An interesting change of pace for Ruby Dixon-- we have a minotaur this time around instead of blue aliens. I really enjoyed the world building and learning about magical artifacts. I was rooting for Aspeth and her friends to become official members of the Royal Artifactual Guild-- Kipp the lizardman was one of my favorites of her little crew. Hawk was definitely the grumpy to her sunshine. The rut was not as... climactic... as I think I was hoping for. But it was a solid step in a new direction!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my thoughts.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an ARC of this book.

I’ve previously read some of Ruby Dixon’s Ice Planet Barbarian series, and really enjoyed it, so when I got the chance to read Bull Moon Rising I was stoked.

This book is a lot different than Ice Planet, but it still contains Ruby Dixon’s magical writing so it’s a fun ride.

This is a full length novel (over 400 pages) and the world building is well developed. The characters are great, and there’s a good amount of steam.

There weren’t a ton of surprises in the storyline, but I did have a theory that never panned out… however since this is the first book in a series (don’t worry there isn’t a major cliffhanger at the end) I’m crossing my fingers it will come up in future books.

This also contains some much loved tropes like found family and marriage of convenience.

The biggest positive to this was that the chemistry between the main characters was excellent, which made the story thoroughly enjoyable.

The cover on this is breathtaking and it may be one of the few ebooks that I and up purchasing… just because I want it displayed on my shelf.

Overall, it’s definitely one I’d recommend.

SUGGESTED SNACK PAIRING: vegetable and lentil soup with crusty bread

Triggers: alcoholism/addiction, injury detail, sexism, sexual content, sexual harassment, murder

My review will be posted in my Instagram @bedtimesandbooks and this review will be updated with a link when it is live.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc of this book! Thank you soo much! I loved this book soo much and the cover is absolutely GORGEOUS! I would love to have one on my shelves! Aspeth was so cute and funny and kind of nerdy and I was so happy she was around the same age as me (30) the archaeology aspect had me soo happy because I used to dream about that being my career but life happened so reading about it was so nice! Hawk was also perfect and I was swooning over him! Monster smut is my new favorite thing so thank you again for letting me read this wonderful book!

Ruby never misses!!!
The magic system in this world is so flippin’ cool & knowing that it was inspired by a state park in Arkansas is even cooler (my home state- Woo Pig). Enter a city built on top of an ancient magic city filled with magical artifacts that are the most sought after good in the realm: and our FMC is determined to find them. And add on top a hunky Minotaur teacher that drips with “my wife” energy. The plot in this book is chefs kiss, the ticking time bomb was a fabulous touch, and the spice was spicing (how could it not be? This is Ruby Dixon people)!!!!

PS: “Hey Alexa: play I’ll Make a Man Out of You from Mulan”
Seriously all I could think about from their training scenes😂

Thank you to Ruby Dixon, Berkley Publishing, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

Finally a FMC that isn’t a teen, and that magic hand phewww!

Our FMC Aspeth is described as a 30yo plus size, bookish, virgin and she was fantastic! The character growth was absolutely amazing! The MMC Hawk is a grumpy Minotaur, need I say more!!

The banter had me giggling and kicking my feet the entire time! This is the slowest of slow burns, but when the spice hits, boy does it hit! Dare I say this may be my favorite Ruby Dixon book yet!

Our MMC finds himself needing a mate for a conquest moon that happens every 5 years, and our FMC finds herself needing a chaperone in order to join the royal artifact guild in order to save her families hold. What starts as a marriage of convenience ends up turning into deception, theft and the cutest hea! If you’re looking for a spicy romantasy, and extremely unique magic system that will keep you wanting more look no further!

Did I mention the first edition run also includes absolutely gorgeous sprayed edges!

3.75 ⭐️ || <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@jennyreadsalot">TikTok</a>

Overall it was a good time, the 🌶️ was fun, I love a curvy FMC, and anything with Archeology vibes, but it was just too long and repetitive to really blow me away.

