3.5 stars

This was my first time reading a Minotaur romance. And that’s a sentence I never thought I would write.

For what it’s worth, I honestly forgot at times that the guy was a Minotaur, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But when I was reminded about it, it was usually during the very *ahem* descriptive scenes, if you know what I mean.

Will I ever read another Minotaur romance? No. But I also think you won’t find a better one than this one. The characters are pretty well developed, there’s an interesting cast of secondary characters, and the plot I actually found to be interesting because it surprisingly had little to do with the central romance. This is definitely more FANTASYromance instead of fantasyROMANCE, which is what I prefer. So think about picking this up, especially if you have already read and liked her other alien romance books.

Side note to those who have read this book:
If someone could please draw me a picture of a slitherskin and its house, I’d appreciate it because that was just one thing I couldn’t picture in my mind.

I received a free ARC of this book through NetGalley, but this didn’t impact my rating or review.

𝔸ℝℂ ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔹𝕦𝕝𝕝 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 ℝ𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝔹𝕪: ℝ𝕦𝕓𝕪 𝔻𝕚𝕩𝕠𝕟


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

𝕋𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕤:
♉️ marriage of convenience
🌙 monster romance
✨ found family
🐦‍⬛ cinnamon roll mmc
🌘 one bed
💫 strong, relatable fmc

Synopsis: Aspeth, a daughter of nobility, runs away from home to join the Royal Artifacts Guild, an expedition group who scour ruins for magic arcane artifacts, in an attempt save her home. She learns she is only able to join with chaperone supervision so enters Hawk. A marriage of connvience later and so the plot plays out.

Ok so monster romances are not my thing. I requested this one with the expectation I would review a rejection email within a few minutes. But the opposite occurred so here I am reviewing a Minotaur romance 😬

There was wit, interesting plot, humor, relatable fmc, a surprisingly swoon worthy romance. I appreciated that the relationship was not instalove. The found family trope within the group of misfits of Aspeth’s class was one of my favorite aspects of this read.

Some descriptions were repetitive, world building was a bit fantasy/paranormal generic and was left wanting to learn more. Overall the pacing was excellent with an interesting character driven plot.

I don’t know how the author combined cozy/fantasy/and monster smut in one, but it worked. This is generally not my cup of tea but I finished all 416 pages in 24 hours so I am taking it as a sign that I enjoyed it.

Thank you Berkeley Publishing Group and NetGalley for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Pub date: 10/15/24

Aspeth's journey takes her through treacherous lands and dangerous encounters as she navigates the intricate web of alliances and rivalries between the guilds and tomb raiders. Despite her initial reluctance, she finds herself drawn to the enigmatic Minotaur, whose gruff exterior hides a kind heart and a deep well of knowledge.

As they work together to uncover the secrets of the ancient tombs and unlock the mysteries of the guilds, Aspeth and the Minotaur forge a bond that transcends their differences. But as the Minotaur's mating season approaches, tensions rise and their relationship is put to the ultimate test.

Caught between duty and desire, Aspeth must confront her own feelings and decide where her loyalties truly lie. Will she be able to save her family's estate and find love in the most unexpected of places, or will the forces of politics and tradition tear them apart before they can truly be together? Only time will tell as their story unfolds in a world where danger lurks around every corner and love knows no bounds.

I loved their romance! It was so sweet and this book quite a fun time! Definitely recommend it for fans of monster romances!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

Here is yet another remarkably entertaining book from Ruby Dixon.

While I am familiar with her Sci-Fi inclined romances (after many a trip to Not-Hoth), this will be my first foray into her fantasy writings.

This romance is a triumph with interesting and well-thought out worldbuilding and that sense of community in a larger group of characters.

Something that makes Dixon's writing so enjoyable is that she is skilled at pacing and creating circumstances that realisticly drive the romance. It feels natural and nothing inhibits the flow from plot point to plot point.

I might actually prefer this moon-based system of romance than the soulmate-like resonance that she is quite known for.

Definitely a reccomended read for preexisting Dixon fans as well as newcomers.

I loved the world building it was great through out the entire book. It wasn’t an insta-love situation (which I loved) but I do still feel like their story was on a bit of a short time crunch? Not sure how else to describe it! This was also my first book by ruby dixon but i was in fact not disappointed! Spice is on point!

Aspeth Honori's home is teetering on the edge of financial ruin. Her father has gambled away all their artefacts, leaving her home undefended. In a desperate bid to save her people, Aspeth joins the Royal Artifactual Guild, hoping that her book smarts will serve her well. Instead she finds a corrupt organization with rules meant to keep her out. Undeterred, Aspeth marries the minotaur Hawk and throws herself into training while hiding her social position. How long can she hold everything together before someone figures it out?

Great world building, interesting characters. Ms Dixon loves a monster hero - Hawk is well-developed (in many ways). Explicit content consistent with her other books.

Yet another Ruby Dixon book to be obsessed with!

I loved literally everything about this book! The found family between the Five, the relationship that built between Aspeth & Hawk, even all the floofy cat mentions were perfectly done. Ruby Dixon never disappoints with the smut either. I was left with the best kind of book hangover after this one.

