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Zxalian Mate #1
Frostbite
He's been alone all his life, until
a hunt has him falling into a trance.
Xaviar longs for a mate, and when tiny, pale, Riley falls from the heavens, he gets his wish. She is a strange and confusing species, nothing like he has ever seen before, but his thawed hearts confirm she is his.
His little human may not like it, but the strands of their fate are woven tightly together, and he will keep her close, even if he has to tie her up in his silk.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
WARNING:
Triggers Include:
Smut
Massive Ice Spiders
Monster Peen
Dark Scenes
Kidnapping
Foul Language
Size Difference
Scenes of violence
Fated Mates
Light Web Bondage
Gory scenes
Breeding
Death
Forced Proximity
Cliffhanger
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
FROSTBITE is the first book in the ZXALIAN MATE series and should be read in order for maximum enjoyment
a hunt has him falling into a trance.
Xaviar longs for a mate, and when tiny, pale, Riley falls from the heavens, he gets his wish. She is a strange and confusing species, nothing like he has ever seen before, but his thawed hearts confirm she is his.
His little human may not like it, but the strands of their fate are woven tightly together, and he will keep her close, even if he has to tie her up in his silk.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
WARNING:
Triggers Include:
Smut
Massive Ice Spiders
Monster Peen
Dark Scenes
Kidnapping
Foul Language
Size Difference
Scenes of violence
Fated Mates
Light Web Bondage
Gory scenes
Breeding
Death
Forced Proximity
Cliffhanger
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
FROSTBITE is the first book in the ZXALIAN MATE series and should be read in order for maximum enjoyment
144 pages, ebook
Published October 1, 2022
63 people are currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
Melissa Blincoe
25 books87 followersMelissa Blincoe is a Sci-Fi writer who loves to escape to other worlds. Whether it's in her head or in a book. If she's not doing that, you can find her reading, watching Jurassic Park movies, writing her books, or spending time with her family.
If you like the worlds she creates, feel
free to leave a review. It is appreciated!
If you like the worlds she creates, feel
free to leave a review. It is appreciated!
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
December 24, 2022
Overall: ⭐️⭐️
Worldbuilding: 📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (there’s a lot of scenes but they aren’t overly long or developed)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A bit – there’s a lot of sarcastic enemies banter if you’re into that
Perspective: First person from both hero and heroine, alternating chapters
Before purchasing, I recommend checking this out )
She’ll be happy that I found someone.
And I have.
Although he’s a massive spider.
Should I read in order?
This is the first book, but yes! The books in the series end on cliffhangers and pick up again immediately after.
Basic plot:
Riley lives in the year 2045 where humans have the power to go back in time. With her best friend missing, she volunteers to go back and rescue her when she’s kidnapped by Xaviar, a zxalian.
Give this a try if you want:
- Monster romance
- Zxalian hero (basically a giant frost spider)/human heroine
- Futuristic setting that leads to prehistoric setting – takes place in 2045 when scientists have discovered how to open a portal back in time
- Primitive feel
- Fated mates
- Hero has never been kissed
- Breeding kink – this hero is here to have BABIES
- Higher steam – at least 5 scenes in a shorter page count (But they are on the shorter side)
- You should be okay with some dubious consent/kidnapping/hostage vibes. Xaviar has longed for his mate and when he finds her, he doesn’t want to let her go. He does say he’ll wait for penetration until she asks but he gives her oral while she’s sleeping and things like that which she doesn’t consent to.
- This book does end on a cliffhanger with book 2 out December 22nd, 2022
Ages:
- Heroine is 25, not sure about giant frost spider
My thoughts:
A giant spider hero is one of the last things I thought I’d read, but I was too curious not to try it!
In this story, we went from 2045 to the ice age to a totally new species and lifestyle of the Zxalian. Being a shorter novel and first in the series, we don’t get a ton of world building yet or character depth, but I hope that will come in later books as it’s a continuation of this story. We don’t know or understand much about the “current world” taking place in 2045. And the whole reason the heroine decides to volunteer to go back in time is because she wants to find her friend but that plot point is barely touched on in this novel. I also know hardly anything about the heroine in this book other than she doesn’t have the best home life. The hero has a bit more back ground with his spider clan politics going on but overall they both were fairly flat characters.
I have been struggling a lot with enemies to lovers feel in books lately, and that does happen a bit here in the beginning. There’s a lot of bickering, sarcastic taunts, and push back once Riley is kidnapped (understandably) so that was just a personal disconnect I had with it. I also think Riley did a 180 turnaround too quickly on her feelings for the hero. After how against it she was, I wanted to find that love for him with her but it happened so quickly to me. I I didn’t understand why she went from hating him and wanting to escape to being in love with him.
I’ll admit I had a major disconnect with this writing style. It was a bit too rough for me and the dialogue was painful in a catty, immature way. It didn’t endear the heroine to me in anyway. I also thought the descriptions lacking a bit - again this might come in later books? Like the hero I felt I just want to “see” him better? Also, some things that didn't make sense to me was there was a decent amount of completely unnecessary modern (to us) day references that just didn't fit at all. This heroine is from 2045 and she's only 25. So, to us, she was born 2 years ago. Why is there so much talk about Superman, The Flash, Barry Allen, and Harry Styles? I really wasn't a fan of those references especially as they just seemed to be out of nowhere. Does this mean 2045 in the future is exactly the same as what we are experiencing right now? oh god...
