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Playing with Two-Edged Swords
Dear Author,
We find our moments when we can, though they are few and far between. We mask attraction in enmity as we play this dangerous game. But have we played too long? The line has blurred and tempers flare. We grow impatient with the world we live in. Can we reclaim the knife-edged balance we once relied upon, or will we stumble, fall, and either destroy each other or out ourselves and lose everything?
Photo Description:
Two young adult males in Victorian era clothing lean against each other on a wall. At least one is wearing a sword, and he appears to have Latin blood. There seems to be an attraction between the two men in the picture.
This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love’s Landscapes" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.
This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.
We find our moments when we can, though they are few and far between. We mask attraction in enmity as we play this dangerous game. But have we played too long? The line has blurred and tempers flare. We grow impatient with the world we live in. Can we reclaim the knife-edged balance we once relied upon, or will we stumble, fall, and either destroy each other or out ourselves and lose everything?
Photo Description:
Two young adult males in Victorian era clothing lean against each other on a wall. At least one is wearing a sword, and he appears to have Latin blood. There seems to be an attraction between the two men in the picture.
This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love’s Landscapes" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.
This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.
41 pages, ebook
First published June 15, 2014
42 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 15, 2014
Now I am trying to be as unbiased as I can be while I am the author. I will tell you truthfully that I find it good but there is room for improvement. I would like to thank everyone who takes a chance and reads this. you might like it or you might hate it that is OK.
June 23, 2014
I decided to read this book because of all the hubbub surrounding it. Oh my! I'm not a history buff and I know this was an alternate Victorian society but a few things bugged me. First was the nickname Mike which brought me up short every time I read it. Mike doesn't sound very Victorian to me.
The prologue confused me. All we know of Michael and Rafael is that they are on a school trip together. We don't know if they were best buddies before so it kind of throws you when they suddenly kiss and what happens afterwards. Now I think the best way to stay warm would be in the spoon position, not facing each other. It was stated that they instinctively knew to keep what happened in that cave to themselves but as a reader, how do we know that Michael and Rafael knew the other was doing the same thing? So I was confounded with their antagonist behavior towards each other.
Both of these guys were virgins but they did not come across as inexperienced first timers. How did they know the meaning of "top?" The D/s behavior came out of nowhere. How did Rafael know that what he was about to do to Michael would feel good? Where did all this knowledge come from???
I was intrigued with the plot that Lucien was carrying out. Didn't quite understand it, but I was intrigued nonetheless. I didn't care so much about the sword play but the elemental magic was interesting and because of that, I'll give this 2 stars.
The prologue confused me. All we know of Michael and Rafael is that they are on a school trip together. We don't know if they were best buddies before so it kind of throws you when they suddenly kiss and what happens afterwards. Now I think the best way to stay warm would be in the spoon position, not facing each other. It was stated that they instinctively knew to keep what happened in that cave to themselves but as a reader, how do we know that Michael and Rafael knew the other was doing the same thing? So I was confounded with their antagonist behavior towards each other.
Both of these guys were virgins but they did not come across as inexperienced first timers. How did they know the meaning of "top?" The D/s behavior came out of nowhere. How did Rafael know that what he was about to do to Michael would feel good? Where did all this knowledge come from???
I was intrigued with the plot that Lucien was carrying out. Didn't quite understand it, but I was intrigued nonetheless. I didn't care so much about the sword play but the elemental magic was interesting and because of that, I'll give this 2 stars.
June 19, 2014
The acknowledgements at the beginning were very sweet.
July 22, 2014
Roger Grace – Playing With Two-Edged Swords (Review)
Finished: 220714
3 Twinkling Stars.
First of all, thank you to this author for not only participating in the MM Romance Group’s event but also for offering to write a story and actually doing it.
The book whilst short at 42 pages was a very quick read. I found that the dialogue was a bit wooden if that’s the right word. In actual fact, the story telling, as in the events going on pulled my attention more. I think the sexual parts could have been done better i.e. a little bit more explorative then just jumping into having sex or engaging in sexual acts. Maybe it might have worked better if there wasn’t any sex at all.
Overall though, I enjoyed it and would have no issues reading anything else Roger released.
Nice one, Roger.
Finished: 220714
3 Twinkling Stars.
First of all, thank you to this author for not only participating in the MM Romance Group’s event but also for offering to write a story and actually doing it.
The book whilst short at 42 pages was a very quick read. I found that the dialogue was a bit wooden if that’s the right word. In actual fact, the story telling, as in the events going on pulled my attention more. I think the sexual parts could have been done better i.e. a little bit more explorative then just jumping into having sex or engaging in sexual acts. Maybe it might have worked better if there wasn’t any sex at all.
Overall though, I enjoyed it and would have no issues reading anything else Roger released.
Nice one, Roger.
June 28, 2016
Hilariously Bad.
Read
June 15, 2014This story was a hybrid of historical and fantasy that unfortunately didn't work for me. I think in part it may be because the story was set in England and there were just too many little un-English things that kept pulling me out of the story.
August 27, 2014
A very worthy effort from a new writer, Playing with Two-Edged Swords sets up an interesting magical realm, where individuals possess the different powers of ice, fire, air, etc. Now, I'm not usually a reader of the magic/fantasy genre, so I can't make comparisons, but I like the world this story builds and found the ideas thought-provoking.
I think perhaps it is due to the time constraints of the event that the story is limited in how far the author was able to go with it, as the plot itself, when looked at as a whole, is quite complex, so in short form it does read more as a synopsis than a story itself. There is certainly enough in here for it to be a novel, and would be a great young adult story - with intimacy replacing the sex, of course.
I think perhaps it is due to the time constraints of the event that the story is limited in how far the author was able to go with it, as the plot itself, when looked at as a whole, is quite complex, so in short form it does read more as a synopsis than a story itself. There is certainly enough in here for it to be a novel, and would be a great young adult story - with intimacy replacing the sex, of course.
June 22, 2014
I read this because of the setting (mage was one of my favorite genre to read) and I find the writing lagging while the story and settings were more interesting.
The whole story felt... dry... and as Mr. Hill said in his review, the story is mostly tell and not enough show. Various parts felt stiff and wooden and not in the good way. The redeeming parts of this story is the concept of affinities and their applications.
All in all, it was an interesting story but the writing itself need a lot of improvement...
2.5 stars round up for contributing to the event.
The whole story felt... dry... and as Mr. Hill said in his review, the story is mostly tell and not enough show. Various parts felt stiff and wooden and not in the good way. The redeeming parts of this story is the concept of affinities and their applications.
All in all, it was an interesting story but the writing itself need a lot of improvement...
2.5 stars round up for contributing to the event.
July 9, 2014
[NOTE: I rate most writing event stories (free reads) 4 or 5 stars because of my appreciation of the author's participation and gift.]
June 17, 2014
This was an interesting premise but the execution didn't work for me at all. Telling instead of showing, and poor dialogue.
July 11, 2014
I didn't like this story. I appreciate the time and effort taken to write it, but it didn't work for me.
The story came across as a bit wooden, you didn't get any real feel for the characters nor any sense of why they might want to be together. There was a lot of telling going on here and not enough showing. I'm guessing the author hasn't written much else and unfortunately it shows :( I think there is a decent plot underneath all of this though - so I hope the author will keep writing.
The story came across as a bit wooden, you didn't get any real feel for the characters nor any sense of why they might want to be together. There was a lot of telling going on here and not enough showing. I'm guessing the author hasn't written much else and unfortunately it shows :( I think there is a decent plot underneath all of this though - so I hope the author will keep writing.
June 20, 2014
Roger, I really enjoyed reading this story.
Thank you so much for taking the time to create it.
I found the world fascinating and followed the development
of the characters with interest.
congrats!
Thank you so much for taking the time to create it.
I found the world fascinating and followed the development
of the characters with interest.
congrats!
October 5, 2014
Well, I didn't DNF it. Had high hopes since I got a chance to beta read the first initial sword play scene. Unfortunately that was probably the best scene of the whole story.
The entire time I was lost. The characters weren't fleshed out well and the plot was twisting and turning, and choppy, and I kept scratching my head. I think the author knew where he wanted to go but, unfortunately, he never got me there.
The entire time I was lost. The characters weren't fleshed out well and the plot was twisting and turning, and choppy, and I kept scratching my head. I think the author knew where he wanted to go but, unfortunately, he never got me there.
April 2, 2016
While this book did have a few redeeming qualities, due to a lack of editorial contribution I would not recommend.
My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
Want to read
June 29, 2014
Offered for FREE from the M/M Romance Group's Love's Landscapes event. Thank you too all the amazing authors who participated!
August 26, 2014
Lovely story Roger, thank you!
just-because
June 21, 2014STORY INFO:
Genre: alternate history, fantasy
Tags: mage/sorcerers, aristocracy, spies, students, first time, adventure
Word Count: 10,939
Genre: alternate history, fantasy
Tags: mage/sorcerers, aristocracy, spies, students, first time, adventure
Word Count: 10,939
August 25, 2014
Not for me. Didn't connect with the characters or the writing style.
August 27, 2014
Review to come
Read
October 17, 2015not my cuppa... skipping
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews