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Sara Stark

Autor(a) de Leap Through Eternity

5 Works 11 Membros 4 Críticas

Obras por Sara Stark

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Some people just have the worst luck, and Mason is one of them. He loves the holidays, but this year nothing is the way it should be. His parents are on a cruise, his sister is going skiing with her husband and kids, and his brother is spending time with his girlfriend’s family. Mason tries to ignore the loneliness and decorates his apartment like always. It is when he bakes Christmas cookies at 1:00 a.m., only to fall asleep while waiting for them to finish, that disaster strikes. But sometimes something good can come out of disaster, and this entertaining, sweet story is all about the happy ending to an unhappy beginning.

Marcus feels awful when the cookies catch fire, and the entire apartment building needs to be evacuated while the firefighters make sure his kitchen doesn’t go up in flames as well. Hot neighbor Cole only wears his underwear and boots and is shivering in the cold. Mason isn’t good at communicating – or any human interaction, really – so he is surprised when Cole begins to talk to him. Of course, when Cole finds out “the idiot who forgot his cookies and set his oven aflame” is Mason, he no longer wants anything to do with Mason. Or so he thinks until an older neighbor reveals there may be another reason… And for the first time in his life, Mason takes a deep breath and jumps into the deep end.

If you like men who are not just a klutz but socially awkward, if you want to find out more about one such man’s rambling thoughts as he bumbles through a very hot encounter, and if you’re looking for a lighthearted, entertaining read with some very sweet moments, then you might like this short story.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
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Assinalado
SerenaYates | Oct 14, 2017 |
As a collection of stories, I think the 2015 Advent Calendar was one of the best of its kind. I have been following these since 2009, but the number of stories I totally adored has never been this high. And even though I had my ten favorites (see individual titles for my reviews and ratings), I really liked the vast majority of the remainder as well. Each story had something to contribute, and that included (as it does every year) stories of winter traditions other than Christian. I had a ball reading these and already look forward to the 2016 collection.


NOTE: The stories in this collection were provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of reviews on Rainbow Book Reviews.
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Assinalado
SerenaYates | Oct 14, 2017 |
This is a cute short story about Noel, a lonely librarian who likes order in his life and spends his evenings with Buddy, the cat who has suddenly entered his life via the balcony outside his apartment. Noel knows he is in trouble when he starts talking to Buddy, but the cat just seems to be so attentive. Then Noel meets Mike and is fascinated. To his utter surprise the interest is mutual – except Mike has a secret that makes for a nice twist in their budding relationship.

If you like cute shifter stories with a touch of humor, if conflict is not your thing, and if you’re looking for a read that might make you smile, then you might like this short story.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.
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Assinalado
SerenaYates | 1 outra crítica | Oct 14, 2017 |
Noel can't seem to find someone special, no matter how he tries - that is, at least not in human form. There's a cat he nicknames Buddy who comes around almost every night, but that doesn't really count, right? Even though Noel divulges his secrets and frustrations to the cat, it's not like the cat is really listening. And Noel finds himself lately talking a lot about his social awkwardness when it concerns a businessman named Mike...who has some quirks of his own.

I really wanted to like this story, but it fell short for me. One, it was literally too short - I never felt like any of the characters were all that fleshed out or well-rounded. The character that I felt was most developed was Buddy, to be honest.

Second, it was clear as day who "Buddy" was going to end up being - the author described Buddy's and Mike's eyes so often that I would have been absolutely floored if it HADN'T been Mike. I mean, I know it was probably going to be pretty obvious going into this story, but there's "obvious" and then there's "beating the reader over the head." The author went with the second approach here.

Since we never really got to know Mike as a person, his "cat-like" behaviors (being obsessed with shiny and/or moving objects, laying out in the sun, etc) just seemed weird to me.

And let's talk about the fact that Mike is pretty much stalking Noel. Noel lets in a creature he presumes to be a cat and, as Noel says towards the end of the story, got naked in front of him. That is crossing so many boundaries, and Mike's pitiful excuse of wanting to know Noel better just rang hollow to me. He came across, at best, as a creeper, and at worst, a serious stalker. And stalking isn't sexy. :P Honestly, if I had been in Noel's shoes, I would have kicked him out of my apartment, gotten a restraining order, and then moved to another apartment. No kidding. Creepy.

I can't say that I enjoyed this story, which is disappointing. Maybe if it had been longer, the characters would have been developed better and Mike wouldn't have been as creepy? I doubt it, though.
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Assinalado
schatzi | 1 outra crítica | Dec 6, 2016 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
5
Membros
11
Popularidade
#857,862
Avaliação
3.0
Críticas
4
ISBN
4