This is exactly what I was expecting and honestly it was great.

Love the concept and it was such a quick read!

That was interesting and different and told from the heroine's point of view. It's clear the author is used to writing, just not sure it's romance, or this type of story. This novella is a homage to Jurassic Park, in my opinion, with lots of imagination used for some of the story building. The heroine shows up at an isolated Dino park, hoping to work for the summer and instantly falls in attraction/lust with the owner/scientist. Everyone is quite secretive, so we know something strange is going on behind the scenes.

It's clear the author has done lots of research into dinosaurs and knows the subject well. In fact, most of the book is quite nicely written when it comes to facts and information. Some sections of the writing come across as very basic, and the erotica is clinical - not romantic; just very tongue in cheek and cliche. It's clearly a send up of the romance/shifter genre. Lots of internal thoughts are repeated constantly re the attraction the heroine feels and that was annoying. So, not a bad job at storytelling overall, but I did skim sections that were eye-roll worthy.

Quite entertaining at times, and at least I made it to the end because I wanted to know what happened. I can only give it an OK rating though. My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in return for my opinion.

This was a really fun romance with a backdrop of dinosaurs! Who doesn't love dinosaurs? If you are looking for a quick, kind of silly but still good read I would definitely recommend Dino Stud!

One thing about Lola Faust and me is I rate them on how fun it was to read and when I say these dinosaur stories they right are just a good fun time. This was a good read , can’t wait to see more . I gave it 3/5 on fun scale


Thanks for the ARC

I really loved and enjoyed this one, had me hooked from the start. I love the story line and the characters. Cant wait to read more by the author.

Surprisingly, I've become a fan of Lola Faust's dino romance. This one was actually involving a human (with dino DNA) and I was oddly disappointed that no dinos were involved. Perfect for a few hours' escapism.

Surprisingly, I've become a fan of Lola Faust's dino romance. This one was actually involving a human (with dino DNA) and I was oddly disappointed that no dinos were involved. Perfect for a few hours' escapism.

After the previous book I read by Lola Faust, I wasn't sure what to expect - but it wasn't fully this. I read these because I love dinosaurs and the covers remind me of vintage, pulpy stories I've heard so much about. I love the art, I get curious about what could happen or be different, and then I wonder "how in the world did I get here?"

Honestly, I recommend this as a novelty for fun, not as a serious read because....you know that's not what you're here for. You're here for a bit of goofiness in the form of prehistoric insanity.

I had high hopes for this novella thanks to how stunning the cover was. And yet, no matter how fun the premise was and how beautiful the cover was it was just kind of disappointing?

Tallulah and Reid are a major case of instant lust turning into instant love while having very little chemistry. I was expecting something fun and spicy but it was just kind of meh. Even the 'twist' about Reid didn't amount to much. That twist could have upped the fun and it unfortunately didn't.

2.5/5
I voluntarily received an eARC copy of "Dino Stud" via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've read most of Lola Faust's dinosaur series so I was a bit confused by this one at first, then when we got to the reveal it did make more sense but by that point I was out of the zone because I'd spent so much time confused. There's nothing bad about it, it does what it set out to do but it's definitely not my favourite in the series!

Source of book: NetGalley (thank you)
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.

Honestly, I feel somewhat misled by Dino Stud. I feel it should probably have been titled Horny Palaeontologist. Because ye gods is this palaeontologist horny. And I don’t mean that in a shamey way at all (believe me, I am a long-standing ally to the hornyness of palaeontologists). It’s just that, for me, and your mileage may vary, the horn of the palaeontologist was so pronounced as to eclipse the studliness of the dino. Which left me feeling, I don’t know, oddly let down.

Spoilers to follow.

That aside, this was a brisk, lightly entertaining read that mostly did what it said on the tin. The book is essentially set in a post Jurassic Park future: dinosaurs are back but it’s fine, and they live on ranches rather than in theme parks that inevitably go wrong (although given how little thought is given to the dynamics of the heroine jumping into bed with her boss, I presume it's a world where dinosaurs exist but #MeToo doesn't). Tallulah, our heroine, is a dino-obsessed palaeontology student who randomly decides to get a summer job at a weird dino ranch that only exists in one Buzzfeed article, and without even emailing ahead to see if they’re hiring.

Nonetheless this works, and Tallulah finds herself as the newest, indeed only, summer intern at The Ranch: a dinosaur breeding/housing operation headed by a gorgeous, previously presumed dead, scientist, his prickly nonbinary assistant, and two other random dudes who have zero personality or point. Tallulah and Reid—the gorgeous previously dead scientist—hit off immediately, spend a day looking at dinosaurs, then have dinner, then bang. Then there’s a brief moment with an escaped “I looked at a T-rex and thought, you know, this definitely needs to be bigger and scarier” creature a la Jurassic World. Then we learn Reid is not actually the Reid-who-is-dead but is a sort of part human dino hybrid clone that nevertheless has all the other Reid’s memories and knowledge. And Tallulah likes dinosaurs so much that this is, in her eyes, a plus. The prickly enby character decides they’ve had it with this shit and leaves. Tallulah and her dino stud live happily ever after amongst the dinosaurs.

