Monster Romance

Jen’s 2024 Diversify Your Romance Challenge

Rhysand from the 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' trilogy by Sarah J. Maas | Art by taratjah

Y’all must think I’m crazy for including monster romance in this challenge. But here’s my theory—someone is writing it, lots of people are reading it, I’m curious, so here we go!

I will also hear the argument that I read lots of non-human romance. Rhysand, Cassian, and my favorite Azriel have bat wings and for crying out loud.

I’ve read wolf shifters and dragon shifters. Carrie Pulkinen is one of my favorite authors and her characters range from sexy succubae to reapers to demons and with shifters in between and I love them all. I’ve fallen in love with more vampires than I can count.

But I think the books listed below are different. These love interests don’t turn into dragons or wolves or minotaurs. They are a dragon, a wolf, and a minotaur.

So let’s see how this week goes! What recommendations do you have in this category? Tomorrow, aliens! And an orc!

Week 14: Monster Romance

Muscles & Monsters (Leviathan Fitness, Book 1) by Ashley Bennett, narrated by Stephanie Rose & Jack Calihan

Leviathan Fitness is known for monsters, muscles, and wolven who rescue damsels in distress.

After a wedding cake catastrophe, local decorator Tegan finds herself being helped by a solid wall of fur and fangs named Atlas. She’s never met anyone like him and finds herself enamored by his wolfish charm. After their sweet encounter, Atlas invites her to his gym anytime she needs his cake lifting services.

Tegan decides that instead- she wants to lift the cakes herself. She signs up for a membership with Leviathan Fitness, determined to build her strength.

Primal desires emerge as Atlas and Tegan test just how much their new love can lift— and if there are any limits to what monsters and humans can do.

See also: Tentacles & Triathlons (Leviathan Fitness, Book 2) by Ashley Bennett, narrated by Jack Calihan & Liam Price

The Dragon’s Bride (A Deal with a Demon, Book 1) by Katee Robert, narrated by Lessa Lamb & Jack Calihan

Briar Rose might have a name out of a storybook, but she learned at a very young age that no prince was coming to save her. She’ll have to save herself. Unfortunately, even that is an impossible task in her current situation—trapped in a terrifying marriage to a dangerous man.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, which is how she finds herself making a deal with a demon. Freedom from her husband…in return for seven years of service.

She expects the service to be backbreaking and harsh. She doesn’t expect to be put on an auction block in a room full of literal monsters and sold to the highest bidder.

To Sol.
A dragon.

He might seem kinder than his fearsome looks imply, but she knows better than to trust the way he wants to take care of her, or how invested he is in her pleasure. In her experience, if something seems too good to be true, it certainly is.

Falling for Sol is out of the question. She’s suffered enough, and she has no intention of staying in this realm…even if she leaves her heart behind when she returns to her normal life.

Author's Note: Please check Katee Roberts’s website for all tropes, tags, and CWs.

Morning Glory Milking Farm (Cambric Creek: Sweet & Steamy Monster Romance, Book 1) by C.M. Nascosta, narrated by Eva Caine

Violet is a typical, down-on-her-luck millennial: mid-twenties, over-educated and drowning in debt, on the verge of moving into her parents' basement. When a lifeline appears in the form of a very unconventional job in neighboring Cambric Creek, she has no choice but to grab at it with both hands.

Morning Glory Farm offers full-time hours, full benefits, and generous pay with no experience needed . . . there's only one catch. The clientele is Grade A certified prime beef, with the manly, meaty endowments to match. Hands-on work with minotaurs isn't something Violet ever considered as a career option, but she's determined to turn the opportunity into a reversal of fortune.

When a stern, deep-voiced client begins to specially request her for his sessions at the farm, maintaining her professionalism and keeping him out of her dreams is easier said than done. Violet is resolved to make a dent in her student loans and afford name-brand orange juice, and a one-sided crush on an out-of-her-league minotaur is not a part of her plan—unless her feelings aren't so one-sided after all.