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The Arts of Love: Stories of Sensual Creativity
The Arts of Love: Stories of Sensual Creativity
Harley Easton | 2018 | Erotica, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
a fabulous little collection!
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

16 short stories, written by the same author, based around love and the Arts. Music, acting, writing and everything inbetween.

A 16 book collection was never going to get 16 individual reviews, so here's what I thought about them all, as a whole.

I rather enjoyed it!

It's a great collection of shorts, average about 15 pages each, some a little shorter or longer, but that gives you just enough for each story, I thought, to give you a brief connection, a glimpse into these people's lives.

Some stories are a bit more explicit, some almost clean, in my opinion. Mostly written from one person's view, in the third person.

Each short is well written, and well delivered. I saw no spelling or editing errors to spoil my reading experience.

This is the first I've read of this author, and I'd like to read more. Something much longer than these shorts, just to see what they can do with more pages!

A thoroughly enjoyable Sunday afternoon spent reading, thank you.

4 solid stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
The Nameless City
The Nameless City
H.P. Lovecraft | 2020 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
159 of 200
Kindle
The Nameless City
By H.P. Lovecraft

The Nameless City of the story's title is an ancient ruin located somewhere in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula and is older than any human civilization



As someone who isn’t very wordy and struggles with certain terms I’ve always sort of stayed away from H.P. Lovecraft but my husband installed all the Novellas onto my kindle so I thought what the hell let’s give it a go! I don’t pretend or write big long fancy reviews so this won’t be as intelligent as some you read if you read it at all!
So I enjoyed this short I felt so claustrophobic during the crawl through the hidden corridors and found myself getting involved in the story. This even to me is the whole point of writing to bring your reader into the world you’re creating. I did have to find out a few of the big words as like I said I’m not entirely sure of some of the language used! I’m not entirely hooked from one short book but I’m certainly intrigued!
  
Winter Trials
Winter Trials
K.S. Marsden | 2018 | LGBTQ+, Young Adult (YA)
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This review can also be found on my blog - www.diaryofdifference.com

A winter tale about two men finding themselves and each other. A short beginning of what I believe will be a long-lasting relationship, in a book filled with warmth, bravery and magic.
I was lucky enough to be approached by the author – K.S. Marsden, and I was excited to read both her books from the Northern Witch Series.

Winter Trials is the first instalment, and it is a perfect short introduction to the environment and the character. The story is about Mark, a 16-year-old boy, who decides to start practising magic, just like his grandmother.

And when a new guy comes in school, Mark is instantly attracted to him. But Mark’s magic, and Damien’s troublesome past will suddenly find each other, and a huge danger is near…

I really enjoyed reading this book, and it was a shame that it was so short. I loved Mark’s character and especially cheered for the grandma witch – she was the star of the show, with her sassy comments!

There wasn’t too much in-depth character features, and character development, but I would assume this is an introduction to a world that is to come.
Mark is a typical high-school teenager, with normal things hanging around his head, and some of the thoughts and discussions were refreshing, rather than when you read some usual cliches in other books.

I loved the bonfire night gathering, and the magic scenes were breathtaking.

The love story between Mark and Demian developed a bit too fast, and that is my only little disappointment, but apart from that – I enjoyed reading it, and can’t wait to dive into book two.

If you love LGBT romance, YA and a bit of magic and witches – grab this book, and read this series!

Thank you to the author, for sending me a hard copy of this book. All the opinions stated in this review are entirely my own.
  
<i>This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Polaris Awakening</i> is a young adult science fiction anthology containing several short stories about the human race thousand of years from now where everyone lives aboard giant space stations. <i>Polaris</i> is a collaborative project between numerous authors that are rising up in the young adult world: Kelli Sheridan, E. Latimer, Erica Crouch, Janna Jennings, Hannah Davies, Terra Harmony and Meghan Jashinky. Although each story is different, they all revolve around <i>Polaris</i> – the largest human built space station in the universe.

Despite the different authors’ input, it could be easily believed that only one person wrote the anthology, as their writing styles are so similar. Whilst being labeled as science fiction, there are a lot of themes throughout the book such as a dystopian setting, social and political injustice, romance and violence. There are many strong male and female characters, which make these stories suitable to readers of both genders. The main characters are roughly the same age as the target audience thus generating appropriate language and scenarios for young adults to read and become interested in.
Naturally, some of the stories are better than others. Some are so full of action and suspense, making the reader want to stay with those characters forever, whereas others feel rather short and incomplete. What happens to those certain individuals once they are off the page?

Whilst reading this book I kept thinking about a novel that was recently published: <i>Way Down Dark</i> by J. P. Smythe. The plots of these short stories were very similar to the general story line portrayed within that book. The setting was almost the same as the spacecraft written about by Smythe. If you enjoy this anthology, I am sure you would also love <i>Way Down Dark</i>, and vice versa.