Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon is an absolutely deliciously addicting story that is a must reads for fans of romantasy!

Consider me converted. I absolutely devoured this book and loved it! I have never read a marriage of convenience with a minotaur. I loved Aspeth because she was such a fun main character that took her choices unapologetic to marry him to secure her future. I loved the dynamic that their relationship developed. It was a mix of a strangers to friends to lovers with a mix of grumpy sunshine. The plot moved quickly and I loved the relationship that formed. The book was funny, whimsical and straight up fun. Ruby Dixon always makes reading fantasy books so fun and easy to read and with a hint of humor. Bull Moon Rising is a must read this fall.

I am often mixed on this writer- clearly, she's had great success with Ice Planet Barbarians, but the issues that series has have carried over to this book for me. There were some things about it I quite liked, but a lot that didn't work for me and I can't recommend it as unreservedly enjoyable.

What I liked: the world-building is cool and interesting. The society is stratified in an interesting way, and I like the historical details within the world. I also liked that the heroine is brainy and has interests in weird topics! Aspeth is an interesting character with some real depth. She wants something, which is important.

This does lead to what I didn't love: Aspeth is deeply naive and totally clueless about the real world. That just kind of annoyed me? She has valid fears for her life and the security of her family's control over their land, but her solutions are fully brainless and the fact that it kind of works out and she gets everything she wants is nuts.

I REALLY didn't like the weird racial elements we see here, similarly to the IPB series. The Taurians are wayyy too close to an allegory for real life race stuff for me to be comfy with it. I like fantasy races being included in books like this, but you've got to go out of your way to make it explicitly not racist, and this felt very weird to me! Maybe I'm reading too much into it, I don't know.

I think the pacing was BAD bad- the whole conceit of Aspeth and her crew training to be in the guild by doing manual labor and working in terrible conditions was boring and I don't know why it had to exist. In general, it doesn't pass the smell test that Aspeth has wanted this her whole adult life, to explore the ruins of Old Prell and she had no idea what it actually entails. I like that Aspeth gets her own career with the guild scholars, and gets to have the future of her choice without responsibility to her house, but it felt too neat and rather unearned to me.

The writing is fine, so I was able to finish it, and the plot didn't bore me entirely. I just found this to be full of holes. The gender stuff bothered me too, and I thought there was a lot of potential for it to be interesting, like women entering the guild and having something to contribute, but it fell flat for me. I did enjoy the female friendships in the book.

You'll notice I haven't mentioned the romance- it's because it was unremarkable. It was just fine, I like a marriage of convenience and this one has a solid reason for existing. I just felt like the relationship doesn't really build much.

All I knew before going into this book was “Ruby Dixon” and “Minotaur” and honestly that was enough for me to be intrigued.

If anyone possibly needs more than those two terms, this is an archaeology fantasy romance with deep lore, incredible world building, really well fleshed out characters, and a sweet love story.

I really enjoyed this book. Ruby Dixon is very quickly becoming an auto-buy author for me.

Honestly, I really thought I would like this book, but mostly I was just bored. The world is interesting and the dynamics between the characters could be fun, but nothing gripped me. I found myself putting the book down and not caring about picking it up again.

Look, we should all be embarrassed by having read this. It's is more or less a plucky piece of R-rated fanfiction. That said, it was a pretty great read. The writing is better than it needs to be. The world-building is fascinating (even if you can see the ending coming from a mile away). I really think this was a strong book, in the tradition of a Naomi Novak. My only quibble is that there could have been even more to the world-building and the status of magic, but the author was there for the beast romance.

Ruby Dixon does an amazing job bringing you into new worlds. I enjoyed the dynamic between the main character and her maid/ best friend. The motley crew that teams up with their own goals to succeed in becoming part of the guild was what I thought was a driving force in the story. I enjoyed seeing these individuals come together and become their own small family. The love interest was sweet and spicy as I love a marriage of convenience. There was a lot of build up where I wish there was more action in connecting and more, if you catch my drift.

All in all I had fun and enjoyed it.

This is the best Ruby Dixon in ages. Aspeth and Gwenna are fantastic characters with a wonderful friendship. Aspeth runs away from home to join an archeological guild, bringing her maid Gwenna along. Circumstances force Aspeth into an arrangement with a guild employee, who needs a willing and committed bed partner. It's a fantasy, so the MMC is a Minotaur, and the artifacts are magical... it's hot, fun, and a great story.

If you like monster romance, with a dash of historical fantasy mixed in, I highly recommend this. Aspeth (what a fantastic name) is the daughter of an irresponsible aristocrat. She runs away from home to try to help bring in money to her father's estate. Hawk is a Minotaur, working for the very business Aspeth wants to be part of. The two make a deal to help each other out, and that's when the shenanigans begin. There is a lot of fascinating world building, with amazing side characters and very hot monster sex. There's a marriage of convenience, and lots of miscommunication between the lovers.

