My Boyfriends Are All Monsters by Kimberly Lemming

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tossing a coin in a mysterious well seems like a harmless way to cope with being ditched on a mountain—until every impossibly hot man in town starts competing for one woman’s attention in this steamy short story by USA Today bestselling author Kimberly Lemming.

Lucy Sawyer’s wish for true love lands her in an enchanted town where the men are supernatural, the chemistry is off the charts, and everyone wants to date her. But they say that things that seem too good to be true usually are, and soon Lucy may need to decide if she’s willing to pay the cost of her happily ever after.

Kimberly Lemming’s My Boyfriends Are All Monsters is part of Scared Sexy, a deliciously dark collection of Halloween romance where things that go bump in the night might just steal your heart. These seductive stand-alone stories blend chills and heat in the perfect Halloween treat—each designed to be devoured in one sitting.

A Well, a Wish, and Something Ancient

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💚💜💙
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌎
Character development: 😋🙂☺️
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Dual Narration

🛡️ Audiobook Review: My Boyfriends are all Monsters (Scared Sexy Collection)

Author: Kimberly Lemming
Genre: Paranormal Romance Novella
Narrators: Aure Nash and Sean Crisden

Characters and Plot

The locals know better than to wander too deep into the mountains—but tourists, of course, do not. The One Who Waits depends on that ignorance, feeding on the unwary hikers who stray too close to his domain. When Lucy Sawyer joins her boyfriend Mark and his outdoorsy friends on a camping trip, she’s already out of her element. The group’s thinly veiled disdain for her only heightens her discomfort.

After Lucy cuts herself on the trail, a few drops of her blood seep into the soil, giving the ancient being beneath it a taste not just of her essence, but of her emotions—jealousy, humiliation, insecurity, envy, frustration. When Lucy and Mark argue, he and his friends abandon her on the mountainside, leaving her alone and heartbroken.

Stumbling upon an old well, Lucy tosses in a coin and makes a wish for true love. The One Who Waits stirs, remembering a time when he was something more—something divine.

Soon after, Lucy encounters Noah, a handsome stranger with a horse who offers her a ride into town. There, she meets two more strikingly attractive men: Dr. Crane, the gentle physician who treats her sprained ankle, and the charming baker whose warmth is as inviting as his pastries. Each man seems inexplicably drawn to her, and Lucy finds herself at the center of an unexpected—and suspiciously intense—romantic pull.

Highlights

• The mountain and town are described with enough detail to create a vivid sense of place, grounding the paranormal elements in a believable setting.
• The story maintains an engaging pace, and the cast offers a refreshing bit of diversity, which adds texture to the narrative.

Low Points

• As part of a series of paranormal novellas, the story is on the shorter side. If you’re invested, it’s easy to feel like you’ve only just settled in when it ends.
• The paranormal framework doesn’t fully reveal itself until well past the halfway mark, which may leave some readers initially confused about the rules of the world—though The One Who Waits ultimately becomes one of the most intriguing elements.

Narration

The audiobook features a dual-POV, dual-narrator format performed by Sean Crisden and Aure Nash. Sean’s deep, gravelly tone is a standout—rich, emotive, and wonderfully versatile across characters. Aure Nash, while undeniably skilled and expressive, speaks at a brisk pace that may take some getting used to. Even so, her delivery feels natural and committed, adding energy to Lucy’s chapters.

Final Assessment

This novella blends atmospheric folklore with a modern romantic twist, offering a story that’s both eerie and unexpectedly tender. While the world-building unfolds slowly and the short length leaves some threads less explored than they could be, the premise is compelling, the emotional beats land, and the narration elevates the experience. It’s a bite-sized paranormal tale that leaves you curious about the larger mythology—and wishing the next installment were already queued up.

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