How to Woo a Warrior Orc

A Cozy Monster Romance (Wild Oak Woods, Book 2)

By: January Bell

Narrated by: Chloe De Burgh, Dan Calley

He's a huge warrior orc—but his sweet side is exactly what I'm craving.

I've made a life of catering to any craving a friend might have—and now I have a magical pastry shop that does exactly that. Creating enchanted desserts at Pixie's Perch is my lifelong dream, and as much as I love my friends in the Wild Oak Woods, something's missing.

Until the fierce warrior orc Ga'Rek shows up with his crew of Unseelie fae. He's never seen anything like my pastry shop, and I've never met anyone like him. When he starts helping out in my kitchen, he heats up more than the oven. He's got a real knack for filling eclairs with cream, too.

When the local duchess decides to make an official visit during the annual Wild Oak Woods fall festival, I pull out all the stops to impress her. My shy, smiling orc in the kitchen turns out to be the perfect assistant pastry chef. No matter what half-cocked idea for a new recipe I have, he's always willing to help—and to sample the results.

I'm determined to reward Ga'Rek with all of his favorite sweet treats.

Except the only thing the huge warrior orc wants is me.

Contains mature themes.

©2024 January Bell (P)2025 Tantor Media

Worst pet name ever

Ugh, the term of endearment used by Ga’Rek was nails on the chalkboard and it was used constantly. Phonetically, it sounded like ga-LAH-kee-NAY. Too many bright vowels and consonants and not enough warm, sweet sounds.

Beyond that annoyance, this was an awkward hodgepodge of what-the-what. The romance is high school level squee, with him being so shy and gentlemanly. Then, outta nowhere, someone flipped a switch and he goes from sweet on the streets to salty in the sheets. The series’s advertising this as “cozy” horribly messed up my expectations. F bombs. Detailed sex. Dirty talk. Finally, there’s a third of a story about witches vs ancient fae.

I say a third because apparently the story started in book 1 and continues in book 3. After mistakenly taking this out of order, I listened to book 1 and liked that one better- still not my favorite series by this author,