Review: MateHub Legend by Marie Reynard

MateHub: Legend (MateHub #1)
Marie Reynard

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MM

Blurb:
The contract was simple: three months, seven scenes, zero feelings. Following it was not.

Richard Knotz is a legend in the world of supernatural adult entertainment, and he knows it. While most paranormal adult actors shy away from the temporary bonds needed to perform knotting scenes, he’s made them his brand. Bonding a human could never threaten to tear his empire to the ground, no matter how tempting that human smells.

Hunter Savage thinks Richard Knotz is a smug son of a wolf, but when he’s offered a contract to work with him, the payout is too lucrative to say no. Three months bonded to Richard could make his entire career. He just doesn’t expect to find a soft side under Richard’s prickly exterior, or for the apartment they’re forced to share to start feeling like home.

The bonding contract is easy and painless as long as they remember one cardinal rule: don’t get attached. Their employer has no use for unprofessional fools who let feelings jeopardize profits. But in between filming scorching scenes with ridiculous scenarios, they discover they’re more compatible than either could have imagined.

As their limited time together winds down, they face a choice—risk their careers for the unexpected connection they’ve found, or lose their bond forever.

MateHub: Legend is a high heat, arranged bonding, forced proximity, dislike-to-love paranormal romance featuring an arrogant wolf shifter who thinks a little too highly of various parts of his anatomy, the feisty human who finally takes him down a few notches, nosy fans, meddling friends, knotting, and a contract that is destined to fail.

This stand-alone novel is set in the Elemental Bonds universe and guarantees a HEA for its main couple. It does not contain mpreg or cheating. Please look inside for content warnings.

My Review

I received a free copy through Gay Romance Reviews and am voluntarily reviewing it.

I was in the mood for a steamy read when I spotted this one on GRR. It sounded like a good fit for what I was looking for and I requested it. MateHub: Legend is a steamy paranormal romance between a human and a wolf shifter who both work for MateHub where they create supernatural adult entertainment videos. When they bond for the contract it’s just a job, but feelings develop between them.

MateHub: Legends is exactly what it promises, there’s a lot of steam and a lot of those steamy scenes involve knotting. I thought reading about two characters who work in the supernatural adult entertainment industry was an interesting set up. This set up led them to have a lot of sex even before they grow close. So while it’s super steamy, the romance is actually a slow burn. I appreciated how the author varied up the sex scenes, no two scenes are the same with a lot of different set ups and various themes and vibes. I thought this was well done.

I really like Richard and Hunter together, especially once they grow closer, but even from the start that spark of connection is there. Richard the werewolf comes across as a bit cold and distant at first, but I liked how it slowly becomes clear he’s actually a softy underneath the gruff exterior. I liked how he and Hunter, the human, interact. The steam is good, but so are the more domestic and sweet scenes. There are all these signs of how much Richard is into Hunter like him cooking or them playing video games. Which brings me to my next point, both of them fall for the other, but they are super oblivious to how the other feels for most of the book. I could understand part of the reason for this, but I just wish these two would actually talk about their feelings and relationship. I struggled a bit with the last part where they both are super obviously in love, but afraid the other isn’t returning their feelings and it’s so bittersweet and filled with longing. And it was annoying me and making me antsy to get it resolved, but luckily eventually they figure things out and I really liked the ending and how things got resolved.

I thought the pacing was done well and the book kept my attention. The chat forum parts where a fun addition to the book and showed how the fans reacted to the scenes they filmed. The last part of the book felt a bit rushed to me with some more telling of what happened instead of being fully in the scenes, but at the same time I thought the whole part of them being in love, but thinking the other didn’t return their feelings lasted long enough already so not sure if I would’ve liked that part slower. I would’ve loved to see another steamy scene after they confess their feelings. There are some interesting side character and hints for future couples. I am looking forward to future books in this series!

To summarize: I was in the mood for a steamy read and this book fit the bill perfectly. There’s a lot of steam in this book and a lot of the sex scenes involve knotting. I appreciated how varied the sex scenes are with different set-ups, positions, vibes and themes. I liked Richard and Hunter together. Richard comes across as cold at first, but I appreciated how he never led anyone on and once he grows closer to Hunter it becomes clear he’s actually a softie underneath. I really liked how he took care of Hunter and cooked for him. I liked seeing these two develop feelings for each other, although I got a bit annoyed with how long it took them to actually communicate and find out the other returned their feelings. There were a few scenes toward the end that felt a tad rushed. The pacing was well done and I liked the chat forum messages from the fans after each scene they film. The wrap up and ending was really well done and I liked it. I look forward to more books in the series!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.