Some examples of writing style:
Overall this has left me not wanting to continue with the series but with all the controversy over the ethics and morals of the creation of the series I’ll admit I’m curious.
Cock/Hero Stats:
Content warnings:
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Worldbuilding: 📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (there’s a lot of scenes but they aren’t overly long or developed)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A bit – there’s a lot of sarcastic enemies banter if you’re into that
Perspective: First person from both hero and heroine, alternating chapters
Before purchasing, I recommend checking this out )
She’ll be happy that I found someone.
And I have.
Although he’s a massive spider.
Should I read in order?
This is the first book, but yes! The books in the series end on cliffhangers and pick up again immediately after.
Basic plot:
Riley lives in the year 2045 where humans have the power to go back in time. With her best friend missing, she volunteers to go back and rescue her when she’s kidnapped by Xaviar, a zxalian.
Give this a try if you want:
- Monster romance
- Zxalian hero (basically a giant frost spider)/human heroine
- Futuristic setting that leads to prehistoric setting – takes place in 2045 when scientists have discovered how to open a portal back in time
- Primitive feel
- Fated mates
- Hero has never been kissed
- Breeding kink – this hero is here to have BABIES
- Higher steam – at least 5 scenes in a shorter page count (But they are on the shorter side)
- You should be okay with some dubious consent/kidnapping/hostage vibes. Xaviar has longed for his mate and when he finds her, he doesn’t want to let her go. He does say he’ll wait for penetration until she asks but he gives her oral while she’s sleeping and things like that which she doesn’t consent to.
- This book does end on a cliffhanger with book 2 out December 22nd, 2022
Ages:
- Heroine is 25, not sure about giant frost spider
My thoughts:
A giant spider hero is one of the last things I thought I’d read, but I was too curious not to try it!
In this story, we went from 2045 to the ice age to a totally new species and lifestyle of the Zxalian. Being a shorter novel and first in the series, we don’t get a ton of world building yet or character depth, but I hope that will come in later books as it’s a continuation of this story. We don’t know or understand much about the “current world” taking place in 2045. And the whole reason the heroine decides to volunteer to go back in time is because she wants to find her friend but that plot point is barely touched on in this novel. I also know hardly anything about the heroine in this book other than she doesn’t have the best home life. The hero has a bit more back ground with his spider clan politics going on but overall they both were fairly flat characters.
I have been struggling a lot with enemies to lovers feel in books lately, and that does happen a bit here in the beginning. There’s a lot of bickering, sarcastic taunts, and push back once Riley is kidnapped (understandably) so that was just a personal disconnect I had with it. I also think Riley did a 180 turnaround too quickly on her feelings for the hero. After how against it she was, I wanted to find that love for him with her but it happened so quickly to me. I I didn’t understand why she went from hating him and wanting to escape to being in love with him.
I’ll admit I had a major disconnect with this writing style. It was a bit too rough for me and the dialogue was painful in a catty, immature way. It didn’t endear the heroine to me in anyway. I also thought the descriptions lacking a bit - again this might come in later books? Like the hero I felt I just want to “see” him better? Also, some things that didn't make sense to me was there was a decent amount of completely unnecessary modern (to us) day references that just didn't fit at all. This heroine is from 2045 and she's only 25. So, to us, she was born 2 years ago. Why is there so much talk about Superman, The Flash, Barry Allen, and Harry Styles? I really wasn't a fan of those references especially as they just seemed to be out of nowhere. Does this mean 2045 in the future is exactly the same as what we are experiencing right now? oh god...
Some examples of writing style:
Overall this has left me not wanting to continue with the series but with all the controversy over the ethics and morals of the creation of the series I’ll admit I’m curious.
Cock/Hero Stats:
Content warnings:
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
December 16, 2022
Too similar to ensnared by Tiffany Roberts. Almost a copy.
December 18, 2022
Hoooo, boy. Where to begin with this one? Long story short, this seems like a classic case of nice cover… meh contents.
I’m newer to the genre (I’ve read a few of the Ice Planet Barbarians books and some Katee Robert) and saw this on TikTok. The cover was intriguing, so I wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately, the cover was the best thing about this book.
This honestly read like a rough draft rather than a story ready to be published. There were tons of random changes in tenses, weirdness with dialogue tags, and just general errors all over the place. I don’t usually like to get caught up in these things because I understand how hard it is to catch errors here and there, but the fact that the errors were more numerous than the non-errors just feels careless. Even “Prologue” is spelled incorrectly (as “Prolouge” ... lolwut???) — which is literally the first word in the book, so we’re clearly starting off strong, lol…
The story itself felt kind of rushed and the cliffhanger at the end felt less like it was done on purpose to lead into another book and more like the author just ran out of time. Now that I think about it more, this actually gives me maaaajor IPB vibes (uh... hello "mouth mating" vs. "mouth breeding"???), but was nowhere near as satisfying. Xaviar somehow feels like a Mary Sue/watered-down Vektal from IPB wrapped in a spider suit, and Riley/Rilee can’t seem to make up her mind about if she’s a strong, independent woman or a damsel in distress (or if she's just trying to emulate Georgie from IPB lmao). This wasn’t as much enemies-to-lovers as it was a wishy-washy lack of conviction, and I didn’t really believe the chemistry other than “we’re stuck here so we might as well just bang!” lol. Which like, no hate to the banging (although it left much to be desired womp womp), but it kinda felt like the author was just trying to check the boxes off of some popular tropes to hop on a trend.
