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teresab78's review
3.0
3.5 Stars
This is a hard book to rate. It is four stories set in a common alternate universe, written by four different authors. In this world there are many realms and the things of fairy tales are real. There is a group called the Irregulars that police the "normal" realm of earth and keep mortals safe.
The first story was quite dark and dealt with cannibalism. The romance was very secondary, though the one love scene - and I do say love scene, not sex scene - was quite touching though opposite in tone to the rest of the story.
The second was ok. A bit of a mystery to solve (as with all of the stories) I didn't really get the chemistry between the MCs
Third was better. I felt for poor Deven. I got the connection between the MCs and the action was good
The fourth was also good. Rich strong characters, though I'm not sure I buy it as a romance. I felt like it was more platonic but then they threw sex in. I like sex in my stories, don't get me wrong, it just didn't feel like they should be having sex.
This is a hard book to rate. It is four stories set in a common alternate universe, written by four different authors. In this world there are many realms and the things of fairy tales are real. There is a group called the Irregulars that police the "normal" realm of earth and keep mortals safe.
The first story was quite dark and dealt with cannibalism. The romance was very secondary, though the one love scene - and I do say love scene, not sex scene - was quite touching though opposite in tone to the rest of the story.
The second was ok. A bit of a mystery to solve (as with all of the stories) I didn't really get the chemistry between the MCs
Third was better. I felt for poor Deven. I got the connection between the MCs and the action was good
The fourth was also good. Rich strong characters, though I'm not sure I buy it as a romance. I felt like it was more platonic but then they threw sex in. I like sex in my stories, don't get me wrong, it just didn't feel like they should be having sex.
draconicrose's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I don't usually read story collections but this one was pretty cohesive and the quality and styles went well together. I particularly liked the world building and the idea that the characters of the various stories are professional acquaintances at some point.
My favorites were the stories No Life But This and Things Unseen and Deadly. Guess I do love me some tortured men with special powers. And betrayal.
My favorites were the stories No Life But This and Things Unseen and Deadly. Guess I do love me some tortured men with special powers. And betrayal.
cloverbooks's review
4.0
Cherries Worth Getting by Nicole Kimberling // ★★★★☆
Green Glass Beads by Josh Lanyon // ★★★★☆
No Life But This by Astrid Amara ★★☆☆☆
Things Unseen and Deadly by Ginn Hale ★★★★★
Green Glass Beads by Josh Lanyon // ★★★★☆
No Life But This by Astrid Amara ★★☆☆☆
Things Unseen and Deadly by Ginn Hale ★★★★★
queensaru's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
scrow1022's review against another edition
5.0
How I loved this book. Such a treat to see the beginning of Gunther and Keith's relationship (N. Kimberling - these characters were also in "Charmed & Dangerous"), and the remaining stories were all fascinating and heart-wrenching, with my particular favorite being Astrid Amara's "No Life But This", which I read quickly and then had to read again to try to get everything from it.
tacuazin's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent display of imagination from all four authors. I was only familiar with Josh Lanyon, but the others wow'ed me as well with their stories, no doubt I'll be keeping an eye on them in the future.
mysimas's review
So I started Cherries Worth Getting and it was an okay story. Liked the setting a lot, also the culinary theme was pretty fun. But it didn’t grab me and I didn’t really care what was going to happen, so I stopped reading and almost deleted the book from my Kindle.
And then I realized, wait a second, one of the stories here is supposed to be by Ginn Hale. Her Rifter series was kind of a hit and miss for me but it was very fun and innovative in some aspects, so I figured Things Unseen and Deadly could share those qualities.
And oh boy. OH BOY. This was like Alice in Wonderland but gay and Mad Hatter was weirdly mixed with Columbo (the detective played by Peter Falk. -.- I swear, it can’t be a coincidence) and also there were some elements clearly connected to the Rifter series (the shadow realm, the magical being bearing immense power that’s directly linked to the well-being of a world…). Loved the writing, the creativity, Jason and Falk the hobo, the progression of their relationship, EVERYTHING. Totally will read again, so now I gotta keep the whole book I guess.
PS- Jason and Falk’s dynamic reminded me somewhat of Silver in the Wood, if anyone’s looking for recs
And then I realized, wait a second, one of the stories here is supposed to be by Ginn Hale. Her Rifter series was kind of a hit and miss for me but it was very fun and innovative in some aspects, so I figured Things Unseen and Deadly could share those qualities.
And oh boy. OH BOY. This was like Alice in Wonderland but gay and Mad Hatter was weirdly mixed with Columbo (the detective played by Peter Falk. -.- I swear, it can’t be a coincidence) and also there were some elements clearly connected to the Rifter series (the shadow realm, the magical being bearing immense power that’s directly linked to the well-being of a world…). Loved the writing, the creativity, Jason and Falk the hobo, the progression of their relationship, EVERYTHING. Totally will read again, so now I gotta keep the whole book I guess.
PS- Jason and Falk’s dynamic reminded me somewhat of Silver in the Wood, if anyone’s looking for recs
scarletine6's review against another edition
3.0
Over all a mixed bag! But lots of fun.
Cherries worth Getting, by Nicole Kimberling
Irregulars Agent Keith Curry is set to work on a case with his ex-fuck buddy and Goblin expert Günter Heartman. The case is about finding who is committing murders and serving up human flesh on their restaurant menu.
