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The Toy Runners
The Toy Runners - A Steamy Holiday Series includes all three books in the Toy Runners series. Don't miss this high-heat holiday treat.
Her Night With Santa when the first ever lady Santa finds a pretty girl playing with her…toys, she discovers the perfect way to blow off some steam after her yearly run...
The Toy King when a Magi is tasked with transporting a bride for his brother, he quickly realizes that he might want to keep her for himself…
Run Darling when the youngest daughter of a Magi family is stuck overnight with her very grumpy, older, and very sexy bodyguard, she decides it’s time to let the man know how she feels…
Her Night With Santa when the first ever lady Santa finds a pretty girl playing with her…toys, she discovers the perfect way to blow off some steam after her yearly run...
The Toy King when a Magi is tasked with transporting a bride for his brother, he quickly realizes that he might want to keep her for himself…
Run Darling when the youngest daughter of a Magi family is stuck overnight with her very grumpy, older, and very sexy bodyguard, she decides it’s time to let the man know how she feels…
262 pages, Paperback
Published December 5, 2023
4 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Adriana Herrera
46 books1,649 followersUSA Today bestselling author ADRIANA HERRERA was born and raised in the Caribbean, but for the last 15 years has let her job (and her spouse) take her all over the world. She loves writing stories about people who look and sound like her people, getting unapologetic happy endings.
Her debut Dreamers, has been featured on Entertainment Weekly, NPR, the TODAY Show on NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Oprah Magazine.
When she's not dreaming up love stories, planning logistically complex vacations with her family or hunting for discount Broadway tickets, she’s a social worker in New York City, working with survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
Her debut Dreamers, has been featured on Entertainment Weekly, NPR, the TODAY Show on NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Oprah Magazine.
When she's not dreaming up love stories, planning logistically complex vacations with her family or hunting for discount Broadway tickets, she’s a social worker in New York City, working with survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 2, 2025
When I tell you the Adriana Herrera has the most FILTHY and foul mouthed characters you’ll ever read, I mean that whole heartedly🙂↕️ Of the three books, Run Darling has to be my favorite bc Rhyne and Arabella were everything👏 Also, this collection is such a fun concept and I really enjoyed the world building!
December 5, 2023
A super steamy collection of holiday novellas from bestselling Latina author, Adriana Herrera. I really loved the first two books: Toy runner and One night with Santa but the third one was just an okay read for me. This was a great mix of steam, queer rep and fantasy with a fun take on the sex toy industry. Creative and HOT, this is sure to spice up your holiday reading TBR and was excellent on audio with narration by Vico Ortiz, Brooke Hayden, Lola James, Gomez Pugh, Ramona Master and Victor Quixabas!
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November 19, 2025I’ve finished two / three of the stories in this collection maybe I’ll get back to it at some point
December 26, 2023
A compilation of Herrera's Christmas holiday stories and her rewriting of the Santa mythology. Santa is a family business, and an inherited title with magical powers passed down from Magi. There are also Toy Runners (deliverers) and Toy Makers (workshoppers), and Herrera leaves the door for other types of magical creatures and mixing tech and magic. There are reindeer in Her Night With Santa (northern hemisphere Santa), but in The Toy King and Run Darling (southern hemisphere Santa), they use "air camels," which I kept picturing Star Trek shuttlecrafts.
These are great if you only want a sprinkling of Christmas magic with your holiday stories. I'm not a big holiday person, and while these were all Santa-themed, they weren't Hallmark Christmas movie vibes. Except for the North Pole setting and Christmas-themed sex toys in Run Darling, I often forgot that I was reading a Christmas story.
***Her Night With Santa
Some of the hottest lesbian sex I've read on-page in a while. Kristina has finished her Christmas deliveries and comes to her island escape villa only to find it and her bed occupied by a very naked Farnaz. Farnaz is a sex toy designer and niece of a southern hemisphere Santa. There is lots of fun with Farnaz's toys. The two women immediately fall for each other, but Herrera gives them room to breathe in the story and refind their footing with each other.
****The Toy King
Valente has 3rd son syndrome as a southern hemisphere Santa, and his father sends him on a mission to pick up an arranged marriage bride, Kessina, for his eldest brother. This one also starts with the two characters meeting while one is naked and masturbating with sex toys; in this case, Kessina is doing this to try to drive away yet another suitor that her dad (a toy maker) has arranged for her. Instead, Valente feels an instant attraction. This one features some of my personal favorite tropes of being stuck in a cabin in a snowy woods (a sky camel in a cave due to a snowstorm) and fated mates. Herrera plays with each of these and how the characters react to their fates. I do think what sealed the four stars was the bonus/epilogue and how it pushed more on the fated mates trope.
