Coffee2words

This is a short mysterious tale of a man who joins us digging a hole in his backyard. The story takes us through the mystery of why he's digging it and where his wife and housekeeper are.

Blood, mud, cops and asthma puffers; this is not my favourite of Tony's but it's an enjoyable short story.

A very short fantasy story about a dragon seeker who is asked to help out a town.

Not for the kiddies, this one includes some adult themes, sexual advances and such as well as innuendo.

I quite liked the ending, I wish it was longer so we could get to explore the world and characters more.

If you're curious about Tony's writing and want to read a short story this one is a good one to try if the genre takes your fancy.

A great short ghost tale that explores the ghost tropes with an interesting twist. While I had seen it before, I liked the innocent young girl character.

If you're curious about Tony's writing and want to read a short story this one is a good one to try if the genre takes your fancy.

This!

This is how a short story should be done. The story felt whole, the characters real and the conclusion satisfactory yet still ambiguous enough to leave questions.

Tani, our protagonist, made logical choices and decisions, even while dealing with the paranormal phenomenon in the story. It was so nice to see that logical thought pattern.

That the piece also focused on a pocket watch and tied it in so nicely, was an added bonus.

I saw no errors in this piece. An enjoyable read with a great cast of characters.

This is the first part of The Quest of Dragons and will most certainly be the last one I read by this author.

The list of issues I encountered in this 42 page story is almost longer than the story itself.

If you are thinking about being a writer, publishing books, please do not do what this author has done, and publish something that is barely but a first draft. EDIT YOUR WORK! Get someone else who is good at writing or editing to look it over.

Worst example of a story I've read so far! The only redeeming features, are the fact it was only 42 pages long and the fact that I paid nothing for it!

Things I noticed:

Issues including overuse of the same word in close sentences:
'Very well' is used excessively.
'Tree, deal, wall, Sapphire' all repeated too much.

Overwritten text:
'You will perish a long painful, agonising death.'
There's only four words too many in that sentence.

Changes in POV mid paragraph.

Use of 'He seen'. Wrong!

Some paragraphs are indented, while others not. This occurs the whole way through the story.

Continuity issues at 82%. The group fled with no supplies yet they unpacked supplies when they arrive at Taisai.

82% - wrong use of their:
'The three sat their(there) for a moment...'

86% - if Taisai is the multicultural hub described when they arrived, why would their presence be unusual?

93% - WTF?!? That is horse shit!

So I loved the Captive Prince Trilogy, like really loved it. I was super excited to see there were short stories in the same world being released and bought this one and pre-ordered the second one 3 seconds apart.

BUT

I feel this short story was quite underwhelming.

The writing, as before, was a delightful mix of sweet tender moments, inner turmoil and the big bad world of Vere, but it was rehashing information we already knew from reading the trilogy. Yes, it delves a little deeper into Jord and Aimeric's relationship, but really it left me feeling underwhelmed and a little bored.

I will likely automatically buy anything CS Pacat puts out there, I love the Captive Prince Trilogy so much, but I hope the next few short stories in this end up being better than this one.

What appears to be some sort of slice-of-life drunk dad leaves family story, swiftly takes a turn for the paranormal.

Scott is a young boy and the protagonist. The climax is sudden and quite unexplained and really did nothing for me.

The writing needs work, too many descriptors that weren't needed, too much telling and not showing (e.g. I was panicking), and in general, simplistic narrative that just seemed bland.

Note: only 25% of the book is actually the story, the rest is promotion of the authors other work.

Probably my favourite of the lot, Out of Place Mate sees eldest brother, Sean Quaid come to Gunther's bar in search of his lost brothers. The other two Quaid brothers mated with wolf shifters in stories 2 and 3 of the bundle or Bar Mate and Mate by the Music.

Sean meets damaged wolf shifter, Victoria and I'm sure you can imagine what happens.

The characters in this story have more background and characterisation than in the others. I would like to read more about them.

With little backstory outside of some name dropping from story two, we see Scott and Nancy partying like it's 1969.

*wink wink*

Get it?!

This felt too unreal, the sex too perfect (I get that one of them is a wolf shifter), but it's all too perfect, the orgasms and everything working so perfectly was just too unrealistic.

I did like these characters better than those in Bar Mate though, which surprised me.

There's something about girls 'creaming' their pants that turns me off so fast it's not funny. This little piece was too heavy too quickly and really didn't do too much to keep one's interest.

The characters were flimsy at best, the sex boring and the shifter/human relationship felt totally forced.

True to Rebecca Royce style, Unwanted Mate brings the shifters along in quick succession. It didn't have the polish of her longer works (see the things I noticed, below), but it was an interesting glimpse into the world of Gunther and Judy.

I am reading this as part of the Rebecca Royce BUNDLE pack. I will review the bundle as a whole against it when I'm finished.

Overall this bundle consists of four short shifter/biker stories. The pace of the stories was fast, the characterisation minimal for the most part, and the backstory almost non-existent.

I liked some of the stories, but others I really disliked. The feel of the bundle was rushed and unfinished, unlike Rebecca's other polished series, this one leaves a bit to be desired.

Things I noticed:

Unwanted Mate:

12% - ...at the very top of least (left) breast...
16% - ...are you going to put it (in) my...

Bar Mate:

42% - His (He) adored her with his eyes.

This is a very short tale about the owner of a cargo ship 'The Black-Eyed Susan' who runs into trouble with money lenders.

There's not a great deal of characterisation to go on, but I feel like a solid story could be made about The Black-Eyed Susan and its crew. Which I'm happy to say is just what J.A. Clement has done. This is book #0.3 of the On Dark Shores series. I have already read On Dark Shores: The Lady.

The emotional impact was missing from this, but I suppose it can be very difficult to pack a punch in a few pages.

If you like your sailor stories, this might be the first taste of something you'll enjoy devouring.

Everything I've ever wanted is a short story about a stay-at-home mum who locks away her secret life from the family and kids. But once she gets a letter, she can't hide it any longer.

This would be an epic dream come true for most people who share the infliction the protagonist does.

I didn't twig what the secret was until the mention of the purchased devices after her first attempt.

Great little tale Tony.

This edition of Aurealis sees the neo-noir 'Enfolded', from J Michael Melican and the punchy 'Discarded Pieces' from David Coleman making a splash.

I enjoyed both stories, but Enfolded was something extremely unique. I would have liked to learn more about the characters past, which was hinted at, and know what the future held for him. A truly interesting piece that outshone the other piece easily.

Having said that, though, both pieces are well written and formed part of a nice edition, including some advise for self-publishing and promotion as well as a handful of reviews on books.

I really liked the cover art of this edition.