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Breath of the Beast
She crawls through the snow like she’s ready to die.
I watch her. Starving. Shivering. Still protecting the cubs she made with the man who beats her bloody.
I should eat her.
Instead, I feed her.
Shelter her. Kill for her in the dark and leave my offerings in silence.
Because I’m not just obsessed…I’m bonded.
She says I’m a monster.
She’s right.
She’s mine now.
I give her warmth, safety, and the one thing no man ever choice.
She gives me a reason to become something more than a beast.
I want to build her a sanctuary. I want to give her a child.
I want to kneel and let her name the stars on my skin.
She wants to forget her husband.
I want to claim her until she can’t remember his name.
Read on for primal claiming, monster devotion, found family, and a beast who gives her breath instead of taking it. HEA Guaranteed!
I watch her. Starving. Shivering. Still protecting the cubs she made with the man who beats her bloody.
I should eat her.
Instead, I feed her.
Shelter her. Kill for her in the dark and leave my offerings in silence.
Because I’m not just obsessed…I’m bonded.
She says I’m a monster.
She’s right.
She’s mine now.
I give her warmth, safety, and the one thing no man ever choice.
She gives me a reason to become something more than a beast.
I want to build her a sanctuary. I want to give her a child.
I want to kneel and let her name the stars on my skin.
She wants to forget her husband.
I want to claim her until she can’t remember his name.
Read on for primal claiming, monster devotion, found family, and a beast who gives her breath instead of taking it. HEA Guaranteed!
- GenresMonsters
198 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 13, 2025
100 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 17, 2025
Started off good, but the smut was not it at all. Felt weird and out of place with the way it’s written.
Nice concept but the execution was all wrong
Nice concept but the execution was all wrong
December 1, 2025
Let's start with what I liked about the book: writing style. Siren and King write in a very poetic way that was captivating and drew me in. The world felt cold and unforgiving. Which made for a perfect backdrop for a desperate to survive Wendy and her children. It complimented beautifully with Fenris' hunger and hunting as the monster and deity of the forest.
And now for what I didn't like: needed another look over from the editor. A handful of typos I understand. Several instances of weird spacing, confusing sentences, on top of typos were distracting.
Weird inconsistencies. Out of nowhere Wendy just knows Fenris' name. They hadn't talked to eachother, hadn't introduced themselves, so how did she know? Same goes for Fenris knowing her and Edmund's names. Fenris is a little bit more believable because of his constant watching, but he just randomly starts calling the characters by their names when for the most part he's referred to them as "the woman" and "the man" and "her pups." Felt like I was missing a chapter about the discovery or reason for the shift.
My least favorite part and why I chose to stop reading 85 pages in: the sex scene. The narrative here flipped a whole 180. Gone was the poetic story telling. Instead you get dirty talk that felt completely out of character for both Wendy and Fenris and destruction of clothes that are Wendy's only source of protection out in the middle of the freaking woods at the height of winter. If Fenris truly cared about her and her welfare, he wouldn't have robbed her of her clothing or add one more grueling task to her life. It was cringey to read, and I can handle a lot of cringe worthy stuff. But it felt like someone tried to shove a modern contemporary romance scene into a dark fairytale. It pulled me completely out of the story.
For these reasons I, personally, cannot stomach reading further.
Trigger warnings for those who wish to decide for themselves if this book is worth reading: domestic violence in detail, child endangerment, detailed death of side characters, and food insecurity.
Overall, I think this book had a great concept, but due to lack of a good editor fell short.
And now for what I didn't like: needed another look over from the editor. A handful of typos I understand. Several instances of weird spacing, confusing sentences, on top of typos were distracting.
Weird inconsistencies. Out of nowhere Wendy just knows Fenris' name. They hadn't talked to eachother, hadn't introduced themselves, so how did she know? Same goes for Fenris knowing her and Edmund's names. Fenris is a little bit more believable because of his constant watching, but he just randomly starts calling the characters by their names when for the most part he's referred to them as "the woman" and "the man" and "her pups." Felt like I was missing a chapter about the discovery or reason for the shift.
