And to All a Good Night by Kaje Harper

TITLE: And to All a Good Night
AUTHOR: Kaje Harper
PUBLISHER: Amazon
LENGTH: Short story
GENRE: Gay holiday romance
COST: Free

It’s Tony and Mac’s first Christmas, but they don’t get to spend it together…

When the het story I’d picked to review for today turned out be less than engaging, I decided to hell with my usual schedule and picked up this free short that follows up to the novel I reviewed yesterday. It’s currently free on Amazon, and follows a few months after the end of Life Lessons. Tony and Mac are still meeting in secret, though Mac spends every night at Tony’s apartment. Tony has to go home to Florida for Christmas, while Mac is hip-deep in police work, including a rather gruesome unsolved about an elderly man who died alone.

In a lot of ways, this is the anti-holiday story, melancholy in tone, separated heroes. Mac knows this is the way it has to be, but that doesn’t stop him from wishing otherwise. The same goes for Tony. Their relationship is fraught with all the tensions of something new, as well as the added issues of having to hide away. It’s real and gutsy, and therein lies the appeal here. This is all about loving these two guys and wanting to see how they’re handling their lives, the things they say to each other when the need is high. There’s a few info dumps about what has been going on that don’t read very smoothly, as well as some editorial glitches that hiccupped along the way, but I didn’t expect a whole lot from this self-published short. I wanted to spend time with Tony and Mac, and know they were going to be all right. That’s exactly what I got, with more than a few lovely moments to remember it by.

Readability	7/10 – Minor mistakes holds this back, though I love the guys enough not to mind too much
Hero #1	8/10 – His frustration bleeds through
Hero #2	8/10 – Caught in the prison of his creation, his angst is palpable
Entertainment value	7/10 – Though I loved this melancholy glimpse into their lives, it didn’t have quite the flow to get me deep into the story
World building	7/10 – It fills in holes, but I’m not convinced someone coming in cold would be able to understand the entire cast
TOTAL:	37/50

Lady's Minstrel by N.J. Walters

TITLE: Lady’s Minstrel
AUTHOR: N.J. Walters
PUBLISHER: Ellora’s Cave
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 10k)
GENRE: Historical erotic romance
COST: $2.49

For six years, Alicia has waited for her husband to return from the Crusades. In his absence, she’s done everything she can to preserve his keep, to help it flourish, so it’s strong when he comes home. Nobody she’s asked has been able to help her, so when a minstrel arrives asking questions about her and the keep, she fears the worst—that the king is about to marry her off to somebody else…

I knew going into this that based on its length and where it was published, the focus wouldn’t necessarily be on plot or world building. But in the end, I enjoyed this for reasons entirely separate from those.

Alicia has been waiting for her husband’s return from the Crusades for six years, running the keep in his absence. She’s done a good job of it, and over time, has become loved and treasured by the people she takes care of. When a minstrel arrives, asking questions about her and the keep, she fears that the king has decided it’s time to marry her off, regardless of the fact that no word has ever come about her husband, or maybe, because of it. Unwilling to show weakness, she summons the minstrel to get the answers she wants from him. If she doesn’t like them, she’ll send him along.

The blurb at EC’s website gives away more, so I guess I can’t be accused of spoiling if I say the minstrel is actually Alicia’s husband Reys. Therein lies the emotional tug of this story. Alicia has missed and mourned him all this time, faithful to his memory, foregoing her own needs in order to save as much money as possible in case she ever had to ransom for his release. Her grief is palpable, her devotion endearing, and through it all, she remains strong and graceful, likeable in a sweet sort of way. Her reunion with Reys is predictable, but the raw emotion from both of them—Reys has been tortured and missed her just as much—compensates greatly for that expectedness. I’ll admit I teared up a little as they each stripped down and bared themselves to the other for the first time in so many years. I believed in their love, even as short as this story is, and fell for the story in spite of its other shortcomings.

Because it’s not perfect. Reys is too romanticized to be much of anything but a stereotype, even though the tragic hints of what he went through would have been wonderful if the length had allowed them to be explored. Historical detail is glossed over, with just enough there to let the reader know it’s a historical, and doesn’t shine in anyway. The prose itself is simplistic, too, and while the first sex scene is hot, the latter is lost in the anguish that preceded it.

Is it for everybody? Probably not. Sticklers for historical detail will be disappointed, and the sex doesn’t stray too far from vanilla. But I felt for these two people deeply, and rejoiced in their reunion. When it comes to short story romances, sometimes that’s all you need.

