A Kiss From a Minotaur

Bloom Baker has one chance to save her Father.

Life in the rural, farming village of Dew Hollow is peaceful. Neighbors are friendly and look after each other, the weather is mild, and the sun is always shining. The only dark cloud on Bloom’s horizon is the indecent marriage proposal local wealthy landowner Pyke Silvermist has made to her. He is the liaison to Lord Rhydian, the minotaur to whom all villagers must pay their monthly protection tithe.

A tithe Bloom and her father cannot afford.

Unwilling to give herself to Pyke in exchange for his gold, Bloom sets off to persuade Lord Rhydian to give her an extension. She expects to find a snarling beast who throws her out the moment he sees her. What she finds instead changes everything.

Lord Rhydian hasn’t seen a human in over three decades. And never one as beautiful as her.

The human with the bewitching face and soft voice arrives at his small cottage bleeding, with a crushed loaf of bread in her ruined basket. The least he can do is heal her wounds before sending her away. She talks of tithes and an extension, but her words don’t make sense.
As much as she intrigues him, he knows she is better off returning to her own kind. The humans of Dew Hollow are not as innocent as they present themselves. They are harboring the man who stole everything from him.

The one he burns to exact revenge on if he can ever muster the courage to leave his self-imposed isolation.
When Bloom suggests he return with her, he quickly dismisses the idea. However, the longer he spends around her, the harder he knows it will be to say goodbye. Would it really be that simple? Sharing a humble provincial life with her? Would she really welcome him, a monster, into her heart and her bed?

Bloom seems to know what she wants, but after so many years spent alone, can he be brave enough to trust the one species he vowed to hate for eternity? And is revenge really worth it when it means forsaking the thing you desire most?

This is a short and spicy monster romance novella about a lonely minotaur and the human woman he wants more than anything. For a full list of content warnings, please check out the author’s website.