Category: Less Than Three Press

A Barb, the Zany Old Lady Review: Horsefeathers by Caitlin Ricci

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

HorsefeathersWhen Justin arrives at the mustang roundup run by the Bureau of Land Management, he’s dismayed to see that none of the mares or geldings meet the requirements his boss had given him for his next purchase. But he’s fascinated by a dark gray stallion, one with unusual forest-green eyes. The first time Brother Mustang sees Justin, he’s rightfully fearful and wants to charge the man, but Nohatu, the human who lives side-by-side in Brother Mustang’s mind is able to keep the stallion calm. Unfortunately for them, Justin makes the purchase, and Nohatu and Brother Mustang find themselves taken far away from the land they’ve known.

Caitlin Ricci took an interesting twist on shifters with this story. Each half lives within the current form, but they are not one and do not always agree. In addition, the human prefers being in the shifted form, even though he’s often in a subjugated position. We learn rather quickly that Nohatu prefers sex with men because as soon as he’s found in the stallion’s pen, he’s shipped off to the bus station, and on the way, he manages to seduce Justin into stopping for a quick blowjob. It turns out that sex is the means by which they pass on the spark to shift when they meet someone who appears to be of “their kind.” And they believe Justin is. The way the background is filled in is via storytelling by Nohatu of the tale of his own turning. It’s a clever way to impart a lot of information in a brief way.

Overall, the story was very short, but it was packed with a lot of information. On the negative side, there was no time for a romantic buildup, and in fact, it felt like there wasn’t even a romantic element promised for the future. The story ends with a HFN and actually felt as if might have been an introduction to some future series or novel.

There also wasn’t enough time to fully develop any of the characters, and although I felt a little sympathetic to Justin, I lost that when he made his decision at the end. And because Nohatu and Brother Mustang were at odds with each other throughout most of the story, and neither had a likeable personality, I couldn’t manage any empathy toward their joint or individual well-being.