Readability	8/10 – Simple and emotional, but exactly what I needed
Hero	6/10 – The bones of an amazing hero are there, but for a story of this length, he’s too romanticized to be much more of a type
Heroine	7/10 – Shows startling grace and strength that I eagerly responded to
Entertainment value	8/10 – The emotional tug of this is what got me
World building	5/10 – Only sketchy details to paint some background, that’s not the focus on this at all
TOTAL:	34/50

The One That Counts by Chrissy Munder

TITLE: The One That Counts
AUTHOR: Chrissy Munder
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 8.7k)
GENRE: Gay contemporary erotic romance
COST: $2.99

After his father’s death, Rob returns to the town where he grew up with his partner to see the family business one last time. While there, he reminisces about his first time, an experience he’s never shared before…

I’ve heard good things about Chrissy Munder, but nothing has ever really jumped out at me to try except this short. I’ve had it for a while, but after reading a different Dreamspinner book that just left me too frustrated to properly review, I needed something short if I wanted to get anything at all posted today. So I finally got around to reading this, and while I’m not convinced she’s worth autobuying, it was definitely a pleasant read.

Rob’s father has recently died, leaving behind the family business, a Laundromat, to him and his sister. He goes to see it one last time, and when his partner David surprises him with a key to get in, they enter. He’s immediately assaulted with memories, so as the conversation shifts along, he decides to share the story of his first time. It took place the summer after his first year in college, after his mother had a heart attack but before she passed along. He was working at the Laundromat part-time and already feeling the pressure about being different than he was in high school. The current object of his fascination is a stranger who keeps coming in. Eventually, Rob gets his chance to learn more about him.

While uncomplicated, there’s a certain quaint charm about this short story that turns it from something sweet but forgettable into something a little bit more. The prose is a small step above the norm, albeit a bit romanticized, with descriptions that help bring the Laundromat to life. The men are painted well, too, and I especially appreciated that they seemed more like real physical types rather than romantic heroes. Since the story is told primarily from Rob’s POV, he benefits the most in terms of characterization. His nineteen-year-old self is refreshingly awkward and earnest without being grating, and honestly, more interesting than his current incarnation. David doesn’t stand out as much, but the last chapter told from his perspective helps to round him out a little bit, again with making character choices that veer more toward realistic than romanticized.

I’m not exactly chomping at the bit to go and read this author’s backlist, but having a pleasant experience this first time out of the gate certainly helps when I consider future releases.

Readability	8/10 – Rather charming in its descriptions, with easy, natural dialogue
Hero #1	7/10 – I loved his flashback self, so real and awkward
Hero #2	6/10 – Doesn’t jump out as much as Rob, but the last portion from his POV helps tremendously
Entertainment value	7/10 – A charming, easy story with a ring of authenticity
World building	7/10 – The Laundromat jumped out, but I wasn’t aware that it took place in Michigan until the end when the reference to the UP took me by surprise
TOTAL:	35/50

Becoming the Spoils by J.L. Merrow

TITLE: Becoming the Spoils
AUTHOR: J.L. Merrow
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 7k)
GENRE: Gay paranormal erotic romance
COST: $1.49

When he decides to investigate vampires, journalist Frank finds himself in a bit of a pickle when he gets himself thrown into a basement with a hungry, but hot, vamp…

I’ve had some mixed reactions to some of this author’s work, but one thing I can usually count on is strong writing. That’s the foundation for this short but charming story about a journalist who decides he wants to investigate vampires, only to get picked up and thrown into a locked basement with one that hasn’t fed properly in a while.

Told in 1^st person, this is a quirky little tale about Frank and Victor, and how they manage to survive not only each other but their temporary imprisonment. Frank is smart alecky and fun. His voice carries the story through, the humor strong and quick. I’m hard-pressed to say much more about him, though, as this is a tale meant for a good laugh rather than anything deep and meaningful. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, but with Victor rather lacking in the personality department, it meant the only thing I remembered about this short a few hours later was the ending.

It’s sensual when it needs to be, but even the sex plays into the humor more than eroticism. It’s also more than a little quirky as a result. I have the feeling that if it had been longer, I would’ve had much less difficulty remembering more than I did. But standing on its own like this, there’s just not enough for me to sink my teeth into.

Readability	8/10 – Quick and engaging
Hero #1	7/10 – Charming with a sense of humor
Hero #2	5/10 – Entertaining, but the focus is on the narrator
Entertainment value	6/10 – Amusing, but a few hours after I’d finished it, I couldn’t even remember exactly what it was about
World building	5/10 – Not bad for such a short story, the primary focus is on the humor and narrator, though
TOTAL:	31/50

Iodine by C.L. Hilbert

TITLE: Iodine
AUTHOR: C.L. Hilbert
PUBLISHER: Drollerie Press
LENGTH: Short story/novella
GENRE: Futuristic fantasy
COST: $2.99

Wolf has one mission in life – to find Red. In a world gone wrong, where humans have been driven underground, where mutations are common and life is dark, it’s the only thing that keeps him going. Even as he realizes, she’s hunting him in return…

Though I often start with a plot summary, it’s almost pointless in this case. This is a reworking of the fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, set in an apocalyptic future where humans are barely surviving underground. Wolf is a bounty hunter of sorts, and Red a technical genius, armed and dangerous. He’s been on the hunt for her for years, but she eludes him at every pass. Things start turning around for him, though, until he realizes that she is deliberately leading him down an unknown path, one littered with the tortured memories of their mingled pasts. He could give it up, but what’s the point? She’s become the sole reason for his existence, and he’ll die before he lets her get away for real.

