Little Red Riding Hood

by Julie Mannino

Born with low vision, Blake has grown up preferring routines and disliking changes. Keeping everything the same is safer and helps him keep his independence. A visit to Grandma’s house shakes his world. Werewolves, fairies, and gods like Loki are all real, but he doesn’t want anything to do with them, and he certainly doesn’t want to bond with a werewolf.

Can Blake learn to accept changes and grow with them, or will he lose his chance at true love and possibly his life?

This M/M monster fairy tale contains explicit material including light bondage, rimming, knotting, and anal sex. Reader discretion is advised.

This contains the Loki from the novella, Loki’s Price, which is not required to understand Little Red Riding Hood.

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, M M Romance, Retellings, LGBT, Monsters, Queer

67 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 10, 2022

About the author

Author of the Alternate Earth Novels

Ace 🖤🤍💜
Autistic
Proud wog
Paragirl

I primarily write MM and fantasy/paranormal romance. If you like a trope or certain type, I've either got it or I'm working on it😊

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Reviews

[Ava S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of gay fairy tales? Sign me up!
This was great! I love the way Blake's disability was worked in realistically and not magically cured. I don't want to put spoilers in since it's short, but the breeding and knotting was hot, the ending 🤩
The adding of Norse mythology and Loki got me excited because I loved him in Loki's Price and needed moooore of him.

[Kiupi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just wanted to read something lgbtq+ related before Pride Month was over, and I came across this.

I was laughing so hard throughout the whole thing. It was so ridiculously funny.

It had werewolves, it had fairies, it had Loki. I'm not even kidding.

Not to mention the lyrical quotes, such as: "Being saved by the hulking blacksmith had led to a lot of fantasies about a much bigger, stronger man, doing dirty things to him." (this is one of the tame ones).

It was incredible. It was poetic. It was the perfect short story.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe how this was mixed in with Loki! I wanted to know more about the fairies, but everything couldn't be crammed in. Anyway, the breeding and knotting got me all hot and bothered, and I loved how Blake grew. It nice to see someone with a disability who didn't need to be "fixed" to be suitable. Igsy was a good balance of sweet muffin and dominant Alpha. The end was ❤ but I won't say why.

[Tom Leverett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one pushes the envelope, because the main character appears to be young, as well as mostly blind and naive. He has a Mum who he lives with, and a granny - watch out! It appears to cross a line some will be very uncomfortable with. But it's well written and a great idea - I look forward to Snow White!

[DLB2572 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um...

There is way too much shoved into this story for the length of it. I get that this was an attempt at a retelling but I'm not sure this made enough sense. I'm not sure how Loki, Thor & Asgard were supposed to mix with Little Red Riding Hood fairytale. I appreciate the attempt though.

[Megan Hull · Rating 1 out of 5]

So glad I didn't buy

I am so glade this was KU because it was immature and really bad writing. Read at your own risk.

[Liz Prosser · Rating 4 out of 5]

definitely different

This story was pretty different from your paranormal or monster romance but I found I quit liked it. This author was new to new to me as well but I plan to read the other books they have published because I like different.

[Lily Pavenent · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this fairy tale, I particularly enjoyed the mix of legend, folklore and mythology (I have a weakness for the Norse mythology) and the way this was included in this book. The pacing and plot twists are good, the characters are interesting… and the sexual scenes were hot. Igsy is so adorable and protective of Blake. It was harder for me to get attached to Blake but I liked his bravery and his craftiness.

I think the only problem for me was that there were many things happening so fast so I didn’t have time to assimilate the events properly but it was short so it’s understandable. But I would have preferred a longer book so the explanations (the introduction of characters and mythology…) could have been more developed.
I felt like something was missing but overall, I liked it!

[Jason Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Friday, apparently, so that means Blake has to make his weekly trip to visit his Grandma with a basket of goodies that his mum has made. On this particular visit, Blake is about to get more than he bargained for as he goes to meet his Grandma in the same way that Little Red Riding Hood did.

There is indeed a wolf dressed up as his Grandma in her bed but when Blake discovers that the wolf hasn't eaten his Grandma and doesn't want to eat him, what does the wolf want? How is the wolf about to change Blake's life? What secrets did the Grandma live to tell Blake?

This book is hilarious and full of sharp surprises. It contains a lot of explicit content but I really enjoyed it. If you love irony and erotica, then this book is for you.

[Saskia Veldhuis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Really interesting combination of different worlds, different paranormal creatures and gods, all combined together to create a monster variation of a fairy tale. The red cloak was a great plot twist. For me personally the story would have been better balanced with a bit less mating. In total a quick amusing read with good world building.

[D.David Croot · Rating 5 out of 5]

a true fairytale for mature readers

a true fairytale for mature readers
Nice n short
Woven intricately, never meanders always intrigue abound.
Written in a nice and precise manner

[Ruth Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good HOT twist on an old fairy tale. This is a nice quick read and if its hot M on M action you want then this is the book for you.

[Veta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Topped my expectations. That was some hot action

[Kevin Norrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooh, breeding with a werewolf. Kink unlocked.

[JAY · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry for being brutal, but this read like a 12 year old with unrestricted internet access wrote it.

[Kirsty x · Rating 1 out of 5]

0.5⭐️

The plot was absolutely god awful.

Is the MC actually blind enough to need a stick? Or to mistake a wolf (or whatever it actually was) as his grandma? What about opening the door for literal wolves just because they put on a slightly higher voice? You’d think so, seeing as he did every single one of these, but apparently not. The MC seems to have selective blindness. You can’t tell me that you can see every detail of some things, but not others. I know there’s different levels of blindness, but this is not one of them. He’s also just insanely stupid.

Another thing is that the ‘wolves’ are ridiculously human. 90% of the story it sounded like Igsy was just a furry. Also, I obviously understand bringing wolves/werewolves into this, but fairies? No. Get out.

In fairness, it did make me laugh, but I highly doubt that was the point. In my opinion, this could’ve worked if there wasn’t so much crammed into such a short story. The fairy lore was a bit of a waste of time, so if that aspect was taken out then we could’ve had more details about the ‘bond’ or literally any context really. I’ll be honest, I was so confused throughout most of this because of the different character introductions (or lack of). Most characters were kind of thrown in your face, so working out who was who really just added to my general dislike of this story. The LGBTQ+ retelling of classic fairytales is honestly a great idea, it just could’ve been executed a lot better.

P.S. I mean absolutely all of this in the most respectful way possible. I never want to hate on an author this much (especially as I am definitely not an author myself), so please just take this as constructive criticism😭🙏

[Guardian.angel54 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh my, where do I start ... It's like the author couldn't decide what direction to go and so they just threw a little of everything together, hoping it would meld - but it just doesn't! I liked the idea of a sight disadvantaged main character but that's about all I really liked. There's just no rhyme or reason to how the story progresses. You have werewolves that aren't shifters - more like humanoid wolves and golden retrievers - goofy, exuberant and not particularly smart. You have a main character that is one quarter Fae, but doesn't know it, and a grandmother that is anything but the typical little old lady. I could almost overlook some of this but then you throw in Norse gods like Loki and Thor - who are pretty much useless (I don't even know why they were needed - they did nothing for the plot) and I was pretty much done! I have no idea where the author was hoping the story would go because it never makes it anywhere! Honestly, it was a bit like reading a Monty Python tale - without the good humor! I was really looking forward to a unique take on Red Riding Hood and this was definitely not that! Completely forgettable!

[Wyv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since it said Loki's price was related, I read that first even though it's not required. Those three fate ladies are kinda b*itches because Loki doesn't seem able to be around in Jack's Day. I guess when he's not watching the line, he does THIS sort of stuff.
And its clear that Loki's fam still hates him. :/ I get because he killed Baldor, but like there's not even an ounce of forgiveness considering he has to deal with other problems.
Anyway, rant over for poor Loki. I kinda wanted to smack Blake for being mean to Igsy and Loki at first, but I could also see why since his concept of the world kinda got turned upside down. The smexy times were hot (I was hoping Loki would join in and make this mmm heheh) and I loved how even though Loki maneuvered a couple things, Blake certainly wasn't helpless.
The ending was really cute too. No babies required for a happy ending, but something else cuddly. I definitely want to read the rest of these tales, and I'm really hoping Loki appears in more. Maybe Thor won't be such a b*thhead later on.

[vrstal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5. Highlights may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Content Warnings for book: Ableism, animal death

Kink: Breeding kink, knotting, D/s

This book was cute! I mean, I enjoyed the retelling and the cute werewolf who just wanted to love on his mate. I felt the Loki appearance was fairly random and the meddling of it weird. Why would a Nordic deity care about a werewolf’s feelings? The lore was given in a ‘splatter at the wall’ style, where it was thrown in at random points which doesn’t work great for novellas like this.

I also found the shift to sex scenes weird. They almost felt like they’d been written first and the author needed to make them fit into the narrative and those connecting bits of a scene were weak. Or that it just was pretty jarring to the tone? I don’t know. It was just odd.

[Bec See · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre Mash-Up

This was a very unique re-telling of Little Red Riding Hood. You get your paranormal angle with the werewolves (that do not shift) and the Fae, but then the gods are thrown in there (i.e. Loki), too. Definitely not what I was expecting, but not bad. Short, slimmer plot with a couple smexy scenes between the two “fated” mates. The conversation between them was a little sophomoric and stilted, but not terrible. It was interesting to see the author tie it all together in the same world. I will most likely read the next one in the series, too.

[JP · Rating 1 out of 5]

Clever idea, poor execution.

This is clearly insta-love. And it reads as BS and unrealistic as it ever is. If anyone found the recipe to make it work, it wasn’t this author. “Oh, but it’s ok because they’re mates.” That’s lazy AF.

It’s a short story that tried to develop like a novella or novel would. It tried to be more than it could and ended up being too superficial, and the connection between the MCs was not believable.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and spicy

This was an interesting MM take on the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale. I liked the blend of the supernatural elements and the Norse Gods. I also liked how the fated mate connection worked. A short and spicy novella that has definitely piqued my interest for the rest of the stories in the series.

[... · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was... weird? But better than I expected. I would have liked more actual swoony *feelings* in the romance, but like I said, I still enjoyed it more than I thought I would based in the reviews I read before giving it a try. I'm going to check out the author's next one 😊

[Magnus Durg · Rating 2 out of 5]

So um this is one of the first published erotica I’ve read and tbh I’ve read better unpublished work on FA and even AO3. I don’t know I just felt the story could have been stronger and with a bit more complexity than what was presented.

[Nott · Rating 1 out of 5]

so… that happend

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good smutty quick read. I liked the dynamics and none of the conflicts in the story felt forced like these paranormal romances can sometimes feel like.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute idea but the execution was lacking.

[Jay myrandomspace2023 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/2.75 ... lol, it's an interesting read I'll give the author that.

[antonia🫧 · Rating 2 out of 5]

igsy was a cutie.
but too fast paced for me.

[BookishCat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the neat twist on Red Riding hood! It was so cool how the woodcutter was included too!