Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: Mars Quinn

Genre: Gay Monster/Paranormal Romance

Tags: Paranormal, Age Gap (eons), Fated Mates, Humor, Insta-Love/Lust, Grumpy/Sunshine, Monster/Human, Romance, Series

Length: 227 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

Blurb –

Not all nightmares are scary, but this one is terrifying.

When Nightmare Hollow, a huge gaming firm, offers our small software company a project contract on the condition that I work for them, this is our chance to put our family company on the map, but I really wish it weren’t at my expense. I hate people, plus dealing with strangers is my idea of a nightmare, no pun intended. Besides, why would they—or, more specifically, the project lead, Kir—want me? I’m not a programmer nor a particularly skilled worker.

Kir is the oddest monster I’ve ever met, and that’s saying something. Not only does he literally radiate flowers and glitter, but he also seems obsessed with me. He’s always checking on me, following me, feeding me, and touching me. This sunshine nightmare clearly doesn’t like me, but every time he touches me, I feel myself melting toward him. But I refuse to break my heart on someone who will never return my feelings. He won’t, right?

Monsters are in our world and in the office. A sunshine nightmare, a grumpy human, a fat cat, strange monsters, sibling antics, and all the makings of an odd office romance. Intended for adult audiences only.

Review –

I’ve read a lot of books in my lifetime, but I can honestly say I’ve never read one quite like A Happy Nightmare.

Theodore Ryder co-owns a small software company with his brother, Douglas, and their lifelong friend, Terrance. They’ve been approached by Nightmare Hollow, the largest and most popular video game company. Partnering with Nightmare Hollow in any capacity would be huge for Ryder Software. Theodore isn’t the face of the company by any means, and he wants to keep it that way. He’s not a people person, and employees tend to give him a wide berth, just the way he likes it. Unfortunately for Theodore, he has to sit in on the initial meeting with Nightmare Hollow. He fights it, but Douglas insists. Things get super weird during the actual meeting. Nightmare Hollow consists of all monsters, which is quite common in the world. Terrance is one, so no big deal, right? Wrong.

Kir, who appears to be the leader of Nightmare Hollow, ignores the others and goes straight to Theodore. That’s weird enough. Even weirder is how the other monsters all act around him, blowing him kisses, and making inappropriate comments. The others actually look like monsters. Kir, on the other hand, looks almost like a human. He’s small, wears only bright pink, and his body is throwing out flowers and glitter everywhere he goes.

Not strange at all.

Nightmare Hollow will only work with Ryder Software if Theodore works with them. It’s a trade of sorts, with Gak, Kir’s best friend, staying back to work with Douglas and Terrance. Theodore fights it, but what can he do? Their company is small. They need the partnership. He grudgingly gives in, expecting to actually, you know, work when he gets to Nightmare Hollow. Yeah, no. Kir won’t let him out of his sight, constantly telling Theodore, “You are mine,” making sure everybody they come in contact with knows this too. Kir is always touching Theodore, feeding him, and even making sure he looks both ways when crossing the street. At first, it was kind of silly, but then it was just cute.

Kir is adorable, even with his creepy yet charming stalkerish ways.

Theodore’s experiences at his new company are… different. Various monsters show up in his office throughout the day – every single day – bringing him coffee that he doesn’t dare touch because Kir said so, and because none look like your average cup of coffee. They’re still gawking and making lewd and uncomfortable comments, which would give Human Resources in a normal office fits about lawsuits.

In a matter of days, Theodore is falling for Kir. That would be a good thing if he wasn’t convinced that Kir only sees him as a child. Again, he feeds him, helps him cross the street, and is constantly ensuring he’s well. What Theodore doesn’t realize is that doing those things is Kir’s way of showing he cares for him, and most definitely not in a paternal way. Since Theodore is clueless and totally oblivious of what’s going on around him, he takes his sister up on going on a blind date with one of her guy friends.

That didn’t go over too well when Kir found out.

Kir was absolutely adorable with his glitter, flowers, and even his constant, “He. Is. Mine,” or, “You. Are. Mine.” Because he was so sweet, it broke my heart when his own heart got broken over a silly misunderstanding. He was just pitiful.

“I am keeping you,” he said in a broken voice, “but you’re not keeping me.”

Once that is straightened out, it’s game on for these guys. Theodore discovers several things. Monsters knot when they have sex. They also can get pregnant, regardless of their gender. And they have fated mates, with the bond only happening with a mate bite by the monster. Also, Kir changes completely according to his mood. He can be his happy and pink loving, curly-haired self one minute, and then be tall with straight hair and wearing black the next. Instead of pretty flowers and glitter, the ‘other’ Kir throws out black and/or dead flowers and conjures up rain that doesn’t exactly get anybody wet. Another fun fact about Kir? He has a magenta penis and his ejaculate is also bright pink.

The dude really loves pink.

“I have two forms. Sunshine and darkness. Dreams and nightmares.”

Not everything is all glitter and roses. Douglas is having a hard time with Theodore and Kir’s relationship. He’s not outright rude to Kir, but he doesn’t go out of his way to be kind either. Thankfully, that’s resolved quickly enough.

The monsters are called nightmares, and when I say they all – except for Kir – look like monsters, think multiple eyes, tentacles, tails, the whole shebang.

Gak is hilarious, and the poor thing doesn’t understand why he can’t just bend over and present his ‘magical ass’ to the human he has a crush on, and who is most definitely his mate. Said human isn’t aware of the mate thing, and he damn sure doesn’t understand why this big monster is being so inappropriate at work.

Gak nodded seriously, his arms crossed over his substantial chest.

“You are lovely and enticing, Theodore, but he is perfection itself. I want him to mount me and get me pregnant.”

I choked. “Excuse me?”

This book was a breath of fresh air for me. It’s so weird, and so stalkerish, but it’s also charming and sweet and downright adorable. You seriously can’t not love Kir and his cute “I’m keeping him!” self.

A new author for me. I’ll definitely be reading more.