Depth Perception

by Rowena Sudbury

This is a Halloween Howl Free Story from Dreamspinner Press. Click on the gargoyle to get the story!

This was a limited edition that is no longer available at Dreamspinner Press.

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Short Stories, Halloween

13 pages, ebook

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

Rowena Sudbury lives in southern California with her husband, son, and their wonderful rescue dog. Her love of reading was born in the fifth grade, and she began writing soon after that. Writing has always been her passion and escape from the real world.

Rowena finds herself thinking through the minds of her characters quite often, to the point that she always has to carry a small journal with her so she can capture their thoughts and weave them into stories when she gets home.

Visit Rowena's blog at http://rowenasudbury.livejournal.com/ and e-mail her at rowenasudbury@gmail.com.

Reviews

[L-D · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was part of Dreamspinners Halloween Howl free download promotion.

This was a VERY short story. I have to stress that because in just a handful of pages, Rowena Sudbury jammed in a lifetime of angst. Man did this short make me ANGRY. I was so seriously pissed at Shane, one of the MCs, I just wanted to punch him. This is a heart-breaker but I give it 5 stars for eliciting a tremendous amount of emotion in such a short time frame. Shane is TSTL, but amazingly enough, I would read a full novel about these two characters and submit myself to a few hundred pages of this angst just to see what could happen next.

Kudos Rowena for making me despise one of your characters, want to shelter and protect the other one, and want to read this story as a full length novel after only about 5 pages of reading.

[Vio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Lan-Dinh's review that just about covers how I feel. I am so frigging mad with Shane and Micah, even though you only get a little snippet into their life this was captivating and interesting. I was totally into it and then it was all snatched cruelly away from me with that ending. The only thing that would soothe my pain and anger is a full length novel so I can find out what happens next. But since this is a Bittersweet Dreams Title (I wish I knew that before I read it) I don't think I am going to get my wish. I really hope the author considers giving us a sequel with some semblance of a happy ending.

[Deeze · Rating 4 out of 5]

This packs a dose of emotion into a few short pages. Micah a sweetie you want to hug and mother and Shane a hard ass self centred prick you want to smack. But even so I still feel Shane has a chance to be redeemed, if only the author would write his full story.

Maybe if enough people review and ask she will give us a sequal or better yet a full length story with these characters lol.

I do find myself wondering though why write such a short story if its not a trailer to a longer book due out later?

[Nikyta · Rating 4 out of 5]

For such a short story (8 pages of actual story) it holds a lot of punch. I loved it, I really did. I want to know more about these two because Micah is so heartbreaking and Shane is such a dick! But I want them to have that happy ending. I hate bittersweet stories because they seriously fuck with my fantasy of that happily ever after that I read books for! I won't read them willingly but once I do read them I end up loving them but I always end up sad in the end. This one left me sad but somewhat triumph because Micah got to pull one on Shane and show he's not a coward and that was a seriously awesome moment. Still, I really liked this short and I hope we get to see Shane and Micah get their happy endings one day. Preferably with each other ^_^

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread on 5/11/13 - just as heartbreaking as the first time. Dammit, I need their follow-up.


Lahn was right. This packed a whallop in 12 or so pages. It's not often that I'm dying for a fleshed out version of a short, but this is an exception. I want their story. I want their motivations. I want some happiness. I want Micah to get his puppy Dammit.

Thanks for the recommendation.

[Ro]

BITTERSWEET DREAMS. Hated it! I won't rate it because that's not fair, I would never have read it had I known what it was. It is the breaking of a loving spirit, in only several pages.

[Rachel Emily]

:( I wish there had been a warning about this one...

[Pia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the many Halloween Howl stories from DSP only a handful stood out. This was definitely one of better stories. It's not your traditional M/M sappy romance for sure, and normally I can't stand the pining ex-boyfriend angle, but for this story, Sudbury made me care about Micah and what he was going through, and the ending suited both characters well. Thank you, Ms. Sudbury, for a good free read.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another not-necessarily-Halloween story, it's almost heart-breakingly sad as two ex-lovers meet at a party. It shows the meeting from both perspectives, making it all the more painful to watch. I want there to be more of these two so they can get there happy ending.

Be sure to check out my other reviews on my blog.

[blub · Rating 4 out of 5]

Way too short!!! I hope there's going to be a extended version or a sequel. I felt awful for Micah and by the end of the 8 pages I was ready to put on my gloves and beat Shane for all the pain and heartache he caused. He practically destroyed Micah and after having one last go with him. The jerk, ugh...

[OkayKim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have given it a higher rating if there's a sequel somewhere!

[Rowena Sudbury]

Fair warning, this is a Bittersweet Dreams story ;)

Added on October 31, 2011: Happy Halloween!!!

For more information about this story, please click here! Thanks!

[melek · Rating 5 out of 5]

What just happen why did shane break micah heart why... Not very happy about this at all. But Maybe might chance my mind if they find their happiness can only hope it was still a very lovely heartbreaking story...

[Don Bradshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good bittersweet story. Shane had it all with Micah until he threw it all away. Micah is devastated and while Shane wants Micah back it's not going to happen.