Monster Match is back with a second season! To kick it off we have Shaped to Be Yours a best friends to lovers romance.
From the blurb:
Jason Bosco thought life was difficult enough hiding that he was a werewolf. Being outed officially, but with the benefit of a monster friend to vouch for him for a visa, doesn’t change that everyone he knows looks at him differently now. Worse, he can’t be sure if a werewolf is what he is. But if not that, what? And what of the father he never knew, who disappeared one night in the wood behind his home in Elder Ridge?
Back there again to take time off after college to figure out who and what he is and what he wants from life, Jason’s one solace is that Ricky came with him. His… boyfriend? They’ve barely kissed. Still on the Monster Match app under a human profile, Jason now uses it to talk with his monster friends for advice, like Cael, the eldritch with a voice that can knock a person unconscious and a stare that might drive them insane. But if Cael found love and a place to belong, maybe Jason can too, and move forward with his quest to discover himself and to be with Ricky like he always wanted.
Ricky Ruas has always had a soft spot for monsters. He designed his physics major toward becoming a cosmologist, so he can study the portals and the differences between the human and monster realms. The more people understand, the more they can accept the strange and frightening. Like Ricky is trying to accept discovering that his best friend is a monster who has been in love with him for years.
It's still new, but when an opportunity presents itself to intern with some of the best monster realm scientists in Jason’s hometown, Ricky jumps at the chance to stay by his friend’s—boyfriend’s?—side so they can see where this relationship goes. No one ever said dating a monster didn’t come with complications, however, and sometimes with mysteries as intriguing as the monster realm itself.
An MM standalone novel in the shared world of the multi-author Monster Match series, season 2. Expect a jock/nerd friends-to-lovers story between a confused monster still learning what he is, and a supportive cinnamon roll boyfriend determined to learn the truth at any cost, with primal play, protective MCs, and a guaranteed happily ever after.
Molly Otto's review:
We are back to the Monster Match universe with Shaped to Be Yours. Jason & Ricky have been best friends since the start of college when Jason first started having feelings for Ricky. One night, when he is attacked in the woods, everything in his life is changed forever. With the acceptance of his new life, Jason & Ricky learn to navigate it together to find their new normal. Amanda does a wonderful job in showing us their triumphs and struggles as well as visiting old friends from season one, along with introducing us to new friends whom we all need to know more from. It is a great way to kick off season two of this combined universe.
GreenwingReads review:
I was so excited to see that Amanda was going to write a story for Ricky and Jason. I knew after His Slender Embrace that I wanted to know their story. I anticipated a lot of what their story would be, but I should have known Amanda would work in plenty of twists and surprises! I also loved all the cameos from last season's books.
The story starts with Ricky and Jason as an established couple. At the end of His Slender Embrace, we are led to believe that Jason is a werewolf. He is struggling with the idea of suddenly becoming a monster, which he has hidden from everyone for a year. In Shaped to Be Yours, we learn that there is so much more to Jason and his monster side.
Ricky is a scientist and he wants to help Jason figure out exactly what he is, but Jason understandably is scared and doesn't want to be a guinea pig. I felt that this fear was totally justified because who can really trust the government? Humans are traditionally afraid of what they don't understand and to that point, no one in the government had treated Jason very well at all.
The plot of the book focuses mostly on Jason's journey toward discovering who he is and the romance is very much secondary and low angst. Ricky and Jason care deeply for each other and any disagreement they have is quickly overcome. For the most part, the strength of their relationship was their ability to communicate. I did feel like I would have enjoyed a little more relationship angst and more could have been done with Jason's fear of losing control and hurting Ricky. I also thought more could have been made of Ricky's minor betrayal in wanting Jason to submit to testing and hoping to covertly convince him to agree, and being asked to spy on him by the government agent.
Jason had a pretty low self-image and while his mom and Ricky were supportive, they also still expected Jason to apologize anytime he lost his cool even a little bit and do whatever was asked of him. Everyone, including Jason himself, came down hard on him whenever he got upset (which was often a justified upset). Jason really had very little freedom in the story. Since he wouldn't submit to testing, he was under constant and invasive surveillance. He was under an immense amount of stress and fear and I felt like the people around him, especially the agent and often Ricky, lacked the empathy they should have had. There was a lot of focus on everyone (including Jason) pretty much thinking Jason was a bick (minus the B, replace with a D). He could definitely be rude, but Jason was a really good guy overall.
That's not to say the love between Ricky and Jason wasn't palpable, it definitely was. It was wonderful how accepting he was of every aspect of Ricky. He was more fascinated by his boyfriend than anything else. But I would have liked to see more understanding of why he was so frustrated and scared from those around him, It felt like a lot of people were dismissive. His mom was the most understanding, in my opinion, and actually told him why she was afraid of what would happen if he upset the wrong person. Ricky was so sure nothing bad would happen if Jason went through testing, but he couldn't know that for sure. The government had already threatened to exile him to the monster realm (where he'd never been before). What if they decided he was too dangerous to live among humans and exiled him anyway? I felt like Ricky was too dismissive of that possibility and too wrapped up in the science of things.
The way things work out in this story is very happy for everyone. Everything is wrapped up and all questions are answered. Everyone gets their HEA. The epilogue was really cute and I cannot wait to learn more about some of the new side characters introduced.
Shaped to Be Yours is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
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