For what is essentially minotaur smut, which is not something I have sought out before, I really loved this book. I felt like the world-building was really well done. I wanted to know more about slitherskin and Taurian history and traditions. And I would pay a substantial amount of money to learn more about the Old Prellian society, their magic, their many artifacts, and how they went extinct. I want to know so much more about the world in general, but it was fleshed out to the point that I could picture it quite easily. I also loved the characters! Aspeth and Gwenna's friendship with each other and the Five was fun to see. Even the bad guys are fleshed out characters with clear motivations for their bad behavior.

The meat of the story is Hawk and Aspeth's relationship, and for the most part, this was also enjoyable. Although the two meet and marry quickly, for convenience, I felt like the relationship itself had a good build up, with the two talking and learning more about each other. Obviously, it was a bit spicy, with a lot of foreplay and then the "rut." I don't mind spice, but could have done with a bit less, personally. The only issue I really had with this story is frustration with Aspeth as she continues to mistrust Hawk, even after he has proved himself trustworthy.

I haven’t read Ruby Dixon in about five years so I was looking forward to her foray into trad romance. I was pleasantly surprised and thought this was a sweet book, if not a bit too long!

Anything Ruby Dixon is an automatic read for me, and this title did not disappoint. While the story was different than most of her other books, it still has all the wit, humor, and swoonworthy romance you would expect from her work. Definitely recommend picking up this book!

whew! This is h o t.

Readers do not need to be familiar with the author's other works-- this book takes place in its own universe. The setting is a kind of generic European-medieval-based fantasy world; not a lot of the structure of this is explained, so readers should have a passing familiarity with the fantasy genre (if you've watched LotR or Game of thrones, that might be enough).

Tighter editing would have raised this to a 5-star read. Some descriptions and explanations are needlessly repetitive-- they almost made it feel like this had originated as some kind of serialized story, expecting that readers may jump in towards the middle or accidentally miss a chapter here or there.

While this ticked all the boxes for my favorite tropes, it might not be a slam dunk for all romance readers. Like the author's Ice Planet Barbarians series, the reason for the marriage of convenience is biologically-based-- it gives pon farr vibes, although the frequency lines up with a lunar event. In a nice change from the Ice Planet Barbarians series, although the marital activities are required, pregnancy is not, and this book ends with the FMC choosing to employ birth control and continue her career.

eARC from NetGalley.

I don’t know how I was lucky enough to be sent an eARC for my faveee author but I’m so thankful to Ace, Berkley, NetGalley, and Ruby for the chance to read and review this!

I LOVED this. It was a book I felt I wanted to take my time with and savor. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, who were all so unique and fun! The friendship between Aspeth and Gwenna felt so real and natural. Their banter was wonderful. Lark, Mereden, and Kipp were such fun additions to the team.

Marriage of convenience and found family are the big tropes, also maybe throw in a sprinkle of a magical college vibe? Like it’s not reeeeaally that, but it feels like it.

There is a good deal of world building, but it is written in a way that doesn’t feel like a slog to get through. It’s interesting and engaging throughout and I’m eager and hoping to read more of this series to learn more (im hoping it will be a series anyway?)

Aspeth is fun and relatable as a lead, even with her essentially being a spoiled princess, Ruby has such a talent for writing relatable characters. Her passion for history and artifacts made me feel like I was on the adventure along with her.

Hawk 😮‍💨 What a hunk. At first glance he comes off as grumpy and surly but I love how we can tell how much he cares for Aspeth from the beginning. I love how straight forward they are with eachother with everything.

Spice-🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
Girlllll I was blushing. The chemistry and the actual spice was 🥵 🪢


All in all, an easy 5 stars. I felt like I was playing through an rpg. Like I was on a dungeon crawl with besties. 👏🏻 I can’t ask for more than that in the book.

Ruby Dixon does it again, and Bull Moon Rising does not disappoint! Aspeth and Hawk are going to be one of my favorite couples of 2024! You've got marriage of convenience, one bed trope, minotaur, academic (type) setting, and one ferocious heroine. I loved this book, and it made me giggle and kick my feet. I didn't expect the ending, but it wrapped up so well and i can't wait for more stories in this universe!

I got this book An exchange for honest review.

This book is so good. I love It. I will say the first couple of Charters was a lot of world building and was a little slow. But once the two main characters start to really interact with each other, it started to pull me in, and it started to get good. I literally read this in a day. I love this book.I love the 5 team members and their different personalities. I love the two main characters, Aspeth and Hawk. You could see the growth they both made at the end of the story as people and as a couple. It had plenty of hot scenes and also a bit mystery to it.(just when you think someone is good or bad it would go in a totally different way)For the real "good stuff" (Minnotars knots😍). I would say its a bit of a slow burn, but along the way it still had plenty of heat thrown in. If you like Ruby Dixon, then this is good or better than her other stuff. It has a similar feel to her Aspect books.

Also I hope we see more in this world. Is Gwenna or the others having story too? I loved Gwenna and her friendship with Aspeth. You could tell she really cared for her.

