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hijinx17's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
jamietherebelliousreader's review
4.0
4 stars. A very cute collection of novellas. I’d read the last one ‘Blind Date at the Booklover’s Lair’ separately a while ago and I think it was still the best one of the bunch. My second favorite was ’The Romance Bet’ as it was just a lot of fun. A great way to spend a half hour.
wickedregal's review
5.0
This book is a little collection of short stories, four in all. I found them all adorable in their own ways, and all including writers as one of the main characters. Being a writer myself, I got sucked in. Just wish they had been longer, to be honest.
The Romance Bet ~ A story of a journalist and a writer she is interviewing. The journalist really stepped in it when she downplayed the work it takes to write romance of all things. Since she thought it was so easy to write a romance novel, she ended up finding herself in a bet to do just that. What did she get herself into? So I was reading this one while at work and probably shouldn't have done that because I snorted out loud while at the desk in the middle of reading this one. I work at a library so it was slightly awkward and where our desk is, it echoes. I wanted to hide in a hole... and finish reading the story. I also liked the fact that this one along with another one threw in the whole NaNoWriMo. :)
Sex Sells ~ This one was another great one about a writer and her editor. It had a few awkward moments, and I live for those. Those awkward moments when the character gets tongue tied and stumbles over their words because of nerves around another person. It's adorable and sweet, and I happen to be a sucker for them. Wait, did she hear her right? Were they... or was that just a figure of speech? Then... technical difficulties. Like I'm going to tell you anything of this story. They're short, you need to read them! :)
The Snow Liger ~ This one I don't know if it was just me, but I found it too short. I wanted it at least a little longer. But the snow moment was too cute. This short involves Griffin and Jorie from Jae's novel Second Nature. So if you love that one, this is a must little read.
Blind Date at the Booklover's Lair ~ Gonna say, if I had to pick one favorite out of this book, it would be this one. If I say anything about it, it is gonna give things away so just going to leave it with the fact that is was my favorite out of the four, even though I loved them all. :)
The Romance Bet ~ A story of a journalist and a writer she is interviewing. The journalist really stepped in it when she downplayed the work it takes to write romance of all things. Since she thought it was so easy to write a romance novel, she ended up finding herself in a bet to do just that. What did she get herself into? So I was reading this one while at work and probably shouldn't have done that because I snorted out loud while at the desk in the middle of reading this one. I work at a library so it was slightly awkward and where our desk is, it echoes. I wanted to hide in a hole... and finish reading the story. I also liked the fact that this one along with another one threw in the whole NaNoWriMo. :)
Sex Sells ~ This one was another great one about a writer and her editor. It had a few awkward moments, and I live for those. Those awkward moments when the character gets tongue tied and stumbles over their words because of nerves around another person. It's adorable and sweet, and I happen to be a sucker for them. Wait, did she hear her right? Were they... or was that just a figure of speech? Then... technical difficulties. Like I'm going to tell you anything of this story. They're short, you need to read them! :)
The Snow Liger ~ This one I don't know if it was just me, but I found it too short. I wanted it at least a little longer. But the snow moment was too cute. This short involves Griffin and Jorie from Jae's novel Second Nature. So if you love that one, this is a must little read.
Blind Date at the Booklover's Lair ~ Gonna say, if I had to pick one favorite out of this book, it would be this one. If I say anything about it, it is gonna give things away so just going to leave it with the fact that is was my favorite out of the four, even though I loved them all. :)
mjsam's review
4.0
ARC received from Ylva in return for an honest review.
This is a short story collection by Jae. Her stories are always good, but these are very short. Even though I’m a fam of Jae’s Second Nature series, the Snow Liger was my least favourite of this collection, probably due to the fact that if I’m revisiting characters I like to spend a bit more time with them.
The other three are all entertaining (and sweet/cute) stories, with The Romance Bet being my favourite. Jae has been known to flesh out a short story into a novella, and that would be my pick of these stories.
This is a short story collection by Jae. Her stories are always good, but these are very short. Even though I’m a fam of Jae’s Second Nature series, the Snow Liger was my least favourite of this collection, probably due to the fact that if I’m revisiting characters I like to spend a bit more time with them.
The other three are all entertaining (and sweet/cute) stories, with The Romance Bet being my favourite. Jae has been known to flesh out a short story into a novella, and that would be my pick of these stories.
theamandashelby's review
4.0
I know I say this every time I review a book of Jae’s, but she really is one of my favorite authors. I always enjoy her books. That being said, I typically do not like short stories. This is a book of 4 short stories. As far as short stories go, I enjoyed them. I still felt like I wanted more. The first short story, The Romance Bet was interesting, but I didn’t overall enjoy the characters. I thought it was a good idea for a story though. The second story, Sex Sells was my second favorite out of the book. I enjoyed the characters, enjoyed the story and would read a full novel about these two. The third story, The Snow Liger is from Jae’s shifter series. If you have read this series this will be a bonus read for you. I liked it, always looking for more shifter stories. The final story, Blind Date at the Booklover’s Lair was my favorite short in the book. This one almost made me forget I was reading a short and as disappointed when it ended. Overall this was a good read. I would read anything by Jae so if you enjoy this author or shorts, or any form of lesbian romance I would say pick this one up.
eclair_d_amour's review
4.0
This book contains four short stories, but one of them is clearly an addition to another one of the authors previous stories, so i will only comment on the other three stories. Before talking about each individual story, i will say that this is worth buying. For the dollar i paid, i had a great time. My more detailed opinions aside, these are worth reading for any fan of lesfic. That said, i will now talk about the three stand alone stories individually.
The Romance Bet:
I thought this was the most interesting out of the short stories. I like the basic premise and enjoyed the dialogue and chemistry between the characters. What i found to be interesting is the conversations about writing and storytelling. Not being a writer myself, maybe my opinion on what writing is good is irrelevant, but i cant help but disagree with some of what the author character has to say in this one. For example, the point she makes about needing conflict in a romance. I agree that conflict is good to have, but she frames it in a way i disagree with. But even then, i think thats a generalization that isnt always true. One of my favorite stories is a lesbian romance manga called girlfriends. To me, a big part of the point of the story is that there isnt any real reason they shouldnt be together. The idea being that really the only thing that prevented them from being together was the idea that they couldnt rather than any physical reality preventing it. You can call that conflict if you want, but at the very least i dont think its a conflict in the same way as the author character in the story describes it.
I guess the concept that anything 'needs' to be in a story really bothers me. To me, the only thing that is needed in a book is words that tell a story, how a person goes about it is up to them. I understand this is a romantic perspective and unrealistic when looking at the reality that is the publishing world, but i think this perspective fits within the scope of what the reporter character was doing. Maybe authors disagree with my amateur opinion, i dont know. But regardless i did enjoy the character interactions, it had some cute and funny moments. I really enjoyed thinking about the issue of writing because it was discussed in the story. It was fun seeing the reporter learn that writing isnt easy.
Sex Sells:
Very funny story. I love the way things were discribed in this one and the romance was sweet. I wish this one would be made into a longer story because i think there is alot more to be done with the concept. I like the idea of a writer/publisher romance. I really enjoyed how the story played out. Its somewhat subversive in how it resolves the conflict near the end.
Blinddate at the Booklovers lair:
Probably the one i enjoyed the most. More of a straightforward romance than a comedy, but i like that. A blind date romance with a twist to it. I found the main character really relatable in how she values comfort over style and her love of books and hot chocolate. My only real issue with it is the fact that the main character starts questioning how she writes after a brief exchange with a stranger about her writing. The story clearly indicates she has written at least a few stories that got published, its hard to believe one brief comment about her writing would make her suddenly decide to change how she writes. This wouldnt be as big of an issue in a longer story where you can build to her valuing Jens opinion. More of a percieved issue than something that really bothered me. A fun story overall.
The Romance Bet:
I thought this was the most interesting out of the short stories. I like the basic premise and enjoyed the dialogue and chemistry between the characters. What i found to be interesting is the conversations about writing and storytelling. Not being a writer myself, maybe my opinion on what writing is good is irrelevant, but i cant help but disagree with some of what the author character has to say in this one. For example, the point she makes about needing conflict in a romance. I agree that conflict is good to have, but she frames it in a way i disagree with. But even then, i think thats a generalization that isnt always true. One of my favorite stories is a lesbian romance manga called girlfriends. To me, a big part of the point of the story is that there isnt any real reason they shouldnt be together. The idea being that really the only thing that prevented them from being together was the idea that they couldnt rather than any physical reality preventing it. You can call that conflict if you want, but at the very least i dont think its a conflict in the same way as the author character in the story describes it.
I guess the concept that anything 'needs' to be in a story really bothers me. To me, the only thing that is needed in a book is words that tell a story, how a person goes about it is up to them. I understand this is a romantic perspective and unrealistic when looking at the reality that is the publishing world, but i think this perspective fits within the scope of what the reporter character was doing. Maybe authors disagree with my amateur opinion, i dont know. But regardless i did enjoy the character interactions, it had some cute and funny moments. I really enjoyed thinking about the issue of writing because it was discussed in the story. It was fun seeing the reporter learn that writing isnt easy.
Sex Sells:
Very funny story. I love the way things were discribed in this one and the romance was sweet. I wish this one would be made into a longer story because i think there is alot more to be done with the concept. I like the idea of a writer/publisher romance. I really enjoyed how the story played out. Its somewhat subversive in how it resolves the conflict near the end.
Blinddate at the Booklovers lair:
Probably the one i enjoyed the most. More of a straightforward romance than a comedy, but i like that. A blind date romance with a twist to it. I found the main character really relatable in how she values comfort over style and her love of books and hot chocolate. My only real issue with it is the fact that the main character starts questioning how she writes after a brief exchange with a stranger about her writing. The story clearly indicates she has written at least a few stories that got published, its hard to believe one brief comment about her writing would make her suddenly decide to change how she writes. This wouldnt be as big of an issue in a longer story where you can build to her valuing Jens opinion. More of a percieved issue than something that really bothered me. A fun story overall.