Member Reviews
I really enjoyed this book. When I started I did not want to put it down. I needed more monster romance in my life and this gave me what I was craving.
Meg is such a fun, fierce and badass character. I loved her a lot. Leander is such a cinnamon roll and the way he loves and cares for Meg was just awesome. I liked the portal magic and how sex is the way that will save the Magic.
Fat rep- Meg is described as fat, rolls, lush and soft which I loved to see. She has some insecurities with her body at times due to a previous ex fat shaming her. My big issue is the cover! There was an opportunity to show a plus sized body and this cover didn’t do that so I was frustrated. I picked this book up not even knowing it was had fat rep and to see the cover have a skinny character just made me sad.
CW- author has a great and compressive listing of tags and CW.
This is really far outside my normal reading, but it was the first time I've seen a minotaur retelling in such a format and was intrigued. The writing pulled me in quickly, especially the chatter between these best friends, and I found myself finishing the story in one night. There are several mysteries in play that unravel quickly, as well as the relationship between the two main characters. I'd recommend to anyone looking for a quick, steamy romance, even if this is outside your typical genre.
The story was a bit boring and it was a slog to get through. I wasn't invested in the story and characters.
This is my first time reading a book by this author. I must say that I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the rest of the series. Meg and her friends are supposed to be given a private tour of a haunted house. But instead Meg ends up in a different dimension mated to a Minotaur king. Good steamy adventure.
Matched to the Minotaur is my first book by this author and I can't wait for more. This monster romance was a steamy, action packed, paranormal tale that held my interest from start to finish. The plot was imaginative and even though I thought I knew what to expect, the plot twist really surprised me and I loved it.
I liked both Leander and Meg. They were great characters and I loved that the author took a little time to develop their relationship and had them court each other. Leander was so swoony and that alter scene...wow.
There were some great secondary characters who provided great support and there was also an added suspense element that made the story so much more enjoyable and had me at the edge of my seat.
The story was told in dual POV and ends by giving us a glimpse of the next book which I can't wait to read. This was an enjoyable tale and I would recommend it to lovers of monster romance.
Well that was way better then expected. Honestly I was expecting bizarre smut, and what I got was still a tad bizarre but well written characters, an exciting storyline that reads like a very long book. Sweet and sexy but not gross or raunchy. I am definitely looking forward to the rest of this outside the box exciting series.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Matched To The Minotaur by Luna Joya
This was a great quick read! I went in having only glanced at the blurb.
Meg and her friends take a trip to a haunted house for a private tour. The girls get separated and while Meg follows a cute kitten down a dark set of stairs, she soon finds herself transported into another realm. The king of the realm is a Minotaur, ruling over his labyrinth and Meg learns that the release contract she thought was for a haunted house was really a mating contract to the king.
This was a fun read with great spice and dual POVs. I wish more was explained about the warlock and other magic however it’s clear more books are to come. I’m already excited to read the next book!
Thank you for this ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op
This book comes out March 14th!!🥳
2.5 stars. The pacing was good, and was a quick read. The spicy times were spicy, always a good thing. But there are a few things that just bothered me until the point of ruining this, unfortunately.
The FMC is over the top too many clichés… I’m lucky to even have friends, I’m really just a loner, I don’t know I’m the beautiful geeky gamer girl, I’m the poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks, I’ve never had good self esteem, curvy but told they are fat, total carpet and let’s boyfriends and friends walk all over her, but also has red headed rage? Then called a warrior for standing up for herself? She does get a growth arc into a confident person, but that was a lot of “woe is me” going on there.
And I cannot get over that the main cow shifters name is Bess… 🙄. Are you serious? How unoriginal.
The bargains are all matches for humans and “monsters” in other realms to bring magic back to said crumbling realm. If they renege on it in whatever form, then the realm is forfeited. Or magic doesn’t come back. Very Katee Roberts, Demon Bargain series meets beauty and the beast. Both of those were better stories than this. I didn’t hate this, it was just too much like something else to like it more. It’s one thing to be inspired by or in the same vein as another established book/series but this is almost exactly like it, down to the concept and even the writing.
