[Emily’s Review]: Shots and Barbs by Lily Mayne (Deep Earth Dating #2)

Shots and Barbs
Series: Deep Earth Dating #2
Pages: 517
Published by Amazon
Release Date: January 5, 2023
Genres: Adult, Monster Romance
Source: Author
Format Read: ARC, eBook
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Nuni

Look, I’m an extremely busy, handsome, charming guy. I am a paragon of physical perfection, I run a wildly successful architecture firm, and I take care of my family. I don’t have time to organise a ten-year anniversary party for my business, so it just makes sense to hire someone else to do the work.

Except as soon as I see my new event planner, Anita Chaudhary, with her dark eyes and no-nonsense attitude and sensible shoes, I decide maybe I should be involved in the process. Just, you know, for the sake of being thorough.

But mainly so I can keep butting heads with her. She’s competitive and cool-headed and infuriatingly competent, all of which I begrudgingly find attractive. And those sensible shoes of hers drive me wild.

But she’s also human. And we all know that humans and demiurgus don’t exactly mix…

Anita

Nuni var Rorik is arrogant, pompous, egotistical, vain, bullheaded… need I go on?

He’s a frat boy in an expensive suit. A know-it-all. A big, muscular demiurgus with perfect hair and flawless skin and a distractingly beautiful face. He rankles me like no one else.

But I can’t stay away from him.

Which is definitely not good. I’m his event planner, and my boss is extremely strict when it comes to… ahem… client relations.

When our barbed words and competitive needling explode into something hotter than it has any right being, my job and reputation are on the line. I can’t stand the thought of being seen as irresponsible or less than the best, but I can’t stop myself when it comes to him.

So we just have to keep it a secret.

Shots and Barbs is a MF monster/human romcom and is the second in the series Deep Earth Dating, which features a range of diverse pairings and is for an adult audience only.

I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I love Lily Mayne’s Deep Earth Dating series.
Seriously.
I haven’t read a male/ female pairing in a romance in almost a year, but I will alwayyyyyyys make an exception for Lily.
Shots and Barbs was an exception that I happily made and I am so effin’ hyped for the rest of this series.

I find all the characters in the Deep Earth Dating series so interesting and fun to read.
Lily immerses her readers in a world not too dissimilar to our own but different enough that I sort of wish I lived there (sort of ALOT). It just sounds so beautiful there, and accepting, and I may or may not want one of my own demiurgus hottie.

Anita was a strong and independent lady who didn’t need no man. She was whip smart and competitive and honestly was the perfect compliment to Nuni.
Nuni who was smart and capable and hot, albeit sort of a frat bro. But the bro-iness definitely added to his charm, by like 600%. He was adorable.
The competition they had with eachother was endlessly funny, and Nuni’s lack of self awareness was hilarious.
Both characters were great on their own, but were also wonderful together.

Lily Mayne writes chemistry and banter between her characters so well. She writes those sweet and soft moments at just the right time, and the comedy always is in the proper place.
*She is one click author for moi, mkay?* … Like in case you couldn’t tell.

Her sex scenes are sexy. She writes monster romance, there are difference in size, and locations and anatomy but they are always tasteful and always sexy.
I super super love that she is exploring body issues and autoimmune disorders, mental health conditions in both her male and female characters.
It makes her novels so much easier to identify with and I think a lot of the “issues” that she tackles are somewhat taboo.
Anita has IBS, Beryl has Vaginismus, Greid has social anxiety and panic attacks, Nuni has unresolved childhood trauma and a mild bout of OCD. These are all real life issues that real life people live with and I love that while these characters are dealing with some very real disorders those same disorders do not define them. Just as it shouldn’t define us readers in real life.

The little guest appearances of some of our other favorite characters were welcomed and I really REALLY liked that side plot. It was sweet and it only helped me as the reader to become more deeply immeshed in this world and these people.

Over all this book was fantastic!
I can’t wait to read Laki’s story either. Honestly I can’t wait for the entire brood’s books. I don’t typically love series that are longer than a trilogy, but Lily could write a saga that is 100 books deep and I would immediately buy and read every installment.

It was a bit long (sitting right around 500 pages) which was the main reason for the 4.5 star rating that I gave it.

But I’m not mad about the fact that I get to keep it in my kindle forever.