My least favorite part and why I chose to stop reading 85 pages in: the sex scene. The narrative here flipped a whole 180. Gone was the poetic story telling. Instead you get dirty talk that felt completely out of character for both Wendy and Fenris and destruction of clothes that are Wendy's only source of protection out in the middle of the freaking woods at the height of winter. If Fenris truly cared about her and her welfare, he wouldn't have robbed her of her clothing or add one more grueling task to her life. It was cringey to read, and I can handle a lot of cringe worthy stuff. But it felt like someone tried to shove a modern contemporary romance scene into a dark fairytale. It pulled me completely out of the story.
For these reasons I, personally, cannot stomach reading further.
Trigger warnings for those who wish to decide for themselves if this book is worth reading: domestic violence in detail, child endangerment, detailed death of side characters, and food insecurity.
Overall, I think this book had a great concept, but due to lack of a good editor fell short.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2025
I liked the plot of this story and the underlying writing, however the author ruined it by making the sex scenes all wrong. Wendy is an human woman with a drunk abusive husband who beats on her daily as she tries to protect her children from starving and freezing to death. Fenris a monster who’s lived centuries in the forest, starts providing food and wood to keep them from death then saves her when he finds her dying in the snow beaten badly and her husband throws her outside to die.
Instead of fenris and Wendy sharing something special discovered between monster and abuse survivor while he was rescuing her from her husbands beatings the author wrote it like scenes between a prostitute and her paid partner or role playing. The language used between them sullied the interactions and made them sound cheap and degrading. It turned me off as soon as I read them which really detracted from the book. Plus she’s badly beaten broken ribs, bruised throat, yet she’s asking Ferris to have wild rough sex with her which would shake her body up not to mention his size is much more than a human male so it would need gentle accommodation the first few times. Plus vigorous alternative sex with no tenderness that should be between new lover’s discovering each other. It was an A REAL TURN OFF and SPOILED the story esp as it was every interaction between them and the language used between them during intimacy was degrading, insulting and didnt fit the story in any way. U can’t write a story telling of how a monster learns to love a human woman and her children becoming their father and protector yet then turn around and write spicy scenes like he found some hooker on a street corner who was no more than a piece of meat to him. It doesn’t work and in this book it failed miserably. What a waste. The book would have been beautiful had the spicy moments been written with care tenderness new burgeoning love gentleness and with the attention to the emotional aspect developing between Wendy and her monster. But the author completely ruined it all. I can’t determine what they were thinking to write the scenes in this manner. It’s like they were writing scenes for a different story then just mashed them into this one. It was completely the wrong move to write them this way and in my opinion really made the book disgusting to read. Very cringe. Also in one spot she’s worried about the children hearing fenris dispatch her husband who tried to kill him yet then goes on to have screaming loud rough sex with fenris right near them? How does this make any sense? Wendy is a gentle calm strong woman who gave everything to her kids nearly dying for them several times so she’d never behave in this manner.
If the author rewrites these scenes to become more appropriate to the style of story she wrote it would be a beautiful story I’d recommend but as is i feel it was ruined and would not recommend it to readers. It takes a beautiful love story of survival, resilience, adaptation, change, discovery etc., and makes it cringe, trashy, cheap, tawdry, meaningless, and just gross.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Instead of fenris and Wendy sharing something special discovered between monster and abuse survivor while he was rescuing her from her husbands beatings the author wrote it like scenes between a prostitute and her paid partner or role playing. The language used between them sullied the interactions and made them sound cheap and degrading. It turned me off as soon as I read them which really detracted from the book. Plus she’s badly beaten broken ribs, bruised throat, yet she’s asking Ferris to have wild rough sex with her which would shake her body up not to mention his size is much more than a human male so it would need gentle accommodation the first few times. Plus vigorous alternative sex with no tenderness that should be between new lover’s discovering each other. It was an A REAL TURN OFF and SPOILED the story esp as it was every interaction between them and the language used between them during intimacy was degrading, insulting and didnt fit the story in any way. U can’t write a story telling of how a monster learns to love a human woman and her children becoming their father and protector yet then turn around and write spicy scenes like he found some hooker on a street corner who was no more than a piece of meat to him. It doesn’t work and in this book it failed miserably. What a waste. The book would have been beautiful had the spicy moments been written with care tenderness new burgeoning love gentleness and with the attention to the emotional aspect developing between Wendy and her monster. But the author completely ruined it all. I can’t determine what they were thinking to write the scenes in this manner. It’s like they were writing scenes for a different story then just mashed them into this one. It was completely the wrong move to write them this way and in my opinion really made the book disgusting to read. Very cringe. Also in one spot she’s worried about the children hearing fenris dispatch her husband who tried to kill him yet then goes on to have screaming loud rough sex with fenris right near them? How does this make any sense? Wendy is a gentle calm strong woman who gave everything to her kids nearly dying for them several times so she’d never behave in this manner.
