Lor by Lily Mayne (Monstrous Book #7)

Title: ⟫ Lor

Author: ⟫ Lily Mayne

Rating: ⟫ 4.5/5

Blurb: ⟫ My role as Moric—ruler of a small and prosperous fiefdom in a quiet corner of the world—has always been painfully dull and stifling.

Until a beautiful, otherworldly creature with pink skin and a mane of golden hair falls through a strange void that has appeared in my guest-room.

And I am instantly captivated by him.

I have never seen anything like him. I have no idea where he came from, and what else is through that unsettling void—another world filled with soft-skinned, defenceless creatures like him? No tails, no horns, no claws, no sharp teeth. Tiny clothing, rounded ears, bright blue eyes. He is fascinating. And I want to keep him.

But I have no idea how my citizens and councillors will react to his presence—to the knowledge that a whole other world exists, and there is a portal to it in my guest-room. As much as I try to keep him my secret, the truth starts to slip out.

And those in my fiefdom who cling desperately onto power do their best to tear us apart. To take him from me.

I won’t let them.

Lor is Book Seven of the Monstrous series, a post-apocalyptic m/m fantasy series that features monsters and human men falling in love. It is best to read the series in order.

Warning: This m/m love story contains explicit sexual content and is not suitable for young readers. It also contains non-human genitalia, mentions of a past familial death, grief, depression, attempted murder, depictions of death and violence.

Review: ⟫ Oh I don’t think people are ready for this one – not by a long shot. Initially, I was very confused by what was happening. This is the first time that we have begun a story on the ‘monster’ side and it was a brain-shift that took me a while (I’m old – sue me!) Jugs was hysterical, as was the translation between him and Lor initially. The beer can still makes me giggle because I’m a child like that. However, we were about 45% of the way through the book, I was madly in love with Lor and Jugs, and wondering how things were going to work out when I realised – there was no way the next part was going to be nice.

The sheer angst in this book blew me away – like, I was sniffling constantly and wishing harm on Lily Mayne for the cruelty of what happened. And it was worse because of the ‘battle’ that was under way – this wasn’t a matter of fighting with weapons – this was something else entirely. I’m trying so hard not to spoil any of the book but if you have enjoyed reading the previous Monstrous books, then rest assured, you will love this one.

The way that we meet familiar characters was genius – Wyn was so Wyn in this book, I cackled for ages. And the surprise at the end – I knew, I absolutely KNEW who it was as soon as a certain character returned and I was so HYPED for it.

This gets a 4.5 rounded up for me and I am seriously pleased that I pushed through my mood to finish reading this book.

A Monstrous Christmas Time in the Camp by Lily Mayne

Title: ⟫ A Monstrous Christmas in the Camp

Author: ⟫ Lily Mayne

Rating: ⟫ 5/5

Blurb: ⟫ A 34.5k word short for Christmas 2022! This short sees the Nebraska camp celebrating a (late) Christmas, with lots of food and gift-giving and *ahem* other stuff.

It features every POV of the Monstrous lads so far! (Plus Anchor!)

I hope you enjoy, and, if you celebrate it, have a lovely Christmas. Otherwise, have a restful winter break.

Content warnings: Oh boy here we go: Explicit sexual content, 18+ only, mentions of death and grief, alcohol consumption, pimple popping, blood and pus (Wyn hates pus!), groping in public (Charlie you bastard), restraint, use of sex toys, very brief mention of Moth’s past abuse, mentions of anxiety, squirrel, Edin flashes everyone, Hunter has unique feelings about Mrs Claus, chastity, lingerie, Wyn being a filthy old man, my poor sweet Danny goes through some things, graphic description of death, mentions of nausea and an instance of vomiting, inhuman genitalia

Spoiler warning: Set after the events of Seraph (Monstrous: Book Six)

Review: ⟫ Oh Lord, this was so much fun to read!! If you’ve enjoyed the Monstrous series by Lily Mayne, then you will love this Christmas catch up with our monsters and their humans!