This was a good book. I really love the world building and the characters. The pacing was really good and it was an interesting story to read

IM SO EXCITED I GOT TO READ THIS FANTASTIC MONSTER ROMANCE WHEN I TELL YOU WHEN I TELL YOU!!!! FIVE STARS. FIVE STARS. OMG.

For fans of Ali Hazelwood's Bride and CM Nascosta's Morning Glory Milking Farm but... like it's Raiders of the Lost Ark/Lara Croft meets Pride and Prejudice. Fanfuckingtastic. AHHHHHHHHHH. Seriously. I am so excited to get my pretty physical copy of this book.

Ok anyway seriously, here's my spoiler-free review-

30 year old spinster Aspeth runs away from home on a quest to save her family's hold and ends up embroiled in guild and tomb raider politics while finding herself in a marriage of convenience with a grumpy Minotaur... who's also her teacher... on the lunar eve of his mating season.

This was slow burn (for a monster romance - but not surprising considering this is *gasp* the first trad pub Minotaur smut?), perfectly knotty, and so so so sweet. I loved our down-to-earth, nerdy, and steadfast FMC, the fiercely loyal found family she gathered along the way, and the most endearing and steadfast of Minotaurs for an MMC.

The plot was solid, the romance and spice top tier, the world so richly built, and everything just came together so well. I love how everyone just seriously wanted to be loved in this book - even that monster of a fat cat that sheds everywhere. I binged this in 2 sittings (and only cause its like 432 pages and I started late the first day) and Urgently Need More from this world.

I loved the fact that she was basically blind without her spectacles (relatable) though she tried to pretend she could do without, that she was unapologetically plus size with totally valid insecurities (and made relatable jokes about this too!), and that there was casual, and normalized queer rep (but I'm not saying anything more cause spoilers!)

[....istg if ppl who aren't monsterotica readers pick this book up and say its too weird and rate it low simply because this is being aggressively marketed as "romantasy" as if the book cover doesn't show you its literally a damn MINOTAUR im gonna scream.]

My first ARC review !
*Bull Moon Rising - Ruby Dixon*

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
🌶️ 🌶️🌶️.5

We follow the FMC Asbeth Honori on a Journey to save her home from her father’s poor choices . She’s come up with this “perfect plan” to help her lands by joining the guild. This Guild is known to find artifacts that essentially help guard kingdoms from being over thrown. (Like her own will be if she doesn’t succeed). She’s studied and feels ready to join when she’s slapped in face with the reality that because she’s a woman she cannot join without a sponsor, which is where the MMC, sexy Minotaur Hawk, comes in. Without spoiling it there’s adventure, a twist, and a lot of building up to some smutty monster smut!

My Thoughts -

Ruby Dixon is one of my favorite authors so in my eyes she really could do know wrong! I love her series, they are always captivating and truly easy to envision the worlds she sets up in her books. This is no different. I really enjoyed this world it being set in “the past” with some figure elements. The banter, between the characters had me laughing and the smut build up was so sexy. If you love ruby Dixon, or want to get into her books or this genre of books this stand alone (although i hope she continues to make books in this world) would be a great start to dip your feet in!

Feedback (spoilers) - Would’ve loved to get more information about other monsters and their anatomy / preferences / etc . Hopefully this does become a series. Would love to see if magpie is redeemed, how Asbeth and Hawk take down her ex (throwing out theories) . Maybe Asbeth bestie getting with the other Minotaur, and her journey with the rest of the team as repeaters” . So much to expand on!

There was very little information out there when I excitedly requested this book, but when I picked it up to read and saw the content warnings I realized it's in my best interest to not read it. I want to thank the publisher so much for giving me the opportunity, and I deeply apologize that it didn't work out. I highly recommend that this author include the content warnings on their website so people don't buy the book and then have to return it after. Even though I didn't read this, Netgalley is requiring a star rating. I've selected 3 as a neutral pick.

Ruby Dixon is one real queen! The chemistry between Aspeth and Hawk is palpable, filled with moments of sass, warmth, humor, and emotional depth. The author's vivid descriptions has me live vicariously through these characters.

Ruby Dixon has this quality about their writing that pulls you in. When I read the synopsis on this book I was intrigued (who wouldn't be, a trad publishing deal for the author of ice planet??) but not sure if this would be for me. What you will find in this book:
-Found family (which is adorable, our little band of misfits will melt your heart)
-Marriage of convenience- literally one of the best tropes out there
-Omega verse- yes you read that write, it extends to minotaurs now- why? Because Ruby said so.
Overall I enjoyed it, the world building was very well done- there were some things that I got a little lost in, but I found my way through. I really like the idea of a fantasy spin on archaeological work. I am excited to see how it expands throughout the series, which characters it follows and such, I do hope that we see Aspeth again. One thing to note, if you are new to the Ruby Dixon verse, this novel is quite steamy and it is definitely monster sex. For those of us who liked the ice planet barbarians series, you'll be fine, but please just make sure you know what you are going into!
Overall, great vibes- fun storyline and I will see you all back here in October :)