I must admit I enjoyed this a nice Cozy, Fantasy, Monster Romance with some SPICE🌶️ add it to the mix. I gave this 🌟🌟🌟1/2 because it wasn't cozy enough and the ending was bland.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for allowing me to listen to this early copy of this audiobook.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this audiobook.

This was just ok; nothing super special. Though the ending was very cute. This was my first orc romance and was expecting it to be more smutty but it wasn’t that spicy.

This second chance romance followed Moriah/Mariah, a human inkeeper, and Thorac, an orc brew master. They have history from high school that caused them to avoid each other in their smallish town until one day, they’re in the same restaurant or bar and she overheard Thorac having a conversation with a potential human investor who’s essentially saying he won’t invest unless he has a human on the business side. They get into a fake engagement that’s mutually beneficial.

I really enjoyed the themes explored in this book: stop focusing on your past trauma and letting it affect your future, as well as racial biases.

I did listen to the audiobook which was narrated by Rose Dioro and Jack Calihan (who I don’t think had the right voice for this character but 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the ALC!

I’m absolutely loving cozy fantasies right now, and listening to them as audiobooks is such a fun experience. There’s something so soothing and calm about listening to a low-stakes fantasy story about a human innkeeper and an orc brewmaster fake dating to accomplish their own goals and accidentally falling in love in the process.

It’s a bully romance without having to experience a lot of the bullying, which I prefer because they aren’t my favourite. He bullied her as teens, but now they’re adults and turns out he REALLY likes her. There’s a lot of romantic tension between the two, and the narrators of this audiobook do a fantastic job of bringing it to life. They really embody the characters, and I always love having two narrators, especially when the book is in both perspectives.

The story was sweet if predictable, but that’s one of the nice things about cozy fantasy. You’re not there for a twisty plot. This was my first cozy fantasy with spice, and I think I’ve decided I don’t hate having spice in my cozy fantasy, but I probably don’t want it on audio in the future. It’s funny, because I don’t necessarily mind it in other books, but something about it being in cozy fantasy weirded me out and messed with my vibes a bit. I can eyeball read it just fine. 😂

If you’re looking for a spicy cozy fantasy, I definitely recommend this one. It’s a story of overcoming prejudices, set in a magical town in a world that is still learning to combine the magical with the human world. It has its funny moments, sweet moments, and spice to pull it all together. Add it to your cozy fantasy TBR today!

What a cute little love story! If you like the will they/won't they this is the book for you! Throw in Meddling parents, interspecies biases and previous high-school bully this book has it all. This love story is messy and complicated in the best way and has the best ending!
2🌶

Dual narration- Jack Calihan & Rose Dioro
Fantastic narration. I didn’t even realize it was dual until about halfway through. It was really good.

This was a fun magical twist on fake engagement, enemies to lovers tropes. I really liked the characters and the story line was fun and easy to follow. It was cute and spicy. The cover art is beautiful as well. I would definitely recommend and will be looking into more of this authors work.

I enjoyed this. The narrator did a wonderful job. The Orc and the Innkeeper is a cozy monster romance set in a magical town. Our main characters are an ale brewing orc and an innkeeper human. Be warned it is a bully romance but I really appreciated the heirloom and groveling storylines. I love fake dating and this is a fake engagement. Overall it was a quick and easy read and I recommend picking it up.

3.75/5

This review is for the audio version of this book.
Narrated by Jack Calihan; Rose Dioro, these 2 were wonderful narrators, bringing depth and feeling to their characters.

This was cute. Set in a small town with a very diverse population, consisting of both humans and magical beings, we're told the story of Mariah, the human owner of the local inn, and Thorak, a local craft brewing orc from a wealthy, well known, clan of brewers.

When a chance encounter has them working together for their own benefits, they have to put aside their pasts as victim and bully to try to get along (what could possibly go wrong?).

Like I said, this was cute. The plot wasn't very surprising, but it had a lovely setting and the characters were interesting and charming. There was a lot to love here, messages about growth, healing, and forgiveness.

The sex was a bit much for me, though. Just not my cup of tea.

Fun if you're ready for a spicy little, magical, romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the audiobook copy!

This book intrigued me despite me not being a huge fan of monster romances. Sadly, this just ended up being okay. I did not care for the main character as she was not well fleshed out and came off just immature at times. The male lead was not much better but I felt he at least tried to change. Their relationship just did not make much sense outside of the sex and I struggled to truly care about either one of their problems. I do wish the author spent more time fleshing out the world and the backstory so that the audience can understand the characters actions. I would give this author another chance in the future but for now I am not continuing with this series.

