This was an action-packed Romantasy read that had me hooked immediately. The fantasy aspect of this book was amazing. Not to mention the wonderful world-building and charming characters. This was a bit different from what I usually read but I really did enjoy it. It was my first Ruby Dixon read and I can't wait to read more by the author!

I love Ruby Dixon, so I was always going to read this, but I'm grateful for the advanced copy. I went in only know that it involved a minotaur, but I found a very strange and interesting world. It was a bit slower than I anticipated, but I will be picking up the sequel!

I love Ruby Dixon: sometimes her books are a big hit, and sometimes they're a miss, but always they are fun. I'm not quite sure how I felt about this particular book. I loved the archeological aspect of it, and the characters are great. But the worldbuilding was a bit lackluster and I just wasn't sold on the romance. I also think that, with the exception of the Morning Glory Milking Farm, minotaur romances just aren't for me. Still, it's a fun read, and the cover is GORGEOUS.

While I love a paranormal romance, this one left me feeling bleh. I have read some of the other series and those were entertaining, this one I felt like the romance was forced, and I just didn't enjoy it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon!

I absolutely loved this it was such a cozy and fun spicy romance. Ruby Dixon puts some type of special magic within her worlds and I could keep visiting over and over again.

t’s been a while since I picked up a brand-new fantasy series, and to be honest, I was kind of dreading the world-building. But I was so wrong. This world was incredibly easy to get into—yet still intricate. The politics ran deep, and the characters felt fully fleshed out.

If you’re here for the monster romance, just know that’s the side dish. The main course? A rich fantasy story spiced with a whole lot of female empowerment.

This is not my first...minotaur rodeo. And it was very fun! Of course, as a former archaeologist, I am also biased about the vibes of this story! A lot more build up than I thought there was gonna be. The FMC was strong and independent which was a nice change as well.

Thank you so much for the arc! I am a Ruby Dixon fan and 100% proud of it. I’m so obsessed with the worlds she creates and her characters. There is never a second to be bored when reading Ruby’s books. This was was so great and I loved it!

Taurian (Minotaur like man) with a KNOT?! Plus an archeological style guild with magical artifacts?? Sign me up.

I have to admit I did start and stop this one several times before finishing it but once I got to that halfway point I was locked in mainly for the guild mysteries and the hope that we would get more spice.

4 stars
🌶️🌶️/5 spice

This one was definitely a slow burn with an enemies to lovers vibe crossed with a marriage of convenience mixed with a secret royal and a conquest moon that makes men crazy with lust.

Which you might be thinking would be FILLED WITH SPICE… but for me personally I could have used more spice. We basically got fondling for the first 75% then FINALLY some action that only made me want more.

Hawk and Aspeths relationship was so back and forth and all over the place that I really had a hard time rooting for them. LIKE GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER. When that conquest moon hit I wanted more spice, more knotting and more of that feral energy he had for her.

The guild was the most interesting part of this series and I just want to know MORE about ancient Prell and these mysterious artifacts.

Kipp was my favorite character and I am desperate for someone to create some fan art so I my mind can accurately picture this cute little turtley frog man?

I do have to admit the hardcover version of this book is STUNNING. It was literally the reason I preordered this one and will be ordering every book in the series.

I am really looking forward to the next one to uncover Gwenna’s seemingly magical powers and see what secrets she has hidden plus see her find love!

I would highly recommend this to those looking for a fun fantasy read and might want to dip their toes in a monster romance. It’s a great starting point with not too much spice.

this book was SO good. I was just so impressed at how it ended up such a well put together story, so many loose ends tied up by the end and the fantasy worldbuilding unfurled all at a steady pace no info dumping.

This just might be THE best found family I’ve ever read. I genuinely cared for this ragtag crew and didn’t mind any page time they took up, they were genuinely interesting and funny.

I loved our main characters and their romance. Our practical and straight forward FMC and somewhat broody & mysterious MMC. And then how down bad he gets for her (but also really appreciates her brain).

