Tusks & Saddles by Lizzie Strong and Azalea Crowley
FIVE Stars!

This was a fantastic western monster romance read with strong DnD vibes but set in a world all it’s own. It has great spice that I’d describe as a solid helping in each story but the plot and romance takes center stage.

I’ve read books by both these authors before, but this was a very smooth melding of two fantastic stories. From the worldbuilding, character backstories, relationship development, and action; This book managed to pull them all off without feeling like the story pacing was off or losing me along the way. Strong, independent, FMC’s and the MMC’s being refreshingly without toxic masculinity.

I’m sorry are you saving her because she’s a damsel in distress? NO. You’re risking your life because you frickin care about her and that what people who care about each other do. And she’ll do the same thing when needed. I absolutely love that about this book. The masculine characters also need saving sometimes.

Will and Boone are the slow-burn, finally burst into flame romance where one of them struggles to let go of control and the other will patiently do all it takes to convince them they’re safe.
Meanwhile Welborn and Beatrix are the burst into flame where one of them is adorably inexperienced but gives all the best gamma hero vibes, and the other hasn’t had a safe place to shelter in a long, long time.

I went into this expecting a solid, 4 star read, but I had a ton of fun reading this book, so it quickly moved up to a 5 star read! It’s gonna stick with me for a long time, and I already want to be back with the characters exploring this world. I’m sorta hoping this becomes a series because the worldbuilding really drew me in as well.