Wasn't very cozy. I felt frustrated and annoyed while listening. I thought the characters were very boring. I wanted a cute monster romance, not a lecture. Fun idea but poorly executed. I received the audiobook from NetGalley.

This one was cute!
Narrated by rose door and jack calihan

You should definitely check this one out

Thank you to the author and NETGALLEY for this alc

This was a good cozy story with some super spicy bits! Mariah and Thorak had an interesting relationship, starting with Thorak being her school bully to fake dating as adults. The fake dating storyline was fun and made sense, but the descriptions of the bullying all through their childhood continually made me hate Thorak. His bullying of Mariah centered on her species, and this felt a little unforgivable in my opinion. Everything else was written wonderfully and, ignoring the bullying aspect, was great!

The narrators both did a great job and I felt drawn into the story by their acting skills. They weren’t too over the top, but they also weren’t monotone. Some parts were a little quieter than others and made it difficult to hear especially for Mariah’s parts.

Thank you to Tantor Audio for this advanced copy!

Have you been looking for a book where he grovels relentlessly for her??? LOOK NO FURTHER! I do wish there had been a little more world building here But other than that, this was great simple quick fun read. The narrators did phenomenal. The MMC narrator just has a way of voiceing monsters. I will forever picture him as any monsters voice. I think I will definitely be picking up more in the series and by this author, thank you to NetGalley for my audio arc this is my honest review.

This is Cora Crane's debut book, and I was very pleased with it. And I'm looking forward to the rest of this series!

Elderberry Falls is the small town where the supernatural being fled to many, many years ago, due to being shunned by humans. Mariah is the FMC and runs one of the only human-owned businesses in town. And it's not doing well. Then her HS bully, Thorak, comes into the picture. From there, we get the fake-engagement, second-chance-romance, enemies-to-lovers tropes, and a few others.

Yes, there is also some spice.

Overall, I enjoyed it. My only complaint is that I wish there had been a bit more world-building, since it's going to be a series. And perhaps a bit more from the side characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ALC of this one. This review is entirely my own.

3.75 rounded up stars

3.5 stars rounded to 3. This was a really cute cozy human/orc romance.

How I described what I read to my husband - she’s a human innkeeper, he’s the orc who bullied her in high school and they start a fake engagement to save her inn and his brewery.

I did an audio read, so reviewing story and narration separately.

Story - Mariah inherited a magical inn from her aunt, and running it is her passion. When she discovers a pixie dust mite infestation, she doesn’t know how she’ll pull together the money to save the inn. Enter Thorak, her high school bully who needs to land a distribution deal with a human investor to expand his brewery. He has the money to eradicate her pests, but he needs to show his commitment to and knowledge of the human world to land the deal. Cue fake engagement.

Honestly, this was a cute fast read. The world building and character histories don’t require much explanation, but what they do provide is clear insight into the anti-human and anti-monster prejudices that run deep in this world. I wish more actual people in our world were so willing to confront their prejudices. There is a 3rd act breakup, so if that’s not your thing, be forewarned. It does really help advance the plot though. I really enjoyed how Thorak is in it from the beginning. I don’t agree with why he bullied her - it’s not cool to be mean to a girl because you have a crush - but it did demonstrate how he’s always been into Mariah. Watching him grovel was divine.

Narration - both narrators did a credible job of voicing their characters. I expected an orc to have a deeper voice, but that’s clearly my own issue with stereotyping a character. It’s so easy to feel Mariah’s attraction and doubts as well as Thorak’s attraction and hunger for Mariah.

Read if you like:
Human/non-human
Cozy magical romance
Size difference
Fake relationship
Former bully

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ALC! All opinions are my own.

I was so excited to pick up this book, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t the one for me.

This is a fantasy romance between Mariah, a human innkeeper, and Thorak, her orc school bully turned brewery owner. When Mariah needs funds to save her inn and Thorak needs to impress a potential investor, cue a fake engagement.

What worked for me:
- I loved that both characters had their own businesses and genuinely supported each other.
- The magical city setting was fun, and the brewery sounded like a total vibe.
- There was solid character growth and a good supporting cast.
- Snuffles 🐷

What didn’t work for me:
- I wanted more worldbuilding. The city and magical creatures sounded so cool, but we only got glimpses. For it being the first in a series I wanted a little more.
- I needed more banter! Thorak does apologize and grovel, but I was craving more back-and-forth to make their romance feel real and complicated.
- The third-act conflict didn’t land for me. With so many existing sources of tension like interspecies dynamics, family issues, prejudice, and financial stress… a jealous ex felt unnecessary.

Overall, it’s a great concept that just didn’t quite come together for me personally, but I’m sure it will be perfect for the right reader.

