Ruby Dixon started her new Minotaur-hero based series Royal Artifactual Guild in 2024 with Bull Moon Rising, which I thoroughly enjoyed. So I knew I would be interested in reading the next in the series, By the Horns. Just like its predecessor, it’s a combination of spicy scenes, magic and intrigue in a fantasy world that takes the reader on a fun adventure.

Gwenna has a problem. She can hear the dead. In the olden days that might have been okay, but magic is outlawed now and is only allowed if it’s produced using the magical artifacts found in the tunnels of the buried ancient civilization below Vastwarren City. As a fledgling hoping to become an artificer, Gwenna and her team of five had flunked their training the year before, making them repeaters this year (well, all except her friend Aspeth, heroine of Bull Moon Rising who is now partnered with Taurian Guild Master, Hawk). If Gwenna wants to be more than a housemaid, she’s going to have to give it another try with another group of five this year. But going into the tunnels means going to where there are definitely going to be a lot of the dead, who will want to get her attention and she can’t afford for her secret to be found out. Plus, her new group of teammates includes one sexy Taurian named Raptor with whom she’d had a, well, let’s call it a ‘one day stand’ while he was in the hospital and looking for sexual relief, thanks to his gods-given super libido. He’d had eye bandages on so he didn’t get a look at Gwenna, and she’d used the sex to distract her from a distressing incident earlier in the day. But she’d never thought she’d be in a position where she’d have to see Raptor every day!

Raptor laments that he never got to see the woman who’d relieved his sexual frustrations while he was recovering in the hospital, a woman he’d assumed was a sex worker named Sarya, but he hasn’t been able to find her. No matter, he has other problems on his plate. He’s been assigned undercover work to find a ring of thieves stealing magical artifacts from the Guild. As part of that assignment, he’s taken on the role of fledgling again and has teamed up with four other fledglings to train to become an artificer. His team is starting to become cohesive but Gwenna has been acting suspiciously and he’s becoming convinced that she is a part of the gang – so he’d better keep a close eye on her. (Although of course that’s not his only body part interested in Gwenna!) Gwenna is sassy and strong and just his physical type and it’s not long before their attraction to each other rises to the surface, a complication that neither of them needs. When one of their own is murdered, things take a sudden unpleasant turn and Raptor has to choose whether to follow his head or his heart.

Oh, it was fun to visit this world again! New readers will have no problem diving into this book even if they haven’t read the first one. The beings are a mixture of humans, minotaurs, and some other creatures like slitherskins (a lizard/turtle mix), one of whom is Kipp, who is nonverbal (he uses signing to get his messages across) and a good friend to Gwenna (and her former teammate from the previous year; she’s happy that they get to work together again). My favourite parts of the story were when the trainees have to go down into the tunnels to search for artifacts, which is a bit like reading descriptions of caving mixed with archeological digs. And the artifacts themselves are quite unique and interesting for the magic that they can create.

The story is well-paced and action-packed, with the romance between Gwenna and Raptor moving slowly even though they start out with sex. Raptor has been blessed (or cursed, depending on his mood) by the Gods to have a constant sexual appetite which he suppresses when needed with potions. Gwenna accepts him as he is and it’s this acceptance that leads to their growing intimacy. An exciting conclusion is reached as all the secrets are revealed, mysteries are solved, and Gwenna and Raptor get their happy ending. I’m not sure if the author has more planned in this world but if she has I’ll be along for the ride!