Tag: Short Story

Guest Review: Melting Snow by Leora Gonzales

Posted December 18, 2017 by Tracy in Reviews | 3 Comments

Guest Review: Melting Snow by Leora GonzalesReviewer: Tracy
Melting Snow by Leora Gonzales
Series: Braving the Heat #1
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Publication Date: November 21st 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 52
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two-stars
Series Rating: two-stars

Hot

Broke college student Winter Snow wants Christmas to be over. Thanks to her annoying name, this time of year always leaves her feeling Scrooged. The only cheer she wants is cold hard cash from her mall cleaning job—until a surprise offer from a hunky firefighter sparks one sizzling midnight temptation . . .

Hotter

William Holiday needs a replacement elf for his fire station’s fund-raiser. Convincing Winter she's perfect for the part—and giving her some one-on-one training—is a task he’s happy to take on. Because her irrepressible smarts and luscious curves are making this seductive Saint Nick want to deliver all night long . . .

Burn

Winter isn't betting on more than an X-rated Xmas fling. But Will plans to show her they have more in common than their quirky last names—enough to keep their wildest holiday wishes coming true . . .

At age 27 Winter is finally going to college and working part time jobs to help with tuition and rent.  One of those jobs is cleaning a small mall at night.  While on shift one night she meets a fireman named Will Holiday who will be playing Santa.  His elf breaks her leg and Will sees Winter working and asks her to be his elf.  From that moment on the pair are together.

This short story started off well and I was hoping for a sweet but hot story.  I didn’t get that and I wasn’t impressed with anything about this book.

When Will meets Winter he likes her looks and asks her to be his elf.  When he introduces her to the rest of his fire station (they’re decorating the mall for Santa’s North Pole) he quickly stakes his claim by holding her hand. A little forward for just having met, but okay.  He then asks to drive her home and within hours of meeting they’re sleeping together. Literally sleeping.  What???  I mean, I think I would have understood it better if they’d had sex.  By the next day Will is calling Winter ‘baby’ as if they’ve been together forever and telling her he’s going to marry her someday and they’re talking about kids and – oh holy cow!

Events in this book happen at the speed of light.  There’s no character development, there’s no true getting to know you period, there’s nothing. This was a meet and screw and be together forever.  I just wasn’t buying it.  Some authors know how to pull this off, but this story just didn’t manage to do that.  Because of my skepticism with the relationship I couldn’t get into the sex scenes either and found them boring. I would have rather seen the two actually getting to know each other but maybe that’s just me.

Braving the Heat

Rating: 2 out of 5

two-stars

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Guest Review: Whiteout by Sarah Benson – part of the Snow anthology

Posted May 26, 2017 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Whiteout by Sarah Benson – part of the Snow anthologyReviewer: Tracy
Whiteout by Sarah Benson - part of the Snow anthology by Sarah Benson
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: May 9th 2017
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three-stars

SNOW is an anthology composed of sixteen novellas and novelettes featuring tales of forbidden love from some of your favorite Wattpad authors.

This is the review of just one of the stories...

Alicia wakes up in a deserted cabin, handcuffed to a bed.  She manages to get herself free and makes her way to a gas station. It turns out she’s been missing for 8 months.  She has no idea who she is or what’s happened in the last 8 months.  She’s introduced to her father who she has no recollection of and tries to start living some sort of life.  She has sessions with a doctor who tries to help her with recollection and they end up falling in love.  The truth finally comes out and it’s not what anyone expected.

This was a story of a girl who had been kidnapped.  The reason she was taken and kept was kind of weak in my opinion and when things were explained it left me with more questions than answers.  The romance in the story was also a bit on the anemic side as I never felt the love between Alicia and the doctor.  I was happy that Alicia started getting her life back in the end and came to terms with everything that had happened.

Rating: 3 out of 5

three-stars

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Guest Review: Frostbite by Alexandria Bellefleur

Posted April 26, 2017 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Frostbite by Alexandria BellefleurReviewer: Tracy
Frostbite by Alexandria Bellefleur
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Publication Date: April 26th 2017
Genres: Fantasy, M/M
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three-half-stars

After his sister touches a lethal Frost Flower and succumbs to Frozen Sickness, Rainor seeks out the mysterious Dragon, who purportedly holds the only cure for the fatal disease. In gratitude for saving his sister's life, Rainor agrees to bring him fresh bread twice a week—despite the man's insistence he wants for nothing.

As Rainor makes his deliveries, the two slowly become friends, and Rainor finds in the Dragon all the things he never found in his little village. But on his way to make his latest delivery, the unthinkable happens, and Rainor fears that if he asks for the cure he needs to live, he'll lose the man he's coming to love…

Rainor loves his sister and she means a lot to him.  When he takes her out to the lake and then accidentally falls asleep his devastated when he realizes that she’s touched one of the Frost Flowers.  He knows that he must get the cure to her quickly or she’ll be dead within 24 hours.  The doctor tells him the only cure is up in the mountain cave with the Dragon.