Thank you to Cora Crane, NetGalley, and RBmedia for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

This book was a solid 3.5-star read for me. Both of the main characters are cute and likable and as the book tags suggest; it's a very cozy fantasy romance that on more than one occasion made me giggle.
For anyone looking for a very green flag MMC (who is coincidentally also green) with the ability to introspect and grow, then look no further.

The writing itself is easy to get swept up in, and it took me practically no time at all to finish the story (granted it was an audiobook so the option to walk around and do other tasks simultaneously does generally make the process faster but even if this had been a physical copy I doubt I'd have any trouble reading this in a day).

I did find some things rather repetitive throughout the story, one of these being the mention of prejudice between magical races and humans which might not have been much of an issue had the author not used the exact same words to describe the bias multiple times from different POVs throughout the story, but as it stands that is exactly what happened, and it does come across as the author not trusting the audience to get the point.
There is also a lack of "show, don't tell" when these issues come up, which in my opinion takes away from the severity of it.

Overall, I found that this book was a really nice, feel-good romance in a cozy, fantasy setting. If you're in the mood for something light with a happy ending and no toxic main characters, this just might hit the spot.

In this cozy romantasy, an orc and a human innkeeper must overcome past differences and present prejudices if they hope to ever find future happiness together.
First off, this title is magnificent. It drew me to the book without needing to know anything else. I didn't read the synopsis or any reviews before starting the book. When a title hooks you like that, it's a wonderful thing.

I have to say though, that for me, this one wasn't the greatest. However, having said that, I think many readers will enjoy it. So, let's break it down.

What worked:
I loved the idea of this magical town outside the human lands where magical beings of all kinds live in relative harmony. I think, if there are more books coming from this author, it will be great fun to learn more about all the magical business that this town could potentially have. There's definitely room for expansion here. Also, our main characters are great. The orc is kind and caring, loves his family, worries about others, and is a respected businessman. The innkeeper is gentle and quiet, values her friendships, and fights hard for the sake of the inn that's been passed down through her family. Together, they make a good match. I also loved the messages here about prejudice and bullying and people's ability to change.

What didn't work for me but might work for you:
First and foremost, the spice. This book is filled with spicy scenes, far more than were necessary and in much more detail than I cared to read. Second, the romance itself felt very rushed and not all that believable at times. There were also aspects of it that I found disturbing that had to do with some of the dialogue especially during the romantic scenes.

Final thoughts:
If you don't mind a lot of spice and you're looking for a quick cozy romantasy, give this a try. If you like you're stories a little more flushed out or you're looking for a deeper read, give it a pass.

This was a delightful listen! It was a perfect story for a chill, relaxing afternoon. The narrators are well cast, and are ones I'm familiar with from other productions.

The world the story takes place in is similar to our modern world, but with a little town nestled away that has a more diverse population with some humans and many kinds of fantasy species. I liked how this was a mix of a fantasy and contemporary romance.

I will definitely keep my eye out for when the rest of the Elderberry Falls series have audiobooks released.

Thank you to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for giving me access to an advanced listening copy!

Sigh

Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for giving me a chance to review this book. All thoughts are my own!

Overall Rating: 2/5

This book started out really well. I was vibing with the narration, the world-building was pretty simple, and the characters seemed to well written. But then when we got to it, the story just went down hill.

The story starts off as like a "fake dating" type of troupe which benefits Mariah as she has to deal with a "Pixie Mite" infestation and her "partner" Thorak needs her in order to convince a prejudice investor. I was sat for this plot but idk I felt like the author gave this story almost no substance. All the "fake dating" elements like being seen together in public and meeting the parents just seemed very minimal and forced....

Not to mention this is a bully romance as Thorak bullied Mariah in high school. And while I don't like bully romances the characters are pushing 30 YEARS OLD and Mariah is still bitter? I guess it makes sense but at your big age it's either time to move df on or get revenge like idk... her grudge seemed annoying to me.... especially when Thorak seems to have changed and was actually doing things to let her know he was remorseful...

Like bro why is this author making me type on my keyboard to defend a man?????? WHYYYYYYYY??????

And then we have a 3rd act break up... for what? Heck if I know. Like for that very reason I don't believe that they would make a good couple tbh....

Overall this book was forgettable, didn't have good chemistry between the characters, and the worldbuilding didn't even have enough decency to be consistent.

A surprisingly delightful listen! The narration was chef’s kiss and full of personality. This orc has a filthy mouth and a heart underneath all that muscle. The romance was steamy, emotional, and had just enough conflict to make it compelling.

If you enjoy cosy fantasy with spice and a side of emotional growth, you’ll want this one in your library. Very excited for more instalments in this series, especially in audio.