What I loved…
- curvy, nerdy, family & friends first, strong FMC
- grumpy MMC that just wants to avoid the brothel during the Bull Moon
- The Mummy/archaeology vibes meets Regency era “houses” and setting
- Marriage of connivence
- 🪢
- All-Start side characters
- I usually really dislike the inexperienced female/experienced male trope, however this was done so well! A++++

What I didn’t love..
- I strongly believe this could have been 100 pages shorter (and more enjoyable for it) if we cut out the repetitive inner monologues
- The fact that see was running around with her glasses off for 80% of the book drove me absolutely NUTS - there was no good reason to be walking around with blurry sight for the whole novel
- I thought the cat was pointless and added nothing to the story - I LOVE LOVE LOVE a good furry side character and I’m a cat lover (I have one!) but the cat added nothing to the plot or the book imo - I was waiting for it to have some significant role and nope, nothing.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group (Ace) for sending this book (eARC) for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

4.25✨
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for this early ARC! (BTW, the cover is STUNNING)

So I didn’t expect this to be a monster-romance Fantasy. But I was positively surprised.
I actually really enjoyed this. The plot was good, the stakes were high, the marriage of convenience was believable.
The FMC was positively delightful. I liked Aspeth a lot 😅. She was cute and funny and quirky. Kind of nerdy too. And her cat Squeaker??? Such a cutie. As the story went on I found myself loving her more and more. She was just such a fun FMC to read about.
To be fair the whole cast of characters were lovable. Especially the Minotaur (Hawk). He was just sooo sweet and thoughtful 🥺 and Gwenna?? Such an amazing friend.

I really love anything that has to do with archaeology so this stole my attention right away. I swooooned at the ending. Loved it.
And I obviously don’t care for human smut in books but monster smut though??? Sign me up. 😆

Out of topic but the author mentioned that she loves Stardew Valley in her acknowledgments and she has just been upgraded to one of my favourite authors.

If you're into minotaurs, you're probably going to love this book. If not, it's just mid. Aspeth, a spoiled, naive rich girl, finds herself in a marriage of convenience with Hawk, an overworked, underpaid, and soon to be dangerously horny minotaur. The marriage allows Aspeth entry into an archeological guild, where she believes she can find artifacts that will save her family, and it gives Hawk a guaranteed partner for the Conquest Moon, a rutting season that turns all minotaurs into sex crazed monsters. The most unfortunate part of this book is that there's just no chemistry between Aspeth and Hawk. It's fine because it's a marriage of convenience anyway, but if I'm meant to believe they fall in love by the end, it's not enough. Hawk spends his days thinking about how annoying and spoiled and naive Aspeth is, and she spends hers thinking about how mean and unsupportive and unrealistic Hawk is, and then Aspeth fulfills her end of the bargain at night, and they go right back to actively complaining about how much they don't like each other in the morning. Hawk continuously uses Aspeth for sex, the ignores and abandons her for days, leaving her feeling undesirable and unconfident. It's toxic and I'm not into it.
Outside of the unappealing and lackluster romance plot, there's some interesting ideas in here. I love the idea of a sunken city full of magic treasures, and a guild of treasure hunters out to explore it all. The world building fell a little short though, and it felt like major parts were glossed over in favor of other, sexier, parts of the plot. I love high fantasy, more is more for me, and this didn't deliver enough exposition to really pull me into this world.
I won't lie, I read this book for the cover. I don't think it'll have any problems flying off the shelves. Ruby Dixon is a trusted and beloved Romamtasy author and it's nice to see her get a marketing campaign this big. Is it the next Fourth Wing? Who knows.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced digital copy.

Ruby Dixon can do no wrong. Another fun, entertaining, and exciting story. Can't wait to have this in store and see everyone so excited about it.

4.5 stars.

Ruby Dixon has never written a better book than this. Feel free to prove me wrong. This was so good that I WISH I could find another book of hers that I loved as much.

I received this book for free as an advanced reader copy and HIGHLY recommend it!