The FMC and overall story reminded me of India Holton’s writing, just more explicit spice (somewhat of a slow burn in that dept though fair warning) and more grit, less whimsy (needed for this particular historical fantasy world). I loved the adventure and efforts to combat misogyny.

Thank you to Berkley for the eARC. I also purchased a physical copy myself and the pages feel so nice, I love the hardback. The amazing thing is I saw there will be another book in the series and I really appreciate that this book feels like such a special complete story standalone. I’m so excited for more of the world with the kind of writing and plotting Ruby brought to this book.

Ruby Dixon has done it again with this absolute gem of a monster romance. Aspeth is basically the most badass heroine I've read in ages! she's smart, snarky, and refuses to let anyone tell her what she can't do. And Hawk? Total broody minotaur perfection.
The world-building is perfection with the magical artifact hunting, guild politics, and this delicious slowburn tension that just kills you. Their enemies to lovers is so good I was literally screaming at my Kindle. There are moments where the sexual tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife, and when things finally heat up? Let's just say Ruby Dixon knows how to DELIVER.
Not gonna lie, there were a few plot points that felt a bit predictable, and I wanted MORE scenes between Aspeth and Hawk. But honestly? I couldn't put this book down. The world feels so unique! it's like Indiana Jones met a sexy minotaur and they had a book baby.
If you love fantasy romance with strong heroines, monster love interests, and adventures that keep you on the edge of your seat, YOU NEED THIS BOOK.
5/5 stars. No notes. Absolute perfection.

Thank you NetGalley and Ace for an advanced reader copy of this title and exchange for an honest book review. I think I may have found my new obsession after reading Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon. As an already fan of their writing and their writing style, I found the book to be such a great read. Not only is the cover stunning, but the relationship between the two main characters is very well developed, and a great slow burn for romance. Anything that gives a historic vibe, while also maintaining its integrity being a romantasy is right up my alley! Such a fun read!

I love Ruby Dixon and her fun PNR romances. This one features a minotaur and a marriage of convenience. Great world building and characterizations and lots of spicy scenes!

I love a good romantasy and this book doesn't disappoint! Ruby Dixon is one of my favorite authors and wrote another great book.

I think the goal here is to profit off the current "romantasy" trend, but this is so bad I'm mad about the time I wasted reading it.

To start, neither the cover nor the description accurately represent this story. Is it historical fantasy? Highlights include endlessly repetitive world-building, narrative exclusively through "I"-statements, and zero personality. The main character is annoying and immature and the love interest has no character beyond "large penis."

One final frustration: Aspeth can't wear her glasses in public, because...?? This plot device is continuously used to attempt the smallest bit of complexity, but it just. doesn't. make. sense.

eARC provided for review via NetGalley.

Ruby Dixon has created such and interesting universe with this series that I would happily read ten more of! I really enjoyed Hawk and Aspeth's dynamic as well as the side characters and if I know anything about Ruby Dixon, we should get to see some of their stories! Look forward to what she does next!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

Ruby Dixon’s Bull Moon Rising is a departure from her outer space-set Ice Planet Barbarians series and thrusts the reader into a medieval fantasy world complete with mythical creatures and magic. It’s got the scorching heat one expects from this author’s books, but combined with some new, endearing characters, and intriguing worldbuilding, it’s a highly enjoyable romp.

In the land of Mithas, Lady Alspeth Honori, heir to the Honori Hold, fears for the future of her birthright. Her father is broke and it’s only a matter of time before other Holds find out and wage war. Her lifelong dream has been to join the Royal Artifactual Guild and train to become an arificer, seeking out magical artifacts underground. Finding such a thing would allow her to add it to the Hold’s wealth, saving her family and their honor. As such, she’s diligently studied Old Prell, the ancient magical society whose city collapsed and where artifacts are still being found. She sneaks out with her maid Gwenna and they travel to Vastwarren City, built on top of the ruins of Old Prell. To join the guild as a fledgling (from which one must graduate from training to become an artificer) and because she’s female, she’ll need a chaperone. It’s just her luck that one of the first beings she meets is a Taurian named Hawk.

