This feels like a good time to do a short story binge. I’m behind on my Goodreads reading goal (even though I set it lower than in past years) and also behind on my summer writing goal, which means I can’t afford to let myself get distracted with anything I might not want to set down. So, making an effort to read some of the short stories I somehow managed to collect seems like the obvious solution.

The theme was smutty paranormal fantasy. (Don’t judge. I was feeling a certain way.) I threw a few sci-fi stories in there, too. But that’s just fantasy in space in this context. I’ve broken them up below, alphabetically, in batches of 6 just for ease and aesthetics. I honestly might still keep going with the challenge. I was enjoying it. But the post was getting a little unwieldy. So, I figured it would be safest to just break it up and call this group one.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad batch of reads; 30 in all. There were some definite winners and losers, some I really enjoyed and some I barely managed to finish, and some I read just because, toward the end, I was getting a little bored with all the sex—yeah, that’s a thing that can apparently happen—and started looking for weirdness. (Again, I was feeling a certain sort of way. Don’t judge.)

Check ’em out, and let me know if you’ve read any of them.

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Claiming Beauty, by Skye Alder
Meh, it was fine, I suppose. He was awfully sweet for a ‘beast.’ I mean, I liked the awkward, sweet cinnamon roll. But he hardly fits the description of a beast (in behavior or appearance; he was only rude for a few minutes, and the scars hardly sound ghastly). None of that matters too much, though, since it’s mostly sex and then a 5-years-later with kids epilogue.

Sought to Satisfy, by Kyra Alessy
This was a decent little porn-with-plot short story. It just wasn’t my cup of tea in the end. I recognize that it is dark `romance.’ But dark romance comes in different flavors, and while I’m ok with quite a lot of those flavors, I just don’t like the flavor steeped in the rape and abuse of women. And here, we have three MMCs who save the FMC from rape and murder but don’t blink as every other woman is (with the inference that this is the norm for them and their men).

That’s a pretty big nope for me. I’m not talking trigger warnings or any sort of broader comment on what’s an acceptable dark romance trope, just what I enjoy or don’t. It pretty much ruined the story for me. Worlds that’s one defining feature seems to be the abuse, debasement, and rape of women don’t appeal to me. I find the unoriginal and unenjoyable. So, in the end, this was fine in general but not a winner for me personally.

You’re My Omega, by Beatrix Arden
Meh, it could have been something really interesting, and every once in a while, you could see the story almost manage it for brief moments. But mostly, it was full of mixed messages, boring (emotionless, repetitive, uncreative) sex, and amateurish writing. It also does not end happily, not even as an HFN.

Offered to the Orclord, by Delilah Bentley
I have to reluctantly admit to liking this. Reluctantly because I am generally bored and disappointed by worlds in which women are relegated to second-class citizens (or worse), especially when paired with sexual abuse, enslavement, debasement, etc. I find them redundant and reductionistic. I think that they are uncreative and boring. I mean, how much of a stretch is it to write a story in which men have all the power from within a patriarchal system? Offered to the Orclord in this regard is nothing special.

However, outside of my ongoing state of rape fatigue with the romance genre in general, this really is quite good. (And, of course, the story wouldn’t be the story it is if it was in a different world.) I’ve always appreciated a practical heroine, and Selendra is nothing if not practical—and marvelously spiteful without being mean. Magoth is gruff, but surprisingly kind in his own way and more than willing to take Selendra as as close to a wife as he can, rather than a slave. (Make no mistake, his is a culture that abuses and sexually enslaves women, though.) His and Selendra’s relationship feels a lot more like an arranged marriage (with a few kinks thrown in) than enslavement, and that’s down to how he chooses to place her socially and treat her. And she makes some of the important moves to further their relationship, which gives the reader a satisfying illusion that she still has agency despite her circumstances. (She also just seems to enjoy her lot in life.)

For a 41-page erotic short story, I was surprisingly happy with this. I did not, however, realize that it is a serial when I picked it up. It ends on a cliffhanger with nothing resolved, which was disappointing.