If the author rewrites these scenes to become more appropriate to the style of story she wrote it would be a beautiful story I’d recommend but as is i feel it was ruined and would not recommend it to readers. It takes a beautiful love story of survival, resilience, adaptation, change, discovery etc., and makes it cringe, trashy, cheap, tawdry, meaningless, and just gross.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
November 22, 2025
"Mama?" Amelie whispered as I stoked the fire, adding the last splinters of wood. "I saw something in the trees today. Something big."
My hands stilled. "Where?" "By the woodpile. It was watching us, but it didn't feel scary. It felt..." She searched for words her six years couldn't quite hold. "Safe."
Leo nodded, clutching his wooden horse. "The shadow friend. He brings the wood, doesn't he?"
I pulled them close, choosing truth over comfortable lies. "Yes, little ones. There's someone in the forest who helps us. Someone who keeps us safe when Papa..." I swallowed. "Someone kind, even if he looks frightening."
I loved this book. Great world building and wonderful characters. I loved both Wendy and Fenris. Wendy's struggles with trying to feed her two small hungry children, keep them warm, and battle sickness all under an abusive husband made my heart ache for them. I liked how Fenris pushed back his initial inclinations and began helping and looking out for them. I was completely engrossed in their story and the way their relationship developed. Sometimes the ones that look the most monstrous are the ones the most compassionate.
The only aspect of this book I didn't like were the sex scenes. Degradation- while not my cup of tea- wouldn't have swayed me, accept it feels completely inappropriate in this story with a domestic and sexual abuse survivor. Her husband treats and talks to her like garbage, accuses her of being a w h0*e. She thinks of Fenris as a guardian, yet they use that same horrible language in their intimate scenes. It doesn't feel empowering; it should feel like an extension of her husband's own poison. It also doesn't makes sense for the act itself to be so rough, and for her to want and ask for it rough, when she's half starved, occasionally coughs blood and worries she may be dying, and has injuries from being beaten. I think that whole angle needs to be reworked as it ruins the story, in my opinion.
Apart from that, this is my favorite book from this duo. 5 stars
My hands stilled. "Where?" "By the woodpile. It was watching us, but it didn't feel scary. It felt..." She searched for words her six years couldn't quite hold. "Safe."
Leo nodded, clutching his wooden horse. "The shadow friend. He brings the wood, doesn't he?"
I pulled them close, choosing truth over comfortable lies. "Yes, little ones. There's someone in the forest who helps us. Someone who keeps us safe when Papa..." I swallowed. "Someone kind, even if he looks frightening."
I loved this book. Great world building and wonderful characters. I loved both Wendy and Fenris. Wendy's struggles with trying to feed her two small hungry children, keep them warm, and battle sickness all under an abusive husband made my heart ache for them. I liked how Fenris pushed back his initial inclinations and began helping and looking out for them. I was completely engrossed in their story and the way their relationship developed. Sometimes the ones that look the most monstrous are the ones the most compassionate.
The only aspect of this book I didn't like were the sex scenes. Degradation- while not my cup of tea- wouldn't have swayed me, accept it feels completely inappropriate in this story with a domestic and sexual abuse survivor. Her husband treats and talks to her like garbage, accuses her of being a w h0*e. She thinks of Fenris as a guardian, yet they use that same horrible language in their intimate scenes. It doesn't feel empowering; it should feel like an extension of her husband's own poison. It also doesn't makes sense for the act itself to be so rough, and for her to want and ask for it rough, when she's half starved, occasionally coughs blood and worries she may be dying, and has injuries from being beaten. I think that whole angle needs to be reworked as it ruins the story, in my opinion.
Apart from that, this is my favorite book from this duo. 5 stars
January 8, 2026
wanted to like
The basics of this story had everything I wanted. I love a heroine who finds love in a monster. But the mistakes in this story… yikes.
*SPOILERS*
First of all, the recopied sections are ridiculous. I can understand not realizing that you moved a sentence or two every now and again, but there are whole scenes repeated throughout this story. How that made it past editing, I have no idea.
