Grace's Reviews > Charmed and Dangerous

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Short stories are hard. They're completely different from full-length novels, a fact that 99% of m/m romance authors apparently cannot grasp. I might have t stop reading anthologies because I'm really sick of being disappointed. Authors: DO NOT participate in a short story anthology if you can't do short stories or trying to shoe-horn in a promotion for your next book or if the short story cannot be read on it's own and enjoyed without knowledge of your previous works. All that ends up doing is really disappointing readers, many f which may be BRAND NEW to your writing. There are several authors in here that I've enjoyed before, and if this was my first introduction to their writing, I would not bother to read anything else by them. Writing shitty half-assed short stories can actually harm you--it's better to just pass on the opportunity if you haven't actually worked on refining your ability to tell a story in few words. /rant over/ Now on to the reviews, LOL

Rhys Ford - Dim Sum Asylum
3 stars. I liked the setting/set-up, and the writing pulled me in, but this very much felt like the first couple of chapters of a longer novel and then it seemed as if the author realized it was a short story and tried to shoe-horn in some relationship development that made zero sense and moved way too quickly. Taking a look, it actually looks like the author has expanded this into a full novel, which feels like it was their plan for the start and kind of annoying in a short story anthology.

Ginn Hale - Swift and the Black Dog
4 stars. I really loved the premise of this one--child war heroes set a decade or two after they saved the world and showing the sort of gritty aftermath of that. I honestly thought it was SO fascinating and could have very much read an entire book set in this 'verse. Though I did feel like the story felt very well contained in this short story format, I did think there was a lot of world-building and backstory here. Overall I think the author managed to convey the information really well, but given the amount of it, there were definitely times I felt a little confused and where I think a longer novel that could have taken time to expand would have worked well.

KJ Charles - A Queer Trade
4 stars. Read this one outside of the anthology, but including my original thoughts here. I really liked this one! I really just adore this verse, and these new characters were interesting and had some great chemistry. It definitely flew by, and while I'd love to read more in this verse (I've already got Rag and Bone queued up!) I thought the pacing here was decent. Some novellas read like they're overly ambitious for the short length they aim for, but I thought this one had a satisfying flow.

Nicole Kimberling - Magically Delicious
2 stars. Something about this world felt familiar, and I had a feeling I'd read a short story set in this verse in Irregulars, which I did! Though it's been long enough that it just sort of tugged at my brain. Overall I do feel like this felt like the continuation of a series/previous book in that it seemed to be kind of light on trying to get the readers emotionally invested in the characters, as if the author expected you to already know and love them. Which, if you don't, made for kind of a bland read.

Jordan Castillo Price - Everyone's Afraid of Clowns
2 stars. And that is coming from somebody who has read and enjoyed the main series with these characters. I think if you weren't already familiar with this one, it would be even duller.

Jordan L. Hawk - The Thirteenth Hex
3.5 stars. I really liked the world-building and magical theory stuff in the one, and the over-all premise was pretty interesting. The relationship stuff didn't grab me quite as much, but it was still generally enjoyable.

Charlie Cochet - The Soldati Prince
1.5 stars. This actually started out pretty decent as far as this author's work goes, but quickly devolved into random insta-love. Writing, as expected with this author, wasn't super great, the king dude was an asshole the entire time, and the climax and ending were super rushed. Maybe could have been halfway decent if the author had time to flesh the world/characters/relationships out, but not sure even that would have been enough.

Lou Harper - One Hex Too Many
2.5 stars. Another one that started off really promising with a really interesting plot and characters, but the author just didn't make the best use of the short story length, at least as far as the relationship was concerned. I actually thought the case aspect was really well paced, but it was like the author forgot this was also supposed to be a romance and then at the very end the characters start banging OUT OF NOWHERE in a fade to black sex scene that literally ends the piece. There were a TON of hanging threads which makes me think this is the start of a series, though I'm not even sure that's the case. If I were just rating on the case aspect I'd go much higher, but the romance was o random and disappointing that it really drug it down.

Andrea Speed - Josh of the Damned vs. the Bathroom of Doom
2 stars. Again, clearly part of a greater series that I am unfamiliar with, which I think would have enhanced the experience. Definitely unique and some funny moment, but honestly really just crack fic, which isn't my favorite. Plus, no smut, which felt like a missed opportunity considering this was an established relationship and the smut wouldn't have felt random/rushed.

Astrid Amara - The Trouble With Hexes
3.5 stars. Good, solid pick to close out the anthology. The case was interesting, if a little simple, and the exes bit added nice tension. I do think they got back together a little too quickly/easily, but it's a short story, so I get it. I also would have preferred more resolution/aftermath in terms of what happens with the person who'd done the hex, since that was kind of a big bomb and I feel like the impact/implications were sort of handwaved away.