After reading another book by this author I had a feeling that this would be a fun read and I'm happy to say I was right. A rather unique story but one I enjoyed.

Heat Factor: Honestly, this book includes some of the most disgusting purple prose I’ve ever had the honor of reading

Character Chemistry: Starting up again exactly where we left off.

Plot: Big City Gal goes home for Christmas and reunites with High School Crush. Who happens to be a Utahraptor.

Overall: It’s a Christmas Hallmark Movie. With a dinosaur. And more God than I was expecting.

Ever since I became aware that Wet Hot Allosaurus Summer existed, Lola Faust has been on my to-read list.

Then, Erin sent the group chat smuttybookreview’s Instagram review of this book and my control finally snapped. I had to have it.

It was not exactly what I was expecting. It was more self-aware and less sexy than I had anticipated.

Let’s dive in.

First of all, some basic information about what we’re dealing with, for those reading who don’t live with 6-year-olds. Utahraptors were basically really big velociraptors—about 12 feet tall, which is properly intimidating if we’re going with dino smut.

However, we don’t start with the dino. Instead, we start with Holly and her sad relationship with Thad, her terrible boyfriend, who thinks that Jeff Koons1 is a great artist. In fact, we spend solidly half the book with Holly in Chicago being sad about Thad and his terrible family and his inability to be a good partner because of his devotion to capitalism. Of course, this also gives her the opportunity to remember Rocky, that dinostud she had a crush on back in high school.

Don’t worry, though! Holly is going home to Utah for Christmas to be with her Mormon dad and their Mormon family friends who make sure there are plenty of casseroles ready for her visit. And who should show up right after the casserole consumption? Rocky! Time to drive out to the dino caves and make sweet sweet love with Rocky the virgin Utahraptor. He saved himself for her! No other lady could measure up!

Based on my somewhat snarky summary, you can hopefully see the clear parallels with the schlockiest (in the most loving way possible) of Hallmark Christmas Movies. Faust really leans in here, and the results are delightfully campy.

However, the book went way, uh, God-i-er than I was expecting, even given the Hallmark Christmas Movie thing. Like, setting aside the dinosex, the sentiments are full on inspie-romance. Take this exchange between Holly and her father, which takes place during the epilogue, when Holly and Rocky get married (but not in the Temple):

"“Holly, listen to me very carefully,” her father said. His voice was like a warm blanket, the same voice that had comforted her as a child when she worried about the fate of her immortal soul. “The Church is a human institution. We built it to honour God—but humans built it, and humans are fallible. The bond between a parent and child, though… that is God’s own work. And loving you, whatever choices you make, is loving God.”

"“I agree,” rumbled Rocky. “Loving Holly is loving God.”"

(Well, maybe these sentiments aren’t quite inspie, because we’re diverging from Church teachings. I honestly haven’t done a thorough study of the theology of inspirational romance. Suffice it to say that there’s a lot of God talk in this book and I was not expecting it, based on the cover, the blurb, and other reviews.)

The other surprise was how, frankly, unsexy this book was. Sure, there’s a dino sex scene, but it’s singular and short. And also includes this gem of a sentence:

"He traced his tongue from her upper thighs into her love-swamp, moist and humid as the Cretaceous jungle the Utahraptor’s ancestors would have stalked through in their search for food."

!!!!!!!!!

I did enjoy reading this book. I was shocked at how good the writing was (because dino erotica that’s not actually erotica) and liked how tongue-in-cheek the whole set up was.

Sadly, no one’s limbs get eaten.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report

I do not delve much into dinosaur erotica however, this was a absolute hoot! I was surprised how entertaining and well-written this book was. You have to be an incredibly creative and imaginative writer to produce something so obscure and bizarre and execute a book this funny and steamy.

The blurb about Devendra Banhart did not hurt my attitude towards this genre. It only gave it a bit more credibility!

It’s the age old Hallmark movie plot-gorgeous young woman with a rich, handsome boyfriend returns home for Christmas for the first time in years and rekindles with an old flame- who will she choose? Oh, but did I mention that the old flame is a dinosaur? Welcome to Jurassic Park After Dark-‘All I Want For Christmas Is a Utahraptor’.

