of emotions this book brings out in the reader is astonishing. Who would of guessed that a sci-fi romance book could take one on such a ride? Loved how this was a romance, not erotica/smut, this was not a book version of porn, which has its place, but too much gets boring and predictable. This was romance with a lot of action, suspense, and of course aliens. The Narrator was pretty good. She added a more emotional tone from the onset. A little too fast, but other then that a great performance. Hoping for more in this series.

Really good, not what I was expecting.

I had a hard time getting into the narrators voice at first but by the 5th chapter I was caught up in the story. Well done story!!! “I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

Mixed Feelings

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

I really liked the concept of this novel. And for the most part, it was executed well. I just felt that it was lacking something. There were a couple of things I needed clarification on, such as Brock and Lily. From the pool scene, I thought they were friends with benefits, but it never seemed to be mentioned again? That being said, I actually really liked Ulrick. He was such a well developed character.

Strong Sci-Fi story with great characters.

Would you consider the audio edition of Matched to be better than the print version?

I always prefer listening to reading when given the opportunity. This book was no exception.

The narration was a bit slow at the beginning when I was not yet into the story. Once I was into the story, I no longer noticed the speed of the narration. I did experiment with speeding the narration up to 1.1 or 1.15 with positive results but I did not need to keep it sped up and listened to the book at the standard narration speed.

The narration did not detract from my experience of the story. Late in the book, however, when the romance itself was getting somewhat repetitive and making me have to focus at times to stay in the story, the narration did not make it easier for me to stay with the story either. A really good narration can sometimes overcome such flaws in the story making them invisible to the reader.

All said and done, it was a good narration once you get through the first bit and get into the story. If you find it continues to be a bit slow, you may need to do what the producer should have done and speed the narration up a bit. I love that I can do that with Audible.

What did you like best about this story?

The variety of different aliens and cultures along with the various factions of good guys and bad guys as presented by the author. Each faction contains a number of different attitudes, motivations, and species. These differences are used in the story as it progresses and help to build a more comprehensive understanding of the universe the story takes place in.

Any additional comments?

Overall, this is a good book with strong characters, unexpected twists and turns, and plenty of action. I enjoyed it.

The story itself is well fleshed out. The world building and character building are done throughout the story. You are given enough information to understand the story and empathize with the characters. By the end of the story, you have a very good feeling for all of the major characters and factions, except two. One of those is left out by design.

The other, Golan, could have benefitted from a bit more backstory as his actions and motivations may have been better understood by the reader if they were. As it is, he becomes more of a generic villain. This is fine in the context of the story, but I was left feeling that there was something more to his motivation than the information we were given.

I really enjoyed learning how the various factions in the story are interdependent. Each revelation added to my interest in the story. This interdependence also leads to the conclusion of the story.

I was surprised by some of the actions at the end of the story. I did not see them coming. I feel like I should not have been surprised now that I know what happened, but I did not see it. I am hopeful that my questions will be answered in future books.

Overall, this was a good book with a strong story and narration. I recommend the book. Its worth a credit, or purchase if on sale.

Thanks Lyndsay for the opportunity to read this story.

PJ

Action Packed

This sci-fi alien adventure is action-packed. There are twists and turns with deception. The renegade warriors don't know who to trust. Anna Crowe did a great job with the voices.

A Matched Made In Heaven ....Umm I Mean The Stars!

May Contain Spoilers:
L. H Whitlock delivered a story that reminded me of a mix between Lisa Lace, Mychael Daniels, and Eve Langlais. This Sci-Fi romance had a good mix of action, humor, and some romance. I really enjoyed the characters, and all the humor. Not all the characters were whom they seemed, and you had to question some of their motives. Lily (the heroine) was strong, spunky, and had a great sense of humor. Out of all the characters she had me laughing the most. At first, I wasn't sure what to think of the hero, Ulrick. He was cold, and came across as a cruel leader, but as he relentlessly searched for his "Match," you start to see other layers to his personality. He was very patient, and caring with Lily.

The plot was well thought out, but the execution had me confused at times. I found myself having to rewind several times. One thing that really had me confused was the relationship between Brock and Lilly, were they friend with benefits or ex-lovers? The world building was mixed. There were some things that were really creative and alien in nature, while other things were just normal. I would have loved to seen more creativity around the world building. But compared to other sci-fi romances, it was a step up. I will be on the lookout for the next book in the series.

Anna Crowe did a great job with the narration. I loved all her female characters, and the male characters were good; however, I suggest practicing with a deeper voice or a using a more prominent inflection and tones for the male characters.... But still, it was a great performance.

I received this audio in exchange for an honest review, and do think this is a great KU/whispersync deal.

Good romantic space opera

I enjoyed this audiobook very much. The story was about a group of people who rescued people from planets before a evil villain comes in and uses a weapon to remove all the energy from the planet, thus destroying it. The heroine is the leader of a ship that is part of that rescue effort. The hero is a General in the enemy’s army. When they happen to meet on a planet about to be harvested by the weapon, he recognizes her as his one true mate. Later they again encounter each other when her team tries to remove one of her team from the enemy’s prison. Finally, the hero teleports onto her ship and takes her to his home ship. There she finds out that everything is not what it appeared to be. Throw in some space battles and a traitor or two and this book is very entertaining! Narration was well done.