Q*Pid

By: Xavier Mayne

Narrated by: Rudy Sanda

Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Can a computer program understand love better than the human heart?

Archer, the AI at the dating service Q*pid, realizes humans don't always make the best choices, so it begins making some unconventional choices for them.

Fox Kincade is the last of his group of friends to be single, so he's delighted when he discovers a new match in his Q*pid app - one that, according to the new AI wizardry, should be the love of his life. Instead of the woman he's expecting, he's paired with Drew Larsen, a shy, somewhat nerdy PhD student who has also grown discouraged with romance.

Drew and Fox have little in common - aside from the fact that they're both straight. Or so they thought. But as the guys get to know each other, they realize Archer might have the right idea. Their path isn't smooth, because both need to overcome every idea they have about themselves and what true love might look like. But with the help of Archer - and some friends who have stuck with Fox and Drew through the thick and thin of their relationship trials - they might find their way into each other's hearts.

©2018 Xavier Mayne (P)2018 Tantor

3.5 stars- ups and downs but an overall enjoyable

It’s becoming a bit of a theme for me when I read this author’s works, but Q*Pid is a more difficult book to rate. There were some parts that left me less than enthused and others I loved, but it has to be said that once I was a little less than half way through the book, I couldn’t get enough of it.

First and foremost, the plot of Q*Pid was really noteworthy with a dating service using Artificial Intelligence to help guide matches beyond the parameters users set. Couple that with a double gay-for-you trope, and I was intrigued as to how it would all work. The characters were interesting, with different backgrounds that gave an opposites attract sort of feel to the romance. Overall, I liked Drew and Fox together, especially once they worked through all their concerns, but something was missing for a good chunk of the story. This wasn’t helped by the narrator who overacted voices for some characters. Despite having a good rhythm, his style didn’t quite work for me and took me some time to get accustomed to the voice shifts.

The gay-for-you trope is always difficult to navigate because the author has to sell the character’s straight persona, then switch things up in ways that make their expanding sexuality plausible. Unfortunately, I think this is where Q*Pid stumbled. There was so much foundation to prove Drew and Fox were straight, but not enough framework to make their falling for each other very believable. Despite seeing where things were headed, I never felt those confusing emotions as the men navigated these new emotions and attractions…it just happened. That said, the transition from close friendship to lovers did hit all the marks and I enjoyed seeing these men get their happily ever after. Once again, I find myself recommending a book by this author that, while having some bobbles, has enough a unique storyline and characters that makes it a really good read.

*Reviewed for Alpha Book Club*

An Interesting Premise

Mayne provides a truly interesting concept with Archer (the AI matchmaker) and how Archer brings Fox and Drew together. The way the romance between the humans unfolds is sweet. However, some of the dialogue between Fox and Drew at points doesn't feels a little bit off. It was an easy listen (finished in three days or so), and Sanda did a solid job with the narration. It's a fun listen, and I would be willing to try another title by Mayne based off of this story.

Beautiful and very funny!

If you love quirky love stories, then this is a perfect listen. The narration is excellent. A great way of looking at love and desire!

so much fun. .

great characters.don't be fooled by the simplistic theme. funny and enlightened. I love these guys. you will too.

Great premise, fine story, bad narration

There's no trope I love more than straight boys realizing they may not be so straight. I love the online-dating AI premise of the story, it's a lot of fun (and gave me a lot to ponder). Some more specific comments:

Pros: loved the bit of exhibitionism towards the end of the book. I loved Chad's turn towards, shall we say, open and pleasantly pervy heteroflexibility. (Hey Author, can we get an ENM MMMF sequel???). I also liked all the characters, and could fully believe in them as a couple.

Cons: The amount of text devoted to internal processing should have been edited down by about half. I'm a queer nerdy lady, I love processing! But in observing other people's processing a little bit goes a long way.

But ok, the big minus 3 stars: the narration is all wrong for this story. The narrator does an impressive range of voices, and pretty much all of them are wrong, annoying, or both. When I say wrong, what I mean is they communicate something different from what I think the author intended. Fox, for example, sounds like a 3-pack-a-day smoker. Instead of picturing a hot, sophisticated redhead, Fred Durst kept popping into my head. Or, sometimes, Moe from the Simpsons.

The narrator obviously has talent, but would be put to better use, perhaps, doing stories that require funny and idiosyncratic voices. Jokey middle-grade novels, maybe.

Great trope, fantastic new narrator!

This is a fun trope – the GFY trope and a double GFY – YES – sign me up! I absolutely loved this. It was sweet, romantic and my only (small) complaint was that I wish we’d had more smexy times.


What I love about this story is what I fell in love with in Frat House Troopers: great character development and a (mostly) believable way for two “straight” guys to fall in love! Where FHT had a little more pull for me was there was more “exploration” in the bedroom that I missed with this couple.

However – the upside is we definitely get a lot of emotional bonding and the end result is a really romantic story with a touch of heat.

If you’re a fan of the author or the trope – this is recommended for you!


5 of 5 stars
Audio
Rudy Sanda is a new to me narrator. He really tries to give everyone a unique voice - I loved his Mrs. Schwarzman! He handles the humor and the timing necessitated by that very well. His voice is easy to listen to and I found his cadence really pleasing. I am definitely going to be looking for him in the future!
5 of 5 stars

Great Story

This book was very different from most of the LGBTQ romance stories that I found here. The story takes a while to get going, but I found it intriguing. Not a book for those that want explicit and frequent sex, was enough to keep you interested. I definitely enjoyed it.

great concept

love the concept. Some of the voices for characters threw me off. Still a good book

So Good!!

When the story first started I was very skeptical on where the story might lead. In all though I am happy to say that this story is seriously a work of art. Excellent character development and great pacing, I loved how relevant it was to our current dating scene and a current field of tech. This was one audiobooks that I couldn't stop listening to, as I usually only listen during long car rides. When I had to stop my mind keep jumping back to characters and the highly addictive plot. Honestly don't even this twice about downloading this one. Trust me you will be happy you did!

A fun Gay for you story

I will admit this started slow. I was tempted to not finish but I did like the concept and Archer and his quirky neighbor lady. Fox finally grew on me as the story progressed.
There are some really cool characters in this book. Fox has a friend that wants updates on his sex life, and his wife usually is right there for the video chat. She is intrigued when the guy shows up and Fox agrees to meet for a drink then they continue meeting as friends.
Archer is a real sweetheart and I adored his elderly tenant and how he always had her favorite imported sausages "just laying around needing cooked" I liked that he was open when he male match came and he took the chance to reach out if not anything but for a friend and out of curiosity as to why the machine matched him with a man.
I also liked the Machine itself as a character. I would have liked a little more on it, but I guess the match and romance did need to be up front.
The story is extremely well written, intriguing and fun.
The narrator Rudy Sanda was new to me. At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about the narration. I did not like Fox's voice at all. I think maybe if Fox and his friend's voice was switched it may have worked more for me. The pacing was good though and all in all, once the story picked up so did the narration.
If you like Gay For You you get a double whammy as it's Gay for You for both characters. It is a good slow burn as well, and lots of humor.