Burning With Lust, by Rianne Burnett
Meh. Might have been a fine little erotic short if not for the oddly formal language and the fact that it was too focused on the brief mechanics of the scenes rather than much of anything else.

Their Deadly Game, by Lexi Caine
Meh, pretty generic why choose porn with minimal plot. I had no strong feelings for any of the characters, could barely tell the men apart, and the sex is a severe case of insert plug A, B, C, or D into socket A, B, or C. It’s mechanical and perfunctory.

How to Slay a Dragon, by Mallory Dunlin
I picked this up expecting a smutty read and instead found a really sweet romance between a sharp-tongued dragonslayer and a half-dragon who is a bit of a himbo. There is only one actual sex scene, which is *chef’s kiss* with some great fem-dom feels. I’ve read a few things by Dunlin by now and liked every one of them.

Wed to the Minotaur, by Eden Ember
Honestly, this was just bad. It was super cringe, as my kids would say—just really, really cheesy. And that could be a matter of taste, true. Maybe some people like that. I do not. What is not a matter of taste is just how incredibly flatly and linearly it is written. I felt no emotion, no highs or lows in the plot. It is all flat, and one thing happens, then another, then it is resolved, then the next thing. It feels like a grocery list.

Wet Hot Allosaurus Summer, by Lola Faust
When I decided to read this, it had 1,178 reviews on Goodreads and a rating of 2.33. So, I did not expect fine literature. I had no expectation of a good story, engrossing plot, excellent writing, satisfying spice, or loveable characters. I went in anticipating utter absurdity and a good laugh. I mean, it’s Allosaurus’ erotica!

Honestly, it failed, though. It was certainly absurd. But I spent more time in a state of WT everloving F than amused. I do not think I laughed once.

On the upside, I didn’t initially know that the book is, in fact, two short stories and then a lot of little silly bits. But despite not liking the titular story, I did actually enjoy Lord Bartholomew’s Ankylosaur Lover theoretically by Ambrosia Penance (the second story). It was, of course, ridiculous. But it was also the right kind of silly for me.

Her Monster Boyfriends, by Skylar Flare
This was actually a bundle of 4 stories. Given the limits of what I call a short story here on the blog (<100 pages), it technically just misses qualifying. But I decided to include it anyway. Kindle pages are inexact, I rationalized.

Thoughts: Meh. I read about 70% of the first one and then skimmed the rest of it and all the other stories. Not very good. There were also a noticeable number of wrong pronouns as if the author changed the genders of characters in all the stories. I just hope that means they re-wrote their own to get two publications from every plot and didn’t, in fact, steal someone else’s to change the gender and publish as their own. Either way, I was not impressed.

Taken by the Wolf, by Elle Garnet
Repetitive, mediocre, and nowhere near as dark as that cover would suggest.

The Stone and the Star, by Jillian Graves
It’s smut, significantly more porn than plot, rushed at that. But it’s also sweet and I enjoyed it for what it is (and isn’t).

Shadow Shifter, by Mia Hartson
This started off better than it finished. It does a decent job setting up the world for the rest of the series. However, after the big event, when the monsters show up, the characters are too calm and too knowledgeable. How do they know what a “wraith form” is or that an ifrit is an ifrit? I’d probably continue the series if I found it free. I don’t think I’d buy it.

Marked For Rage, by Susan Hayes
Basically porn with the plot; it’s a little rushed, even for a novella, and it ends on a cliffhanger (so, no sense of closure). But enjoyable enough for what it is.

The Gardener and The Golem, by Marisol Knight
Meh. It was fine, I suppose, just kind of bland and pedestrian.