The connection between Keith and Günter is just adorable, and as the case develops, so do the feelings that both men have been keeping at bay. I really enjoyed this story. 3 stars
Green Glass Beads, by Josh Lanyon
Who knew the fae had glitter spunk? What a revelation! LOL. This fun story revolved around Archer Green, a half –fae curator at a secret museum for magical artefacts, who was supposed to work in conjunction with the Irregulars, whenever a rare artefact was located. His greatest passion was in searching for a string of green Glass Beads, that held a power known only to Archer. However the new irregular Commander, named Rake has own ideas about what Archer gets up to and believes it is anything but legal. As the story develops we see that Rake has his own agenda when it comes to Archer Green, it was very personal! Great fun sex scene! Gorgeous ending. 3stars
No Life But This, by Astrid Amara
To begin with I was really enjoying Astrid’s story. I thought the characters of Irregulars Agent Hawk and Aztaw expert/consultant Deven held a lot of promise. However, then the back story of the realm of Aztaw kicked in, and boy it was just so ludicrous.
Back in the real world Deven seemed to be a likeable guy, with interesting magical talents, and the romantic fission between him and Hawk was intriguing. However, the constant clumsy repetition and adding to the whacky tales of Aztaw crushed the life out of any good things about the story for me. Disappointing. 2 stars
Things Unseen and Deadly, by Ginn Hale
This was so good! I love Ginn’s writing, and in this story we meet Half Dead Henry, a character that was mentioned as an aside in Nicole Kimberling’s story. I loved how Hale incorporated so many of Kimberling’s characters and remained consistent with the descriptions of the Irregulars headquarters, agents, weapons, and methods. Everything fitted so perfectly. The story concerned a young man who had, years before witnessed his father’s brutal murder. Jason Shamir saw things…things that no one else saw, and it wasn’t until he stumbled into an Irregulars stakeout that he realised that what he saw was in-fact real. Jason is put under the protection of an Agent known as Half Dead Henry, (for reasons we discover later!) and from there the story unfolds. I loved both characters and I loved how their connection developed into something fantastically life affirming.
A delight 4 stars
Cherries worth Getting, by Nicole Kimberling
Irregulars Agent Keith Curry is set to work on a case with his ex-fuck buddy and Goblin expert Günter Heartman. The case is about finding who is committing murders and serving up human flesh on their restaurant menu.
The connection between Keith and Günter is just adorable, and as the case develops, so do the feelings that both men have been keeping at bay. I really enjoyed this story. 3 stars
Green Glass Beads, by Josh Lanyon
Who knew the fae had glitter spunk? What a revelation! LOL. This fun story revolved around Archer Green, a half –fae curator at a secret museum for magical artefacts, who was supposed to work in conjunction with the Irregulars, whenever a rare artefact was located. His greatest passion was in searching for a string of green Glass Beads, that held a power known only to Archer. However the new irregular Commander, named Rake has own ideas about what Archer gets up to and believes it is anything but legal. As the story develops we see that Rake has his own agenda when it comes to Archer Green, it was very personal! Great fun sex scene! Gorgeous ending. 3stars
No Life But This, by Astrid Amara
To begin with I was really enjoying Astrid’s story. I thought the characters of Irregulars Agent Hawk and Aztaw expert/consultant Deven held a lot of promise. However, then the back story of the realm of Aztaw kicked in, and boy it was just so ludicrous.
Spoiler
Deven was a human who had been taken as a child to the magical realm of Aztaw by his crazy father- a realm that had NOT ONE endearing feature. The land was in perpetual darkness, the Aztaw were hideous monsters that used human sacrifice to fuel their magic, and had a busy little industry in human slavery and murder. So why Deven was endeared to the place I could not, for the life of me, figure out. There was no sexual connection between him and the ‘lord’ he has served as assassin in Aztaw, so why was he so loyal to a realm that saw him as a tool when alive, or otherwise…meat?Back in the real world Deven seemed to be a likeable guy, with interesting magical talents, and the romantic fission between him and Hawk was intriguing. However, the constant clumsy repetition and adding to the whacky tales of Aztaw crushed the life out of any good things about the story for me. Disappointing. 2 stars
Things Unseen and Deadly, by Ginn Hale
This was so good! I love Ginn’s writing, and in this story we meet Half Dead Henry, a character that was mentioned as an aside in Nicole Kimberling’s story. I loved how Hale incorporated so many of Kimberling’s characters and remained consistent with the descriptions of the Irregulars headquarters, agents, weapons, and methods. Everything fitted so perfectly. The story concerned a young man who had, years before witnessed his father’s brutal murder. Jason Shamir saw things…things that no one else saw, and it wasn’t until he stumbled into an Irregulars stakeout that he realised that what he saw was in-fact real. Jason is put under the protection of an Agent known as Half Dead Henry, (for reasons we discover later!) and from there the story unfolds. I loved both characters and I loved how their connection developed into something fantastically life affirming.
A delight 4 stars
abhidnya's review against another edition
2.0
i think the problem was that these stories could have been full length ones but they're short stories. the plots are decent but everything has been so crammed in to fit. the chemistry between the mcs is underdeveloped and goes from 0 to 100 real quick.
cmira2027's review against another edition
5.0
I have loved the idea of a shared universe ever since reading Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn in HS. Different authors creating people and events inside a shared world, fun! Sometimes the stories work, and sometimes they don't, but all 4 stories in this collection are excellent.