Read an exclusive excerpt from Ruby Dixon's next bonkers romantasy, “Bull Moon Rising”

Dixon's new novel matches up a human woman hiding a dangerous secret and a minotaur she can't seem to resist.

Ruby Dixon has a penchant for bringing readers love stories that are out of this world. Literally.

The author is best known for writing the Ice Planet Barbarians novels, which follow a group of women who land on a mysterious frozen planet, Not-Hoth, and find themselves drawn to the blue-skinned aliens dwelling there. Now Dixon is branching out further into the fantastic with Bull Moon Rising, hitting shelves Oct. 15.

The book follows Aspeth Honori, a noblewoman whose family is in danger of losing everything after her father gambled away all their precious magical artifacts. To prevent anyone from discovering the truth, Aspeth joins the Royal Artifactual Guild, becoming a member of the team of adventurers who explore ancient underground ruins to retrieve arcane items.

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But the guild doesn't allow women to train without a chaperone, so she needs to marry someone who will become her chaperone and allow her to train as an apprentice. This is how she ends up married to minotaur Hawk, a guild member in need of a favor. The only problem? Hawk is about to go into heat, and Aspeth will have to survive a night with her monstrous, horned husband…whom she just might be falling in love with.

Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive excerpt from Dixon's new novel, chronicling Hawk's first day with Aspeth as a member of the training team he is overseeing. Read on for more.

Excerpt from Bull Moon Rising, by Ruby Dixon

HAWK

“You married her?”

At the back of the main guild hall, Raptor looks at me as if I’ve grown another head. I understand. It’s an absolutely insane move for me to make. I’m still not entirely sure why I did it. Probably thinking with my little head. I pretend to keep my focus on my fledglings, several rows ahead at the front of the hall. They’re sitting with nineteen other guild teams, waiting to be initiated. “We needed a full team. And I need a partner for the Conquest Moon.”

“But . . . her? The bossy one?” He stomps his hooves in agitation, idly watching the ceremony. “I thought you couldn’t stand her.”

“I needed students. She needs a chaperone. We’ll go our separate ways after this if we need to, get the marriage annulled. I don’t know why it’s a big deal.”

He looks over at me with that “are you insane” expression again. “You’re joking, right? No one’s going to grant you an annulment after it’s very clear that you rutted her. And if you have to marry a human, why that one? No one takes her seriously. No one takes us seriously, either. Any reputation you had left is going to be shredded by that woman clinging to your arm. Did Magpie talk you into this?”

I scoff. “No.”

But it’s true that Magpie takes in all kinds that don’t pass. There have been women who showed up on recruitment day but didn’t last a week. Most didn’t make it through the training, either from harassment from the male fledglings or simply because the job itself is too dangerous and unpleasant. Magpie is a sucker for a female student, but the truth is that most can’t hack it like she does. Or did. The current Magpie wouldn’t get ten steps underground without sucking on a bottle of liquor.

“Bad, bad idea, my friend” is all Raptor says, arms crossed.

I know it’s a bad idea. I don’t need him weighing in on it. I ignore his headshake of disappointment, pretending interest as Master Finch brings his five chosen fledglings to the front of the room so they can be inducted into the book of names. The five names are recorded at the beginning of the year, and when the students graduate, those names are crossed out and replaced with their chosen guild names. It’s all very pompous and self-congratulatory, but that might be the Taurian side of me speaking. We hate fuss. Finch guides his students to the book of names and watches as they sign it. My students are toward the back of the hall, in one of the last rows, so I’m hoping things are cleared out before I have to go up there with them.

It should be Magpie doing that, but she hasn’t yet appeared. She swore she’d dress and show up in time for the ceremony, but we’ve been here for hours now and there’s no sign of her. Something tells me that she headed for the nearest bar instead, and I tamp down my feelings of frustration. She’ll show up. She has to.

I eye the doorway, but it’s empty.

Class after class heads toward the book and signs their names in, receiving their official fledgling pin from Rooster as they do. As the room clears out, the smirks and nudges become more obvious, and they’re all directed toward my students. I know what they see when they look at the bench for Magpie’s house. They see four women in varying degrees of softness—led by Aspeth, who has her chin in the air as if she rules the place—and a slitherskin (who is still wearing his house, much to my irritation). We’re a joke to them.

I can’t even be mad at the snickers they make. I look at them and I see another year that we won’t have a passing class. I see another chance for commissions going up in smoke. I look at them and I wonder which one is going to peel off first, ruining the season for the others. A passing class must have five.

“The fledgling class of Master Magpie,” Rooster calls out.

My students get to their feet, and despite the fact that the room is nearly empty, the whispers grow louder.

Raptor grunts. “Mmm. I’m starting to get it now.” I huff, torn between amusement and sheer annoyance at Aspeth again. She’s wearing her guild uniform, but it doesn’t fit her the way it fits the others. Her ample backside pulls the fabric tight, outlining her rump right down to a dimple in one plump cheek. When she turns to the side, her tits strain against the guild blouse, and Raptor makes another fascinated sound. “Maybe you can gag her when she talks.”

I elbow him. “That’s my wife, you clod-brain.”

“Rut her good, my friend.” He claps me on the back so hard that I stagger past him and the other Taurians remaining at the back of the hall.

They chuckle as I move forward, crossing the long hall to stand at my students’ side.

“Guild Master Magpie?” Rooster calls again, searching the room as he stands behind the massive book. “Is Guild Master Magpie here?”

I clear my throat, moving to stand in front of the podium. “Guild Master Magpie is sick. I’ll sign the book in her place.”

Rooster’s lip curls at me, as if he’s offended by the sight of a Taurian standing in front of him. “You’re not a guild master. Where is Guild Master Magpie?”

“Like I said, sick.” His lips thin further, and I have no doubt he’s thinking of the last two classes, when I presented them, too. I continue on. “I’ll present her class and she’ll be here for graduation.”

Even if I have to haul her bodily in front of the guild itself, she’ll be here.

He takes a deep breath, as if considering, and then holds the feathered quill out to me. I sign the book with Magpie’s name, the quill ridiculously small and fragile in my too-large Taurian hand. I manage not to snap it, and then turn to hand it off to the first student in line.

It’s Aspeth, of course.

“I assume all these females have chaperones?” Rooster continues in that haughty voice of his. “You can provide proof of this?”

“They do and I can.”

He eyes us and then gestures for Aspeth to sign. I’ve never seen a student so giddy to put their name in the book as her, only to pause over the book itself and then look at me. “What’s our last name?”

Excerpted from BULL MOON RISING by Ruby Dixon, published by Ace, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright ©2024 by Ruby Dixon. 

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