She Was Monstress Volume One: An Anthology of Monster Women

by Robin Jo Margaret, Lila Gwynn, Sofia Rose

Nights of pleasure with demons. The intimate whispers of forest nymphs. The allure of creatures from the depths of the sea. A mechanical lady in a steampunk London.

Ten authors have joined to craft incredible stories of love, acceptance, and desire, centering terrifyingly beautiful monster women and the people who aren't afraid to love them.

Featuring stories Robin Jo Margaret, Coral Alejandra Moore, A.J. Torres, Sofia Rose, Joanne Kwan, Freddie A. Clark, Chelsey J. León, Lila Gwynn, Noelle Upton, Chloe Slate.

Genres: Fantasy, Anthologies, Queer

440 pages, Paperback

Published April 8, 2025

About the author

Robin, queer and disabled author from Italy, writes different books under different pen names. Xe uses Robin Jo Margaret for paranormal and monster romance and erotica, and R.J. Margaret for the human stories (both spicy and non).

Xyr motivation comes from the readers who always reach out to share that they felt seen by xyr stories—and from a worrying amount of chocolate and tea.

The profile picture was drawn by @/snowiisushii (instagram).

Reviews

[A.J. Torres]

Doing this because this site has more than 1 A.J. Torres and it's gotten to the point that my requests to appoint me as the appropriate author to my own stories have gone on ignored. So, I'm the author to Shimmering Scales, the second story in this anthology 😁
The anthology came out on April 7th 2025 and will only be available for 3 months, after that, the anthology will be removed and the individual stories returned to the individual authors. I know some of us listed do have plans for our own stories, but I myself don't know what they are. So be sure to follow the author to the story you like to see what they will do.

How I Became a Succubus's Pet by Noelle Upton
Heat Level: On Fire
Relationship and Monster Type: M/F Human x Demon(Succubus)
CW: Explicit language and sexual content, some religious references(mentioned in passing), references to toxic masculinity, calling out a racially-charged word, and breath play.

Shimmering Scales by A.J. Torres
Heat Level: Warm
Relationship and Monster Type: M/F Human x Deep Sea Sirena
CW: Mentions of abuse from step family and attempted murder against the protagonist.

The Doctor's Wife by Freddie A. Clark
Heat Level: Hot
Relationship and Monster Type: F/F Human x Clockwork Construct
CW: Blood, violence, death, body horror, medical procedures, mention of workplace harassment and verbal abuse, sexism, domestic abuse, explicit smut.

In the Kraken's Grasp by Coral Alejandra Moore
Heat Level: On Fire
Relationship and Monster Type: F/F/F
CW: Cursing, Explicit sex, Breeding kink(with pregnancy), Oviposition, Tentacle sex.

The Cursed Woman by Robin Jo Margaret
Heat Level: On Fire
Relationship and Monster Type: F/F/F/F Human x Sex Demons
CW: Sexual content, brief degrading lang, pet names and praises, impact play, edging/orgasm denial, leaving marks on the body during sex, the demons briefly enter her mind during a sex dream and magically enhance her pleasure(not touching her, but it was still without consent).

An Education in Sap by Joanne Kwan
Heat Level: Hot
Relationship and Monster Type: F/F/M
CW: Dubious consent, Explicit sexual detail.

Slither by Chloe Slate
Heat Level: On Fire
Relationship and Monster Type: F/Femme Presenting Human x Squid Alien
CW: Tentacle insertion, squirting, mention of possible pregnancy and nausea.

Monster Under Me by Chelsey J. León
Heat Level: On Fire
Relationship and Monster Type: F/F Human x Boogeyman/Sleep Demon
CW: On-page descriptions of explicit sex, demons and hell, bite play, mature language, bondage with shadows, mention of parental abandonment and caregiver indifference, anal sex, shadow sex toys/tentacle play, primal play and chasing, light dom/sub dynamic, mention of truce crime, mention of gun use for protection, ADHD, anxiety.

Blooming in Brimstone by Lila Gwynn
Heat Level: Warm
Relationship and Monster Type: F/F Demon x Human
CW: Alcohol consumption, gambling addiction, murder, violent imagery, robbery, arson, attempted physical assault.

All Spun Up by Sofia Rose
Heat Level: On Fire
Relationship and Monster Type: M/F Mothman x Spider Demon
CW: Spice, BDSM, bondage, Dom/Sub relationship, forced orgasm.

[spidermse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review for The Cursed Woman by Robin Jo Margaret

Want a short, but steamy story about a woman who unknowingly gets cursed but gets a happy surprise when 3 beautiful lady demons show up? There's hot spice, great rep, and some interesting monster parts. I've loved everything I've read by Robin and this was another great one!

