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Once Vinn might have believed that vampires were nothing but legend and myth. But when his life is threatened by a legend, it takes a myth to save him.
This short story is also part of the RED anthology.
This short story is also part of the RED anthology.
69 pages, ebook
First published December 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Kimberly Gardner
31 books70 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, back before computers, before email, before the internet–Imagine that!–a book junkie was born. That was me.
Fast forward three decades to a soft spring day in 1997, and find me contentedly reading my eleventy-thousandth romance novel. Sighing, I closed the book and say, “I can do that.”
Voilà! A writer was born!
Don’t worry, I’m not going to walk you through the intervening years day by day, project by project, rejection by rejection. A journey like that would involve far more wailing and gnashing of teeth than even I, with my flare for drama, could stand.
What I will do, is tell you that over the years I have written a little of everything including: a novel-length contemporary romance, two screenplays,
dozens of flash fictions and prose poems, short stories of varying lengths, novellas and most recently gay erotic romance.
Gustave Flaubert said, “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”
And I do. I live in a three-story Victorian with my husband, three cats and a yellow lab named Oliver. Most days I write (at least a little) and read quite a lot.
As to whether my work is violently original … achieving that goal may take the rest of my regular and orderly life.
Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, back before computers, before email, before the internet–Imagine that!–a book junkie was born. That was me.
Fast forward three decades to a soft spring day in 1997, and find me contentedly reading my eleventy-thousandth romance novel. Sighing, I closed the book and say, “I can do that.”
Voilà! A writer was born!
Don’t worry, I’m not going to walk you through the intervening years day by day, project by project, rejection by rejection. A journey like that would involve far more wailing and gnashing of teeth than even I, with my flare for drama, could stand.
What I will do, is tell you that over the years I have written a little of everything including: a novel-length contemporary romance, two screenplays,
dozens of flash fictions and prose poems, short stories of varying lengths, novellas and most recently gay erotic romance.
Gustave Flaubert said, “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”
And I do. I live in a three-story Victorian with my husband, three cats and a yellow lab named Oliver. Most days I write (at least a little) and read quite a lot.
As to whether my work is violently original … achieving that goal may take the rest of my regular and orderly life.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 29, 2012
Stars: 2.5/5
Overall
Fair to middling writing, this story is classical vampire and thus somewhat unoriginal in its telling. Evil vampire wants young thing's blood, good vampire must protect him, even if it will cost him his life. That said, it was a fairly enjoyable story with some sexy times.
Review
Despite the resolution of the major points in the plot, there were some gaping holes by the end of the story. The role of Vinn's professor seems to be broached and then cast aside with no real purpose aside from reiterating the positives of the bloodstone (for both the reader and Vinn, but if you can't trust what your vampire boyfriend has to say about it, who can you trust?). Her involvement for that one scene seems to indicate an importance that is never really played out, despite raising several questions.
Another problem I had was the ending, which seems to be saying something different than the previous scene would indicate was going to happen. While the end result can be guessed from the beginning, I felt jarred by the juxtaposition between what was said and what happened. Plus the ending felt tagged on in a too-happily-ever-after way. Cutting the last scene would have left the reader hanging, but would have felt like an appropriate ending to me.
Travis is a nice addition to the story, a considerate friend offering good advice that Vinn listens to (mostly). He's also a good knowledge source later in the story as everything falls apart.
This story mainly serves as a sex-centric story with an overall plot and classic vampires. Readers looking for this type of story will find an enjoyable nugget, but otherwise there isn't much meat here.
Be sure to check out my other reviews on my blog.
Overall
Fair to middling writing, this story is classical vampire and thus somewhat unoriginal in its telling. Evil vampire wants young thing's blood, good vampire must protect him, even if it will cost him his life. That said, it was a fairly enjoyable story with some sexy times.
Review
Despite the resolution of the major points in the plot, there were some gaping holes by the end of the story. The role of Vinn's professor seems to be broached and then cast aside with no real purpose aside from reiterating the positives of the bloodstone (for both the reader and Vinn, but if you can't trust what your vampire boyfriend has to say about it, who can you trust?). Her involvement for that one scene seems to indicate an importance that is never really played out, despite raising several questions.
Another problem I had was the ending, which seems to be saying something different than the previous scene would indicate was going to happen. While the end result can be guessed from the beginning, I felt jarred by the juxtaposition between what was said and what happened. Plus the ending felt tagged on in a too-happily-ever-after way. Cutting the last scene would have left the reader hanging, but would have felt like an appropriate ending to me.
Travis is a nice addition to the story, a considerate friend offering good advice that Vinn listens to (mostly). He's also a good knowledge source later in the story as everything falls apart.
This story mainly serves as a sex-centric story with an overall plot and classic vampires. Readers looking for this type of story will find an enjoyable nugget, but otherwise there isn't much meat here.
Be sure to check out my other reviews on my blog.
March 18, 2015
2.5 stars.
College student Vinn and vampire Julien have been dating for a month. They are already in love but haven’t declared it. Vinn feels Julien is hiding something because he doesn’t let Vinn go to his house. Julien’s secret would harm Vinn.
This didn’t work as a romance for me because the relationship was already established. There was no further development of emotions or internal conflict. Vinn knows Julien is a vampire. The story explains the same info from my synopsis until the threat to Vinn is quickly dealt with in the last chapter. It wasn’t suspenseful and the vampire mythology is very light.
Overall, the writing and story were just okay.
College student Vinn and vampire Julien have been dating for a month. They are already in love but haven’t declared it. Vinn feels Julien is hiding something because he doesn’t let Vinn go to his house. Julien’s secret would harm Vinn.
This didn’t work as a romance for me because the relationship was already established. There was no further development of emotions or internal conflict. Vinn knows Julien is a vampire. The story explains the same info from my synopsis until the threat to Vinn is quickly dealt with in the last chapter. It wasn’t suspenseful and the vampire mythology is very light.
Overall, the writing and story were just okay.
July 4, 2011
short story that doesn't leave you hanging
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews