M. Bonneau

‘She was like a dream. Or perhaps the dream was everything that had come before, and she'd woken him. He'd never felt such a draw to another person before.’

Gyrda is a woman who is living with the scars, physical and mental, of past abuse but she is definitely a survivor! She knows what she wants and she will do whatever it takes to make it happen. Sahginoth is an orc who’s content living his unattached/unmarried life as the chief of his village until he comes across a human woman show more looking for sanctuary.

What follows is a love story where the two of them discover that they could have so much more, together.

Poor Gyrda has lived such a hard life but continues to forge ahead. She has chosen ways to have others communicate with her that work for her and I love that the orcs adapt to these ways and that Sahginoth advocates for Gyrda. Inexperienced Sahginoth is deliciously sweet in his quest to learn all he can about pleasing Gyrda in their intimate moments, and always being aware of consent, which somehow just makes their love making that much hotter to me, personally.

M Bonneau really captured so many emotions and experiences in such a quick read. Also, I really commend them for being cognizant of how different people experience disabilities and ableism. The experiences (and choices) of the characters are a good portrayal of one way someone would go through those same experiences in real life and I hope readers recognize that! show less