I’m honestly finding it difficult to talk about Dino Stud fairly because I want to respect the intentionality of the book. Whatever else you might feel about Dino Stud, it’s clear that choices have been made around its presentation and construction, and one of those choices is—and I mean this non-pejoratively—a kind of deliberate shallowness. It is not, let me re-emphasise, an inherently a bad thing for a book to be shallow: by which I mean, designed to be light, easy-going and fun. I think, however, it might be a bad thing for me because I—and this is definitely about me, not about any specific books—tend to … overthink my fun, I guess? Like, I think there are two ways to approach the concept of “fun” when it comes to, well, created media of any kind. You can view fun as ultimately kind of careless: a sort of “it’s fun what does it matter” kind of vibe. Or you can see fun as something profoundly work intensive. I think I’m so much in the second camp that I find something *less* fun when fun becomes a reason for other things to slide.

I think it’s one of the reasons I sort of only have limited success with monsterfucking books: because once you’ve found out the hero is an alien/demon/deep one/wolpertinger and his dick is forked/eight foot long/ a fountain of pistil/the abstract concept of hope I’m sort of left being like “yes, and?” Like what is there to this story BEYOND that. Whereas I know for many people the beyond isn’t necessary because the THAT is enough. And with Dino Stud, I can definitely see a perspective where the THAT is enough: it’s a book called Dino Stud *jazz hands*, the hero is a dino hybrid *jazz hands*. But—and this is a really personal thing—I found it sort of slipped between the cracks of too good to be bad but, at the same time, not quite *enough* to be something other than mostly a joke? I mean it’s sufficiently well-written and put together—and the dino stuff is legitimately excellent—that I kept waiting for it to dig (no pun intended) just a little deeper.

For example: let’s talk the actual structure. The book starts in full Twilight mode with Tallulah about to fall into the very open mouth of a t rex, while thinking this is all Reid’s fault. Then we spool back to the circumstances that led her to the whole very open mouth of a t rex situation. Which, as framing devices go, is a classic for a reason and gives you a fairly compelling reason to romp through the text. And romp you will because the plot unfurls itself at absolutely breakneck speed. From Tallulah deciding she’s doing to get a summer job at this mysterious ranch by turning up on the doorstop because reasons to the mysterious ranch deciding they’ll employ her anyway because, um reasons? From mutual insta-lust that, after a single day of looking at dinosaurs, becomes insta-love. Or the fact that entire ending sequence goes: dinner, sex, attacked by a t rex 2.0, HEA. I mean, okay, that’s my idea of a good time too, but I sincerely feel the book as whole would have benefited from slowing down *just a little*.

I mean, there’s no reason for Tallulah to go about getting a job at the ranch in such a frankly unreasonable fashion (turning up, refusing to send an email). It’s not a character beat—in fact, I think we’re meant to think she’s competent and professional, at least she keeps telling us she is—so essentially it only happens that way to make the plot move forward as quickly as possible. Similarly, there's zero hesitation regarding her employment when she rocks up on the doorstep of a top secret dino ranch operation and she’s literally on the ranch itself for, I think, a single day? A single day to look at dinosaurs in the field, in the lab, to get invited to a fancy dinner, to resolve the sexual tension, for a T-rex to get loose and for a nonbinary employee to quit their job.

And what the fuck do I know. Maybe this is an audience thing? Maybe the audience for book called Dino Stud doesn’t want to linger for a single nanosecond in any moment that isn’t propelling them close to either dinos or studs or, ideally, dino studs. But, for me, I really feel the dino-ness and the studliness and the dino-studlines would have actively benefited from the occasional narrative breath. Why not let the heroine behave in a semi-sensible way regarding the ranch itself? Maybe she *does* send an email rather than plopping herself on the doorstep like a misdelivered pizza, and gets an off-putting, curiosity-triggering, reply that compels her to investigate? Could there not have been a tiny bit more tension about what was going on at the ranch itself and/or whether they were going to employ Tallulah? Like her window has bars and they take her phone away, and she’s mostly chill with it because Reid is hot? I mean, if my employer had cut off all my contact with the outside world, I’d be a scootch less preoccupied with what frock I was going to wear to dinner. But, hey, that’s just me.

I honestly also wish Tallulah and Reid had got to spend a bit more time together. I mean Tallulah has the inner monologue of a fourteen-year-old boy:

<blockquote>“Listen,” Rowan said firmly. “Do you want this job or not?”
“Yes,” said Tallulah. “I do.” And this boss.</blockquote>

or

<blockquote>“Employee shall perform all duties to the best of their ability, including duties not specified. She could think of some duties she’d like to perform.”</blockquote>

but I guess I found that relatable? And I also found Reid to be unexpectedly charming for a hetero rom hero—he’s explicitly described as *not* being attractive in a cruel or hard way, and he spends most of his time engaging in nurturing behaviour with dinosaurs. So I guess what I’m saying is that we have two broadly likeable people here that I could have happily spent more time with, and instead I was rollercoastered past them like I was at Disneyland and other people were waiting for the ride. And, again, I can’t quite figure out whether this wholly a me problem (wanting something the book didn’t care about delivering), an audience problem (the audience for books called Dino Stud not being interested in the potential emotional dynamics in play here) or … well. Not an author *problem* exactly. But maybe the author feeling that if you write a book called Dino Stud then it *can’t* be anything else. When I personally feel it could have been: and not in a way that made it *less* a book called Dino Stud, but actually would have it made it even more so.

