By the Horns was a delightful romp in the Royal Artifactual Guild series by Ruby Dixon (4.25/5 stars)

By the Horns was a delightful romp in the Royal Artifactual Guild series by Ruby Dixon.

I borrowed the audiobook from my library while occasionally following along with my (beautiful) physical review copy. It has duet narration, where both narrators alternate depending on the chapter or what characters are speaking. I love this kind of narration, and I’m so happy it’s becoming more popular in audiobooks.

The cover design for this series has been fantastic! I especially love the colors used, and the sprayed edges on the first editions are really pretty skulls and axes. There is also the perfect amount of foil print in the design, both the dust jacket and the gorgeous naked hardcover within.

I identified a lot with Gwenna as a character, especially around “not to be a bother…” Raptor was really fun, I absolutely bought them as a couple. I found the pacing a lot better in this one compared to the first book in the series.

The found family aspects are some of my favorite parts of the book. Kipp is fantastic and I was so glad to see his update (along with those of the others in their “5” from the first group).

Rep: minotaur MMC, magic-user FMC, curvy FMC

Tropes: forced proximity, former one-night stand, banter, found family, knotting, class divisions

I received a complimentary review copy from Ace Books. All opinions contained herein are my own.

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The Royal Artifactual Guild series includes:

• Bull Moon Rising
• By the Horns