[ARC Review] Mail-Order Minotaur by Lilith Stone
Tour guide Ivy has always secretly fantasized about minotaurs. So when a Beast Hunters tour to Motham City goes horribly wrong, she’s thrilled to be rescued by wickedly handsome minotaur, Bryn. Until she finds out that he runs a male escort agency with the sole purpose of pleasuring humans.
And Ivy just isn’t that sort of girl…
Bryn isn’t looking for love. He sells it. Besides he’s too busy caring for his disabled mom and four brothers and sisters to have time for romance. But when a sweet and innocent human literally catapults into his life, Bryn might just have to change his mind about love…
My thoughts: There's something to be said for monster romances that also turn out to be just the sweetest love story, and Mail-Order Minotaur had that in spades.
Ivy has always been the good daughter her parents expected her to be. But when an unexpected detour on her bus tour of Motham City leads her right to Bryn, Ivy knows she's done playing it safe. Not only is Bryn a minotaur, he also runs an escort service - and Ivy just knows her parents would never approve. But as Ivy and Bryn work together to improve her bus tours, she learns more and more about who Bryn is beneath all the fur and horns. And when Ivy realizes that Bryn is more humane than some of the humans she knows, she can't keep herself from falling for him.
I just loved Ivy and Bryn. On the surface, they couldn't be more different. But as the story unfolds, it's clear that they are both just victims of circumstance and the biases that their society has established. Bryn never expects to be seen as more than "other," cast aside for being both a minotaur and a former escort. Likewise, Ivy is trying to break out of the mold of an upper-class rich girl who was raised to look down on others. While Bryn clearly had a rougher start to life, it's easy to see how Stone wanted Ivy and Bryn to be compatible in their experiences. Both characters had a lot of thought put into them, and I thought both Bryn and Ivy were well done.
Overall , I enjoyed the plot of Mail-Order Minotaur. It was fun, and it brought these two species from two different worlds/cities together in a believable way. I thought both of their personalities worked well together, even when they didn't realize it themselves.
Yes, Mail-Order Minotaur is a monster romance, but it also handles commentary on classism/racism better than most monster romances I've read. Stone has certainly set up a fantastical world in Motham City, and I can't wait to read more stories set in this fictional environment.
[A huge thank you to Lilith Stone for providing a review copy of Mail-Order Minotaur.]
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Release date: 10/9/23
Format: eARC
eARC provided via: BookSirens
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