Review for All Spun Up by Sofia Rose

Sexy Dom spider and sweet cinnamon roll Moth? Yes please! The combination I didn't think I'd be reading but it was amazing. I relate to Neith...I want to live out in the forest and stay away from people too. 😆 Perfect cozy and spicy short story!

Can I be caught up in Neith's web now? 😏

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fabulous assortment of short stories featuring show stopping monsters. I read it for a few authors I follow and even found a new to me author that I can’t wait to read more from! Highly recommend!

[Liv (LivTheBookNerd)]

✨ currently reading - recording my enjoyment/entertainment ratings for each story as I read ~

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Audrey S · Rating 4 out of 5]

yes, more female monsters plz <3 a great mix of short stories to sink your teeth into

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome anthology that gave me so much fun!

This anthology gave me many monster girls to enjoy and damn did I have a good time. The anthology gives heat levels to each story and there was a varied collection of them. The pairings were also very diverse which was great fun as well. All stories were very distinct while having the overarching awesome theme of monster girls.

The anthology started strong with one of my favorite ones with "How I Became a Succubus's Pet." This was a longer story about a young man that accidentally summons a sex demon. This story had a lot of emotional tension and a longer buildup towards the monster girl and the young man getting together. I loved how they wanted to get closer but both were too stubborn to, until the point they finally give us a smut scene and things came so satisfactory together.

I also really enjoyed "In the Kraken's Grasp." This story is about a kraken in Las Vegas meeting two cute witches at a bar and things lead from there. They eventually drive out of the bar towards a lovely secluded spot where they start getting intimate. I loved it how the two witches both reacted very different to the main character being a kraken making the way they had fun together very different. The way the magic of the witches interacted with the monster girl was really interesting and kept me hooked to the story. At the end I wished I could read more of these girls and the world so maybe that's a good call for me to look up the authors other books.

Another story I enjoyed was the one by the editor Robin Jo Margeret. This story is maybe the "scariest" of them all really playing into the fact that monster girls at their core are also monsters and can be terrifying. The main character is afraid of the dark and that's thoroughly familiar for me. But what if the dark actually holds a monster? And what if that horrifying monster is actually quite sexy too? The play between those emotions can be a lot of fun and this short story does this exactly right. It leads to a very fun smut scene with some hot moments filled with adrenaline that ends in a very wholesome hug. I had a lot of fun with this one and definitely think it's one of the highlights.

Concluding this is a lovely monster romance anthology that sets all kinds of awesome monster girls in the spotlight.


I received this eARC and this was my honest review.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different spin on monster tales. The "monsters" in these tales are female characters - as opposed to the usual male. Each author brought a unique story and spin to the monster world. Noelle Upton was the reason I picked up the book. Her story is about a succubus and the mortal she finds, and the story was sweet, hot and perfect - definitely a five-star read. In addition to the succubus, we meet a siren, a steampunk, monster, a kraken, some demons and others. Each story has strong FMC and compelling MMS (when the story has one). I enjoyed finding new authors and reading one from one of my favorite indie authors. The stories are clean and well written I would recommend it to anyone looking for a monster story turned on its head.

[Cori]

Unqualified to leave a star rating since I only read the f/f(/f/f) entries. Bought for the Lila Gwynn story which was solidly enjoyable, but “In the Kraken’s Grasp” by Coral Alejandra Moore turned out to be the standout for me.

The rest had a smattering of interesting concepts and bursts of cool monster design, but mostly felt underdeveloped/underwritten, with erotic prose that made my eyes glaze over with boredom after a little while, which is real disappointing for a monster anthology! Don’t regret the buy but solidly middle-of-the-road read for me.

[Michelle Lebron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for The Cursed Woman by Robin Jo Margaret

A super spicy and quick read! Let’s just say—you find out you’ve been cursed by three gorgeous, seductive demons who show up in your room ready to make all your desires come true. Yes, there are even tentacles involved, so if that’s your thing, you’re in for a treat with this sexy and spicy short story.

I always enjoy everything Robin writes—sometimes it’s cozy, sometimes it’s wildly spicy, and this one definitely falls on the hotter side!

[Jacqueline Halle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology for the monster lovers.

10 short stories of varying pairings and spice. There's a story for almost everyone. FF, FM, FFM, FFF, and FFFF.
I did enjoy that each story starts with pairing/type of monster(s), spice level and brief description along with content warnings.

I'd previously read two of the featured authors and am happy to say I'll be following more now.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen. I love women. I love monsters. I love men who think they’re aggressive and macho but are actually slutty and submissive. I love seeing Black and Brown men in particular being given permission to be soft, and Black and Brown women being given the space to be hard without consequence.

This anthology had literally a little bit of everything, and I was obsessed. 5/5.

ARC review.