Review: Mateer by Veronica Scott

Mateer (Sectors New Allies #2)
Veronica Scott

My Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
Megan Garrison, a doctor at the Sectors Amarcae 7 colony, goes to sleep one night as usual only to wake up in her nightgown, strapped to a table in an alien lab, destined to be the subject of terrifying experiments. Granted a brief reprieve, Megan and the other kidnapped humans are released in the middle of a forestlike enclosure on this unknown world and told to survive as best they can for now.

Her only hope is Mateer, the genetically engineered alien warrior imprisoned with the humans. He knows more than he’s sharing about this planet, their captors and the fate of other humans, including perhaps her own sisters. Turns out everyone from her colony has been kidnapped by the Khagrish, a ruthless race of alien scientists. Working for enemies of the human-led Sectors, the Khagrish have created the Badari to be super soldiers.

Mateer, a tough Badari enforcer, now a rebel, is captured while infiltrating the lab to help his pack bring it down. He’s also been ordered by his leaders to search for Megan and save her life at all costs. Tortured by the enemy, he’s offered one chance at survival – convince Megan to become his mate and assist the Khagrish with further experiments.

As the situation at the lab grows worse, Megan struggles against her deep attraction to Mateer, while she does her best to shield the other humans from the terrible Khagrish experiments. For his part, Mateer knows she really is his fated mate and despairs of being able to keep her safe, as the rebel attack is delayed and she fights the truth of their bond.

Will they be able to work together to defeat Khagrish plans and preserve human lives until the promised rescue happens? And what of their future together – will Megan accept Mateer as her true mate, or walk away if she’s freed?

This is the second book in a new scifi romance series and each novel has a satisfying Happy for Now ending for the hero and heroine, not a cliffhanger. Some overarching issues do remain unresolved in each book since this is a series but romance always wins the day in my novels!

My Review

I read Mateer as a buddy read with Sophia Rose and had fun returning for book 2 in this series. Mateer has a similar premise to Aydarr, the first book in the series. In both books both the main characters are captured by aliens and become the subjects of their experiments. Despite the similar set up I thought the author did a good job making Mateer a different story than Aydarr and I liked how the plot and romance felt different enough.

With Mateer I had the same issue as with Aydarr in that I struggled with the prison setting. Both characters are subjects of horrifying experiment, although I appreciate that we don’t see a lot of that from their point of view, it is clear what a horrible situation they’re in. And it just doesn’t make for the most fun or romantic setting and could be tough to read about at times. The plot is a bit less action packed than the first book due to how things progress which made sense. Although I would’ve liked if there was more they could do as they have very little control about their situation for most of the book. The ending felt a bit fast, but I liked how things ended for this couple and look forward to reading more of the series.

Despite the prison setting, I quite liked the romance between Megan and Mateer. I liked the way they quickly catch the other up to speed about what they know when they meet and get to know each other. I liked the way their connection deepened and thought their romance was well written despite the prison setting. I just would’ve liked to see more of them together while they’re being free. I thought they made for a great couple and enjoyed reading about them.

In comparison to the first book there are less side characters here and the main characters spend more time of the book together, which made me feel this romance more strongly than in book 1. With less side characters I also felt the focus was a bit more on these two getting to know each other and not much about other side characters. The romance progressed a bit slower than in the first book, although still pretty quick. With a lot of the plot and world established in the first book there was less of the heavy lifting this book had to do in that regard. I liked how things develop in this book and I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

To summarize: This was a well written science fiction romance book. The prison setting doesn’t make for the most romantic setting and could be tough to read about at times, but despite that I liked the romance between Mateer and Megan. While it has a similar set up as book 1 there are enough differences for this book to feel fresh. The focus is on the romance and the two main characters and I enjoyed reading about them. I disliked how little control they had over their situations and I feel I’ll be able to enjoy the rest of the series more once they’re all free. There were some interesting developments in this book and I liked seeing things play out. There was less action than the first book, but I liked how there was more time and focus for the romance.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.