**Run Darling
An age-gap and brother's best friend romance where Arabella recently became the head runner in her southern hemisphere Santa family. She pushed back against sexist stereotypes of her capability as a woman and a young one, and she's also placing sex toys into their gift rotation and visiting a designer in the North Pole. Rhyne is a Santa guard, and he's rebuffed her advances before but now thinks she's old enough and capable of knowing herself better. This is also Omegaverse, but only in that Rhyne is an alpha and has a giant dick with a knot. (I appreciate Herrera using trans-inclusive language around her Omegaverse exposition.) There is a lot of public sex in this, and it bothered me how many other people saw them (which our couple got off on), and those people were roped in non-consensually. The waiter in the restaurant really bothered me, given how much crap service people already have to deal with.
These are great if you only want a sprinkling of Christmas magic with your holiday stories. I'm not a big holiday person, and while these were all Santa-themed, they weren't Hallmark Christmas movie vibes. Except for the North Pole setting and Christmas-themed sex toys in Run Darling, I often forgot that I was reading a Christmas story.
***Her Night With Santa
Some of the hottest lesbian sex I've read on-page in a while. Kristina has finished her Christmas deliveries and comes to her island escape villa only to find it and her bed occupied by a very naked Farnaz. Farnaz is a sex toy designer and niece of a southern hemisphere Santa. There is lots of fun with Farnaz's toys. The two women immediately fall for each other, but Herrera gives them room to breathe in the story and refind their footing with each other.
****The Toy King
Valente has 3rd son syndrome as a southern hemisphere Santa, and his father sends him on a mission to pick up an arranged marriage bride, Kessina, for his eldest brother. This one also starts with the two characters meeting while one is naked and masturbating with sex toys; in this case, Kessina is doing this to try to drive away yet another suitor that her dad (a toy maker) has arranged for her. Instead, Valente feels an instant attraction. This one features some of my personal favorite tropes of being stuck in a cabin in a snowy woods (a sky camel in a cave due to a snowstorm) and fated mates. Herrera plays with each of these and how the characters react to their fates. I do think what sealed the four stars was the bonus/epilogue and how it pushed more on the fated mates trope.
**Run Darling
An age-gap and brother's best friend romance where Arabella recently became the head runner in her southern hemisphere Santa family. She pushed back against sexist stereotypes of her capability as a woman and a young one, and she's also placing sex toys into their gift rotation and visiting a designer in the North Pole. Rhyne is a Santa guard, and he's rebuffed her advances before but now thinks she's old enough and capable of knowing herself better. This is also Omegaverse, but only in that Rhyne is an alpha and has a giant dick with a knot. (I appreciate Herrera using trans-inclusive language around her Omegaverse exposition.) There is a lot of public sex in this, and it bothered me how many other people saw them (which our couple got off on), and those people were roped in non-consensually. The waiter in the restaurant really bothered me, given how much crap service people already have to deal with.
January 12, 2025
I picked up this compilation at the soft opening of the first “romance only” bookstore in my state due to the stunning cover and the recognizable author. I’m also a complete sucker for a winter holiday novella; since Tiffany Reisz did not publish an Original Sinners winter holiday novella in 2024, I figured this compilation would ease my pain.
Comprised of three interrelated novellas, this compilation re-imagined the traditional United States vision of Christmas to include more Latin American elements and certain more fantastic elements. The world building was fairly skimpy, but appropriate to the novella length tale: just enough for the character and plot development to be intelligible. Basically, there are three houses of Magi; there are families of Toy Makers; there are families of Toy Runners. There are fated mates in the second two novellas, and alphas/betas with some knotting (!?!) in the third. While the novellas were interrelated, each could be read as a stand alone. Which is basically what I did, as I needed to finish other books for other reasons (book club dates and library return dates).
This compilation was extremely open door in its sexual diversity and female empowerment. For example, the first novella was a sapphic pairing between a very Anglo Kris Kringle and a very Caribbean designer for a Toy Maker family. The female characters all unabashedly pursued their own best interests in life as a whole and in the bedroom with their partner. For example, the second novella featured a female Toy Maker who negotiated the perfect fake relationship in order to further her personal business interests. Sex toys and their explicit use figured in all three novellas. Most notably, the third novella sampled “special” wares in the loft of a Toy Maker’s shop. I’ll never look at a holiday gnome the same way again.
I would recommend this compilation to open minded readers who are enthusiastic about diverse pairings, Caribbean/Latin American representation, and healthy consensual sex. This compilation is not for readers who get the least bit squeamish by the idea of reading open door sex. These scenes cannot be skipped as they comprise a fair portion of each novella.
