Carol Pedroso

Chapmistres View – Adam and Ben was written for the M/M Romance Group’s 2014 Love’s Landscapes event. It’s the story of Adam Rickman, a two thousand year old Elder Vampire and his mate Bennett Glenderson, aka Ben Smith, a Witch/Healer from when they literally run into each other for the first time, until they become a family. It’s a sweet, warm, fluffy read with little angst except for one incident.

Witches and Vampires live together in Chapmistres View. Ben has recently moved to town. He’s running away from a cruel, abusive ex-boyfriend, Ian, who happens to also be a vampire. Ben has changed his name and appearance. He doesn’t want to start a relationship, especially not with another vampire. But Adam is persistent because after two thousand years, he’s finally found his mate. Ben's co-workers and friends help Adam through his relationship with Ben and soon they become a couple.

The evil ex-boyfriend, Ian, eventually finds Ben and kidnaps him. This is where the violence comes in after Adam finds what happens to Ben. Despite this section, the story carries a predominately fluffy feel to it.

I liked the way the author kept aspects of the original Vampire lore. They can’t come into homes unless expressly invited, nor can they stand sunlight. They also only drink, and don’t eat. There is mpreg in this story and I like that the male Healers could get pregnant. I also like the magical abilities of the Healers, not just for healing, but for things like removing clothes. I also like the author’s version of bonding.

There are a couple things that bothered me. First, I think the story could have benefited with more contractions. Because contractions weren’t used as often they needed to be, the story was stilted and didn’t flow as smoothly as I think it could have. The other was the head-hopping. There was a lot of head hopping. The pov was one person’s for a short while and then suddenly switch to another’s pov and then someone else’s pov. Head-hopping is one of my pet peeves in writing, so I didn’t enjoy it happening here.

Other than those issues I mentioned, I enjoyed this. It’s a fluffy, feel good story that left me feeling happy at the end. I would enjoy reading a future story between Jackson the Eldest Vampire, and his mate Casey, who is a Healer. Casey doesn’t know he’s Jackson’s mate. The two get in arguments constantly and it’s breaking Jackson’s heart because all he wants, is to be with Casey.

This story was a sweet, fluffy read and I give it 3 Stars
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I love science fiction. It was my favourite genre back in my youth and I'm still partial to it today. So needless to say, I was really looking forward to this story.

Initially, it was looking good. The characters and story caught my attention and I was ready to kick back and just enjoy the ride. But then these odd little details began to wriggle their way into my consciousness, one after the other, and dang - the story lost me.

I'm putting my niggles under a cut because, well, YMMV!

Had this story taken place in the near future, I wouldn't have a problem. But the year this story takes place is 3050 - more than 1000 years into the future - and yet so much in this future world is very like our present world. eg: blue jeans and denim jackets being "regular" clothes; a car still using a floor pedal as an accelerator; the "oh shit" handle above the door in the car; shopping malls; fast-food burger place, etc. When I think about how different life today is when compared to 1000 years ago, this just doesn't make sense.

Also, you'd think after a 1000 years, the "pink is for girls" would have gone by the wayside! *end of rant*

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As I have said before, I love m-preg stories and this is definitely a cute one. The focus is split between the two mates meeting and getting to know each other and the pregnancy with all its effects on them.

Adam is a vampire who has been around for a while, almost two thousand years to be exact. He is overjoyed when he meets his mate, literally walking into him and knocking him over, but Ben has a few issues. Luckily, Adam's experience gives him the patience to deal with those - once he knows what is going on.

Ben has no idea the gorgeous vampire is his mate, and, based on past experience with an abusive vampire, he is not exactly overjoyed at having another one stalking him. He is a witch using his healing powers to work as a nurse and his friends at the hospital have to intervene and support him, and once Ben gets used to the idea (and Adam's thoughtful attentions) it is easy for him to fall for his perfect vampire match.

If you like stories with supernatural heroes and male witches who can get pregnant,and if you're looking for a read that moves from sweet to sweeter and very hot, then you will probably like this free short story.… (plus d'informations)