Hawk is a minotaur (head, tail and hooves of a bull, body of a man). The Taurian people who live in Vastwarren city most often work for the artificers due to their strength and ability to dig out people who get lost or stuck in rockfalls in the tunnels of Old Prell. Hawk works for Magpie, the only female artificer and Alspeth’s idol. As a Taurian, the most important season is that of the Conquest Moon, which happens once every five years and lasts for a few days. When it does, the females go into heat and the males go into rut. That’s fine when one has a partner, but Hawk is not married and with the upcoming Conquest Moon just under a month away, he’s trying to come up with a plan. Once the moon is upon them, he’ll have no choice but to go to a brothel if he hasn’t an alternative in place.

When Alspeth proposes a marriage of convenience to Hawk, he reluctantly agrees. It’s an answer to both of their problems, including Hawk’s task of rounding up enough students to find a “Five” – a group of five students to train under Magpie and himself. But Alspeth is keeping the secret of her true identity from Hawk who thinks she’s just the daughter of a well-off merchant. When he finds out who he’s married, and what her motivation for becoming an artificer really is, will it ruin their relationship just as it’s barely begun?

Despite the physical similarities between the author’s sa-khui aliens and this book’s Taurians (horns and tails and generously endowed privates), this really is a wholly different place and time, and the worldbuilding reflects that. I really enjoyed the idea of a medieval-esque society doing archeological work to understand their ancestors. The magical artifacts range from the silly (a horn that produces onions, a mirror that always reflects the bearer with dark lustrous hair) to the practical (a coach that doesn’t require any horses to pull it) to the powerful (an artifact that can produce something out of thin air). The artifacts also need a power phrase to be used, or have only a certain number of charges, or can recharge in sunlight. There is a King who is all powerful, and his nobility live in Holds, and then there are the rest of the regular folk – humans, Taurians, and Slitherskins (a lizard like creature who carries its home on its back, like a turtle shell). Then, because the magical artifacts are only found in Old Prell, there is the guild responsible for the digging and the archivists who catalogue the finds and study the old culture. Magic practiced by the inhabitants themselves has been forbidden ever since a magic war three hundred years earlier, but magic performed through the use of the artifacts is acceptable as it is the artifact itself that contains the magic.

Alspeth ends up in a team with Gwenna, formerly her maid but now her equal as a student, Lark (Magpie’s niece), Mereden (a Priestess who ran away from a convent) and Kipp (a slitherskin). Their Five is the only student team with any women in it, and four women plus a slitherskin puts them at the bottom of the pecking order. To top it off, Magpie, Alspeth’s idol, is a drunk and mostly incapable of teaching them anything. So it falls to Hawk to train his bunch of misfits into a coherent team. They are all clearly in over their heads at the start, so watching them grow over the course of the book, developing friendships and loyalty to each other is heartening.

While their team is coalescing, Alspeth and Hawk are finding their marriage is growing on them. Each chapter begins with a time reference to the coming Conquest Moon (28 days to the Conquest Moon, and so on) and as the days get closer, Hawk gets friskier. Thus begins Alspeth’s sexual education as they prepare for the coming five-day sex frenzy. But they get emotionally involved too, which gets riskier as the days go on since Alspeth knows she is lying to Hawk about who she is, and she makes some decisions that will have serious consequences for everyone. There is plenty of action and drama to go with the sex and romance, and the ending works out quite nicely for all. Bull Moon Rising is book one in the Royal Artifactual Guild series, and I’m looking forward to more!

Ruby Dixon always writes great spicy books but I feel like people underestimate how interesting her worlds and plots are! Even if this book didn't have top-tier spice I would have been super invested in the story and the world, But it did have top-tier spice so it checked all of the boxes for me.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this eARC! I was in love with this monster romance! I think it had such a great plot with strong characters. I don't even think you realize she's in love with a half-bull until Ruby Dixon really gets into the spicy descriptions. I thought she normalized it very well and it didn't seem weird at all reading this book. Again, great plot, amazing characters (main and side!), and good spicy scenes.