Next, parts of it were just straight up jarring. Wendy has no extra clothing, yet Fenris just tears her dress to shreds? And this happens multiple times? Wendy is this Mother Mary character willing to sacrifice her life for her children, yet when she wakes up to find that they’re alone with their abusive father, her first instinct is to f*** Fenris? With broken ribs, lmao. Like I could maybe forgive doing backdoor stuff sans lube, but BROKEN RIBS??
On the topic of the spice, it all happened SO FAST?! At first, there was some awesome build up of Wendy being unsure about the monster in the woods, then she’s full of gratitude and curiosity, and then all of a sudden she is willing to f*** him?? And after all the trauma of her husband basically blackmailing her for s*xual favors, she then likes Fenris calling her a lot of the same names? I’m all for a bit of name calling but it came out of nowhere!
Now, there were some parts I liked. Strangely, there were some sentences that were quite beautifully written. The world building was also not so overwhelming to bore you, but was also rich enough that Fenris wasn’t just a typical monster. I really liked that he had his own culture.
I think this book could have been genuinely amazing, but in the end it needed a lot more editing and reworking for it to get there.
The basics of this story had everything I wanted. I love a heroine who finds love in a monster. But the mistakes in this story… yikes.
*SPOILERS*
First of all, the recopied sections are ridiculous. I can understand not realizing that you moved a sentence or two every now and again, but there are whole scenes repeated throughout this story. How that made it past editing, I have no idea.
Next, parts of it were just straight up jarring. Wendy has no extra clothing, yet Fenris just tears her dress to shreds? And this happens multiple times? Wendy is this Mother Mary character willing to sacrifice her life for her children, yet when she wakes up to find that they’re alone with their abusive father, her first instinct is to f*** Fenris? With broken ribs, lmao. Like I could maybe forgive doing backdoor stuff sans lube, but BROKEN RIBS??
On the topic of the spice, it all happened SO FAST?! At first, there was some awesome build up of Wendy being unsure about the monster in the woods, then she’s full of gratitude and curiosity, and then all of a sudden she is willing to f*** him?? And after all the trauma of her husband basically blackmailing her for s*xual favors, she then likes Fenris calling her a lot of the same names? I’m all for a bit of name calling but it came out of nowhere!
Now, there were some parts I liked. Strangely, there were some sentences that were quite beautifully written. The world building was also not so overwhelming to bore you, but was also rich enough that Fenris wasn’t just a typical monster. I really liked that he had his own culture.
I think this book could have been genuinely amazing, but in the end it needed a lot more editing and reworking for it to get there.
November 9, 2025
A captivating read, wonderful characters and plot that I loved thoroughly throughout
Fenris had watched her as she crawled through the ice and the snow, she is bleeding and is obviously trying to protect the lives that grow within her, he knows that she should be nothing but prey to him and yet her sheer determination and her bravery has made him think again.
Wendy had been on the brink of death after her husband had beaten her brutally even though he had known that she was carrying his cubs, she had crawled through the snow and Fenris decides that she actually is his bonded mate and now he knows that he has to keep her as safe as he possibly can and care for her.
Wendy says I’m a monster and I know that this is right but I know that she is mine and I will do anything to keep her safe. He had built her a sanctuary and had kept her safe and fed her and gave her what she needed and it is essential that he confirms what is happening with her physically and mentally.
Fenris knows that he can never allow Wendy to leave him she is his bonded mate, he wants to keep her happy and he knows that he wants to claim her and keep her protected and safe and ensure she never again knows harm.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and look forward to reading any future publications; keep up all the wonderful writing.
Fenris had watched her as she crawled through the ice and the snow, she is bleeding and is obviously trying to protect the lives that grow within her, he knows that she should be nothing but prey to him and yet her sheer determination and her bravery has made him think again.
Wendy had been on the brink of death after her husband had beaten her brutally even though he had known that she was carrying his cubs, she had crawled through the snow and Fenris decides that she actually is his bonded mate and now he knows that he has to keep her as safe as he possibly can and care for her.
Wendy says I’m a monster and I know that this is right but I know that she is mine and I will do anything to keep her safe. He had built her a sanctuary and had kept her safe and fed her and gave her what she needed and it is essential that he confirms what is happening with her physically and mentally.
Fenris knows that he can never allow Wendy to leave him she is his bonded mate, he wants to keep her happy and he knows that he wants to claim her and keep her protected and safe and ensure she never again knows harm.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and look forward to reading any future publications; keep up all the wonderful writing.
November 14, 2025
To be honest, I'm giving it more stars than I think it deserves, just because it's Celeste King.
I thought the story was very disjointed. It touches on a very ugly subject like domestic violence, and the main character is super sweet, but then the way he talks to her when they have sex is horrible and degrading, especially to someone who has been through that kind of experience. It's true that in another context it might be okay, but not for a story like this. It's totally shocking.
And the sex scenes are almost identical. One moment he's sweet, and the next he belittles her when they have sex because they never make love. Honestly, this is the first time I haven't liked a book by Celeste King.
Apart from the fact that the story is pretty bad, the editing is also poor, with repeated and unconnected parts.
It's a book downloaded from Amazon, and I think it's an unedited book, not the finished book with all the corrections made.
I may not like the book, but I don't think an author like Celeste King would release an unedited book.
I'm surprised that none of the other reviewers have mentioned this. They probably got a preview copy from somewhere other than Amazon.
I thought the story was very disjointed. It touches on a very ugly subject like domestic violence, and the main character is super sweet, but then the way he talks to her when they have sex is horrible and degrading, especially to someone who has been through that kind of experience. It's true that in another context it might be okay, but not for a story like this. It's totally shocking.
And the sex scenes are almost identical. One moment he's sweet, and the next he belittles her when they have sex because they never make love. Honestly, this is the first time I haven't liked a book by Celeste King.
Apart from the fact that the story is pretty bad, the editing is also poor, with repeated and unconnected parts.
It's a book downloaded from Amazon, and I think it's an unedited book, not the finished book with all the corrections made.
I may not like the book, but I don't think an author like Celeste King would release an unedited book.
I'm surprised that none of the other reviewers have mentioned this. They probably got a preview copy from somewhere other than Amazon.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 13, 2025
This story is about Wendy and Fenris. Wendy a mother with two children, Amelie and Leo, is abused by her drunken husband, Edmund as they barely live in their cottage in the dead of winter and Fenris who watches them and plans to eat them. Both are hungry and hanging on, but Fenris finds himself reluctant to eat Wendy and the kids. What occurs is an engaging story that drew me in. Liked our characters and the storyline. It's an angsty, dramatic, slow-burning romance that I'd enjoyed reading and I'd volunteer to review this copy I'd received.
November 12, 2025
Not sure how I feel about this story, on one hand it was different and the other it was a bit much. Later on the two povs changed a lot, she see and say one thing and in his pov it was totally different.
Trigger beware--- Loads of domestic abuse, mentions of child abuse and mentions of beaten close to death and left out in the snow to die.
Trigger beware--- Loads of domestic abuse, mentions of child abuse and mentions of beaten close to death and left out in the snow to die.
November 14, 2025
Another thoroughly enjoyable monster read. Though in saying this story has darker elements, with the abuse that Wendy suffered, that led to her fleeing and coming under the beast - Fenris's care. A moving story but a good one.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
November 29, 2025
ending felt rushed and cut off
The book was ok, the ending seems rushed and cut off. I feel another chapter could be added maybe an epilogue of what happened after they decided to try to have a baby.
The book was ok, the ending seems rushed and cut off. I feel another chapter could be added maybe an epilogue of what happened after they decided to try to have a baby.
December 22, 2025
Unedited
This was painful to read. So many grammatical errors, repeated scenes, and even intentionally reused paragraphs verbatim for the spicy scenes. The spicey scenes did not fit the characters that were portrayed. This was a very awkward read.
This was painful to read. So many grammatical errors, repeated scenes, and even intentionally reused paragraphs verbatim for the spicy scenes. The spicey scenes did not fit the characters that were portrayed. This was a very awkward read.
December 8, 2025
NOT MY TYPE OF STORY
I stopped at Chapter 3 because I felt more violence was to come. Especially when the male protagonist ate humans for food. I checked further in the book and didn’t like what I read. So that was when I stopped reading it.
I stopped at Chapter 3 because I felt more violence was to come. Especially when the male protagonist ate humans for food. I checked further in the book and didn’t like what I read. So that was when I stopped reading it.
January 8, 2026
I should have stopped reading around 20% where the story went off the rails. It just got worse.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews