Goblin Candy

Monsterly Yours

by S.J. Sanders

Grimsal has always enjoyed life and the numerous pleasures it brings—perhaps more so than most. But when his hunger brings him back to the human world with a particular sweet tooth to satisfy, he discovers that coming into her fertile, sexual prime has brought new appetites to assuage. He craves something delectably sweet that can only be found with the right mate. Candy is all that, and with her love of horror, her fascination with the chase, fear and desire is his perfect match in every way. With Halloween in the air, he will use all the tricks in his bag to win his mate to keep!

Candy is a woman with a passion for life, sweet indulgences, horror, and most especially when they come all packaged together in the fun of Halloween. Not to mention all dark decadence that the world has to offer. When her boyfriend dumps her right before her favorite holiday because he can’t appreciate her fascination with the spooktacular, Candy knows that this is her opportunity to really enjoy the festivities the way she wants to. She never expects to meet her perfect match in a mischievous goblin who takes it all to the next level and adores all that she brings. What can a girl do but fall in love?

Goblin Candy is a Halloween novella set in the Monsterly Yours universe.

Genres: Monsters, Romance, Halloween, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Fae, Monster Romance

159 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 26, 2022

About the author

S.J. Sanders is a mom of two toddlers and one adult living in Anchorage, Alaska. She has a BA degree in History, but spends most of her free time painting, sculpting, doing odd bits of historical research, and writing. While she has more research orientated writing under another pen name, her passion is sci-fi and paranormal romance of which she is an avid reader. After years of tinkering with the idea, and making her own stories up in her head, S.J has began to seriously pursue writing as an author of Sci-fi Romance utilizing her interests in how cultures diversify and what they would look like on a extraterrestrial platform to humans interacting with them and finding love.

She can be found on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Author-SJ-Sa...

And follow her blog at https://sjsandersromance.wordpress.com

Reviews

[BookishKB · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so incredibly bored reading this. It is a novella just over 150 pages and took me nearly a week to finish.
I love this author but this book flopped.

[Poppy || Monster Lover · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS is what I’ve been waiting for from this series. I loved Grimsal in The Unicorn’s Mare and was so excited when I realized he was the MC for this book. He’s funny, mischievous, and playful and Candy was his perfect partner. They both met each other where they were and fell in love in true instalove fashion.

Spice: 3/5

Triggers: attempted kidnapping (not by MC), attempted drugging (not by MC), toxic ex boyfriend, xenophobia (directed towards nonhumans), mild horror (haunted houses, description of macabre goblin tradition), mention of death of grandparent

[LizKat · Rating 2 out of 5]

had a hard time getting into it and after awhile I returned it to KU because other books interested me more. Don't get me wrong, I love SJ Sanders' books, especially Broken Earth (her best book IMO) but this one just didn't do it for me.

[Ann Hupe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surreal. Don''t read in the dark.

[Mia Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book lives up to its name. At first, it’s like biting into your favourite Halloween sweets: Delicious, fun and a little naughty. Grimsal is pure quirk and the setup had me laughing and kicking my feet.

But somewhere around the first spicy scene, things shifted. I felt like I’d gobbled too many lollies and overindulged. The characters started to lose me, the magic fizzled and I was left feeling a bit sick of it.

Still, it’s got seasonal charm and some goblin mischief. 🎃🍬👻

[ChanelReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Rating:🌶🌶️/5
Darkness Rating:🖤/5
Burn:🔥🔥🔥 Med Slowburn

Series: Monsterly Yours #8
Standalone: Yes
Ending: HEA
POV: Dual (1st)
KU?: ✔️

🍭 Halloween
🍭 Monster Romance
🍭 Fated Mates

“It is for you that I crossed worlds, and I would do it all over again not for a cake or any treat, but all for a taste of your lips once again.”

Tropes: Fated-Mates, Ex-Drama (Heroine), Haunted-House, Cinnamon-Roll-Hero, Goth-Heroine, Protective-Hero, Strong-Heroine

Kinks/Spice Details: Monster 🐓, Primal, Bondage, Sensitive Tail, Breeding

Thoughts: This is my first read from this author and I LOVED it. This story was heart-meltingly warm and delivered on all the cozy autumn times.

Candy and goblin mate Grimsal were lovely together. I admired Candy’s strong personality and confidence to be herself regardless of how people perceived her. Her borderline obsessive love for Halloween was very relatable to me and I felt it was effortless to bond with her character.

Grimsal was the perfect partner for Candy. He was so adorable and I couldn’t stop smiling while reading about his youthful and whimsical personality. His love for anything sweet and the lengths he will go to for treats was so endearing. The light and jovial perspective Grimsal had for life made this book feel so warm and fuzzy, like sitting by a toasty fire with a mug of hot chocolate (extra marshmallows of course).

Another thing I loved about this couple was the way they handled judgment towards their inter-species relationship. Many of the humans from Candy’s town showed prejudice towards the fae that had been slowly trickling into their world, and looked down on them, considering them “monsters”. I appreciated the way this author explored prejudice towards those declared different from the majority because it is something we see amongst humans in the real world. There was a lot of commentary on the common human behavior of resorting to hatred fueled by fear before looking for commonalities and understanding in the unfamiliar. Whenever Grimsal and Candy faced discrimination they were fiercely protective of one another, placing their connection above all else.

This was a sweet, engaging, and unique read that I will definitely be returning to. I loved this book so much that I think I will be buying myself a physical copy. Couldn’t recommend this enough and I look forward to my next read by this author!


⛔️MY GOODREAD SHELVES MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS⛔️

[Lady Grimm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story

I absolutely love Grimsal and am so happy he got his own book, because tbh I was more interested in him during the Unicorns story. This was a short and sweet story, although it did feel a little more rushed than some of the previous ones. It also had a few more typos. I just ignored them, but if that kind of thing bothers you, just a heads up.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Halloween delights

I have really enjoyed this whole series. I love how each story if so different yet still tie the worlds and characters together. I was very intrigued by Grimsal when be was first introduced in one of the other books, so I was so excited to read his and Candy's story. Candy has a love of Halloween and the macabre so who would make a better mate than a goblin. Their story was so cute and since I also love Halloween this book was right up my alley. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and can definitely see myself doing a reread on this entire series.

[PickmeChooseme.Readwme · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw the vision but I was so bored that it put me in a reading slump.

[JML · Rating 4 out of 5]

4&1\2fabulous 🌟s for Goblin Candy🔥🔥💖💖

This series brings me joy! I just love each and every story! In this story Grimsal is a male goblin in his prime. He loves sweets especially ones from the human world so he decides to take a little holiday and he lands smack can in the middle of the best candy celebration of all Halloween. He's absolutely fascinated with the macarb holiday that celebrates a bit of fear and camp and all the delicious sweets you can stuff yourself with. He never expects to meets his one his mate the one that will set his life and heart afire! Candy has always had a deep love of all things Halloween and it's apart of her life year round not just on the actually holiday. Her ex just can't handle her life of all things sexy scary and scream worthy. So she's on her own when at one of her many Halloween activities she meets a real goblin that sets her blood on fire! What Grimsal shows her is that she's beautiful, sexy and he loves her love of the scary and sexy. Together they perform a mating ritual that takes them on a journey of discovery, passion acceptance and love! It's awesome and sweet and I highly recommend!💖💖🔥💖🔥💖💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖🔥💖💖🔥🔥💖💖🔥🔥💖💖🔥🔥

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a sweet monster romance for Halloween then this is the perfect book. This was super wholesome but also had a bit of spice as well. Candy is a Halloween girlie. She loves everything that comes with the season and the holiday. She even has a pet tarantula. The problem is her boyfriend doesn’t like it and breaks up with her. That’s ok because a much better match for her just arrived in her town. Grimsal is a goblin who is looking forward to trying some of the sweets in the humans realm. He visits right before Halloween and immediately falls in love with the mischievous energy. When he sets eyes on a gorgeous human he instantly knows that he has found his mate and starts his hunt. There is lots of tension and flirting between these two. I love Grimsal’s playful personality and his craving for fun new experiences. Candy is such a fun character to read and I couldn’t help wanting to be best friends with her. She loves candy, is obsessed with Halloween, and is a spunky goth girl. I really enjoyed reading this light hearted monster romance that had no angst, sexy times with chocolate, spicy hunting scenes, spooky season vibes, and was just a feel good book.

[Tea After Midnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella oozed Halloween and I was totally here for it! I loved all of the references to spooky season including pumpkin carving, food, candy, haunted, houses, costumes, scary movies and so much more. I completely related to the FMC and her Halloween obsession as someone who has designed half of the rooms in my house to be Halloween all year long. The MMC was a lovable, naïve golden retriever energy goblin and I loved his moments of discovering Halloween norms in the human realm. This book was a bit corny and could’ve used a lot more spice in my opinion, but the stuff we did get was decent. I really wish the plot would’ve dug in to the characters a bit more as the ending left me unsatisfied. Still had a great time and got my Halloween fill for sure.

[Cecilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it a lot

I did really like this book a lot in fact I bought the paperback but at times I felt like it was dragging out. Such as the “hunt” wasn’t as great as it was leading up to be. There was alot of cute parts like the pumpkin carving and the library scene. The ex scenes weren’t necessary. Atleast could have put a different guy/monster flirting with her. It felt so cliché, almost all the books I have read the crazy ex comes back into the picture to get him or her back just to make pointless conflict.

[Arctic_Banshee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

This was a cute fluffy Halloween book. Grimsal came off differently than how he was in the unicorn book. I don’t know what it was… maybe the primal play didn’t seem like would be his thing. I honestly didn’t believe he was wanting a mate. He was too happy being a shit-stirrer and goblin Casanova.

Does a character have a right to change their mind? Yes. But the inner work for that change isn’t there in this book.

Also would have liked more of the spooky moth man angle we come across in the 3rd act. And would have loved a book for said spooky moth man!

I like the author. But I know not every book of hers is going to be my favorite.

[Jannie Cv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such great entertainment!
This is a gem of a story! I love the hunt, the chase of Grimsal’s courtship! He has a ritual to complete, delaying until the timing was perfect. Candy’s tastes were unusual, but they fit very nicely with this fine goblin’s preferences. He has a sweet tooth - for everything ‘Candy.’ It has enthusiastic, fun characters, a delicious romance, great friendships, and a ‘loser’ ex. I love it!

[I'm Fine, Just Tired · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grimsal on resembles the character he plays in "The Unicorn's Mare" hated the book but enjoyed him.
He is less sleazy in this story, which I prefer. He came off slimy when we first meet him earlier in this series and the only thing he provided the story was his kindess and his comic relief. But in this book, he is smart, romantic and 100% a likeable character.

Candy is hot as hell and super fun! They make the perfect match

[DemetraP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I liked the book. The goblin hero is cute and fun and he loves Halloween just like the heroine.

I thought the "hunt" that took place over a few nights where he spends time with her and then leaves didn't make any sense. He kept saying a long hunt shows respect but I was more confused than anything.

There was also a little drama in two scenes with the heroine's ex boyfriend.

[Samantha McLean Haas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m going to preface this review by saying I haven’t read any of the other books in this series, and I think this is my first book by this author. But I was just kind of bored the entire time, and this was not a long book that took me forever to finish. Probably should have DNF’d it. I liked the premise and the characters, but the writing left a lot to be desired and I wish it had been shorter.

[SL Thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So Grimsal...

A cool story of him finding his perfect mate. I thoroughly enjoyed this Halloween inspired tale. Getting to know him better after his appearance in the Unicorn's Mare, this was a delightful trip and a wickedly steamy hunt. Nice work. Reviewed by Who She Reads

[Feeme Fatale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting something different

Spoilers- okay so I was looking for this book as soon as I finished the mermaid one. He was so funny in there and interesting. This doesn’t even seem like the same characters it’s really weird. I wasn’t a fan for that reason

[shannon Stubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good

This story, even though it's a Halloween story, is pretty good. I enjoyed how they made little dates with Halloween activities. It was cute. It even had a little danger to make the story better.

[Heather_Readsalot · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Raven Del · Rating 4 out of 5]

It truly is a sweet read.

The spicy scenes in this book are tame but still enjoyed it. Could have been more exciting. Was a sweet romance with a little smut.

[Rita Spriggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love all of these books. Enough sexy but the female lead isn't a push over. Just as snarky as can be.

[Jungian.Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooooo glad he finally got his love story! I’ve enjoyed his character in every story he has been in.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Sweet

[Ena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will be reading more l have no shame

[Margaret Viney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such sweet tale or is that tail?

Candy and Grimsal are adorable. This is a sweet tale of a goblin hunting his mate. Definitely, a spicy romcom.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of S.J. Sanders best so far. Candy is super fun and quirky and the perfect match for Grismal. I would love to see Lottie and Laryx's story next.