Overall, a fantastic addition to the genre mash up and I hope there are more to come in this world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I would recommend iif you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f monster romance
-minotaur romance
-workplace romance
-marriage of convenience
-forbidden relationship elements

Another propulsive Ruby read. I loved all of the marraige of convenience elements as these two were in major denial of their feelings of each other. I had so much fun with this one.

I loved this story so much! The characters were great - interesting, well written and compelling. I can't wait to read the next book in this series and find out more about this world.

this was a DNF at 10% for me! I was really excited to go into this book because IPB was super fun. this lacked the "pizazz" to suck you into the story.

I have really enjoyed the last few ruby Dixon books I read, so I jumped into this one excitedly. That being said... it was so, SO dull. The characters, the issues... I did appreciate the found family aspect but the romance felt so forced with no real affection.

When I requested this book it was solely based on the description and cover. I had no idea who Ruby Dixon even was until after I finished the book and looked to see if she had written anything else. Boy oh Boy, I was not disappointed when I saw her bibliography.

Anyway, I am here to review Bull Moon Rising, not talk about the Ice Planet Barbarian hole I fell down after I finished this one. This is not the first minotaur book that I have read (and hopefully will not be the last), but it is one of the best. I loved the Indiana Jones vibe of the story, and I thought the spiciness was perfection. I cannot wait for more books to be written in this series, and the cover is so beautiful I will definitely be on the lookout for a physical copy of this one.

I had very high hopes for this book, and found it… okay?
Overall it was a good story, but I wasn’t particularly attached to the characters or the way the author presented the plot. The bullet point synopsis had so much promise but overall I found it flat.
It’s not a book that I would reach for again and again. But it was a charming read!
Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC!

If you would’ve told 2022 Ari that she’d be blushing over a MINOTAUR in a romance novel, she would’ve totally laughed in your face. I would like to say that 2024 Ari fucking loved this book. It had spice, a unique plot, a world with some actual DEPTH (which is hard to find in most romances for me) and a Minotaur (that made me blush). 10/10 would recommend! Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC access!

Bull Moon Rising is a fun, spicy monster romance. It follows noble Aspeth as she seeks to become a magical archaeologist and minotaur Hawk who serves as her advisor. They get married for convenience so she can enter the Artifactual Guild and he can have a partner when he goes in rut in a month. The story was fun and the world felt very developed. The slither skin characters were especially fascinating and I'd love to see more of them in the future.

However. For all the fun and spice, ethically Bull Moon Rising is a hot mess. I am a trained anthropologist, which includes archaeology, and reading the actual excavation and artifact scenes was basically painful. Archaeological ethics basically isn't a thing in this world. Respect for the dead? Nonexistent. They are effectually a society of tomb raiders, in many ways similar to Victorian era Europe. The main character realizes this to some extent, but even she rationalizes it that if she didn't take things, someone else would. I see that it is the first in a series, so I'm going to hold out hope that there's an overarching plot about improving the guild and ethics of artifact usage.

This book was not what I expected. I wouldn't call it a bad book, I just didn't connect with any of the characters and found myself putting the book down with no real urge to pick it up again. I'm sure there are those who will adore the book and think I'm crazy for not getting into it, but it just wasn't for me

I have to admit, this book was a little slow to start for me. But once it picked up, around 15% in, I was hooked hooked! Loved the history touch, the "grave robbing", the artifacts everything about this world was so great! Ruby Dixon has once again made characters come alive. I loved Aspeth and her attitude and her determination. Spoiler: I was ready for her father to be mean and arrogant and everything bad, but he ended up kind of saving the day and I loved that. And the spice factor was perfect! 5 stars!

🐂arc review🐂

🌟🌟🌟🌟/🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon was such a fun romantasy read. Coming from reading her typical monster romances, I thought I knew what I was in for. However, her approach to romantasy was different than Iced Planet Barbarians (in a good way).

She did a fantastic job with building the Lore of the world and the characters. I mean, I just want to join the guild society and rob tombs for the rest of my life now.

You easily connect with our FMC, Aspeth and her desire to join the guild to save her people and become something greater than a Holders daughter. Our MMC, Hawk is grumpy personified. I was absolutely drawn by their apprentice dynamic and could not get enough. Also marriage of convenience, say no more!

Read if you love:

🌝 Forced Proximity
🌝 Marriage of Convenience
🌝Apprentice x Apprentice
🌝 Monster Romance
🌝 Found Family
🌝 knotting/ruts

Thank you to the publisher for the chance to read this book early. I really enjoyed this new tale and am excited that it'll be a new series. Love the archaeology angle. Also, though I get that this is another not-Earth place, what is the deal with the knot? I truly worry about the anatomy of these ladies and their well-being.