Aspeth is hoping to rescue her father and home from her father’s terrible choices while also finding a life for herself in joining the guild. She’s the typical bookish heroine who is book smart and street dumb. She’s a bit desperate and willing to do anything it takes to have a chance to live. She made some sketchy choices but aligned herself with some good people, like her new husband.

The beginning of this was a little hard to get into, but the book quickly picks up and there’s a lot of fun detail about the world where an ancient magical time shadows the non-magical modern era by providing powerful artifacts that people die and fight over.

This starts off with a marriage of convenience and it was fun to see Hawk’s and Aspeth’s relationship develop emotionally as well as sexually.

Great side characters (her team of five is super fun) and a really fun adventure.

I LOVED the ending. Things are tied up really well and everyone gets taken care of in a way that felt super satisfying. And, of course, Hawk and Aspeth (Sparrow) end up happy and in love.


Safety deets
- No other women or men. Aspeth has an ex-fiancé that does come around but she’s not interested. There is some jealousy on Hawk’s part tho. She's a virgin and there are few mentions of past lovers for Hawk. I can't think of anything specific other than how he dealt with the last moons with strangers.

- A little bit of voyeurism. They both watch others and do things where they might be watched.

- The consent was GREAT! Even when Hawk gets a little bit crazed (it’s a whole thing), he’s still able to step back and make sure she’s okay.

- Aspeth does hide her past and lie about some things which causes some tension. Thankfully, it doesn’t last long. Hawk gets really upset and does/says something pretty mean but does an amazing job at apologizing.

- We get to see them in their HEA… and it’s SO GOOD!

Ruby Dixon is at it again in Bull Moon Rising! Aspeth is the heroine we can all relate to: striking out on her own to defy her father’s keep, to join a troupe of artifact hunters so she can make a way for herself. While most may laugh at her, she finds friends in the other outcasts— including a handsome Taurian, Hawk, hoping to keep his cool on the cusp of the Conquest Moon.

What happens when a desperate woman collides with a Taurian on the eve of the Conquest Moon? The pressure is on and tension is high! Dixon’s newest is steamy and adventurous— a joy for all romance fantasy fans!

Thank you to Berkley/Ace for the arc!

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you, NetGalley and publishers.

Bull Moon Rising is a spicy romantasy by the author of the popular Ice Planet Barbarians sci-fi romance series. Lady Aspeth is desperate to save her family, and Hawk needs a wife. Along the way they will gain and lose family and friends and dreams and adventures.

This was a little slow paced at times, especially in the middle during training, but the last 25% was very fast paced and flew by. I'd recommend this one if you liked Bride or books like What the River Knows. The finding magical artifacts was a very intriguing aspect of this book. The spice was less surprising than what I imagined beforehand. This was a lot different from the ice planet books but still liked reading it a lot

Bull Moon Rising was an absolute delight to read! I went in with no expectations and was blown away by the phenomenal world-building. The story hooked me from start to finish. I’m now diving into more of Ruby Dixon’s works—I’m officially a fan!

I’m not a huge fantasy fan, but I am a huge Ruby Dixon fan. I’ll admit I approached this book with some trepidation, but I needn’t have worried. Ruby Dixon built a fascinating world for this book. Aspeth is the daughter of a Holder, a wealthy landowner whose artifacts give them power. Only Aspeth and her father know that he’s gambled away all his artifacts thus making them vulnerable to other Holders. Aspeth decides she will join the Guild to recover artifacts to secure her family’s position. She shows up at the Architectual Guild and is immediately dismissed because she is a woman. Undeterred, she meets Hawk, a minotaur and marries him so she can have a chaperone to get her through guild training. Hawk ostensibly works for famous guild member Magpie but she is an alcoholic who is in danger of losing her spot in the guild. Hawk builds a ragtag team of lovable misfits to go through the trials. So very much happens in this book that it’s difficult to condense into a review, but there’s drama, adventure, excitement, and yes, rutting, as the Conquest Moon approaches. This one had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end!

I will read anything Ruby writes, but this one wasn’t really checking all of my boxes! I appreciate how intricate the world building was and how much detail we got with all of the characters, but that was at the expense of the main characters and their relationship.

I will definitely read the next book but I wasn’t expecting this to be so Indiana Jones-y and not as romance-y.

I've read a bunch of Dixon's Ice Planet Barbarians books, but nothing else that she's written, so I was intrigued by this release. I haven't read many monster romances, but this was definitely one of the best of the few I have read. Aspeth is the daughter of an aristocrat who is secretly poor, and she decides to strike out on her own (with her maid/best friend Gwenna) and goes into the city to try to join the Royal Artifactual Guild. What she doesn't realize is that, despite her extensive scholarly experience with Old Prell (the society whose artifacts the guild collects), no one in the guild takes women seriously, and Aspeth and Gwenna are basically laughed out of the guild hall when they try to register as students. She learns that women can technically join if they have chaperones, so she boldly brokers a marriage of convenience with Hawk, a Taurian (minotaur) who works for the guild. He needs a partner for the upcoming Conquest Moon, a time during which Taurians basically go into heat/rut and can't do anything except mate, so he agrees. Hawk works with guild legend Magpie, who is unfortunately an alcoholic and can no longer do her actual duties as a guild teacher, so Hawk covers for her and teaches Aspeth's group, which is comprised of four women and a slitherskin (which kind of sounds like a mix between a lizard and a turtle?). They struggle not only to be taken seriously, but with the training, the guild politics, and their disappointment in Magpie, but they do get some opportunities to get into the underground area and start searching for artifacts. I really liked the world-building here and was a fan of Hawk and Aspeth's romance (though, tbh, I felt like the actual Conquest Moon stuff was a bit more repetitive and boring that I was expecting). It's pretty steamy with some fun treasure-hunting and archaeological adventure element. I hope there will be more in this series - there's a lot I still want to know about Prellian artifacts!

It took me a little bit to get into this one but once I did I was pretty hooked. The Royal Artifactual Guild was a super cool and the story was pretty heavy on the fantasy aspect. Aspeth is a royal woman, set out to fix her family's debt before anyone finds out. She is quite determined and a bit spunky. I enjoyed her character but enjoyed Hawk's so much more. I wish we got more of his POV. I mean who doesn't love a minotaur daddy (sorry, Taurian).

This book was not what I was expecting (in a good way). I loved that the fantasy was at the forefront of the book. This is definitely a plot over smut book, which I 100% appreciate.

I found the FMC and MMC to be refreshing and fleshed out. I'm a sucker for a marriage of convenience. However, they were terrible to each other. I feel like that rollercoaster ride didn't really end until the HEA was established, but she was quite the manipulating liar and he was controlling and overbearing (granted he was basically in the minotaur version of heat, so not exactly in his right mind). I felt like they had the potential to have marital problems down the road, but were both in a good place of growth by the end and had the potential to have a long lasting and happy relationship as well.

I LOVED her adorably fluffy and overly shedding cat Squeaker. Her maid was a fantastic companion turned close friend, and I loved how their friendship developed.

There are elements that remind me of other sci-fi/fantasy team building books that I liked. I loved watching them become a true team and grow into a formidable crew of misfits.

Content: minotaur x human explicit s*x, language, deception, women suppressed by societal norms of the time (and the women trying to stick it to the man and go about things their own way in spite of setbacks), forced watching of public *rgy of s*x workers and minotaurs, s*xual activities wielded like weapon, alcoholic person in position of (albeit limited) power, scheme to unalive an entire team of people, prejudice against females and other species

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review is voluntarily written and the thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.

Bull Moon Rising ended up being an entertaining read with enough mystery to keep the story going. I was especially drawn to the characters who I thought were a likely bunch and I wish them all the best in their future endeavours. It would be interesting to see more in this world - the Guild and it's politics ended up being something I was interested in knowing more about - especially with how this story concluded. If you're looking for something that's character driven with an interesting world backdrop this is definitely something I'd recommend. Even though it's a departure from Dixon's well-known works it ended up being well executed and entertaining throughout.