Escaping the Friendzone

Monsters of Moonvale #3

by Emily Antoinette

A woman trapped with her crush…

When I agreed to go to an escape room with friends, I didn’t expect everyone to bail and leave me locked in a room with the hottest, most unattainable person I’ve ever met—my brother’s minotaur best friend. Tension from the tight quarters and frustrating puzzles leads to heated confessions, and the wildest night of my life.

He says he wants more. He wants to be my daddy. It’s everything I’ve dreamed of, but how am I supposed to manage the reality of being with him when I’m falling apart at the seams and plagued by self-doubt?

A minotaur who won’t let his chance at love escape…

Who knew one night in an escape room would change everything? Finding out my attraction to Ariana wasn’t one-sided woke up the dominant beast inside that me demands I take care of her, cherish her, and claim her as mine.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to convince a woman who’s only ever been able to depend on herself to trust me enough to accept everything I’m desperate to give her. Oh, and not get my throat ripped out by my best friend for hooking up with his little sister.

Escaping the Friendzone is a cozy, high heat monster romance featuring a burned out plus size woman and a doting daddy dom minotaur.

This is a standalone story set in the Monsters of Moonvale universe.

Genres: Monster Romance, Romance, Monsters, Fantasy, Paranormal, Friends To Lovers, Smut

260 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 27, 2024

About the author

Emily loves cozy, emotional, and spicy romances with a monstrous twist. When she isn’t musing on the merits of doting, dominant monsters, she reads an obscene amount of romance novels, and cultivates her eccentric recluse persona.

Reviews

[Soft Nectarine ~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a certified monster lover & I proudly endorse this Minotaur DADDY DOM fantasy! and yes she was human!

✨ 😈 ✨ 🍆 ✨ 😈 ✨

Ariana has a massive crush on her brother’s best friend who also happens to be a minotaur. So relatable, right! She thinks Wesley is totally out of her league until she gets trapped pantiless in an escape room & he can’t control his feelings either 🪔 Insert delicious Daddy kink, dirty praise, and lots AND LOTS of stretching…

Who would have thought a minotaur would make such a perfect Daddy?? All Wesley wants to do is provide for his baby girl in terms of food spreads, relaxing baths & all-night sexathons ✨ He knew what he wanted & wasn’t afraid to lay it all out there.

😈 perfect Daddy pleasure dom….but he is also a bull

😈 curvy fmc appreciation

😈 he has a MASSIVE D & magical lube is required!!

top SUPER SMUTTY quote: “I’m not a man, Ari. I’m a monster. I’m going to rut inside you like a beast and breed your tight human pussy. It’s time for daddy to take what he needs.”

The way I hornaily giggled though this! Hilarious writing with sweetly smutty dialogue & down right filthy bedroom antics. Easy recommendation for all monster fuckers!

4.5 ⭐️ because I couldn’t FULLY get behind the snout thing


brother’s best friend
size difference
dirty praise
spanking
dom/sub dynamics
monster support group
squirting
lgbtq side rep
HEA

[Poppy || Monster Lover · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This was such a cute cozy romance with friends to lovers mixed in with big brother’s best friend. It had ALL the spice and I loved the daddy dom dynamic. Ari was a relatable anxious disaster, with snarky one liners and a huge caring heart. Wes was domineering in a caring way, with a bit of an ego, and a protective streak a mile wide. They were perfect for each other. I enjoyed the cameos from previous books (and am sorely tempted to revisit them, even with my long ass TBR) and thought they fit well. I NEED Ren, so if someone can figure out how to make him real, that would be great.

Spice: 5/5

Triggers: mentions of internalized fat phobia and fat phobia from previous partner, discussion of cheating and gaslighting afterwards (not involving either MC, side character’s partner), anxiety episodes

[Darlene I read WAY to many books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Wes wayyyyyyyyy more than Ariana. I felt she tried so hard with her "I'm not like other girls" of being a mess person who says she has a crush on Wes but the way they acted when you first meet them it's eh in my eyes. Wes, I swear was everything you want in a monster. You'll wanna smile and gush at how he acted. The escape room was funny. I wish it was a little longer how they were in the room.

Once outside the room, they did have a push/pull moment because Ariana thinks it's just a one-time thing when Wes wants more. He lets her run away for one day and goes after her. Showing her how a daddy dom treats his woman.

If you're worried about that, it's not bad. Daddy word, taking care of her no age play at all.
Aria is a brat when Wes tries to help her with her job because, like she said before, she's a mess. She can't adult.

No ow/om drama, no cheating, tiny tiny drama, Sexy times, no virgins

Recommend-maybe
Cover-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat level-🌶🌶🌶

Slowinsta
30h/41H
Push away from h
sex in an escape room (MCs are the only people present)
Masturbation
No condom
Daddy dom/baby girl dynamics (no age play), spanking
praise
light degradation
cumplay
very large monster dick
mentions of internalized fatphobia/body shame (FMC),
discussion of food shaming
Hea

[Peppa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was cozy, spicy, and so easy to devour. We’ve got a soft, caring minotaur who wants nothing more than to spoil his girl and make sure she’s taken care of, in every way, and a plus-size FMC who finally lets herself be adored the way she deserves. Big “let me worship you” energy from the MMC, and I was all the way here for it.

It’s got a Daddy Dom vibe without veering into age play territory, but I also loved all the other kinks as well slight primal edge, the cumplay, and that little bit of degradation was really well done!!
It all really worked so well together, nothing felt out of place, just really well-balanced and executed in a way that made it feel intimate and filthy in the best way. Just a very nurturing dynamic with a ton of steam and sweetness mixed in.
You can feel how much they genuinely care about each other, which made the spicy bits hit even harder.

That said, the ending did feel a little rushed for me (some other parts as well), I would’ve liked just a bit more time with them, maybe an extra chapter or two to let everything settle. Still, a super satisfying read overall!!

[Irene · Rating 2 out of 5]

safe but as in

no ow or om
they always had a crush on each other but thought one of them hated the other
mmc was manwhoreish cuz he loved fmc he only had ons (they talked how much he got around 3 or 4 times) but he made no move on fmc while crushing on her

[Andrea ☾ [is inconsistently consistant] · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️ I may love EA's books, but I've realized I can't do D@ddy K!nk Romances unless it's in a reverse Age Gap relationship...

Here the MMC is 41 and the FMC is 30. Which would not be all that bad if there wasn't so many "baby girl"s and "yes, daddy"s in the book. It just immediately gives me the ick. I know it's a me thing, and I'm not trying to k!nk shame here - these two were both consenting adults and they were experimenting with their free time. All good. But, personally... ICK x 1000000 lol. I also didn't love the self-deprecating attitude of the FMC. I mean, I get that part of her story is that she's an absolute mess at the minute, but the poor thing couldn't catch a break even in her own head!!

This still gets 3 full stars because it's a monster romance and Wes was a man/minatour in loooove!

🌶️🌶️🌶️.5 / 5 - There's a lot of k!nk in this one. Size difference is also biggggg here!

[spidermse · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I've collected little facts about Ari over the time I've known her, hoarding them like precious treasures every time she revealed something new. I hope she doesn't think that's creepy. I can't help it. She's my favorite subject."

Emily has given us yet another romance with the perfect combination of spice and cozy feels. She is so talented in writing healthy relationships with supportive partners. It makes the reading experience so much better to see these characters looking out for each other and understanding how important trust and consent is inside and outside of the bedroom. If you've read other books by Emily then you know she is very talented in writing those spicy scenes. And this book did not disappoint. The spice starts early and just keeps comin' (hehe).

I related to Ari immediately. As soon as she mentioned going out in ripped leggings. I knew I was going to like her. Gotta rep that feral goblin look. The anxiety rep in this book was perfect to me. There were so many moments where Ari would say something or she would act in a certain way because of her anxiety or body image struggles and I'd understand exactly how she was feeling. It's easier to not ask for anything than to be let down when someone decides I'm not worth the effort." Yeah...that one hit hard.

Ari and Wes's teasing and banter was perfection. They're so cute together. I honestly don't know how they both took so long to realize they both were crushing on the other. Though in real life I absolutely would never think a hot minotaur shifter would be into me so I empathize with Ari on that one.

I won't spoil who we saw show up from other Moonvale books but the cameos were amazing. I was so excited to see them again. Hope we get more from this world!

[Traducarmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

dios es culpa mía por no leer la sinopsis y ver que era un daddy dom de esos pero te juro que vuelvo a leer daddy una sola vez más y me rajo las venas

que usa la palabra daddy 154 veces porfavor que sí que le pone que le diga papi caliente y quiere ser su papi de azúcar pero porfavor que ni yo he llamado a mi puto padre tantas veces dios santo bendito

[Chrissy Loves Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.75 Stars

Okay, I’ll be real with you—daddy dom/baby girl dynamics? Not usually my jam. I mean, I’m over here like, “Do we really need to call him ‘Daddy’ that many times?” But guess what? I STILL enjoyed the heck out of this book, so let’s give credit where credit’s due!

First of all, MINOTAURS. You throw a minotaur into a story, and suddenly I’m like, “Well, now you have my full attention.” And Wes? Whew, Wes was all kinds of 🔥. Honestly, I was a little too distracted by all that muscle and smolder to care much about the dynamic I’m not usually into. I mean, if the minotaur looks like that, I might reconsider my stance on the whole ‘Daddy’ thing. Just saying.

And then there’s Ari. I have never related so hard to a character in my life. It was almost painful how real she felt, like someone pulled my awkward, secondhand embarrassment moments straight from my life and put them on the page. I cringed, I laughed, I cringed some more. Girl was out here making me feel seen in all the uncomfortable ways.

Plot-wise, it’s pretty laid-back. Nothing super intense or complex, just a fun, easy read that you can cruise through without stressing about every little twist and turn. I’d call it a “chill vibes, spicy romance” kind of book. No one’s out here saving the world, but they’re definitely heating it up!

Overall, it’s a 3.75-star kind of ride. Not flawless, but with minotaurs and relatable cringe moments, how could I not have a good time?

[littlesmuttyone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this one as well .
wes is monster wet dream

it all started in that escape room ;)

ari doesn't realize she sexy but I get her insecurities & anxiety of being burden or asking for help . but she has always been the one to take care of others & and forget she can ask for help.

the wild night her n wes shared started it all so glad they didn't try to deny those feelings in that moment cause it was so good.

wes has wanted her for so long .

Doug is such a great big brother and has been through stuff, but ari is the reason he made it through, plus his support group. Caleb is adorable and funny .

I loved seeing their dynamic.

who wouldn't want wes as there daddy..

[Kimberly Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute friends to lovers with a monsters twist. I liked it. There was the daddy dom little girl factor thrown in with curvy girl with anxiety. It was good and I liked it but I wanted more. I would read more by this author and will. I would even recommend this book to others. This was just my first ever book by this author.

[Charity ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

cute and hot

It was okay plot was but the spice and dirty talk were amazing! Overall it was a cute story but not for me.

[Saucypotatosalad · Rating 4 out of 5]

speed read bc I forgot about the book club book

[Aranel · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

It’s a cute book, but quite a few details just annoyed me just enough to almost ruin my reading. I swear to God, if Ariana had called herself a mess one more time, I was going to lose it 😭

[Taar · Rating 1 out of 5]

what the helly

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall this is a okay read. I like how it has squirting rep in as I feel like this is rare in books and romances but can be a common occurrence for women and women’s pleasure.


I do have one issue and I will preface by saying I am not black and do not want to talk over black voices.
However after taking time to think about this book and monster romances in general. I feel a certain uncomfortablity with the MMC having the human form of a black man. Especially because when you think about in this book there is a real emphasis on the size of the MMC’s penis/ how massive it is and the whole way through the book and it not fitting but also he is a Minotaur and is sexually promiscuous. It just seems to potentially play on unconscious stereotypes that we have of black men.
Now maybe this is just me overthinking but it’s just my gut is telling me that the author who I believe is white tried to be diverse but unconsciously may have played on stereotypes around black men.
I don’t think it was intentional.
This was awoken while listing to black women talk about the unconscious bias and stereotypes that can be in monster romance.
Please tell me if I am over analysing.

[Rhianjan]

DNF @ 12%

I feel like the inner monologue is just not connecting with me. EVERYTHING he does, she is relating back to sex. Like the man walks in front of her, she stares at his juicy ass, he touches her shoulder, she wonders how it would feel if he touched her boob. Like uhhhhh what??? Idk its just is giving so unrealistic and forced right off the bat.

[Anne-Marie Romance Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book delivered exactly what it promised and I loved it!

It was a spicy minotaur romance that also had such a sweet and caring story. Ariana is overworked, stressed out and at the end of her rope. Until the night she shows up for an escape room to find everyone else has ditched. Everyone except her brother's best friend, Wesley, the minotaur she's had a huge crush on. Turns out the feelings aren't so unrequited. Now Wesley wants to take care of her, but will she be able to let him?

I loved seeing Ari find her way. Wesley is kind and caring but dominant, and Ari has to learn to stand up to him but also to let go and be taken care of. The plotline was super sweet and who doesn't like to see a woman finding her perfect match? There was also so much spice! Wes for sure lives up to the minotaur name!

[Corinne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute monster verse book!

I have never read a love story with a minotaur but I really liked it.
I loved all the hints to the original story about the miniature chasing beautiful women through a maze. I need to re-read that mythology story.

- - -

I have read a lot of smut books but just a few with daddy dom theme.
Most mafia books are kinda a daddy dom but it’s not said out loud.

In this they both discuss and asked about each others kinks. It felt very respectful and safe for both main characters to have the room to speak.

This is a friends to lovers. A brothers best friend romance to be more exact.

When we found out that they both had been pining after each other for a whole year, I was like: taaaaaaalk to each other!

You could have been dating for a whole year already!
- -

And yes, the thought of hugging a huge minotaur is very tempting.

3/5 stars.

Cute book! But won’t change my life.

[Ash (so there’s this book) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Adult Monster Romance
Spice: 3/5🌶️
*spice ratings are relative to similar books in the same genre*
(3/5 means this book had average spice)

The Catalog: FM, Minotaur MMC, brother’s best friend, trapped in an escape room, idiots in love, Daddy Dom, fat FMC, it’s always been you, slight age gap (41x30)

Synopsis: When their friends bail on a Valentine’s Day escape room, Wesley and Ariana reluctantly agree to participate together. However, trapped inside, their secret feelings for each other come to a head and they decide to come clean. All Wesley wants is to be Ari’s daddy and Ari is excited to finally have the man of his dreams.

Thoughts:
Cute, quick, and spicy! I enjoyed this one a lot. Wesley is the perfect daddy and Ari is such a relatable FMC. I really enjoy this world, too.

[Stephs.bookshelf09 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about Ariana (Ari) and Wesley. Ari is a human and Wesley is a minotaur. This was a fun modern day take on of monster lived in our world among us. Taking a fun twist on Mates as well. I’ve never learned much about Minotaur lore but this book was fun and interesting. Their friendship (heber brothers best friend) made it fun with the old classic of two who shouldn’t fall for each other. And add in an age gap I was hooked!!

If your into daddy kink as well this book is for you. Watching these twos dynamic and fall into each others worlds was fun and a ride.

Narrators Winston James and Victoria Connolly were amazing and kept the story feeling perfect. They were made for these roles.

[B.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was very much little to no drama, which was nice!
I definitely thought some of the drama would come from the brother.
Way more kink and spicy focused but still with a lot of "you are the one for me" type of energy.
Wes is an absolute sweetheart and is 100% a book boyfriend.
Baby girl and daddy with no age play just Wes wanting to take care of Ari.
Praises and degradation
It was a really good book for the end of the series.
Every single book can be read as a standalone.
it feels like this book was a bit before Blair and Grace but came afterward.
Can definitely read these in any order!

[Becca Saylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO COZY-SPICY

… oh my gosh my little k!nky reader soul LOVED this novel!!! Ahhh the DD element was well done, but there was no “age play” so it’ll appeal to many! Cause who doesn’t want to be taken care of, spoiled, and railed within an inch of their life by a minotaur?? UGH this plus size girlie loved being able to vanish into the story!

I haven’t read Emily Antoinette yet, but dang is that gonna change cause I’m about to read her whole backlog!!!

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

back to the monsters!

I actually came across Emily Antoinette through some social media page and found that she had a very similar energy to everyone's favorite milky book. the DD/LG aspects of this book were fun, tho they felt a little less flushed out than I would prefer.

this is def a "cozy" book which is not always my favorite. sometimes I just want people to suffer for love! regardless, lots of fun, and a very nice palette cleanser after some more intense stuff.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.75 but I’m rounding up bc they’re very cute together. The spice was. Spicing but it got really cringey and repetitive towards the end, but maybe that’s just me. Overall though a good time and I don’t usually like friends to lovers sooooo yeah. Time to read the rest of this authors works I suppose :)

[Hannah Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen… there wasn’t much plot in this, but since I was reading it for the big daddy dom Minotaur and not the plot, I didn’t mind it that much. This ended up being so spicy and juicy, but still very cozy and sweet. Her talking about kissing his cow snout, though, was a LIL bit much for me but I’m not going to yuck her yum.

[Laura Whitman Dy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very cute, even though I'm not usually into the use of "daddy" in a kink. Overall, thought Ariana and Wesley were great characters, but I think I wanted a little more time of them getting to know each other outside of the bedroom/escape room. But overall, I liked it a lot!

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ok 3.25-3.5 stars. I’m not the biggest fan of DDLG when it comes to dom/sub roles. While I know the book is not about age play the use of “daddy” got on my nerves fairly quickly. It’s a good quick read but not the best Minotaur romance I’ve read.

[TaylorReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this was cute. The dirty talk was a little cringe sometimes, but that probably has more to do with me than the writing. I didn’t particularly enjoy the role swap that happened at the end with the party, but again that’s more of my preference than the book itself.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

plus-sized 30+ yo FMC, cozy daddy-dom