I think I would've been more into this and could've excused the meh plot if the spice was decent. I can appreciate a good P*rn Without Plot like on Ao3, but the P*rn itself was also just... meh. This was a huuuge letdown because it was promised to be smutty, but the scenes themselves were also so-so. They were a bit repetitive with minimal lead-up/foreplay. Kinda reminded me of what I used to read on Wattpad in middle school (nostalgia!).
Overall, I think the concept was interesting, but the execution was lacking. I think the author might want to consider spending more time refining her writing, plot devices, and general sentence structure (and maybe enlist a friend or two to help with spelling/grammar/overall edits) than to rush to put books out one after another (I just checked her catalogue and she seems to release them pretty quickly). Not the worst thing I’ve read, but if I didn’t have KU, I’d be upset about paying for it based on the quality of writing and storyline. Ngl.
I’m newer to the genre (I’ve read a few of the Ice Planet Barbarians books and some Katee Robert) and saw this on TikTok. The cover was intriguing, so I wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately, the cover was the best thing about this book.
This honestly read like a rough draft rather than a story ready to be published. There were tons of random changes in tenses, weirdness with dialogue tags, and just general errors all over the place. I don’t usually like to get caught up in these things because I understand how hard it is to catch errors here and there, but the fact that the errors were more numerous than the non-errors just feels careless. Even “Prologue” is spelled incorrectly (as “Prolouge” ... lolwut???) — which is literally the first word in the book, so we’re clearly starting off strong, lol…
The story itself felt kind of rushed and the cliffhanger at the end felt less like it was done on purpose to lead into another book and more like the author just ran out of time. Now that I think about it more, this actually gives me maaaajor IPB vibes (uh... hello "mouth mating" vs. "mouth breeding"???), but was nowhere near as satisfying. Xaviar somehow feels like a Mary Sue/watered-down Vektal from IPB wrapped in a spider suit, and Riley/Rilee can’t seem to make up her mind about if she’s a strong, independent woman or a damsel in distress (or if she's just trying to emulate Georgie from IPB lmao). This wasn’t as much enemies-to-lovers as it was a wishy-washy lack of conviction, and I didn’t really believe the chemistry other than “we’re stuck here so we might as well just bang!” lol. Which like, no hate to the banging (although it left much to be desired womp womp), but it kinda felt like the author was just trying to check the boxes off of some popular tropes to hop on a trend.
I think I would've been more into this and could've excused the meh plot if the spice was decent. I can appreciate a good P*rn Without Plot like on Ao3, but the P*rn itself was also just... meh. This was a huuuge letdown because it was promised to be smutty, but the scenes themselves were also so-so. They were a bit repetitive with minimal lead-up/foreplay. Kinda reminded me of what I used to read on Wattpad in middle school (nostalgia!).
Overall, I think the concept was interesting, but the execution was lacking. I think the author might want to consider spending more time refining her writing, plot devices, and general sentence structure (and maybe enlist a friend or two to help with spelling/grammar/overall edits) than to rush to put books out one after another (I just checked her catalogue and she seems to release them pretty quickly). Not the worst thing I’ve read, but if I didn’t have KU, I’d be upset about paying for it based on the quality of writing and storyline. Ngl.
December 19, 2022
Poor Quality Ripoff of Tiffany Roberts ensnared spider series, down to the artwork. This author tried to use all the same exact artists and artwork as Tiffany Robert too. Unoriginal and pretty much plagiarism.
February 1, 2023
UPDATE— please check out *THIS POST* to stay informed.
Based on previous works I have read by this same author, I knew exactly what to expect when I peeked into this book: terrible typos, ghastly grammar, and defective dialogue tags — oh my! Additionally, from past interactions with reviewers, I also wasn't surprised to find that the author has been having more critical reviews reported and removed.
But seriously. The quality of this book was disappointing. It seems like an editor is lacking, or at least a proofreading step as part of the publishing process. The relationship between Xaviar and Riley/Rilee is extremely one-dimensional (they're both such flat characters), and while it was promised that they'll get more development in the second book, I can tell you after reading book 2 that they don't.
Every piece of promotional material I've seen for this also promised abundant spice, and while there were definitely a few scenes, I wouldn't really call them spicy. It feels like more of a quantity vs. quality approach, as they are super short and and the chemistry just wasn't there.
Also... when I was reading this, I couldn't help but be reminded of IPB and another popular spider series...
I included some screenshots below to round out my review. To be clear, I am not trying to tell you what to think — I am merely offering examples of where I was honestly reminded of other works while reading this one. For more regarding Thawed (the second book in this series), please see my next review *HERE!*.
Based on previous works I have read by this same author, I knew exactly what to expect when I peeked into this book: terrible typos, ghastly grammar, and defective dialogue tags — oh my! Additionally, from past interactions with reviewers, I also wasn't surprised to find that the author has been having more critical reviews reported and removed.
But seriously. The quality of this book was disappointing. It seems like an editor is lacking, or at least a proofreading step as part of the publishing process. The relationship between Xaviar and Riley/Rilee is extremely one-dimensional (they're both such flat characters), and while it was promised that they'll get more development in the second book, I can tell you after reading book 2 that they don't.