This is a fun look at Christmas in the camp, with the monsters all determined to make it a wonderful time for their humans before things get heavy in the next part of their journey. We get POV from nearly all of our monsters (I don’t think Aury has a chapter) as well as scenes of a domestic nature that will make you go aww.

The laughs come thick and fast – who knew that Wyn was a sporner?! – as well as seeing how well the monsters have integrated into the camp. Edin needs to come with a warning because the imagery I got from this story keeps making me giggle at inappropriate times – there is actually art on Lily’s website that shows the outfit!

I think Seraph may well be my favourite monster simply because of how sweet he is and the fact that I adore Lilac, but it was brilliant to catch up with them all, This is available on Lily Mayne’s website/newsletter.

Moth by Lily Mayne (Monstrous #5)

Title: ⟫ Moth 

Author: ⟫ Lily Mayne 

Blurb: ⟫ When I—along with my best friend and his big purple monster boyfriend—come across a fortress-like raider camp while journeying across the monster-infested Wastes, we stop to deliver a message. 

Somehow, that simple pit stop turns into a seemingly impossible quest to get this camp’s missing leader out of the prison where he’s being held and forced to fight monsters and other humans. And I know exactly where it is, because I’ve been there. 

 Problem is, I’m making this journey with the prickliest and most arrogant guy I’ve ever met, who seems to immediately hate me on sight. 

Oh, and he’s also half monster. 

So there’s that. 

And he’s in love with a raider who definitely does not love him back, and he seems determined to take it out on me. So there’s also that. But I’m not going to rise to his childish insults and barbed words. I’m not. 

I’m also going to try very hard to ignore how mind-numbingly beautiful he is, even when he’s scowling at me. 

But the longer we’re out here together, the more I learn about my prickly half monster companion Moth. I realise there’s a reason he’s so closed off and angry. There’s a reason he hates everyone. There are secrets he’s been keeping, and when I find out what they are, I want to do everything in my power to help him—even though he’s telling me he can’t be helped. 

Moth is Book Five of the Monstrous series, a post-apocalyptic m/m fantasy series that features monsters and human men falling in love. It is best to read the series in order. 

Warning: This m/m love story contains explicit sexual content and is not suitable for young readers. It also contains graphic depictions of death and violence. 

Review: ⟫ Oh Moth!! 

My heart broke for this half-monster – I knew there had to be a good reason for what had happened in previous books, but I never imagined this. 

Lily Mayne pulled out the stops with this one – all of her monsters are beautiful, alien and scary in their own way, but Moth with his vulnerabilities, differences and awful childhood just about broke my heart. 

I devoured this in one sitting, then re-read it immediately to pick up all of the things that I might have missed, and I will probably re-read it again. This is another one of those series where each subsequent book somehow manages to replace your current ‘favourite’ couple, and Moth and Charlie most definitely did that. 

I loved Charlie. I loved how affable he was, how kind and understanding, how strong and unflinching. His loyalty to the people he cares about was palpable and what he did for Moth – building him up, listening, understanding and ultimately loving him – was just beautiful. 

More world building, catching up with our previous favourites and Cat – this was just such a brilliant book. I cannot wait for Lilac’s book, if only so we can finally see him wield that machete! An easy 5/5 from me.

Seraph by Lily Mayne (Monstrous Book #6)

Title: ⟫ Seraph (Monstrous Book #6) 

Author: ⟫ Lily Mayne 

Rating: ⟫ 5/5 

Blurb: ⟫ I’ve already mentally prepared myself to kill the screaming, murderous monster in the cage outside our camp. 

I’m used to it. It’s what I do here. Kill monsters and other people. And this monster, Seraph, is particularly unstable—has been since the moment he arrived from Collector Mary’s monster menagerie to the west, where the military stashed him away. 

He’s in pain. I can see it. But he’s not a mindless beast. Not like some of the others think. 

When I start guarding him in his cage every night, I begin to see the person beneath the agony that tortures his every waking moment. I begin to see who Seraph could have been if he hadn’t been twisted into this monstrous creature. I realise that I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to kill him, even for his own sake, but it doesn’t matter anyway. He’s already dying, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. Not even when new visitors at our raider camp bring with them secrets about Seraph. 

Secrets the military has tried to hide. 

Secrets that reveal the true extent of the horror he’s been put through. 

And now… 

Now, I will kill anyone who tries to hurt him again. 

Seraph is Book Six of the Monstrous series, a post-apocalyptic m/m fantasy series that features monsters and human men falling in love. It is best to read the series in order. 

Warning: This m/m love story contains explicit sexual content and is not suitable for young readers. It also contains non-human genitalia, depictions of violence, serious injury, death, and one instance of violence between the MCs. 

Review: ⟫ I cried a lot with this one. I didn’t expect to – I have loved Lilac from the first time we met him, and I wanted him to have an epic love-story and an epic monster, but I didn’t expect Seraph. In fact, I don’t think anyone could ever really prepare themselves for Seraph – all I can say is to have the tissues ready. 

We got to spend a lot more time with our previous monster-human couples, with a heavy dose of humour incorporating Wyn of all people. And I hadn’t expected Gloam to be such a ‘dad’! 

There is so much that happens in this book, but even talking about my favourite bits feels like too much of a spoiler so I won’t say much. I will say that the monster-sex in this was hot in the extreme – not quite tentacles but very close! Rig is still a complete and utter sweetheart, and my love for him has not dwindled. But then, in each of these books it has been easy to fall in love with the protagonists. 

This is more than Lilac and Seraph’s love story – this is once again more about learning that humans can be far more monstrous than anything that should be terrifying as it swoops down! Once again, the monsters show more compassion and caring than the humans themselves do. I don’t envy Anchor her job of keeping the camp happy – the raiders do have the right to feel safe, and living with monsters is not what they signed up for. But the monsters who have joined the Raiders camp bring so much with them that surely they should be considered on their own merits? 

Sorry, this is meant to be a review, not a debate. I have been looking forward to his book for so long and it more than satisfied me – I sniffled through the ending and shed a few tears of happiness at the end. The path is set up for what is happening next, and I look forward to the next two books in the series that Lily Mayne mentions in her author notes at the back.

Wyn by Lily Mayne

Title: ⟫ Wyn 

Author: ⟫ Lily Mayne 

Blurb: ⟫ I am a monster. 

 A ghoul. A demon. The bogeyman. I have been called all of them. Most creatures fear me, but humans are repulsed by me. They are terrified of me. They have created legends about me, ever since they became aware of my existence when the tear between our worlds grew and we—the monsters from their nightmares—flooded through in our droves. 

 There is only one human who isn’t afraid of me. The only one who matters. And I will destroy anyone who tries to hurt him or take him from me. Danny is mine. For the first time in my unfathomably long life, I know what it means to want another so much that the thought of losing him threatens to ruin me. I will do anything to keep Danny with me for as long as I can have him—for as long as he is willing to stay by the side of an ancient, scarred creature with a voice so inhuman it has sent some mad. 

 For some reason, Danny loves my voice. For some reason, Danny loves me. And when we both decide that his natural human life is nowhere near enough time for us to have together, we go on a journey between worlds to the one place where we can do what it takes for us to be together forever. 

  Wyn is a sweet, low-angst novella that is part of the Monstrous series, a post-apocalyptic m/m fantasy series that features monsters and human men falling in love. It is best to read this series in order—if you haven’t read books one to three already, there are big spoilers in this! 

  Review ⟫ Wyn is a closet Romantic! 

 This novella was long-awaited (okay maybe not long but I have no patience!) and I wish it had been a full novel because I'm greedy! Wyn and Danny make a perilous journey to a place within the Tear that may offer them a chance to be together longer than Danny's natural lifespan. 

 Mainly told from Wyn's POV, it was a beautiful insight into how a monster feels about his human and all that he is prepared to give up for the chance of eternity. 

 We see the Monster world, meet 'Gods' and spend time with our original favourites and I devoured this in just over an hour. Hot sex scenes, great banter and true love - you can't ask for more than that!