Uncursing Her Bears, by Cali Mann
Meh, just not very good. It starts off well enough and then reaches a certain point at which it seems to give up the story and barrels to the end with its one cumulative sex scene. The issue is that most of it is paced to be a hundred or so page story. It’s only 43 because it loses that pacing. The reader is given reason to recognize one of the men as a mate, but the author seems to forget to do the same for the other two. (Again, pacing-wise, that would make sense, and there was room.) This feels VERY MUCH like the author started writing one thing and then got bored and instead shrugged, gave it a perfunctory ending, called it a short story, and hit publish. The reader feels it and there is nothing satisfying about it. It has a cute cover, though.

Sweets for the Beast, by L.M. Maretti
The cover made me laugh. So, I read the story. It’s porn without any significant plot and utterly ridiculous in the believability department. But it’s amusing, too. So, I enjoyed myself.

Farm at the End of the World, by Sally Moose
I’m currently doing this here spicy fantasy short story reading challenge. I was about a dozen and a half stories in by the time I read this story and starting to get bored with the challenge. So, I found myself reaching a little farther afield, which is how I ended up reading a hucow short story. (It was free on Amazon, don’t judge.) I’m fairly sure it’s a first for me. I can’t say I enjoyed it, honestly. I might have if the humiliation and degradation kink hadn’t come into play at the end; if the soon-to-be hucow had gone to her fate happily.

But here’s the thing. If I wasn’t too lazy to do it (which I 100% am), I feel like this story could actually be read critically as an allegorical commentary on the role of women once they come of lactating (i.e., breeding) age, as well as society’s view on their place, production, and proper behavior. Seriously, someone doing a PhD in some field requiring intense literary critique and deep metaphoric or narrative examination (preferably feminist) should legitimately disconcert some prof somewhere by submitting Farm at the End of the World: An Erotic Hucow Farm Short Story. Whether the author did it purposefully or not is up for discussion. But I think the content is there.

A Mermaid’s Temptation, by Lizzy Nightberry
I haven’t had to complain about this for a while; authors have gotten better about it (or Amazon has gotten stricter). But there is a huge difference between a SERIAL and a SERIES, short story, or novelette. This is a 25-page, part 1 of 10 rather than a story in itself, despite clearly being labeled A Mermaid’s Tempation: The Series Book 1. SERIES, not SERIAL.

It is also bad and poorly edited…if edited at all. I invite you to see “Tempation” in the TITLE, copy and pasted from the AMAZON page! There are several instances of sentences not finishing, wrong pronouns, repeat words, just plain word salad, etc. The MMC is a serial rapist and murderer (murdering women with sex), and the FMC is held captive, entranced, and only minimally a willing participant. (And he’s not even sure she’ll survive when he has sex with her. Just curious, really.) No, thank you for any of it!

Knotting Before Them, by Amy Oliveira
This was sweet but also a disappointment. As a novella, it starts out well. There’s a setup for a plot, and the characters are interesting. I was intrigued by the older, pining alphas wanting desperately to have someone to take care of. With a bit more length, there are so, so, so many satisfying ways this story could have gone. Unfortunately, at 95 pages, there are only enough pages for hints, and then the erotic aspect takes over. I like a spicy scene as much as anyone. I know what I read. But this had so much potential to be so much more, too. So, in the end, I liked it OK, but I wish the author had developed all that tempting could have been.

Boo!, by Nick Pageant
Kindle tells me I picked this short up in 2015. But, as I never actually got my hands on Beauty and the Bookworm, which this is a side story of, I never read it. Since I’m doing this short story clean out, I decided to chance it standing on its own. It does. It’s cute, funny, and a quick, easy read. I thought names were used too frequently in the dialogue (a personal pet peeve) but otherwise enjoyed it in a slap-stick sort of way.

Monster’s Prey, by Leann Ryans
It’s basically just a sex scene with a bit of character description to give it context. But I appreciate that both are a little older, closer to middle-aged, and despite the ‘claiming what he caught’ aspect, it feels consent-positive. I liked it better than the first, which is the only other in the series I’ve currently read.

Intervention, by Nina Sestina
I decided to try and step outside my normal bounds for at least some of the stories I read for this spicy fantasy short story challenge. That’s how I ended up reading Intervention. And if you’re tempted to say, `But wait, this isn’t fantasy. It’s contemporary kink!’ I’ll raise you a lactating Dommy Mommy in the absence of any nursing children.