Every piece of promotional material I've seen for this also promised abundant spice, and while there were definitely a few scenes, I wouldn't really call them spicy. It feels like more of a quantity vs. quality approach, as they are super short and and the chemistry just wasn't there.
Also... when I was reading this, I couldn't help but be reminded of IPB and another popular spider series...
I included some screenshots below to round out my review. To be clear, I am not trying to tell you what to think — I am merely offering examples of where I was honestly reminded of other works while reading this one. For more regarding Thawed (the second book in this series), please see my next review *HERE!*.
November 14, 2022
So many things wrong
1. This is basically a ripoff of an SJ Sanders book. The setting and time travel are different, but it's way too similar.
2. The whole story is rushed. It's basically an outline not a story. You're only getting key scenes and dialogue, everything else is missing.
3. This book's dialog is super clunky.
4. The sex scenes are kinds weird and extremely short. I thought they'd be hot from the description and the awesome pictures but no, not even room temperature.
5. The characters are cardboard, you don't care a whit about them.
6. Grammar errors, and missing words.
This is a very rough first draft with an incredible piece of cover art, but it's a clear lift from another book series.
Say no.
1. This is basically a ripoff of an SJ Sanders book. The setting and time travel are different, but it's way too similar.
2. The whole story is rushed. It's basically an outline not a story. You're only getting key scenes and dialogue, everything else is missing.
3. This book's dialog is super clunky.
4. The sex scenes are kinds weird and extremely short. I thought they'd be hot from the description and the awesome pictures but no, not even room temperature.
5. The characters are cardboard, you don't care a whit about them.
6. Grammar errors, and missing words.
This is a very rough first draft with an incredible piece of cover art, but it's a clear lift from another book series.
Say no.
December 19, 2022
I got a copy as an ARC.
Very hurried, little substance, and the smut was honestly a really cringy.
I like a lot more meat to my books, this had none. If you're looking for straight up erotica, then sure, this would probably work for you. But like another reviewer said, it read more as a first draft. It was just, not good. Pacing, dialogue, 'plot'.
Reminded me of one shots I used to read on fanfiction.net in 2005.
Very hurried, little substance, and the smut was honestly a really cringy.
I like a lot more meat to my books, this had none. If you're looking for straight up erotica, then sure, this would probably work for you. But like another reviewer said, it read more as a first draft. It was just, not good. Pacing, dialogue, 'plot'.
Reminded me of one shots I used to read on fanfiction.net in 2005.
December 19, 2022
I don’t condone plagiarism
December 19, 2022
Came hopeful for the plot or at least the promised spice, but ultimately was disappointed. There are numerous spelling and grammatical errors. I can ignore a few, but I cannot ignore this many. It became incredibly distracting.
This left me feeling like “haven’t I read this before” in the worst sort of way. There were several instances I felt like we were getting callbacks to Ruby Dixon or SJ Sanders with the character descriptions of Tiffany Roberts, but not commitment on which it wanted to be fanfiction of. Don’t get me wrong, I do love fanfiction, but this was just not it.
I would definitely recommend a good editor and perhaps a few more beta/ARC readers. Also something to differentiate this from other established works and less like a bingo board of tropes/similar scenes from them.
This left me feeling like “haven’t I read this before” in the worst sort of way. There were several instances I felt like we were getting callbacks to Ruby Dixon or SJ Sanders with the character descriptions of Tiffany Roberts, but not commitment on which it wanted to be fanfiction of. Don’t get me wrong, I do love fanfiction, but this was just not it.
I would definitely recommend a good editor and perhaps a few more beta/ARC readers. Also something to differentiate this from other established works and less like a bingo board of tropes/similar scenes from them.
December 19, 2022
If I could give no stars I would.
Is this what is to be expected of new authors? Reading this was like Deja Vu. This story was to similar to another authors for me I had to DNF it. It’s really disappointing to see an author do this. Also a new editor would be a good idea.
Is this what is to be expected of new authors? Reading this was like Deja Vu. This story was to similar to another authors for me I had to DNF it. It’s really disappointing to see an author do this. Also a new editor would be a good idea.
December 19, 2022
Dnf
Badly written and needs revisions. Lacked originality and took too much inspiration from other works to feel sincere. I enjoy sci-fi romance and should this be of interest to you, I suggest you look elsewhere into previously published work from other authors.
Badly written and needs revisions. Lacked originality and took too much inspiration from other works to feel sincere. I enjoy sci-fi romance and should this be of interest to you, I suggest you look elsewhere into previously published work from other authors.
November 27, 2022
Good idea but badly executed. Feels like a first time writer took ideas from a handful of alien/monster romance books and put this together. Just not well done and there is so much more out there that is much better.
At about 50% I just skipped around, not caring much about what was happening… it was just hard to get through.
At about 50% I just skipped around, not caring much about what was happening… it was just hard to get through.
January 12, 2023
This was an entertaining and fast paced read that takes our gal, Riley, and puts her in the past, as in time travel, and has her getting rescued by Xavier, a Zxaillian...giant spider-type male. His hearts warm, which is important when you live in an ice age ;P, when he first sees Riley. He takes her to a mating cave and explains how she's his fated mate, sent by the goddess. Riley, of course, doesn't buy into that but will fess up, if only to herself, that she is attracted to him. Together, they start to burn up with mating heat and all bets are off ;D While there is danger, drama and action, there is also cuddling, caring and love. There is a cliffy so it will be interesting to see if Riley's secret quest is achieved and if Xavier fits into her life afterwards.
October 9, 2022
This was awesome I loved every second of this!!!
January 6, 2023
First things first, *this post* is required reading before picking up anything by this author. Personally, I wish I had other reviews and found the post before picking up this book, as it would have saved me the pain of reading this.
This book is so poorly written it's downright painful to read. Grammer and punctuation are off, and every now and again, there are missing words.
But it gets worse.
Nothing is explained. It's like the author didn't actually give a shit what she wrote. I want to say this was written like a first draft, but that honestly seems too generous. And I'm sorry but the best way to explain this is to just recap the book.
There's this vague explanation that "scientists discovered a formula to open a portal and go back in time," and that for two years, they've been sending random volunteers to go through them for another unexplained reason. So far, all of the groups of volunteers have either disappeared, or the scientists weren't able to open a portal to the correct location where they sent people. My question is, why the fuck do people keep signing up for this after two years of disappearance, especially when the author makes a point to say that there's no compensation for doing this?
Despite all of this, Riley decides to volunteer for this "mission" so she can find her missing friend, who went through a portal several months prior to the start of the book. Don't focus too much on that, though. The friend is hardly mentioned after that because she doesn't actually matter.
Instead, pretty much as soon as they get there, more bad writing takes place. Riley is elected the leader of this group of people (despite none of them even knowing each other's names) all because she told a couple of people to stop fighting and for the group to put on their winter gear because none of them were smart enough to do that without her guidance. She then wanders off and never sees the group again until the end of the book because she's too busy fucking a spider.
This then moves immediately into the "romance" where there's the whole fated mates trope going on - except it doesn't make any sense whatsoever and is quite frankly gross due to the details the author added. Spider-guy Xaviar sees the group of humans come from the portal and even though he's never seen a human before and Riley's bundled up in a winter jacket, he thinks she's the hottest thing he's ever seen and starts following her around.
Two seconds later, they meet and touch, and that magically thaws Xaviar's two frozen hearts (he has four hearts btw), thus proving he and Riley are meant to be together as decreed by their Spider Goddess (do not ask questions about how this works, there is no explanation).
All of that just so I could properly set the stage for the sex. I know we all come to these books for the weird smut, but holy shit was this bad.
Xaviar kidnaps Riley and takes her back to what he calls a "fertility cave" and explains that the "frenzy" is about to overtake them and the only way to stop it is to fuck until Riley is pregnant because apparently, his dick knows when that happens. And if they don't fuck, Xaviar's dick will fill with toxic cum, and he will explode and die (it's also implied that Riley with also explode of they don't fuck. don't know how or why that happens because I guess it doesn't matter).
honestly what the hell.
First Riley refuses to fuck the spider because he literally just kidnapped her and he's a spider. But then she passes out, and the next day (after he strips her naked of course), she decides to give him a pity blowjob because, even though he kidnapped her and told her she can't leave without fucking him, she doesn't want him to die from his toxic cum for some reason???
And then the next day there's some dub-con (that the author doesn't think is dub-con) where Xaviar starts giving Riley oral while she's still asleep, which ew. Then on the Third Day, Riley decides she's in love with the spider and decides to get dicked down by it, and the rest is history. Riley has vague thoughts about trying to get back the other humans, but she convinces herself she's in love with Xaviar because he saved her from a sabertooth tiger and decides she's going to stay.
Of course, she ends up pregnant after six days of non-stop fucking (Xaviar's magic spider dick knows), and she's remarkably okay with that fact even though she now has to give birth to a spider. When she does reach her group, after finding out one died, she just gives a variation of " oh. that's sad :(. anyway..."
And then for some reason after the portal opens, three of the women in the group want to stay behind in the ice age because "there's nothing left for them back home." AKA, the author wants them to fuck spiders in later books and didn't know how else to make them stay.
From the cringy, numerous, and outdated (even though this was published in October 2022) pop-culture references, the very poorly written sex scenes, to the lack of explanation for literally anything (seriously, where did the spiders come from, why does Riley feel the mating bond even though she's human, where the fuck is the friend she even went there for?), all you're left with is a book that's so poorly written I wouldn't be surprised if the author actually hates this genre of romance and is only writing it to make fun of the people who do (but I don't think she's that smart tbh).
Quotes for fun (any errors are the author's):
• It reminds me too much of the T.V show The Flash. ... I half expect Barry Allen to appear out of nowhere.
•I almost want to cup my hands over my mouth and yell, "Hey Sid, Manny, Diego, where are you?"
•Be like Dory. Just keep fucking swimming.
•"I've brought you to one of the many fertility caves so I may place a sprog in your womb." He responds. ... To make matters worse, my pussy clenches at the idea of taking him inside me. (This is after he kidnapped her)
•"When our hearts thaw, our cocks become engorged with seed. Seed meant to breed our mates. The longer we keep it inside us, the more toxic it becomes, until it finds an unsavory and explosive way out."