On top of which, I was kind of expecting slightly more from the dino aspect of the dino human hybrid thing? As far as I can tell, it just makes Reid fairly strong with a slightly bigger than average dick: which is the sort of thing you can say about pretty much every romance hero, irrespective of their being spliced with dinosaur DNA. And, yes, he can sort of communicate with dinosaurs a bit (he is more alpha even than a T-rex which is hardcore alpha even for a rom hero) but couldn’t he have had some … I don’t know. Downy feathers? A li’ll tail? A cloaca??? Like I came for a dino stud, and all I got was a dude with a big dick. I can get those for myself.

Anyway. I know there’s complicated power dynamics in trad published authors talking about work by self-published authors and I sincerely hope this doesn’t come across as a dunk or something I’m doing to the detriment of the author of Dino Stud. That is the very opposite of my intent. I honestly enjoyed my time with the book, slight though it was. It’s fun and readable, and has a kind of devil-of-may-care swagger to it that I found immensely charming. And I wouldn’t be sitting here wondering to myself if this whole dino romance concept could be elevated if I didn’t sincerely feel positive things about it. Although whether there’d be actual benefit in doing so remains in question and I’d be the first to acknowledge that.

If nothing else, this is clearly the work of someone who loves the shit out of dinosaurs. And since I kind of also love the shit out of dinosaurs, that made me really happy.

<blockquote>The thing was barely visible, and it seemed to be hiding in the shadow of a big willow tree whose branches drooped down to kiss the water. It was a remarkably beautiful scene, actually. The trees, the little puffs of cloud reflected in the pond, the reeds and grass that bent in the wind along the banks. And the T-Rex, gazing out across the modern landscape with its glittering prehistoric eye.</blockquote>

I honestly don’t know quite what to say. It is exactly as ridiculous as the cover would suggest. I was entertained at least whilst reading passages aloud to friends. Definitely kept the conversation flowing through the tears of laughter.

Fun read when you figure out what’s going on. Tallulah is on a mission, she wants to work on the dinosaur farm for the summer. When she meets Reid she knows she has to have him will she get more than she bargained for?


I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely

This was dumb but it was 100 pages and the cover is AMAZING so there you go.⁠
⁠
We have a bunch of questions about the book, specifically about the hero, Reid. SPOILER: He's like a dinosaur-human hybrid and we just couldn't decide if he's a SHAPESHIFTER dinosaur, or if he just has dinosaur DNA. If he's a dino-shifter, WHY WAS THERE NO DINO SEX? (Our biggest question TBQH.)⁠

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novella.

This book was just as crazy as I expected it to be. It was short, surprisingly sweet, and weirdly enjoyable. This book was centred on a relationship between a would-be Dino researcher and the head of the Dino ranch, and I use relationship loosely. Most of the book was spent with active and obvious pining on both sides with a brief spicy encounter towards the end. I learnt almost nothing about Dinos in this world and I'm not entirely surprised. If you're looking for a low-stakes casual read, this is it.

This was a NetGalley review.

Rating: 2.5 stars
I gotta admit that the first thing that attracted me to this book was the couple on the cover. I thought this would just be a romance set in a world with dinosaurs. Not to mention, I’ve read my fair share of monster romances so this book didn’t shock me and I was also intrigued. But it definitely wasn’t what I expected and it definitely wouldn’t be considered a monster romance in my opinion. Overall, the story was okay but felt too rushed. Even though this book was a novella, I felt that this plot wasn’t fleshed out enough and wrapped up way too quickly.

A read that was adorably bizarre as I was hoping for judging by the cover. If you watched Jurassic Park and just really wanted it to be a buzzy romcom on top of the dinosaur nerdery.

Tried this as a joke, but this is a big no for me.

Reads like a poorly written fanfic, and not in a campy way.

After struggling through two other titles in this saurian erotic fever dream created by Lola Faust, I finally found one that I enjoyed. All it took was for the female MC to fall in love with another human instead of trying to have wildly unlikely sexual escapades with a dinosaur. Yes, there is a twist to the male MC’s story, but I won’t be spoiling that here.

Recommended for: erotica readers looking for something just a little out of the ordinary, but without all the human/dinosaur sex scenes from previous titles

I received a digital copy of this novella from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So I got this because id seen such mixed reviews so I needed to read it for myself. But this was not for me, even without the dinosaur aspect it wasn't a good erotica. I kept reading to see if it got better but it didnt.