This had potential to be good. Because who doesn’t love a Minotaur spicy romance with a fiery red redhead, who are fated mates, that fight for their little corner of their realm? Unfortunately for me this missed that mark.
When Meg agrees to go to a haunted mansion with her friends she soon regrets it but since everyone else is all in she goes along. When Theo “the tour guide” tells her she must go on her quest alone she is a bit taken aback but cannot resist a quest. She carves game pieces for the fun of it and takes courage from the female gremlin warrior she has clutched in her hand he showed her the basement stairs and tells her to descend and that Lender will be her guide. After mistaken a cute little great kitten for lender she finds out he is the deep rumbling voice coming from the shadows what she will eventually find out is the kitten is a demon in serves more as her sentinel as opposed to something she fears. She also finds out Linder is is the king of a dying kingdom NSE doesn’t find his faded mate him and all that he loves will vanish. He is losing his magic but not this new urge and want for this mortal. Despite his body that looks like it was built by the Greeks he has the face of a bull and no one would be attracted to that… So why does she keep feeling these things of desire for this bovine man. I am not going to lie I really ate this book up I do not like detailed sex scenes but they with you and far between that’s for the story I was so surprised at how good the dialogue was how interested I became in these people and I cannot wait for the next one. I hope it’s a friends and I hope there’s a vampire in the mix. This is really a clever Shapeshifting match to the Minotaur romance. It’s one I highly recommend to those who love Shapeshifting fairytales and beauty and the beast remakes. You will not be disappointed. I received this book from NetGalley and a publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.
Honestly, I really hated about the first 30% of this. Meg was super annoying and immature, and I couldn't stand how she kept going on about how she was going to have one of her friend's mother sue the company. Give me a break. Thankfully, it did get better for a good while.
Meg and her friends have gotten tickets to be the first to visit a new haunted house tour. I'm not going to say that they were tricked into signing anything because it was their own damn faults for not actually reading what was put in front of them. But while they just assumed they were signing a normal waiver (even though it had some very NOT normal stipulations), they were actually signing a matchmaking contract agreeing to stay with the one that they were matched with for two weeks and agreeing to certain things with that person. Meg's mate is Leander. And Leander just happens to be a minotaur king whose realm is literally crumbling around him. To stop the destruction he needs to find his fated mate and with her they can replenish the magic that's needed.
These two had a really bad first meeting with Meg screaming and passing out as soon as she saw what Leander was. Leander sees this as his mate not accepting him and pretty much runs away. I mean, he has a valid reason to do so because he left to repair a ward that failing, but at the same time it was a dumb move. And considering that he only has two weeks with Meg I was really surprised that was gone for nine days to do this. That's not a lot of time to woo her.
Fortunately, Meg's favorite thing to do is to design and create fantasy board games. So when she comes to again and has a minute to digest things, she's actually completely on board with being in this realm and can easily accept Leander as he is. When Leander returns is when this book finally got better. Despite the fact that Meg can't actually imagine staying there, she delights in Leander trying to woo her. And, of course, she can't help but fall for him.
These two are running out of time in more ways than they realize though. Leander's realm is falling faster than it should be because he has a traitor amongst his people, and this puts Meg's life directly in danger. Which according to the contract is grounds to have her immediately taken back to Earth. Something that both of them fight not to happen, but when things come to a head, and Meg is stupid enough to so easily believe someone's lies, it's out of their hands.
The twist with Meg's mom was mildly interesting. Perhaps I would have liked it more if I wasn't so annoyed at Meg at that point, but as it was I was only like 'oh, okay.' In the end, everybody wins and Meg goes on to be some multi millionaire from her game. Some how I don't feel that's realistic, but whatever. It wasn't a bad ending.
I really disliked two of Meg's friends, so I don't know if I would want to read their books or not. They seemed way too stuck up and I can't stand characters like that. But I guess we'll see.
This is my first time reading Monster romance and wow i can see the hype. I never see the bull same again (lol!) I love author writing style, love the storyline, jealous of Lander longing and worship to his mate Meg, love the magic in this book. Now i curious about Meg mother and her book club. I cant wait for next book in this series. Tentacle next!
Thank you to NetGalley for provide this book, it is pleasure to review this book.
#MatchedtotheMinotaur #MatchmakerMonsterRomance #MonsterRomance #LunaJoya #ARCProvidedbyVictoryEditing #VictoryEditing #NetGalley #NetGalleyCoop #ARC
I LOVE a good paranormal book thrown into the mix and this series is AWESOME. I read this book within one afternoon and absolutely loved it. I am totally drawn into this series and cannot wait to read the rest!!!!
Matched to the Minotaur by Luna Joya.
Matchmaker Monster Romance, Book One.
The Unsuspecting Woman
My friends surprise me with a haunted house tour to get over the ghost of my last relationship. Bring on the eerie sounds and special effects.
Except magic is real.
So is the labyrinth realm below the haunted house. And the demon who tricked me into a match with a minotaur.
Now, I’m stuck in another dimension until I can find a way out of this supernatural deal.
Really enjoyable read. Loved the story and characters. 5*.
Reading Monster Erotica types of books are supposed to be for enjoyment and an escape. 'Matched to the Minotaur' by Luna Joya delivers both.
In this first of at least a four book series we find four girlfriends heading for a sneak-peek tour of a haunted house. What they find is wholly different. Their guide, Theo, is a matchmaker to monsters and the haunted house is a portal to their realms.
I thought I knew how this would turn out with certain characters given the hints through the story
but by the time I came to the end of the book I found a couple unexpected surprises and secrets.
This is an a imaginative start to a promising series and I’m looking forward to reading more.
Thank-you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#MatchedtotheMinotaurMonsterRomance #NetGalley
A Note From the Publisher - possible trigger warnings: sexually explicit scenes, neglect (historical, father to child, off-page), body shaming/emotional abuse/gaslighting (historical), maternal cancer in remission with a healthy ending (historical, off-page), and violence. Irreverent altar use for sexy times. No pets/familiars injured. Magical delay in having children.Sexy times are consensual.
👹 𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘: 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒚 𝑳𝒖𝒏𝒂 𝑱𝒐𝒚𝒂 👹
Release date: March 14, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🔥🔥🔥.5 / 5
I’d love to play it coy and act like this was my first monster romance, but this is quickly becoming my favourite genre! I can’t get enough.
Matched to the Minotaur was such a fun read. Usually these romances are more smut than plot, but that was definitely not the case here!
I loved how the author took time to build a relationship between Meg and Leander, and the threat to the realm added an element of suspense that kept me sucked in. I couldn’t put it down!
If you’re looking for something different from your ordinary, I definitely recommend giving this one a read.
Thank you to NetGalley, Luna Joya, and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for an advanced copy. This is my honest review.
Review posted on GoodReads. To be featured on Instagram @hungrybibliophile on March 14, 2023 at 11am EST. Publisher and author will be tagged.
Matched with the minotaur wasn't bad but it was just a bit lacklustre for me. It feels a bit like a mashup between Katee Roberts Demon Bargain series and the Cambric Creek series but didn't really have the charm those did. It's decently written and perhaps I would've enjoyed it more if I didn't have those other two series to compare to. All in all, it has a good premise and it's executed decently but It just didn't manage to hook me in - by the time I was 50% though it felt like not much had happened and it would be comparable to being on a third chapter of another book. I might give future books in the series a go but it wouldn't be something I'm desperately awaiting.
Thank you to Netgally and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for an arc in return for an honest review!
A maze, a minotaur, a guardian demon, and fated mates brought together by a match making demon all come together in an alternate world of magic and other-than-humans for a quirky and amusing adventure romance.
Sigh. I love monster romance. This book was exactly what I was expecting- a fated mates love story between a human and a monster (in this case a minotaur). There was a creative spin on a love (sex) contract and a handful of magic tossed in. This story even had world building! It felt a lot like ice planet barbarians (in a good way) in terms of the human and the monster needing to learn about each others cultures and the human needing to make a choice between returning to her world and staying with the monster she has grown to love.
Surprisingly sweet, nice and spicy, and a well developed plot. I will absolutely recommend this book and read the rest in the series when they are released.