•Even though the long web dress is a bit see-through, it's the perfect amount of coverage. Sleeves reach to my wrists and the length of the dress stops at my ankles. The neckline is a bit too low and shows ample cleavage, but hey, I can't complain. (This is what she wears for Ice Age temperatures)
•It's not that surprising that he doesn't know what fire is. In this period, if I remember correctly, it hasn't been invented yet.
•"Unless we join together and breed, it will only get worse. Much worse, until we die in an explosion from the very heat consuming our bodies."
•His voice sounds like yummy dark chocolate.
•Twirling blue strands of his hair around my finger, I nod. "I'm certain, Xaviar, I want you to breed me. Breed me so hard, I can't remember my own name."
•"After we give out claiming bite, our venom releases and heals the wound, marking the soft skin with the symbol of our clan. (How does this even work??)
This book is so poorly written it's downright painful to read. Grammer and punctuation are off, and every now and again, there are missing words.
But it gets worse.
Nothing is explained. It's like the author didn't actually give a shit what she wrote. I want to say this was written like a first draft, but that honestly seems too generous. And I'm sorry but the best way to explain this is to just recap the book.
There's this vague explanation that "scientists discovered a formula to open a portal and go back in time," and that for two years, they've been sending random volunteers to go through them for another unexplained reason. So far, all of the groups of volunteers have either disappeared, or the scientists weren't able to open a portal to the correct location where they sent people. My question is, why the fuck do people keep signing up for this after two years of disappearance, especially when the author makes a point to say that there's no compensation for doing this?
Despite all of this, Riley decides to volunteer for this "mission" so she can find her missing friend, who went through a portal several months prior to the start of the book. Don't focus too much on that, though. The friend is hardly mentioned after that because she doesn't actually matter.
Instead, pretty much as soon as they get there, more bad writing takes place. Riley is elected the leader of this group of people (despite none of them even knowing each other's names) all because she told a couple of people to stop fighting and for the group to put on their winter gear because none of them were smart enough to do that without her guidance. She then wanders off and never sees the group again until the end of the book because she's too busy fucking a spider.
This then moves immediately into the "romance" where there's the whole fated mates trope going on - except it doesn't make any sense whatsoever and is quite frankly gross due to the details the author added. Spider-guy Xaviar sees the group of humans come from the portal and even though he's never seen a human before and Riley's bundled up in a winter jacket, he thinks she's the hottest thing he's ever seen and starts following her around.
Two seconds later, they meet and touch, and that magically thaws Xaviar's two frozen hearts (he has four hearts btw), thus proving he and Riley are meant to be together as decreed by their Spider Goddess (do not ask questions about how this works, there is no explanation).
All of that just so I could properly set the stage for the sex. I know we all come to these books for the weird smut, but holy shit was this bad.
Xaviar kidnaps Riley and takes her back to what he calls a "fertility cave" and explains that the "frenzy" is about to overtake them and the only way to stop it is to fuck until Riley is pregnant because apparently, his dick knows when that happens. And if they don't fuck, Xaviar's dick will fill with toxic cum, and he will explode and die (it's also implied that Riley with also explode of they don't fuck. don't know how or why that happens because I guess it doesn't matter).
honestly what the hell.
First Riley refuses to fuck the spider because he literally just kidnapped her and he's a spider. But then she passes out, and the next day (after he strips her naked of course), she decides to give him a pity blowjob because, even though he kidnapped her and told her she can't leave without fucking him, she doesn't want him to die from his toxic cum for some reason???
And then the next day there's some dub-con (that the author doesn't think is dub-con) where Xaviar starts giving Riley oral while she's still asleep, which ew. Then on the Third Day, Riley decides she's in love with the spider and decides to get dicked down by it, and the rest is history. Riley has vague thoughts about trying to get back the other humans, but she convinces herself she's in love with Xaviar because he saved her from a sabertooth tiger and decides she's going to stay.
Of course, she ends up pregnant after six days of non-stop fucking (Xaviar's magic spider dick knows), and she's remarkably okay with that fact even though she now has to give birth to a spider. When she does reach her group, after finding out one died, she just gives a variation of " oh. that's sad :(. anyway..."
And then for some reason after the portal opens, three of the women in the group want to stay behind in the ice age because "there's nothing left for them back home." AKA, the author wants them to fuck spiders in later books and didn't know how else to make them stay.
From the cringy, numerous, and outdated (even though this was published in October 2022) pop-culture references, the very poorly written sex scenes, to the lack of explanation for literally anything (seriously, where did the spiders come from, why does Riley feel the mating bond even though she's human, where the fuck is the friend she even went there for?), all you're left with is a book that's so poorly written I wouldn't be surprised if the author actually hates this genre of romance and is only writing it to make fun of the people who do (but I don't think she's that smart tbh).
Quotes for fun (any errors are the author's):
• It reminds me too much of the T.V show The Flash. ... I half expect Barry Allen to appear out of nowhere.
•I almost want to cup my hands over my mouth and yell, "Hey Sid, Manny, Diego, where are you?"
•Be like Dory. Just keep fucking swimming.
•"I've brought you to one of the many fertility caves so I may place a sprog in your womb." He responds. ... To make matters worse, my pussy clenches at the idea of taking him inside me. (This is after he kidnapped her)
•"When our hearts thaw, our cocks become engorged with seed. Seed meant to breed our mates. The longer we keep it inside us, the more toxic it becomes, until it finds an unsavory and explosive way out."
•Even though the long web dress is a bit see-through, it's the perfect amount of coverage. Sleeves reach to my wrists and the length of the dress stops at my ankles. The neckline is a bit too low and shows ample cleavage, but hey, I can't complain. (This is what she wears for Ice Age temperatures)
•It's not that surprising that he doesn't know what fire is. In this period, if I remember correctly, it hasn't been invented yet.
•"Unless we join together and breed, it will only get worse. Much worse, until we die in an explosion from the very heat consuming our bodies."
•His voice sounds like yummy dark chocolate.
•Twirling blue strands of his hair around my finger, I nod. "I'm certain, Xaviar, I want you to breed me. Breed me so hard, I can't remember my own name."
•"After we give out claiming bite, our venom releases and heals the wound, marking the soft skin with the symbol of our clan. (How does this even work??)
January 24, 2023
Mmm no. You can tell the author took heavy heavy inspiration from other popular monster romance novels that include spiders and another that includes a frozen blue barbarian filled landscape. The plot makes absolutely no sense at all and everything has zero depth.
November 5, 2022
Xavier and Riley,
Humans are experimenting with time travel. Sending people who are willing to the past. Riley volunteered, so she can search for her friend who volunteered and never came back.
Her and her small crew landed in the middle of snow covered landscape.
Riley was unwillingly appointed as the leader. When she was out hunting she ran into Xavier. A giant white and blue spider…. Or as he will tell you a Zxaillian. And he tells Riley she is his. His fated mate. And she activated his mating frenzy.
Humans are experimenting with time travel. Sending people who are willing to the past. Riley volunteered, so she can search for her friend who volunteered and never came back.
Her and her small crew landed in the middle of snow covered landscape.
Riley was unwillingly appointed as the leader. When she was out hunting she ran into Xavier. A giant white and blue spider…. Or as he will tell you a Zxaillian. And he tells Riley she is his. His fated mate. And she activated his mating frenzy.
October 2, 2022
Frostbite is a quick and steamy monster spider romance. Perfect for this time of the year when all the monsters come out to play.
The FMC, Riley, volunteers to join an experimental program that sends a group of people back in time. None of the previous groups have ever returned. Her best friend Callie was in the last group. The scientists swear they have fixed the issues and that *this* time, they will be successful. All that Riley cares about is finding her BFF and bringing her back home. The portal drops her group in the Ice Ages, where they must fend for themselves until they are recalled. Attempting to find food and water, Riley goes on a solo foraging mission when she is saved by Xavier, a Zxalian, a race of spider-like creatures and her supposed fated mate.
There is little relationship building; the attraction between the two very dissimilar races is the fated mates pull. Despite this pull, Riley refuses to mate. I love it when there is hesitation in a fated mates situation. Just because the fates say you are to be together does not strip your choice in the matter.
I could have used a description of how the Zxalian race looked. I imagined something similar to a centaur but with spider legs and arms. The descriptions of his s3x appendage were more thorough and quite intriguing. Riley seemed to like it.
The book ends on a cliffhanger. It shows promise to be an exciting series.
The FMC, Riley, volunteers to join an experimental program that sends a group of people back in time. None of the previous groups have ever returned. Her best friend Callie was in the last group. The scientists swear they have fixed the issues and that *this* time, they will be successful. All that Riley cares about is finding her BFF and bringing her back home. The portal drops her group in the Ice Ages, where they must fend for themselves until they are recalled. Attempting to find food and water, Riley goes on a solo foraging mission when she is saved by Xavier, a Zxalian, a race of spider-like creatures and her supposed fated mate.
There is little relationship building; the attraction between the two very dissimilar races is the fated mates pull. Despite this pull, Riley refuses to mate. I love it when there is hesitation in a fated mates situation. Just because the fates say you are to be together does not strip your choice in the matter.
I could have used a description of how the Zxalian race looked. I imagined something similar to a centaur but with spider legs and arms. The descriptions of his s3x appendage were more thorough and quite intriguing. Riley seemed to like it.
The book ends on a cliffhanger. It shows promise to be an exciting series.
September 26, 2022
ARC reader 💖 LOVE this book. The plot is great and the relationship between Riley and Xavier is sweet, ya know once Riley gets past the inositol’s shock of it all! The only thing I didn’t necessarily enjoy was that I felt like their relationship was kind of rushed at some points. Other than that definitely recommend!
Huge cliffhanger though but I can’t wait for the next!
Huge cliffhanger though but I can’t wait for the next!
October 1, 2022
I really loved this! All the way to the cliffhanger and I cannot wait until the next one!
I loved the relationship between Riley and Xaviar but I do wish there was more time building that relationship but hey the frenzy doesn't wait for anyone
I got to read this as an ARC sent to be and I feel incredibly lucky!
I loved the relationship between Riley and Xaviar but I do wish there was more time building that relationship but hey the frenzy doesn't wait for anyone
I got to read this as an ARC sent to be and I feel incredibly lucky!
December 20, 2022
I was very excited about reading Frostbite, for many reason, several unspoken but known by many, HAHA!!
And I can say that I was not disappointed while reading Frostbite! It was fast burning, but intense, thorough, and long lasting, leading into the future following books in the Zxalian Mate series.
I have always loved the idea of time travel, and Frostbite has a delightful, sinful, AND scary time travel plot!
