If there is one author I can trust to never let me down, it’s Ruby Dixon. Whenever you think “I wonder if she will go there…” she does, and 9 times out of 10 goes beyond there.

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Synopsis:

Taking place in a post-magic realm where power resides in ancient relics, and the elite "Holders" thrive on their acquisition. Within this world, the Royal Artifactual Guild stands as a beacon of exploration, its members tasked with delving into buried ruins to unearth these mystical treasures.

Aspeth, a sheltered Holder's daughter, after spending all of her life researching and learning everything she can about the Guild, finds herself seeking this dangerous world when her father's reckless gambling jeopardizes their standing. With their legacy and lives on the line, she sneaks out with the intent to join the Guild recruits with hopes to secure a valuable artifact and save her family from ruin, all without revealing her identity.

Amidst the guild's hierarchy, Hawk, a Taurian minotaur, grapples with his own challenges. Despite his exceptional skills in the tunnels, he faces discrimination and is relegated to a menial role within the guild. His mentor is an alcoholic with no interest in training the recruits, he assumes the role to attempt to keep up his Guild Master’s legacy, while also trying to keep her from losing her position. This year’s recruitment is particularly strenuous as it falls within weeks of the upcoming Conquest Moon: an event that happens once every five years where all female Taurians go into heat and all males go into rut. Essentially rendering them mindless sex machines (and yes … there are 🪢).

While he tries to grapple with how he will balance training his misfit gang of recruits in order to keep his old mentors guild from being disbanded, while also not going completely insane with the upcoming Conquest Moon, a woman eager to join the guild shows up to his door with a shedding orange cat and a proposition: marry her so he can act as her chaperone and give her permission to join the guild, and she will see him through his Conquest Moon rut.

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Going into this book, I had not read the blurb. All I saw was a gorgeous standard first edition book with a minotaur and human on the front alongside Ruby Dixon’s name and knew I had to have it. When I tell you the squeal I let out when I realized a few chapters in that this was a marriage of convenience driven by an upcoming rut... FERAL (Chloe has the voice notes to prove it). I got to that point at 11:00 PM and subsequently stayed up till 5 AM devouring the rest of this book.

Some highlights for me:
- Aspeth is 30, and has lived an extremely privileged life, and it shows!!! She is not some athletic superstar when she joins the training, nor does she become one over night. She instead relies on her other skills to help her through her journey. So refreshing!!
- RD said in their authors note that the tunnels and guilds drew inspiration from games such as Stardew Valley and I 100% got those vibes and loved every minute of them.
- The element of found family between the “misfit” recruits, while definitely not as focused on as the marriage-of-convenience plot, was very endearing. And there are definitely lots of doors left open for some of the other characters stories to continue.

My initial thought is that if you enjoyed Bride by Ali Hazelwood, but felt like you wanted more (in every sense of the word), I think this is perfect for you. It has it all, lots of steamy scenes, but still gives heart wrenching romance and angst, all set in this treasure hunting/explorer back drop that just hits so good.

I genuinely can’t wait to reread this, multiple times. Pretty sure this is my top read of 2024 thus far …

I have only one request. My dearest Ruby Dixon, pretty, pretty please, provide us with a bonus novella of the ring ceremony. I am on my knees.🧎‍♀️

** I did receive an eARC of this book from Berkley Publicity via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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RUBY DIXON, THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE.

I started this around 10:30 pm. It is now 5:14 am. This was everything I could have wanted and more. I will write a proper review, but initial thoughts are if you enjoyed bride but wanted more, in every aspect possible, this should satiate that 100x over.

Head empty. No thoughts. Just Bull Moon Rising 🫡