Matched and Mated

HAVING A MATER REQUIRED SACRIFICE, ACCOMMODATION—TRANSFORMATION As with the other Interstellar Bride books by Ms. Grace Goodwin, they read great as a continuing saga, but each book will read well as a stand-alone. In this story, Miranda has followed her friend, Natalie to Trion, where she has lived for the past two years. Both women are from Earth and friends, but Natalie is mated to Councilor Roark. Miranda is divorced and had an Earth husband who made her feel bad about her desires. On Trion, she has been in a ‘friends with benefits’ relationship with Doctor Valck Brax, but he is gone more than around and is married to his job—just enjoying their little sexcapades—but she wants more. “I didn’t belong to him. And as much as I had hoped otherwise, the words he’d just spoken made my body burn but my heart break. I didn’t belong to him. And he didn’t belong to me. Sex isn’t enough. I’m worth more, and I’m going to get it. An alien. A mate who will be possessive and growly.” Miranda will test with the Interstellar Bride program and discover she is matched with a mate on Prillion—where a primary and his secondary wear collars along with their mate. She will be protected not but one mate, but by two. She will be transported to Battleship Zakar, and her new mate is Captain Trist Treval. He doesn’t have a second, because he had released him years ago when it did not look like he would receive a mate himself—and now he has been matched to Miranda of Earth. “Once I place my collar around your neck, our official mating trial will begin. You will have thirty days to accept my claim or choose another. Your collar will remain black—unnamed—until you are officially claimed. Once you accept me and my second, your collar will turn green, to match mine, and you will be mine forever. I am now and forever your primary male—but, the warden on Trion was correct. You shall have two warriors to adore and protect you. Do not fear, mate. I will take care of you, including finding a second, so you are never left alone. I will find one worthy of you. Of us, as a family. Nothing is more important to me that you are, mate. Nothing.” What happens when Brax returns from his latest mission to Trion and discovers that Miranda is gone—joined the Interstellar Bride program and has been matched? Can he accept that he has lost her, or is he willing to travel the universe and fight for her, for their love and connection? Prillions are larger than Trion, but Brax isn’t just a doctor while he has been away on secret missions. It will become two Aliens willing to fight for her, to claim her and mate her. But what will she want? “She was a true submissive, heart, and soul. The stronger her male, the safer she would feel.” “She does not want what you offer. She craves structure. Dominance. She craves reassurance that she will be valued about all others. She was nothing to you, Trion. She chose to leave you. She chose to come to me.” “I want you. I want both of you. I’d thought it impossible. But this was my nirvana. Heaven. A dream I’d never dared have imagined for myself.” Two dominant men, one with a temporary relationship that he didn’t show her how much she meant—and another who has been matched, but without a second that she will need. Will a life and death situation change Trist’s opinion of Brax—will he see him as a strong warrior who will risk it all to keep their woman safe? How can two, no make that three cultures interact and make it work? Will they be able to accept her submission and give Miranda the dominance that she needs while finding a resolution that will work for all three of them—and the three of them compliment each other in strength and desires. “She needs her lover to take control, take away her indecision. Her guilt. Her doubt. She needs to be set free from the fear of making the wrong choice, of trying to determine what her lover wants or needs. She needs to surrender completely. To submit.”

I totally loved this new twisty book! We are thrust back into space aboard the Battleship Zakar which means continued Hive involvement. I love reading about new updates on what is happening with the war and this book gives us a great romance and some action. Trist, Brax, and Miranda are brought together in one heck of a tangled web. Trist is a Prillon that expects to share his mate with a second, Brax is a Trion that expects to adorn his mate and live on Trion, and all Miranda wants is to come first and feel loved and cared for. The story is fairly fast paced but once the action started, I really could not put the book down. Grace has once again ripped my heart out by giving us another Atlan (they're my favorites and I can't read about them without hoping that every single one gets a mate). Now I have to sit back and wait for the next book ( I really wish I did not read that fast). Grace keep them coming and I will keep on purchasing them! I have read this series since the publishing of book 2 and I can honestly say that this series gets better and better. I love all the different facets that have been brought into the Interstellar Bride Universe - the main Interstellar Bride series, the Colony (personal favorites - all of those POWs that were contaminated need their mates), the Rogue 5, the Everian virgins, and the Ascension Saga.

Captain Trist Treval of Battlegroup Zakar, the Trion Doctor Valck Brax, and the human woman Miranda Doyle are the main characters in this book. Miranda and Brax are in a friends-with-benefits relationship that is not meeting the needs of Miranda, who would like to have a family and be completely loved and adored. He is gone so frequently, and he doesn’t seem to be moving forward for a closer relationship. Miranda is not aware that in addition to his role as doctor, Brax is also acting in a sort of “secret agent” position because his medical profession gives him easier access to things. But due to the extreme danger of the work he does as a spy, he has hesitated in pursuing a mate who would be left alone if he were killed. When Brax finally decides he loves Miranda and is ready to make her his, he finds out that he waited too long. She has signed up in the Interstellar Brides program and is matched to Trist, a Prillon who would be expected to share his mate with a second. (In Trist’s case, he does not have a second.) Miranda is transported to Trist’s battleship, but Brax is not going to give her up! He arrives on the battleship claiming Miranda belongs to him while the cold and cunning fighter, Trist, threatens to destroy anything and everyone who tries to take his mate from him. Who will win the bride in battle? Which man owns Miranda’s heart? I absolutely love this author’s writing! I note once again that, if the characters took a few moments to communicate honestly about their feelings and what they expect from each other, so much drama could be avoided. But then we wouldn’t have great story lines to follow! Although I must admit that Miranda’s selfishness, which I can agree with a tiny bit, did not endear her to me, I really liked Brax. He just took a little too long to make his decision and didn’t see Miranda’s impatience growing. So now we have two powerful males ready to do battle over her – which will win? Grab your copy and find out if you cheered for the winning side – I have a feeling you can’t lose on this one.