I’ll be the first to admit that I am scared of spiders. Very scared. Except Jumping Spiders. They don’t scare me. I can say I’d be scared out of my mind as well in the beginning!! But, throughout the whole thing, I found the described spider actions endearing, and I kept looking forward to them, especially the chittering. I could picture it in my head, and it made me smile.
I love how sassy Riley is in Frostbite, and how she fights tooth and nail until she can’t anymore. She’s a fighter, and a survivor, and that’s something that Xavier fell in love with throughout the book!
If you love some super spicy spice, and some delightfully sinful bondage, then Frostbite is definitely for you!! It was definitely for me, HAHA!!
I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the series, Thawed!!
Frostbite is an absolute recommendation!!
And I can say that I was not disappointed while reading Frostbite! It was fast burning, but intense, thorough, and long lasting, leading into the future following books in the Zxalian Mate series.
I have always loved the idea of time travel, and Frostbite has a delightful, sinful, AND scary time travel plot!
I’ll be the first to admit that I am scared of spiders. Very scared. Except Jumping Spiders. They don’t scare me. I can say I’d be scared out of my mind as well in the beginning!! But, throughout the whole thing, I found the described spider actions endearing, and I kept looking forward to them, especially the chittering. I could picture it in my head, and it made me smile.
I love how sassy Riley is in Frostbite, and how she fights tooth and nail until she can’t anymore. She’s a fighter, and a survivor, and that’s something that Xavier fell in love with throughout the book!
If you love some super spicy spice, and some delightfully sinful bondage, then Frostbite is definitely for you!! It was definitely for me, HAHA!!
I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the series, Thawed!!
Frostbite is an absolute recommendation!!
December 27, 2022
r/RomanceBooks Winter Bingo: Winter-themed
I was lured in by the cover. The contents were shot. Annoying, grating generic sassy characters (FMC in particular). Poor grammar/formatting. Nothing made sense. Outdated references to pop culture/media. You don't have to reinvent the wheel, but you do have to, at the very least, make one that rotates.
I was lured in by the cover. The contents were shot. Annoying, grating generic sassy characters (FMC in particular). Poor grammar/formatting. Nothing made sense. Outdated references to pop culture/media. You don't have to reinvent the wheel, but you do have to, at the very least, make one that rotates.
December 17, 2022
Frostbite is my first spidery monster book and I had the chance for an arc read. It's a short (190p.) and enjoyable read. I devoured it in one session. I did want to read more connections and conversations with Riley and Xavier I'm interested in the world building in the next book. Hoping to see others in the get coupled up as well :)
December 15, 2022
This book kept me gripped the entire time I was reading it. This is by no means a slow burn, but that's definitely something I enjoy. I'm excited to see how Xavier and Rileys relationship grows moving forward.
December 5, 2022
I loved Xaviar and Riley! I am usually not a fan of spiders, but this story sucked me in and I was actually enjoying the spider references and it was building up my curiosity! Frostbite has fated mates, a protective and possessive male, and a stubborn female, and so much spice it makes me drool! Soooo steamy, and I cannot wait to see what happens next, I definitely need more of this spicy story.
December 17, 2022
I will definitely be reading the next book when it comes out, that cliffy got me
December 3, 2022
I was kindly sent a copy of this book from Melissa Blincoe for review … What have I just read!! Proper spider smut!! 🕷️I am terrified of spiders but I could deal with an Xaviar of my own! And what a cliffhanger too 😲 Can’t wait for book two now!
▪️Massive Ice Spiders
▪️Monster Peen
▪️Kidnapping
▪️Fated Mates
▪️Light Web Bondage🕸️
▪️Forced Proximity
▪️Massive Ice Spiders
▪️Monster Peen
▪️Kidnapping
▪️Fated Mates
▪️Light Web Bondage🕸️
▪️Forced Proximity
December 27, 2022
This is comically similar to another spider romance I’ve read.
November 16, 2022
UNUSUAL HERO,
Ok, I've read stories about spider looking aliens but this hero IS a spider, a big one.
The storyline was good and kept my interest.
It kinda ended on a cliffy but I'm interested enough that I'm getting book 2 on KU.
Ok, I've read stories about spider looking aliens but this hero IS a spider, a big one.
The storyline was good and kept my interest.
It kinda ended on a cliffy but I'm interested enough that I'm getting book 2 on KU.
October 8, 2022
I’ve read something similar with an arachnid love interest and aliens in snow but, this is a first…snow spiders. Kinda what sold me on it tbh and the time travel…first time reading this author. I enjoyed it, I was worried about it having a cliffhanger ending…I usually dodged those like the plague lol. The other trigger warning not so much…I might be a messed up individual or I’ve just read some s*** and I’m almost immune! I did read as an Arc and hope I encouraged future readers to, give it a chance💕. Basically our girl signs to join a group to travel time and said scientists weren’t having the greatest results…since no one ever returns. Now I guess you’re wondering, why she going…not because she’s a thrill seeker, explorer or just bored. Nope on the last trip, her bestie went on the same trip and she didn’t return…they just said there was nothing to be done. So chipped and told one last, they could end up in a different location but thought all the bugs were worked out…they were literally dropped into the ice age! So clearly no one saw that coming, after setting up basic amenities…their food and water still ended up frozen. So girl leaves camp, spider follows girl, girl gets a little too close to the wildlife and spider has to step in…the rest is history as they say!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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