I can’t give an exact word count on this to help judge the length, but it’s not long, short-story length or at most, a short novella. But there is a lot crammed into so few words – an apocalyptic world that bleeds and glows with descriptions that I could practically taste, a broken protagonist more tortured and twisted than I’ve read in a long time. It paints a future both grim and terrifying, and does so with razor-like precision. In fact, it’s the prose that is really the biggest selling point of this short. Phrasing like, …the terminal cynicism carved in the lines of his face could crush cities, and ...the silk whispered over his skin like acid through rock, soothing and searing, catching sweet kisses on his calluses, stole my breath away, keeping me enraptured with what was going on even when I had absolutely no idea what was happening. Questions upon questions tumbled together, though not all of them got answered. I didn’t care. Even when I sat staring at the ending, wondering how I was going to interpret it, I didn’t care.

But that’s the story’s primary weakness. As interesting as this reworking is, there are so many loose ends left dangling that a reader who doesn’t like them will finish feeling unfulfilled. Even the ending has the problem, because I could see it being interpreted in more than one way. This lack of definitive answers was annoying, that’s for sure, but I loved Wolf’s complexity and the author’s voice so much, I was willing to let it go. Do I wish this was longer and better explained? Oh, yes. At the same time, I wonder if I would have overloaded on the world’s darkness. It might have reached a saturation point that made it intolerable; it’s that grim. Lucky for me, the story is short enough not to outstay its welcome. This will be one I’m thinking about for a long time to come.

Readability	9/10 – Love this author’s gritty, visceral voice
Characterization	8/10 – Wolf is utterly fascinating, broken and driven, though I have an abundance of questions by the end
Plot	7/10 – It’s a simplistic chase sequence, but with enough twists to keep me guessing all the way to the end
Entertainment value	9/10 – In spite of the holes in the world building and my multitude of questions, I was absorbed by this all the way to the end
World building	7/10 – The nihilism of this futuristic world is an excellent backdrop, aided by the fantastic prose, but there are too many aspects left unexplained to really satisfy me completely
TOTAL:	40/50

The Vampire's Madam by L. Rosario

TITLE: The Vampire’s Madam
AUTHOR: L. Rosario
PUBLISHER: Wild Rose Press
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 8k)
GENRE: Paranormal erotic romance
COST: $2.00

A madam of a high-end brothel in London, Janna has been infatuated with one of her regulars for the entire two-and-a-half years he’s been coming to her business. Not once in all that time has she offered to service him herself, but after she witnesses a particularly torrid night with one of her girls, she decides that she’ll allow no other girl in her employ to give him what he needs – her blood…

Finding an excellent short story in the romance genre is difficult, mostly because authors usually prove too ambitious within the story’s parameters. This one is yet another that falls woefully short.

The story takes place in Victorian London, in a high-end brothel run by the half-Welsh/half-Indian beauty, Janna. Janna has been shunned by society her entire life because of the color of her skin, and takes great pride in running one of the most successful establishments in the city. The only thing keeping her from true satisfaction is seeing the man she lusts after come into her business every Wednesday night and going off with one of her girls instead of her. After two and a half years, she gives in to the voyeuristic desire to see what’s going on and discovers that the gorgeous Hugh de Troyes is actually a vampire. She decides then and there that no other woman in her employ will see to his needs. She can give him everything he desires.

If this story had stuck to being erotica, it just might have worked. The set-up is a little trite, but the heat in the voyeuristic first third was sufficient to hint at how explosive the rest of it could be. However, it doesn’t settle for that. Instead, it attempts to be a meaningful historical/paranormal/romance on top of the erotica, and in the space of just less than eight thousand words, it just didn’t succeed. What’s meant to be romantic declarations of unending love come across as just silly. Hugh is a six-hundred year old vampire who claims to have been alone all this time, and that Janna is the one for him. Seriously. They’re making vows to spend eternity together with barely any time at all to get to know either one of them, let alone the fact that Janna really knows very little about the vampire’s current life, only what she’s gleaned from history books. History we’re told about toward the end of the story as if it actually has time to mean anything by that point. It’s one big information dump that feels irrelevant to the rest of the story except to justify expecting readers to buy into the “romance” part of it.

