Olley WhiteCritiques
Auteur de Game On
Critiques
I have two objections basically: One is a quibble and it's that I consider very poor the excuse for Fitz to feel rid of guilt about not winning the tournament.
But the other one is a BIG objection, and it's the inconsistency between the prompt (that it must be strictly respected IMO) and the story itself .
«I didn't even compete to win, but once he was my final opponente, I had to give all I have in me, to prove him I'm worthy»Excuse me? Where is it reflected in the story? I'll tell you where: Nowhere. Both compete to win, for himself or for some other ones, but from the beginning that is their purpose. And nothing is in the tale about the winner's desire and decision of giving everything of himself to demonstrate his worthiness to the other
Besides there're inconsistencies between Ethan and his background: Yes, Ethan that as it seems belongs to a lower-class, maybe the lowest social class is able to read and write, he expresses himself perfectly, whereas Brendan's mother, being of the same class shows a characteristic turn of phrase. In other words, there was any efforts to display and not only mentioning, the class difference between Fitz and Ethan; It's a shame, because maybe it would have lent itself to a pygmalian parallelism.
It could be told that what one rates is strictly the stuff that the author has written, but I don't see it that way, the prompt is part of the story and it's under its premises and inspiration that the author should write the fiction, that's her/his challenge. And in this case, I'm sorry to say it, I don't think that the story had made the grade.
But beware that I don't believe that the author is a goner; on the contrary I believe that she have a lot to give because, even with all the slips that I tagged above (and I admit that I'm obsessive regarding consistency matters), the story is well-written and the purely romantic moments are tender and very sexy.
An acceptance process without angst or rejection from loved ones involved.
A variety of moments from awkward to tender, from to funny to revealing.
A vivid description of every location that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I loved this story with an unmistakable and truly contemporary vibe.
Cute, angst-free, and very British. The writing was horrible, though. I think it would’ve been a dnf if I hadn’t desperately needed a break from my current read.
Every fifth year the province holds a tournament to select a winner to join the King’s army. Strong, young men compete in the mud-wrestling event hoping to advance and get their chance to leave their villages and down-trodden lives. Ethan has succeeded to the final round, not through luck, but through his wits and now he waits for his final opponent. Ethan had calculated that it would be someone he knew, but instead it turns out to be Charlie Fitzwilliam, the nephew of Lord Granston. Charlie is the opposite of his tyrannical uncle. Charlie is kind and thoughtful, even to the peasants. Ethan is stunned. He didn’t expect to have to fight Charlie. Not only that, but Ethan has had a crush on Charlie for many years.
This was an interesting story, but not quite what I was expecting. The prompt says this:
I didn’t even compete to win, but once he was my final opponent, I had to give all I have in me, to prove to him I’m worthy.
..this tournament was my chance to get near him. All I ever wanted was for him to get to know me and maybe, just maybe, something could grow?
I don’t think this is how the story went. This story was more about winning the tournament to make a better life and Ethan desperately wanted to win. Not to get near Charlie or prove something to Charlie, but to make a better life for himself.So I don’t think the story followed the prompt closely, but then the prompter probably doesn’t mind.
I’m a dialogue person and this story had hardly any dialogue, it was mostly description of what was happening. It was very good descriptions and actions, but I still found my mind wanting to wander because there was so much of it. The sex was pretty hot for the little there was of it. I wish we got to read about how Ethan adjusted to being in the King’s army and his growing relationship with Charlie. Also,this story was way too short for me.
I think people will like this style of writing, it was very vividly described, but I prefer more dialogue and less description. I don’t think it followed the prompt all that closely. I also think this would have been nice if it was longer. Oh, and before I forget, the cover is very, very hot. If I had a cock, I’d be rock hard right now. I’d give this story 3.0 stars, but because of the cover, I’m raising it to 4 Stars.
First I’d like to start with the cover. It’s eye-catching and very holiday looking, I like it a lot.
I had high hopes for this book, it’s the kind of story I enjoy reading. It sounded like a comfy, low angst read with ordinary characters with ordinary jobs. But unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations. The characters were flat, as was the whole story, and I blame that on the tremendous amount of telling instead of showing that happened. There was a lot of ‘he knew, he felt, he realized,’ etc. In fact on one page I found three, ‘he realized.’ The telling kept me on the surface, and I couldn’t feel the emotions or descriptions like I wanted. I don’t know who betaed or edited this story for the author, but I would’ve thought they’d have pointed out the overuse of the repetitive phrasing.
There was no depth to the characters, especially Rhys. He was an unmotivated, boring character who lived at home with his mother. He didn’t seem to have a personality. Toby was better. He came across as cheerful, happy and outgoing. There was instant lust between the two, dancing around each other until they quickly decided to sleep together, but the speed was expected in this short story. I also don't remember much of Rhys' or Toby's appearance. Which tells me the descriptions weren't vivid enough for me to remember.
However, despite all the telling and the boring Rhys, I did like the plot, it was cute. I just wish the author had shown, instead of told, and maybe the story wouldn’t have ended up being as flat as it was.
For Want of a Christmas Miracle is a very fast, but flat read. It’s all telling, but I found the plot fun. If you’re looking for an easy, no angst holiday read, this book could be for you. I give this story 3 Stars.
Low/no sex in a YA/NA style story (MCs are 20).
The end of the story implied there may be a sequel. I hope that is the case.
The story is short, but fun, wonderfully written and easy to read (not going to make a big deal of typos, they happen even to the best).
I think I liked the first book better, but only because I am a huge fan of fantasy and historicals.
This installment features great sportsmanship and that is always a win for me no matter times or settings. Certainly it wasn't not as dramatic, when the boys finished, but it was there :D
Loved it. 5 stars.
I laughed out loud several times and even did an "awweeeee!!!!" (or two or three) complete with googly eyes =)
4.25 stars
Low/no sex in a YA/NA style story (MCs are 20).
The end of the story implied there may be a sequel. I hope that is the case.
It's cute, though? I was prepared for some internalized homophobia after reading the blurb but there was pretty much none so that's a plus. It's a good story for those days when you don't feel like overworking your brain. Plus, I think it's free.
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Synopsis: Max has met the girl of his dream whilst gaming online and has set up a meet in real life. When he gets to the meet up place, he thinks that he has been stood up, but it turns out that Steffi is Stefan, who also thought that he was meeting a woman. Instead of running away in fright, they agree to spend time together, and when they have a great time together, a friendship is born.
Stefan is gay, and he lets Max know that fairly early on in their "getting to know each other as guys" phase. Max just enjoys spending time with Stefan, whether it is online or in person. As they do spend more time together, though, Max starts to realize that he might have feelings for Stefan, and once he acknowledges that, wants to act on it, although Stefan figures that they should go slowly, since Max has never even thought about a guy that way.
What I liked: that Max and Stefan each had their own voice. Even though they were similar in a lot of ways and had some similar interests, they had two distinct personalities. Max is quieter with basically one friend, and Stefan has his work friends and the friends he grew up with, who all dare each other to do more and more outrageous things for lost bets. None of the female characters were the shrill harpy type, which is always refreshing, as is the fact that *gasp* Stefan had straight friends, and didn't just hang out with other gay people or women exclusively. Told in alternating 3rd person POV, I didn't want this story to end.
What I didn't like: that there wasn't a lot of story after Max and Stefan got together, although the epilogue was adorable.