While perusing NetGalley, I stumbled upon this hilarious title and cover- hence began my first foray into dinosaur erotica (not a phrase I ever thought I’d utter). I’m not normally a reader of romance or smut, but I was intrigued and humoured by the premise of humans and sentient dinosaurs having sex-who wouldn’t be?!

This book is hard to rate because it is objectively bad - it’s terribly written, clichéd, and over the top ridiculous-however, it’s supposed to be. One look at the dedication and trigger warnings will tell you that (also the use of phrases ‘dinosaur dong’ and ‘lickstravaganza’).

Surprisingly for a very short book (less than 50 pages), there is quite a bit of world building, however at the same time, I’m assuming people are reading mainly for the dinosaur sex. And there was only one sex scene in the whole book. I mean it did take up a few pages but still, if we’re going to read dinoporn, it should be at least 80% filth right?

At least I know this- I’ll never look a T-Rex the same way again.

“All I want for Christmas is Utahraptor” by Lola Faust is a short novella concentrating on the main female character Holly and her unhappiness in the life that she created for herself. She feels like something is missing and her arrogant boyfriend don’t seem to care much about her. When she goes home for Christmas and meets her old crush Rocky (who is a dinosaur and he can speak!), the old passion is ignited.
I didn’t like much that Holly and Rocky met each other again after such a long time and decided to engage in private indulgences right away. Most of the book was about Holly and her unhappiness, and no relationship building with Rocky at all.

I will read anything Lola Faust because the author never disappoints and this one did not! I started reading her books as a dare as "erotica" is not genre I read. When my books buddies suggested her, I kind of rolled my eyes but I thought it has dinosaurs. You are in a for a treat, something special by this author. There is a fine balance of dinosaur and erotica that makes it an enjoyable read that is not to heavy.

It’s exactly what you’d expect. I had fun reading it but I wouldn’t recommend it. It might work for a very niche audience. I was mostly interested because it would be fun and I was curious but I ended up not wanting to finish it.

This author makes some fun Dino smut! This one wasn’t my favorite. It had barely any spice & more Christmas/religious vibes going on. It was a really quick read! I still look forward to what this author has in the future!

This was fun. spicy. cute. And wtf?! Made me realize that feathered dinos aren’t for me. The love story was interesting but I couldn’t stop thinking of a huge chicken. This is probably just a me thing.

I’ve been seeing this book and others like it on bookstagram and had to see what all the hype was about. Unfortunately, this was just not my kink. This under one hour novella read was one of those novellas that just needed a bit more to round out the story. Although the author created a cute story of kindness and acceptance the being able to have a sexual and intimate relationship with a dinosaur just didn’t do it for me. The author describing the female anatomy as “her love-swamp, moist and humid as the Cretaceous jungle the Utahraptor’s ancestors would have stalked through in their search for food.” really didn’t set the romantic mood. For those of you out there that are into dino erotica this is the book for you! The author did a detailed job creating the romance between the two main characters and even had a nice epilogue to pull everything together.

Sigh. I keep requesting and reading them, and they keep not really being for me. I love the doofy premises and adore the covers, and the writing is absolutely fine, but something about the plotting never quite clicks for me. This was the same.

I really like the concept for this book. However, there isn't much sex to be categorized as erotica. It's more sweet romance than anything. There's one sex scene and it is pretty tame. There was also a generous dose of God-stuff, which is weird in erotica. The characters were very two-dimensional and the dialogue didn't do much for me. I did like the backstory and setup of dinosaurs in society. This is a short, quick read, and good for a bit of fun reading if you don't look too closely at the plot.

I do love my weird books. This was definitely one of them.

Short and sweet and weird. Definitely one to pick up as a palette cleanser between the heavy ones.

Feathered dinos. Gotta love em

I received All I Want for Christmas is Utahraptor in return for an honest review from NetGalley.

Holly's life isn't going as she planned and when her boyfriend is working the holidays she heads home. Upon returning home Holly meets up with her old friend that she had a crush on Rocky and the chemistry is sizzling. As things heat up between the unlikely pair what happens when her boyfriend shows up?