It didn’t work. It pulled me even further out of the story. The sex ends up mired in all this melodrama and clumsy writing, Hugh and Janna become little more than flat figures trying to fit into the niches the author has created, and the story itself is uninspiring.

Readability	7/10 – Hot when it had to be, but mostly just inoffensive
Hero	4/10 – Hints of appeal before the story derailed
Heroine	4/10 – Mostly just really horny
Entertainment value	3/10 – It can’t decide what it wants to be and ends up being schizophrenic as a result
World building	5/10 – Some details are described, but most of it’s either relayed in conversation or glossed over completely
TOTAL:	23/50

Afterlife by Natalie J. Damschroder

TITLE: Afterlife
AUTHOR: Natalie J. Damschroder
PUBLISHER: Amber Quill
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 14k)
GENRE: Paranormal erotica
COST: $4.00

A parachuting jump goes wrong, and Chloe finds herself in the afterlife, facing a choice. She’s been given the opportunity to spend eternity with her True Love. The only problem, she has three of them, and now she has to choose…

Adventurous Chloe goes parachuting, but when her chute malfunctions, she dies and finds herself in the afterlife. There, she’s told briefly how the afterlife works, and that she is fortunate enough to be part of those who have had a True Love. She gets to spend eternity with him now. The problem is, she’s had three of them – her high school bad boy sweetheart, the man she spent ten years of her life with in domestic comfort, and the one she flirted with but never followed through on. She has to choose and gets one day with each to help make up her mind. The days go as expected, meaning briefly getting reacquainted followed by sex. When she’s all done, however, she’s more confused than ever.

The possibility of how this might turn out lent a natural tension to the story as I read, but while that helps in making me rush through to the ending, it ended up distracting me sufficiently from enjoying the moment like Chloe was. Her three choices are very different. Brady was her high school sweetheart, the bad boy she left behind when she went to college, killed before she could return. Then there’s Eli, the man she lived with for ten years, until her miscarriage drove them apart. Finally, there’s Tristan, a man she flirted with when her relationship with Eli was on the decline but never actually slept with. Each offers something different to her, and did in the past as well when she had them in her life. She gets the chance to get a taste of each, but her constant uncertainty of what she’s going to do heightens the stress levels even when she’s supposedly at peace within the scenario. Because the question of what she’s ultimately going to choose hangs like the sword of Damocles over every aspect. By the time I got to the final chapter, I respected all three men and what they had meant for her, but had no clue how to go about committing to one. It’s all so very much wrapped up in who you are as a person and where you are in your life, the questions that are never answered for which you yearn for resolution. Everyone who reads this is likely to have a completely different take, simply because we’re all uniquely positioned when we pick up a story.

Though there’s a sex scene associated with each of the men, this is much more emotional erotica than sexual. That’s not to say it doesn’t get graphic because it does, but it works as well as it does because of the knotty feelings that are involved rather than heat of the moment. It does feel manipulative at times, but when you’re dealing with such complex feelings, that’s probably to be expected a little bit. Can I recommend this, then? I think it depends on what you’re looking for, to be honest. I didn’t check back with the publisher site before starting it and thought I was reading a romance. It’s not. It’s very much not. Some of the genre expectations I have from that ended up diminishing my overall reaction to the story. On the other hand, there’s some real feelings generated by it, and the characters are well-rounded and believable. It does have the use of a miscarriage to generate emotional conflict, so if this is a trigger issue, it might be worth skipping because of that, but otherwise, go into it with open eyes and you might be rewarded.

Readability	8/10 – Clean, unassuming, but much of the same tempts me to skim
Erotica	7/10 – More about the emotions than the sex, which makes a nice change
Characterization	8/10 – Surprisingly differentiated and believable
Entertainment value	7/10 – Expecting a different genre as I was reading altered my expectations enough to diminish my appreciation of the work as a whole
World building	6/10 – Within scenes, rather lovely; as a greater whole, I needed more answers
TOTAL:	36/50

Ice Around the Edges by Mary Calmes

TITLE: Ice Around the Edges
AUTHOR: Mary Calmes
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 13k)
GENRE: Gay contemporary erotic romance
COST: $2.99

While working at the shelter he runs, Evan gets shot, but the biggest surprise of all comes after the doctors have stitched him up. His ex, the very first man he ever loved, has shown up at the hospital, wanting to try again. But Evan hasn’t forgotten how or why they broke up the first time, and no amount of Christmas spirit is going to change his mind…

Color me silly, but I kind of like reading Christmas stories in July. It’s easier to get an objective opinion about them without being subjected to all the nostalgia of the season. A lot of times, they don’t hold up beyond being holiday fare, and while this one lacks any kind of depth or sense of character to make it truly memorable, I still found myself enjoying it.

The plot is a simple one. After good guy Evan gets shot, his ex Dixon shows up at the hospital. The pretense is to see how Evan is doing, but since they haven’t seen each other in almost a decade, Evan doesn’t buy it. Dixon soon confesses he wants another chance, that he’s never stopped loving Evan, but Evan isn’t buying it. Dixon is determined to take him home for Christmas, however, and how he goes about convincing Evan drives the rest of the story.

Though I’ve seen this author recommended all over the place, I’ve never been interested enough in any of the blurbs or excerpts I’ve seen to give her a go. This one, while predictable and somewhat trite, seemed like a safer bet. It’s short, I reasoned, so if I hate it, it’s not much lost. Well, I didn’t hate it, but I wonder if there would be enough for me in one of her longer works. The voice in this is highly simplistic and primarily dialogue-driven. While I don’t have anything against it – I certainly had a smile on my face when I finished this – I also know that in longer works, it tends to work in reverse for me. I need a little more meat to what I read, and stories with plots and prose as thin as this rarely cut it.

The characters are nice enough guys, though Evan seems more three-dimensional than Dixon. He often describes Dixon in ways that don’t seem like the character I’m seeing at all. That’s another drawback to this particular voice. I’m told a lot of what I’m supposed to know about the characters rather than shown it. It’s shorthand for actual character development, and mildly frustrating in the long run. However, Evan behaves in what I would consider a mature, realistic way, not initially believing Dixon in spite of the support he brings in to back him up. He put up just enough of a fuss for me to buy his eventual switch, which ultimately makes the ending sweeter. It might not be the most original or memorable story, but I did end it feeling emotionally satisfied. For a holiday short story, that’s pretty much all anybody can ask for.

Readability	7/10 – Dialogue driven and very simple, but relatively clean
Hero #1	7/10 – Shows reasonable reluctance in allowing ex back into life
Hero #2	6/10 – Sweet, but I didn’t see much of the personality Evan described
Entertainment value	7/10 – For what it is, a sweet, unchallenging holiday romance
World building	3/10 – It’s dialogue and character driven. Other than knowing it was supposed to be Chicago, I knew nothing.
TOTAL:	30/50

Getting Even with Warren by Wynter Daniels

TITLE: Getting Even with Warren
AUTHOR: Wynter Daniels
PUBLISHER: Ellora’s Cave
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 15k)
GENRE: Contemporary erotic romance
COST: $2.49

At the funeral of her much older husband, Macy meets his oldest son for the first time, the biracial Alex. Attraction sparks between them, and both think sleeping together is the perfect way to get back at the man who did wrong by both of them…

Though she left her husband a month before his death, Macy Halstead must still attend his funeral for the sake of appearances. There, she has to sit and watch all his mistresses mourn for the man. The only person who attracts her attention in a positive way is Alex, her husband’s oldest son. The product of an affair, Alex has always believed he wasn’t as good in his father’s eyes as his half-brothers because of the color of his skin, and has resented the man his entire life. He’s attracted to the latest widow, as well as intrigued by how young she is. They come to agree almost at the same time – albeit to themselves at first – that sleeping with the other is the perfect revenge on Warren. If they get fantastic sex out of it, too, all the better.

And that’s what a good part of this story is. Sex comprises almost half of its word count, with conflict generated out of the blue and then disregarded paragraphs later. If that’s all you’re looking for, I suppose it works, but for me, I need to at least feel the attraction first. I didn’t here. I could see why Macy was attracted to Alex – from his description, he sounds hot – but she lacks any kind of personality or enticing description to make me understand why he feels so connected to her so quickly. Without feeling that connection myself, it became a chore to read sex scene after sex scene, in a voice that, while clean and rather unobtrusive, didn’t engage me either. This sex should’ve been charged with so much emotion – his anger, her anger, their sublimated desires – and it fell far short of reaching that. It’s a victim of too much. In this case, too much sex completely obliterated any impact the story might have generated because it didn’t give the characters enough time to come to life outside of their orgasms.

Readability	7/10 – Nothing wrong with it, but never really engaged me either, it felt a lot longer than 15k
Hero	4/10 – By the numbers and flat
Heroine	4/10 – Other than her disdain for her dead husband’s philandering, I never understood what was so special about her
Entertainment value	3/10 – Without being able to engage in either leads, it was just one sex scene after another
World building	4/10 – No attempts are made, and since when do cameramen have secretaries?
TOTAL:	22/50

The Stolen Warrior by Anastasia Rabiyah

TITLE: The Stolen Warrior
AUTHOR: Anastasia Rabiyah
PUBLISHER: Sugar and Spice Press
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 15k)
GENRE: Fantasy erotic romance
COST: $3.99

Hessa is a slave owned and branded by the Omi House, but her scarred face keeps her to hard labor rather than as a pleasure slave. As she’s delivering food to the men used to fight in the pits for the enjoyment of the masses, one in particular grabs her attention when he asks for her help in escaping. Attracted to a man for the first time in her life, she opts to do what she can, though considering how little power she actually has, she’s not sure how she’s going to do it…

The first short story I read by this author got to me on a gut level. I was hoping for a repeat of that experience, but unfortunately, it never quite materialized.

Hessa Omi is a branded slave, scarred at a young age. The marring of her beauty makes her unfit for being a pleasure slave so instead she works hard labor. One of her jobs is feeding the imprisoned pit fighters. A select group who have survived are waiting to be used to breed more fighters, and Hessa is drawn to one in particular. He introduces himself as Gunnar, an air singer from a distant island, and asks for her aid in escaping. She initially says no, since she has no idea how to get him out anyway, but she can’t stay away from him, and when an opportunity arises to do as he requests, she grabs it.

For a short story, a lot actually happens in this, which ultimately proves to be its greatest weakness. There’s too much story going on to make it fleshed out enough to enjoy. It’s a fantasy world that only gets a minimal amount of building, with a heroine that is a passive archetype (outside of her one act to help Gunnar escape). Many of the events that occur happen around Hessa, and the changes that come do so at the behest of other characters instead of her own actions (again, with the single exception of the key to their escape). It makes her very dull as a result, and I never understood why Gunnar would be willing to trust in her…except, oh yeah, he prayed and then she showed up and he just knew she was the one. It’s completely circumstantial and uninteresting, as well as flattens any depth he might have otherwise had.

The potential of the story never fully appeared. It’s not overly erotic, so it doesn’t appeal on that level, the heroine is too passive for me to really root for her, and the hero so two-dimensional I didn’t have the romance to latch onto, either. Disappointing, though I haven’t given up on this author yet.

Readability	7/10 – Not the cleanest, and some telling instead of showing, but swift and mildly intriguing
Hero	5/10 – He’s a figure more than a person, I kept expecting more depth
Heroine	4/10 – A victim of circumstance, except for her big moment in the middle she has things done to her rather than instigates change for herself
Entertainment value	5/10 – I kept waiting for the potential of the story to play out, but it didn’t really come
World building	6/10 – Not nearly enough explanation or detail to do more than hint at the promise of the fantasy world
TOTAL:	27/50

Make Mine Midnight by Annmarie McKenna

TITLE: Make Mine Midnight
AUTHOR: Annmarie McKenna
PUBLISHER: Samhain
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 15k)
GENRE: Contemporary menage erotic romance
COST: $2.50

Erotic romance author Claire hasn’t had nearly all the experiences she’s written about. So when two hunky guys seem interested in her at her best friend’s New Year’s Eve party, she decides to throw caution to the wind. The thing is, the guys aren’t strangers. Hunter and Mason have been in love with Claire since high school, and now that they’ve outgrown their gawky stage, they’re ready to show Claire everything she’s been missing…

This book has been sitting on my TBR for quite a while. I bought it before I changed my personal rules about what I was willing to pay for, and actually helps cement my conviction to stick with those from now on. The rule in question? Don’t buy books with heroines as romance authors.

The plot is simple. Plain Jane Claire is at her best friend’s New Year’s Eve party when a hunky guy begins checking her out. Then his friend is checking her out, too. They ask her for a dance, at which point reveal they knew her in high school, when they were computer geeks and nobodies. They’ve filled out nicely since then and both men are determined to finally have Claire the way they always wanted. She takes them back to her place for a night of fantastic sex, then wakes up convinced it was all a dream. But of course, it wasn’t.

It’s pure fantasy and shouldn’t be read in any context of realism whatsoever. The characters are all types rather than individuals, slotted into the appropriate place in bed to try and make this as painless and hot as possible. Claire doesn’t buy her own attraction, the guys went from zero to hero and are now the perfect men, and so on and so on. It’s all been done before, and better. Not even the sex is enough to save this, especially with the attempt at drama right near the end that gets resolved almost as quickly.

I must admit, I don’t understand the appeal of authors as heroines. Every time I see a blurb like that – which is at least a couple times a week, it is so overdone – I automatically think it’s fantasy material for the author. And placing the author into the story is incredibly uncomfortable. I don’t want to do it. I don’t want it even hinted at. But this book in particular makes it hard not to, when the heroine’s voice is so casual and conversational (and really tries too hard as it strives for that) and she shares things in common with the author. Like I said, I’ve changed my policy about buying them. I’m not sure I’d even buy an autobuy author who did it. I probably should have filed this one away as unread and trusted that I’d made the right choice by skipping it. Lesson learned.

Readability	7/10 – Clean but boring with a casual voice that tries too hard
Menage	4/10 – Complete fantasy
Characterization	3/10 – Stereotypes to play into the fantasy
Entertainment value	3/10 – The sex wasn’t hot enough to counter how unbelievable the rest of it was
World building	4/10 – There’s not enough room or development for any of this
TOTAL:	21/50

The Knight by Anna Leigh Keaton

TITLE: The Knight
AUTHOR: Anna Leigh Keaton
PUBLISHER: Cobblestone Press
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 7.5k)
GENRE: Contemporary menage erotica
COST: $2.99

The Pleasure Club satisfies sexual fantasies. Gwen’s is to live the fantasy of her name’s heritage – by having Arthur and Lancelot fighting for her favor…

After my harrowing last read, I wanted pure fluff and escapism. A short about a King Arthur fantasy seemed like the perfect choice.

The plot is simple. Gwen was named after her mother’s obsession, but at a young age, gave up relationships for academic and then professional advancement. Now, at thirty-one, she wonders if she let too much slip her by. She learns about the Pleasure Club by accident, and on a whim, checks them out. She ends up signing up for the only fantasy she can think of - two knights battling for her favor in Camelot. When she arrives at the arranged site, she finds a kingly Arthur and a bad boy Lancelot waiting for her.

I wanted fluff, I got it. This is pure erotica, its goal solely to give Gwen a sexual adventure of her dreams. There’s no HEA, no attempt at an HEA, and it finishes with her happy walk into the sunset (or middle of the night, as the case may be). She gets hunky and devoted husband Arthur ravishing her with his mouth, only to be interrupted by the dark and dangerous Lancelot. Attracted to the bad boy, she goads him into winning his fight, and he sets out to handle her far more roughly than the more genteel Arthur. At least until Arthur steps in and two become three. It’s easy and uncomplicated, a balm to my frazzled nerves from the horror I’d just read. I didn’t have to think, which is a good thing because there’s no attempt at depth here. Gwen is relatable, and if the two men are fantasy figures, well, that’s what they’re supposed to be.

This might not be anything deep or soul-searching, or even something I’ll remember much about a few months from now, but it was exactly what I needed to get over the hump created by my last read. I would like to know, though, does anybody actually find the word “anus” sexy? I fail to understand why authors use it in sex scenes. I know it’s anatomically correct, but it evokes decidedly unsexy images. At least for me.

Readability	7/10 – Occasional word choices are not sexy to me, but the read is smooth and harmless
Erotica	6/10 – I’ve read hotter, but it works well in portions
Characterization	6/10 – The men are fantasy figures, but Gwen has a relatable quality that rises above them
Entertainment value	7/10 – I needed the almost innocent fantasy of this after the horror novel I finished
World building	7/10 – For a fantasy, I would have believed it, too
TOTAL:	33/50

Night Haven by Fiona Jayde

TITLE: Night Haven
AUTHOR: Fiona Jayde
PUBLISHER: Samhain
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 12k)
GENRE: Paranormal erotic romance
COST: $2.50

Bloodwolf Dina can’t get the vampire she should’ve killed out of her mind. But three months after she kissed him, her blood still goes hot at the sight of him…

The allure of this short story is not the plot. It rests in the author’s voice, one I am increasingly coming to love. Bloodwolf Dina has one purpose – to kill vampires. But when she comes face to face with the one she made out with three months earlier, she finds herself unable to do it, and worse, unable to shift into her wolf form, either. Vampire Luke lacks the courage to kill himself, but he can’t stand what he’s become, either, devoting his existence to his art and to saving humans when they ask for help. Neither can get the other out of his/her head. Neither really wants the other there, either.

To say anything more would end up telling the whole story, and when it’s this short, it’s just not worth it. Dina makes a fine heroine, strong and determined not to let her brokenness get in her way, though Luke is the stereotypical vampire who hates his existence and feels the need to atone. The world building leaves a lot to be desired, because outside of a brief explanation of why the two species were created, there isn’t much sense of what else is going on, or how it all works. The pack scene, especially, feels hastily sketched in, lacking the crispness to make it all understandable.

But I don’t love this short for its characters or world building. I love it for the author’s voice and the sense of melancholy desperation that permeates every page. Both Dina and Luke are in this gray limbo until the other comes along, and they’re fighting it, Luke with his inertia, Dina with her blinders. I fell for the mood the author evoked long before I realized the types she was using to placehold her leads, which makes it much easier to tolerate the lack of originality. The uniqueness comes in the way she strings words together, to create pacing, to paint a mood. It was mesmerizing, and I have no qualms admitting that was what sucked me in.

Readability	8/10 – The pack scene had too many people and not enough distinction to make it interesting, but I love this author’s voice
Hero	6/10 – It’s the tortured vampire stereotype to the millionth degree
Heroine	7/10 – The broken glue that holds the story together
Entertainment value	9/10 – Somehow, in the midst of things I recognize drive me crazy, I tumbled for the mood of this
World building	6/10 – It leaves a lot of questions unanswered, and doesn’t adequately explain what it should, most likely due to its brevity
TOTAL:	36/50

Want Ad by Philippa Grey-Gerou & Emery Sanborne

TITLE: Want Ad
AUTHOR: Philippa Grey-Gerou & Emery Sanborne
PUBLISHER: Amber Heat
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 10k)
GENRE: Contemporary BDSM erotic romance
COST: $3.00

Stacia Lewis places an ad, looking for someone to explore bondage with her in a no-strings relationship. What she gets is a blind date with the bane of her professional existence, the antagonistic Will Sutton…

With short stories, it’s often hard to find much constructive to stay, especially when it’s essentially a single scenario that gets played out. In this case, we meet ad execs Stacia and Will, adversarial to the nth degree at work. Stacia loathes Will with a passion, from his attitude to his shallowness, but when he turns out to be her blind date for the ad she placed looking for someone to introduce her to bondage, she decides to go through with it rather than listen to him give her hell forever for being a chicken. Thus ensues the big bulk of the story, as he takes her upstairs and fulfills her desires.

As erotica, it’s not the lushest prose I’ve ever read, nor is it very original, but in spite of its rather terse quality, it has its own heat that makes the sex mostly work. The BDSM borders on too tasteful for me, though. He takes it very easy on her, starting with plain cuffs, moving to a simple spreader and a glass dildo. It all felt very restrained and proper. For such fiery temperaments outside of the bedroom, inside was a tad disappointing.

I didn’t like Will, though. I thought he was a jerk outside of the bedroom, and didn’t recognize him at all once they were behind closed doors. I kept waiting for this juxtaposition to be smoothed out or explained away or something, but it didn’t happen. Because of that, trying to believe in the ending was too hard. I would’ve had a much easier time of it if it had been left as erotica rather than attempting to find some sort of HFN.

Readability	8/10 – Simplistic but clean
Hero	4/10 – Too much of a jerk outside of the bedroom, I never saw the link or justification between his two different personas
Heroine	5/10 – Strong, but rather one-dimensional
Entertainment value	6/10 – The erotica was on the terse side but hot for what was there
World building	5/10 – Some attention is spent on their corporate world, but this is all about the sex
TOTAL:	28/50

Reverie by Dawn Kimberly Johnson

TITLE: Reverie
AUTHOR: Dawn Kimberly Johnson
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 11k)
GENRE: Gay paranormal erotic romance
COST: $2.99

When Jake begins dreaming about a hot young man, the last thing he expects is that the dreams might in some form be real…

Dreamspinner has a plethora of short works in its library, the result of its various theme sets that it publishes several times a year. Reverie was released as part of Dreamspinner’s Midsummer’s Nightmare set in 2010, stories featuring supernatural romance. Though thirty stories were released, I chose to pick up only three of them. This is the first of those three that I’ve read.

It’s a promising start. The story opens with Jake detailing a dream to his friend, about how he watched this couple make-out in a club, then watched them have sex. When the top pulled a blade to slit the bottom’s throat, Jake shouted to stop it and then woke up. The scene immediately jumps to a young man named Daniel, who is at the hospital because the man he’d picked up at the club tried to kill him. It quickly becomes obvious that Jake is somehow visiting Daniel while he’s asleep, and each man is intrigued by the possibility of the other’s existence.

The opening scene is the reason I bought this short. It’s what is provided as the excerpt on the publisher’s site, and frankly, Jake’s telling of the sexual aspect of the dream was hot as hell. Some of that hotness prevails during subsequent erotic portions of the story, but it never again reaches that same level for me. It’s a mild disappointment, but then again, it’s not what the story is really about. The supernatural element in this is quite casual and light, the focus on these two lonely, likable men hooking up with a country separating them. As characters, Jake and Daniel succeed in being appealing enough to help push me through rougher sections of the storytelling, and it’s because of the way I liked them that I ended the story bearing a smile.

There’s nothing earth-shattering about this short story at all. In fact, it’s probably one of those nibbles I’m likely to forget about in a week’s time. The author’s voice is unobtrusive and unassuming, and the characters too similar to other types to truly stand out. It suffers from rough transitions, too, jumping back and forth between them almost awkwardly, with few explanations and vague focus on anything that isn’t the two heroes’ characterizations. But in spite of all that, I enjoyed it. It works for what it is because it’s very hard not to care about these two men in this short space of time. Their happy ending matters, and I for one was glad to see it.

Readability	8/10 – Quick, easy, and unassuming
Hero #1	7/10 – Jake was a decent, everyday kind of guy, likable without being terribly memorable
Hero #2	7/10 – Oddly sweet
Entertainment value	7/10 – While it’s not a story that will linger too long, I enjoyed it enough to end with a smile on my face
World building	6/10 – The weakest aspect of the story, with some of the transitions and explanations on the vague side
TOTAL:	35/50