Honestly, the blurb promises a virginal INCEL-coded MMC, a girlfriend’s mother femdom MILF FMC, MDlb dynamic (Mommy Dom/little boy…little is a title, not a description if you’re uninitiated. The character is 19.), and adult nursing. Oh, and let’s not forget the eventual menage of Mommy to dominate him and daughter for him to dominate. I mean, there is SO MUCH going on there that I decided to give it a whirl. It was ridiculous. But it wasn’t trying to be anything else. I just almost never read stories in which the male character’s (and male reader’s) fantasy is so obviously the focus, and, unsurprisingly, it did nothing for me. All the power to those it does, though.

Shared by the Alien Princes, by Skylar Silver
Meh. Porn-without-plot. I’m fine with that, in theory. But this was also bland and unimaginative. Thank goodness it was at least short.

Bound In Stone, by Stefanie Simpson
I quite enjoyed this one. Though it has sex and the characters end in love, I wouldn’t necessarily wholeheartedly call it a romance—maybe gothic romantic suspense (or light horror) or something like that. But the writing is lovely; I liked the characters, and I was never sure it was going to have a happy ending. I’d read another story by Simpson, happily.

Transforming Love, by Debra Smith
Kindle tells me I purchased this story on May 31, 2013. 65 pages, and I somehow never managed to read it in over 11 years. It has just been floating around in my Kindle cloud that whole time. Having read it now, I kind of feel like it could have stayed there unattended for another 11 years. Yeah, it’s not very good. It starts out OK but very quickly goes downhill. All of the characters are cliched, the villainous ones especially, and it reads like a rushed, sloppy outline rather than a smooth story.

Redemption of a Wolf, by Jennifer Snyder
Meh, this was fine, I suppose. He’s all emotionally torn up and broken by grief and guilt. She exists and thereby instantly heals him and, by extension, his pack with the magic power of luuuurve. Sure, OK, if that’s your thing. The writing/editing is fine. The plot is condensed. But it’s a <100-page novella, so what can you expect? I’m just kinda bored by such plotlines. To each their own.

Reincarnated for the Monster King, by Beatrix Steam
Look, I knew what I signed up for here: porn without plot. But the subtitle “Spicy Transgender Isekai Monster Romance Short Story” has SO MUCH going on that I had to see what chaos ensued. It is just what it promises: a short isekai story in which a man (I won’t call someone who had a passing jealous thought about how nice it would be to be free like a group of women he’s watching just as he dies a true transgender) who is reincarnated into the body of a female royal whore and fucked 6-ways to Sunday by two monsters, one of which is the monster king. It’s cheesy, over the top, and utterly ridiculous…just as it sets out to be.

Taken by the Gargoyle, by H.C. Summer
Short but steamy. It’s basically a gargoyle coming to ‘claim’ his mate. There’s a bit of dirty talk, a bit of voyeurism, and several position and location changes (some of which only work in fiction). But mostly, this is surprisingly wholesome in tone. It is what it is and nothing more. But if that’s what you’re looking for, it’s not bad, which is surprising since I only picked it up for the pretty cover.

Squeak, by Vera Valentine
When I picked this book up, I didn’t expect anything from it beyond some spicy silliness. So, I wouldn’t have expected to be disappointed by it. But I found that I was. It’s because the 1st half so surprised me. There was a real depth of feeling, a surprisingly meaningful backstory, and sweet characters. So, I started to think Valentine was giving us something special after all.

But then it hit the halfway mark, and it felt like Valentine said, “You know what? I don’t want to write this heartfelt story anymore. I want to write to trend.” She then went off, Googled for a bit, and decided, “Yeah, Alpha and Omegas are in right now. This will be an A/o book,” before completely throwing out the arc she had been tracing and replacing it with an A/o one that didn’t fit the characters she’d written up to that point, the back story, or the tone of the book at all.

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