All I want for Christmas is Utahraptor is a sweet very steamy fast paced friends to lovers dino romance. I love that the story is a perfect balance of plot with just the right amount of spice. The characters are engaging and I felt that I was really able to connect with them. I love that Rocky has emotions and is a sentient dino who felt very human aside from the feathers and claws.

I've be seeing this series around for a while and have been on the fence to check it out for a while. When I saw it on NetGalley I decided to give it a shot and I'm so glad that I did. I ended up devouring the book in less than an hour and rushing to amazon to grab the rest of the series. I'm excited to explore more of Lola Faust's dino erotic romance.

It's a cute steamy story that hooked my attention right from the start and sparked my imagination. I'm a little obsessed with monster romance and this story doesn't disappointment it's better than I could have expected! I loved every moment of it and can't wait to explore more of her dino romance stories.

Im not going to lie... i requested this as a result of a dare and i really dont know what to say other than the authors descriptions are quite creative and inventive. I died a little bit while reading this, but it was a quick pretty light read.

As someone who has read many Lola Faust books and LOVED Big Al. I was really disappointed in this one. We don't meet the dinosaur until 40% in. She cheats on her BF with the dino (why couldn't she breakup with him first.) There is much more church talk than I would have ever expected in a dinosaur erotica story. Unfortunately this one fell really flat for me and isn't one I would recommend.

Lola Faust and her books have slowly but surely turned into my secret guilty pleasure.
I wish it was socially acceptable to talk about her books at a family gathering at Christmas. I had to attend one just a few days ago and some people were talking about Christmas movies they are watching with their kids and grandkids. Someone mentioned telling their kid about the classic Dickens Christmas story. And then there was I. Not saying a word. Because, umm, well, how do I say that what I did was read a story called All I Want For Christmas is Utahraptor? Seriously. How do I explain that while you all there were busy af watching Home Alone for the gazillionth time, I was reading some dino smut, and yes, it was Christmas-themed, why are you asking?
Ok, back to the book. This was a quick read. A super quick read. I think I was done with it in, like, 20 or 30 minutes. And it is entertaining af.
The dino name is a bit of an extra fun one. Utahraptor. Perfect name for… yeah, the book’s action (lol, and there is quite a lot of action, pun intended!) takes place in Utah.
I keep wondering if it would have made the story a more entertaining one if there were at least a few more pages of the background story how come all the dinos are now human-like, driving and talking, and going to school, but then again – who cares, right? We aren’t here for a science fair, right?
For a moment I was a bit baffled at the language the author chose to use. Some fem body parts were referred to as… love swamp? Was it really a love swamp? But the more I thought of it, the more entertained by it I was.
I’m not sure who do I recommend this book to, but I most definitely do – if that’s your jam, that is. If it isn’t, then I still say grab it and read it, have a glimpse into what someone else is capable of coming up with. Have a laugh. Have a smile. Have a facepalm. Whatever works for you today.

It's a Christmas Hallmark movie only it's a book and the country boy love interest is a dinosaur (specifically a Utahraptor), obviously, what about any of this doesn't make any sense? Well I hate Christmas movies but I do love dinosaurs (although not as much as Holly does) so this gets three stars from me. It's funny and wholesome apart from the one monster sex scene, why wouldn't you pop this in a loved one's Christmas stocking?

The content warnings were chef's kiss and it was a really funny (goofy) story.

That being said, a lot of it felt rushed and some of the characters were just the goofiest of caricatures which was eyeroll inducing. We got a fair bit about Holly's world and about some of the charming (and not so charming) characters that live in it but fairly little relationship building between her and Rocky but I guess if you like your hunky dinos rather blank slate that could be a plus.

I might be the wrong person to state that but that was the most unsexy smut I've read and I've read some seriously questionable ones including Bagged by the Groceries... But my did I ugly cackle while reading about his meaty breath and taste.

The Christmas aspect of the story isn't that big of a deal and honestly without the title I wouldn't really have thought of this as being particularly Christmas-y. The religious aspect of it didn't bother me but, yeah, it's definitely there and sort of clumsy at the end.

My thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

If dinosaurs are your thing you may like this. I thought this was a fun quick read and was hilarious for a book reading we did in a club. Characters are great, but maybe a little cringey. Overall good time.