When Rainor arrives in the cave he’s shocked to see how homey it is.  The man they call Dragon isn’t a dragon at all – just a man.  He gladly gives Rainor the cure and asks for nothing in return.  Rainor insists on bringing him bread every three days to pay for the cure and Dragon, actually named Drachen, finally agrees.

At first Rainor is afraid of Drachen but as the days go by and Rainor continues to take the bread, they start to talk and become friends.  Rainor learns the horrible tale of how Drachen came to be living in the caves – evil witchcraft.   When that very witch tricks Rainor into touching one of the Frost Flowers Rainor thinks he can get the cure without bothering Drachen but his decision ends up turning on him.

This was a great little fantasy short story.  It had wonderful characters and the story was well written.  I liked the way that the author wrote Rainor as he was such a good person and rarely put himself first.  This fairytale was a lovely, sweet m/m romance that I truly enjoyed.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

three-half-stars

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Guest Review: The Invisibles by Francis Gideon

Posted January 13, 2016 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: The Invisibles by Francis GideonReviewer: Tracy
The Invisibles by Francis Gideon
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Publication Date: January 6, 016
Genres: Young Adult, M/M
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three-stars

Mike meets Johnny and Ray during the first week of high school just as 9/11 happens. When they can't deal with what's occurring in real life, the three boys skip class together and bond over comic books and movies instead.

From there, Johnny and Mike grow closer and end up forming a friendship. When Mike realizes that Johnny has his own "secret identity" like the superheroes he loves, the two become even closer. But in order for Johnny to truly open up about being gay, Mike has to figure out what's so special about the superheroes he loves, and why being invisible is the best superpower there can be.

Mike is new in school as a freshman and hasn’t really made friends yet. On September 11, 2001 the school is in turmoil and Mike ends up together with fellow freshmen Johnny and Ray. They skip school and go to Ray’s house to watch tv. Mike and Johnny seem to have more in common and Mike finds himself liking Johnny more and more. As the trio continue to skip they become better friends but Mike looks at Johnny as more than a friend and he finds that maybe Johnny is looking at Mike in the same way.

This was a very short story about three very different young men who find themselves together. Ray and Johnny were once neighbors and that’s how they had become friends. They had no problem adding Mike to the mix but from the start Mike felt something more for Johnny. Johnny wasn’t sure what it was he wanted but the comic books that the pair looked at was something they had in common and eventually comic were what brought them together on another level.

I found the story to be very touching and though provoking in that the three kids were trying to make sense of the world in general but especially after 9/11. To them it didn’t affect them too much but it was still there making them think.

A short but pretty sweet YA m/m story (kissing only) that I enjoyed.

Rating: 3 out of 5

three-stars

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Short Story Mini-Review: Snowbound with the CEO by Shannon Stacey

Posted November 3, 2013 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Adrian Blackstone built a million-dollar business with hard work and determination—and by remaining professional at all times. Denying his longtime attraction to his beautiful executive assistant hasn’t been easy but it’s necessary. She’s indispensable, and he can’t stand the thought of losing her if things didn’t work out.

For more than a year, Rachel Carter has been quietly dreaming of all the ways she’ll never seduce her sexy, buttoned-up boss. She’s worked too hard to get where she is to cross that line, no matter how badly she’d like to act on her fantasies. But then a wicked snowstorm leaves them stranded in a romantic winter wonderland…

What begins as a single kiss and a few bad Santa jokes turns into a weekend full of breathless passion and hopes for something more. But with Monday comes a return to their complicated reality—and Adrian must prove that promises made are promises kept, especially at Christmastime.

Adrian has wanted his secretary, Rachel, in his bed for the past 16 months. He knows that that is the worst idea he’s ever had so he stays on a professional level with her and has never given her any hint that he has these thoughts.

Rachel has had the hots for her boss, Adrian for months. She knows that it’s a bad idea so even when they’re traveling together she never gets to comfortable with the man for fear that she’ll let things slide.

On one such travel trip the pair gets snowed in. One thing leads to another and the next thing you know Rachel and Adrian are hot and heavy in their hotel room. Even when the roads open the pair decide to stay the weekend and keep the fling going. When Monday comes along though neither is prepared for seeing each other at the office and what might have been a great romance for both of them gets squashed down with work and feelings of uncertainty.

This was a short story that was cute, fun and sexy. The story had all of the wonderful Shannon Stacey writing wrapped up in a Christmastime romance. There was a tiny bit of angst and misunderstanding but it wasn’t enough to bog the story down with sadness. If you want a fun Christmas read that has bad jokes and mistletoe this is definitely one you shouldn’t miss.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Shannon Stacey 

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