In Transfixed by the Troll we harken back to ye olden times, twenty years after the beast-kin came, war reigned, something worse that infuriatingly is not explained in the novella happened, differences were settled and beast-kin  became a part of the human world, not fully accepted, shunned in most places, but a part nonetheless. This story focuses on Brynne, a merchant’s daughter who is bored with the average human man and wants something much more forbidden. She gets her chance when the King’s Guard travel through her small village and camp out on the outskirts. She sneaks out and meets the captain of the guard, a stunningly perfect fae. They flirt, they tease, they pour out some home truths, and then they retreat to his tent. Inevitably she was spotted heading towards the camp, outed to her village and exiled. She has tainted herself with nasty monster cock, a “defiler of her own blood” and should not be allowed near decent upstanding folk.

Godlike Fae dude to the rescue, kinda. He allows her to travel with them to the city, where, if she likes the idea, she could thrive working in a monster brothel. She has the willingness and the talent apparently. I will say my eyebrow twitched upwards a tad when reading this. A quick lay in a magic tent with a fae, perhaps one of the less monstrous beast-kin, pretty much human at first glance, does not make her experienced with the myriad of creatures one can find in the world, but hey, maybe it does, maybe it wasn’t just his tent that was magic. I unfortunately cannot speak from personal experience.

Humans don’t last long in the job, for understandable reasons, but Ugra the Ogress, the brothel owner, decides to test her during her interview anyway. A servant Kobold is summoned and Brynne has to “service him”. Disgusted at first, and honestly I agreed with her, at first glance I wouldn’t go down on a Kobold either, especially after the description of him given in this book. If the author wanted her readers to be completely turned off, dry as a desert, filled to the brim with ick, she did a great job. Honestly, the word pustules does that for me instantly, but bravely, for you, I continued reading. Needless to say, it wasn’t as bad as Brynne expected, she passes the test with flying colours and was given the job and should expect her first client very soon. Ugra has someone specific in mind for her, Scragg the Troll.

So at this point I feel a bit bad for the lass, faced with one of the biggest monster dongs known to us mere humans. You would think she would have moved up the ranks size wise gradually, adjusting to her new life but no, Ugra’s throwing her biggest and baddest at her. Brynne takes him like the champ she is, several times in fact. I half expected him to propose on the spot after they had finished but in fact Brynne got something better.

This novella is literally just flying the flag for monster-enjoyers. At no point does Brynne feel shame or disgust at what she does, she doesn’t even feel much fear. She knows, deep down, that her life’s purpose is to experience all the joys of the beast-kin and what pleasures they can give and receive. This is the Ash Ketchum “gotta catch em all” version of all the monster romance books out there. Brynne wants to experience every single one of them, and you have to respect it. While others are content to cuddle up with their orc after making love, Brynne is at an all you can eat buffet and she’s going up for seconds, and thirds.

It’s unapologetically greedy and I love it. No fated-mates, no “will they won’t they”, no third act break up. Brynne doesn’t need to worry about any of that. She just gets to enjoy all those delicious monsters. Good for her.

One complaint, which is rather silly because I went into this knowing it was short, was that there wasn’t more. We only see her get to be with three beast-kin and with the nature of the book, it would have been fun to see her with more clients, but I do understand word limits, and I could imagine it may become a bit tedious after a while. I also wish the cover had been more thought out. It’s giving regency romance, where wealth and status are of concern. This was not that kind of book. Quite the opposite really.  The spice level was high, which is to be expected in a story about a monster brothel, and the camaraderie between the other workers was sweet, albeit brief.  Overall I would bother with Transfixed by the Troll. No relationship drama, no tension, just a pure, emphatic thirst for monster that was both admirable and an absolute turn on.

Transfixed by the Troll is available now