Since it is so short and does display a clever and interesting treatment of shifters, I’d recommend the story to those who enjoy paranormal shifter stories with a different twist.

~~~~~

Cover art by Natasha Snow features a leafy background on which is the head of a white horse, looking down, with some of his mane flopped forward. If I look closely, I can see a hawk-like bird instead of the horse—one ear a beak, one a body, and the horse’s mane the full wingspan of a hawk in flight. It may be an optical illusion, but due to the content of the story, I suspect the artist did this purposely, and if so, she did a remarkable job.

Sales Links:   Less Than Three Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook
Published January 13th 2016 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781620046920
Edition LanguageEnglish
URL settingColorado (United States)

A MelanieM Review: Dragon Consultant (Supernatural Consultant #1) by Mell Eight

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Dragon ConsultantThe FAA has been struggling with dragons attacking their planes, and hire Dane, a supernatural consultant, to look into the matter. What Dane finds in the woods is not quite the problem he expected: a group of dragon kits and their sick father.

When he learns the real reason the family was in the woods, his case only grows more dangerous, and while Dane is plenty experienced at watching his own back, taking care of baby dragons and their handsome, distracting father almost makes danger look easy.

I love Mell Eight.  This author’s imagination never fails to take me places guaranteed to hold my attention and make me wonder about the boundless possibilities that could exist if magic were let loose.  And of course, there would be dragons.  All sorts of dragons and in this case dragon kits.

Dragon Consultant is really one set of mysteries after another.  A mystery of identities, a mystery of espionage and government coverup plus so much more.  Unbelievably so, it all takes place in 101 pages.  This story is crammed full of things that cry out of fuller explanations and more details.  But what the author delivers is so wonderful, so compelling, that all I can do is beg for a prequel to go along with the sequel that I know is coming.

Most of that has to do with the character of Dane, the supernatural consultant hired to deal with the dragons attacking the planes at the airport.  Of course, he is much more than that, as are the dragons attacking the airport and the situation they are in.  Nothing is as it seems, including Dane.  It takes a while for some of who he is to come out and then it only makes him more intriguing because of the gaps its leaves. Oh, the layers Mell Eight has in store for the readers here.  Peal one back, and there are five more waiting to be discovered.

I think I feel that way about the characters.  There is a mystery about them that we are still waiting to uncover, their backstories are missing  and I think the author has done that purposely so. The father?  His background still spotty. The kits?  They too have histories waiting to be filled in and I am hoping that means that this will be a long and satisfying series.  I am so eager to settle in for the long haul to find out what each kit and/or new egg will mean to the story and universe the author is building.

There is action, suspense, and plenty of drama.  Some of those scenes towards the end?  White knuckle indeed.  But I can’t give out  details because its such a short book it will go into spoiler territory.  The tale moves so quickly, you will fall in love with the individual dragon kits with a swiftness that will make you blink,  and then the you are moving towards an alarming conclusion, then its over…for now.

That one of those layers I was talking about.  You see from the cover, its seem like this might be a goofy, sort of humorous tale of dragon children and their foster father.  Not really.  That aspect is there, of course.  But things are chillingly scary,  there are evil loose ends flapping about at the end of the story (why else would you need sequels), so remember those layers when opening these pages and be prepared for a darned wonderful story!

Its one I definitely recommend, along with its author.  Now I just have to wait for the next book to arrive.  Grab this one up, catch up with me and lets see what the next one has in store for us, the dragon kits and…oh that would be telling.

Cover art by Aisha Akeju is unexpected.  Cute, whimsical but lacking just that touch of dragon magic I have come to expect from this artist.

Sales Links:  Less Than Three Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 101 pages
Published December 9th 2015 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781620046777
Edition LanguageEnglish

Series: Supernatural Consultant 

A Stella Review: Reindeer Games by Kenzie Cade

RATING 4 out of 5 stars

Reindeer GamesDashing von Stride has one thing on his mind: winning the window display contest for the Miracle on Main Christmas Contest. His plans are set and ready—and then he walks into his toy store, Reindeer Games, to find a sleigh that shouldn’t be there. The mystery sleigh sparks a new plan, however, and now all Dash needs is the perfect Santa to model his display after.

This year, the pranks with his reindeer have gotten out of hand. Instead of preparing for the Big Day, Niklaus Kringle is hunting for his missing sleigh. Locating it should have been easy, but games easily won are seldom worth playing…

I discovered Kenzie Cade with the Portland Pack Chronicles series and when I saw this new holiday short, I was soon curious about it, especially cause… have you seen the cover? Impossible to resist.

Reindeer Games is the story of the toymaker and toy store owner Dash, who lives in a fabolous town, Wassail, where Christmas is highly celebrated and the annual competion of the best window display is coming. Dash is tired of his usual second place. This year he gets a surprise, a sleigh materialized out of nowhere in the middle of his store.

Niklaus is the Prince of the Kingdom of North pole, he comes to Wassail looking for his lost sleigh and  finds his mate. But is Dash ready for a future that it’s waiting for him to learn who he really is?

Reindeer Games (perfect title not just cause it’s the toy store name but for the role a naughty reindeer will have) is a great holiday short. It’s well written and engaging from the start. The dialogues are good and even if it is short, the author gave us some important background on the MCs and amazing second characters, like Tinsel and Pumpkin, the guard team, or Wendy, Dash’s best friend.  It is a sweet and cute reading, I’d have loved to have a couple of chapters more of course, but I felt pretty satisfied at the end, because Reindeer Games is traditional and original at the same time. It filled my heart with its good vibes.

If you’re looking for a magical story on your holidays, quick and dreamy, give this one a chance. Highly recommended!

The cover art by London Burden is what caught my attention first, it is super cute and well done.

Sales Links:  Less Than Three Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 81 pages
Published December 9th 2015 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781620046845
Edition LanguageEnglish
settingColorado (United States)