Open Road #12
This was apparently Read All The Things week, because I went from 67 stories to 46. Most of the DNF ones are left unmentioned because we ain’t got time for that, and nearly all of them were short (which helps with reading so many in a week). It’s especially impressive because I also did a million and three things this week (give or take a million of them, but whatever). Maybe I can finish them all by April. Maybe even by March!
Genetic Redux by Kathryn Sparrow: DNF. The writing on this one wasn’t all that bad, but the premise wasn’t one that I could handle. Some aliens “attacked” Earth and took all the people from one island nation (a million) as “definitely not slaves” to help them re-boot their own race genetically. The MC spends a lot of time trying to ask about how it wasn’t slavery, which the aliens avoid answering, and I can’t parse out for myself. Especially since the Earthlings aren’t given a choice, and get a whole “We’re going to DIE without each and everyone of you” emotionally-manipulative guilt trip. Maybe it’s explained better in the second half? Certainly the MC was well on his way to a Stockholm Syndrome when I left.
Trapped by Kenzie Cade: Two espionage partners are going through a rough patch in their relationship, so their boss sends them to a couples’ retreat. And then life sends them a few more curve balls. Good, basic, not much on the spying, lots more on the partners secretly in love, fairly tasty UST.
Not Even Close by Lisa Oliver: DNF. I’ll freely admit that I barely know what I’m talking about, but this was supposed to be a demi-sexual story, meaning the MC didn’t feel sexual attraction to a person until they got to know them, but it read more like a person who had intentionally chosen to remain virgin until marriage in a sex-crazed society. So it was all “I’m demi-sexual, woe is me” one paragraph and “I had to hold my wolf back from going after him,” the next (where it is impossible to separate the wolf of werewolves from being an emotional metaphor). Which made it read far more like a moral struggle than a lack of initial sexual interest. If it hadn’t been for that clumsy execution, it might have been worth reading.
Tonight by Karen Stivali: This was a really hot story of a man falling for his older brother’s best friend, who is probably not gay. It was really hot, and had some great UST, and it’s not, you know, deep or anything, but is an awesome sort of beach-read (if you are somewhere that does beaches in February, that is). Not entirely certain it was the best choice for a bus read, since I was blushing and smirking most of the time, but that’s why I have a scarf; to hide my face.
Lifeboat by Rob Colton: A short and strange little heart-warming sci-fi story. Not much to say, but worth a read.
Eat Crow by Jacob Lagadi: Speaking of strange, this is a very strange shifter story. A crow-shifter is bound unwillingly to a bear-shifter by some legal stuff, although that’s a misleading summary. It’s…good, I guess? A sequel is needed, but I’d pass on it, if only for kink reasons ‘cuz that’s not my cup of tea.
Moondrop by Katey Hawthorne: This one has a ‘shifters’ tag, but at half-way through there were no shifters, only a wonderful, near-perfect little romance tale, and I was starting to worry how ruined it would be by the sudden reveal of said shifters. I shouldn’t have. It remained sweet and perfect and wonderful, with a only soft nuggaty, perfect center of shifters.
Vice and Exploitation by J.T. Hall: This was a menage story, which I like, but also a BDSM story, which I don’t. But actually, aside from the fact that I did skim the smut, I thought this was a very interesting read. There were two…not separate story lines, but two very different things that were occurring at the same time, and the author did a very good job of balancing them without ruining either one for the other (and without destroying the “reality” of the situation to make either happen), so even though I knew all along I didn’t want to read the sex, I was still really curious about how they’d get there. So yeah, worth a read, especially if threesome BDSM is your bag, but also maybe if it’s not.
Trace Memories Will Save Us by Nan Hart: Another short and weird sci-fi story, this one needing much in the way of sequels. There was no sex, and only the barest amount of romance, but the glimpse of the sci-fi world was interesting and worth checking out.
Agenda by Alp Mortal: The WTF award winner for this week’s collection, this is an exceedingly strange “British, humor” story. I read it, and I didn’t hate myself for doing so, but it did plow new furrows of confusion in my brow, which may never fully leave, and I honestly don’t recommend it.
Snowmancer by Olivia Helling: I’ve been looking forward to this one, because that title is awesome, but I know better than to anticipate good stories with these events because I’m almost always disappointed. And when I read the first sentence, I *was* disappointed. But I gave it a bit more or a try, and next thing I know I was supposed to have been asleep hours before so I could go to work the next day. In the end I really, really enjoyed this story and the world it was set in (even if some parts were a bit too convenient, and the first sentence was not the only awkward one). It was bittersweet, and just sweet, and dire, yet not, and I’m so glad I gave it that second chance.
