AUTHOR: Karen Erickson
PUBLISHER: Amber Quill Press (Amber Heat)
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 12k)
GENRE: Paranormal erotic romance
COST: $4.00
Romance novelist Amanda has been widowed for two years, retreating to a quiet country life for peace and privacy. Hearing howling at night has her writing a werewolf hero for the first time in her career, but when a naked man shows up on her porch, injured with nowhere to go, she takes him in to help him anyway, unaware that he’s a werewolf. The attraction between them is instantaneous, but with a rogue pack determined to kill Dane, indulging in it might be dangerous.
I’ve been reading a lot of short stories lately because of the busy time of year it is. Some of them have been not so good, while others are passable. Some of them read so fast, I wonder where the time has gone. This story was one of those.
The story itself is far from original. Romance novelist heroine? I’ve read three of those just in the past month. An alpha werewolf who’s found his mate? I’m not even touching that one. Yet, I was able to look past those devices in this story. The author’s prose is simple and sound, making it easier to lose time when she very effectively builds on her two characters’ UST. This isn’t a story where they fall into bed together in the first 1k. The author actually takes a little time within the story’s short construct to build the attraction between Amanda and Dane, enough so that I was able to enjoy it. Quite a bit, actually. Dane is very, very alpha, and the brief descriptions of Amanda’s reactions to him hooked me into wanting him, too.
One thing I’m not sure I understand is why authors feel the need to do HEAs on short stories. Frankly, I’d be happy with a happily for now if it meant the plot and emotional development wasn’t rushed. This need for an HEA ends up hurting more of these short stories than it helps, mainly because I’m usually left disbelieving that such a thing could actually happen in such a short time period, especially when the characters are meeting for the first time in the space of the story. If one or the both of them know the other before the story starts, that’s easier to believe and buy into. But for this reader, love might happen at first sight, but a lifetime together takes more than one night of amazing sex to succeed.
Still, this story works better than some others of its length, because the author commits to building the tension – very effectively – before allowing her characters to hop into bed together. It goes a little downhill from there, but thankfully, there isn’t much more after that. For a nibble, this was worth it.
| Readability | 8/10 – Simple and easy, I read this in one sitting. |
| Hero | 6/10 – I think the jump from shifters to humans as partners was too swift to be believable, but a nice alpha hero all the same |
| Heroine | 6/10 – Nothing too objectionable, but nothing all that memorable, either |
| Entertainment value | 7/10 – The UST in this made it worth it for me. |
| World building | 6/10 – I wanted to know more about the pack stuff, but for its brevity, it mostly worked. |
| TOTAL: | 33/50 |
4 comments:
I think that cover hurt the most.
He looks like a marmot.
Amber Quill covers are so hit and miss. If I shopped based purely on cover art, I don't know if I'd buy nearly as much from there as I do.
Now, the covers that hurt me the most are Changeling Press covers. I won't even go to the website anymore. I hate hate hate the computer-generated people, and 99% of the time won't even look at a Changeling Press book when I see it on an author's site. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
You are not missing much Changeling Press especially with the comments you made in this review. Their requirements and story limits put the author into this slap it together and give it an HEA situation.
There is a review I have been holding off of in which the author wrote for Ellora's Cave these great category style paranormals. I mean you could have taken out the werewolf parts and you would have had the typical plot line of an 80's Harlequin.
Now that might sound bad to some people but I loved it. It was sorta a paranormal homage to that style I loved growing up.
Anyway the author then stopped after two books which was also fine since it fit the story line. I read her new stuff on Changeling Press and it's like BLAH! There is no room for an author to really show a style or voice.
The authors who have left there to have their stories published on mainstream presses have usually filled them out fully they shine.
So Changeling Press is not a place to find really complete feeling purchases. Unless you want to buy 5 or 6 of the series and string it together in your mind into a full on book.
Your link came through on my website and I wanted to thank you for the kind review of my book. I appreciate it.
And yes my cover. I'm not going to say anything else but you should see my cover for my next book coming out with AQP. It's pretty hot! :)
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