Comprised of three interrelated novellas, this compilation re-imagined the traditional United States vision of Christmas to include more Latin American elements and certain more fantastic elements. The world building was fairly skimpy, but appropriate to the novella length tale: just enough for the character and plot development to be intelligible. Basically, there are three houses of Magi; there are families of Toy Makers; there are families of Toy Runners. There are fated mates in the second two novellas, and alphas/betas with some knotting (!?!) in the third. While the novellas were interrelated, each could be read as a stand alone. Which is basically what I did, as I needed to finish other books for other reasons (book club dates and library return dates).
This compilation was extremely open door in its sexual diversity and female empowerment. For example, the first novella was a sapphic pairing between a very Anglo Kris Kringle and a very Caribbean designer for a Toy Maker family. The female characters all unabashedly pursued their own best interests in life as a whole and in the bedroom with their partner. For example, the second novella featured a female Toy Maker who negotiated the perfect fake relationship in order to further her personal business interests. Sex toys and their explicit use figured in all three novellas. Most notably, the third novella sampled “special” wares in the loft of a Toy Maker’s shop. I’ll never look at a holiday gnome the same way again.
I would recommend this compilation to open minded readers who are enthusiastic about diverse pairings, Caribbean/Latin American representation, and healthy consensual sex. This compilation is not for readers who get the least bit squeamish by the idea of reading open door sex. These scenes cannot be skipped as they comprise a fair portion of each novella.
December 27, 2024
Polished off my collection of steamy holiday novellas from Adriana's kickstarter. If you like adult toy use in your romances/erotica, this is for you.
Her Night With Santa - 4 stars, super fun sapphic romance where "what if Santa was a hot butch lady?"
The Toy King - 5 stars, 10 showers easy on the shower scale, you kind of have to go with the Fated Mates trope for this one but it works in SPADES
Run, Darling - 3 stars, this is age-gap/brother's best friend, which I like, but it's also omegaverse/knotting, which just does not compute in my brain (despite several attempts by various romance people to explain it to me), this is the one that wrecked my Google search history LOL
Her Night With Santa - 4 stars, super fun sapphic romance where "what if Santa was a hot butch lady?"
The Toy King - 5 stars, 10 showers easy on the shower scale, you kind of have to go with the Fated Mates trope for this one but it works in SPADES
Run, Darling - 3 stars, this is age-gap/brother's best friend, which I like, but it's also omegaverse/knotting, which just does not compute in my brain (despite several attempts by various romance people to explain it to me), this is the one that wrecked my Google search history LOL
December 11, 2024
I read the first two stories in 2024 via audio book.
Her Night with Santa - 4 stars
An erotic fantasy romance with an epic meetcute. "Toy" maker meets Lady Santa! I read the audio and my only complaint is that Vico Ortiz didn't read the whole thing.
The Toy King - 3 stars
He makes toys, but she makes TOYS.
An erotic fantasy romance. This is a maybe rec down to personal preference. It leaned hard into the fantasy aspect of mates, and the magic around that which just wasn't for me - but may be for you!
Another A+ meet cute tho!
Her Night with Santa - 4 stars
An erotic fantasy romance with an epic meetcute. "Toy" maker meets Lady Santa! I read the audio and my only complaint is that Vico Ortiz didn't read the whole thing.
The Toy King - 3 stars
He makes toys, but she makes TOYS.
An erotic fantasy romance. This is a maybe rec down to personal preference. It leaned hard into the fantasy aspect of mates, and the magic around that which just wasn't for me - but may be for you!
Another A+ meet cute tho!
December 26, 2024
I give this book 3.5 stars, but since that’s not an option on GR, I rounded up. This book is VERY spicy, but there are so many editing mistakes that it takes away from the experience of reading it, a little bit. Overall, I recommend it, but will caution the errors can be distracting.
December 29, 2023
3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨.
I loved the 1st and 2nd novella and got a little board with the 3rd. This book is heavy on the smut and the story takes second place. 😂 fun for the holidays for sure!
I loved the 1st and 2nd novella and got a little board with the 3rd. This book is heavy on the smut and the story takes second place. 😂 fun for the holidays for sure!
November 30, 2024
5/5 stars
4/5 spice
4/5 spice
January 1, 2025
Per-fucking-fection!
March 20, 2025
Even though it’s past Christmas, that was a wonderful Christmas present would recommend 10 and 10
January 27, 2024
I didn't know a book could be so wonderfully wholesome and toe curlingly spicy at the same time?? Each story is so well written and the universe is so well put together. I was skeptical at first - I mean how can Santa be sexy? - but wow I fell in love with all of these amazingly written couples. Each story is about a different couple who is part of the toy running industry - a series of families who have been tasked for generations with making toy deliveries on Christmas. These FMCs are different though - they are developing a new kind of Christmas, one that involves adults getting toys for Christmas as well. In each story, a well meaning parent pairs their child with a man or woman who just so happens to be their child's soulmate...if only all parents had such good taste and luck with matchmaking. These stories are 20% plot and 80% spice, and they're perfect to warm any winter night.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews