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Sheepsquatch
In the hills of West Virginia, a legend comes to life...
Becky Gayle always thought her granddaddy's tales about the mythological Sheepsquatch were just that, myth. But one dark and stormy night, she and her soon-to-be-ex boyfriend are caught outside by the beast, and she learns the hard way that all the stories were true.
Duncan's been in love with Becky from afar for years, but thanks to the truth about his nature, he's always been afraid to profess his feelings. When he learns a secret about her boyfriend, he has to step in to save her from the danger she isn't even aware she's in. And in doing so, he risks his heart and his very life.
"Sheepsquatch" is a horror romance parody, featuring shape-shifting, bawdy humor, murder, mayhem, and legendary folklore. A short story coming in around 12,000 words, it's best not taken seriously.
Becky Gayle always thought her granddaddy's tales about the mythological Sheepsquatch were just that, myth. But one dark and stormy night, she and her soon-to-be-ex boyfriend are caught outside by the beast, and she learns the hard way that all the stories were true.
Duncan's been in love with Becky from afar for years, but thanks to the truth about his nature, he's always been afraid to profess his feelings. When he learns a secret about her boyfriend, he has to step in to save her from the danger she isn't even aware she's in. And in doing so, he risks his heart and his very life.
"Sheepsquatch" is a horror romance parody, featuring shape-shifting, bawdy humor, murder, mayhem, and legendary folklore. A short story coming in around 12,000 words, it's best not taken seriously.
- GenresParanormal
Kindle Edition
First published June 9, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 4, 2015
i'm just not sure who the audience for this book is.
it is called "sheepsquatch," which already gives it niche status.
squinted at one way, the title and the cover scream "monsterporn," but there is no actual porn in here. it's more like… tenderly implied potential relationship in the future after a suitable waiting period romance? like the well-mannered jane austen of monsterporn?
squinted at the other way, you think "cheesy syfy original movie gore fest." but it's not that either. there is a murder, resulting in a dead body gruesome enough to literally give the sheriff a heart attack, but for the reader, there is little in the way of gross-out factors.
and as far as parody, yeah, it's a broadly drawn story, but it's not broad enough to be true satire. it's just - here are some reasonably shitty people, but they're not even as douchey as people in your typical new adult book. they're just fast-food shitty - you get what you expect and it's over and through you quickly. it's not particularly funny, nor is it particularly shocking, so it 's hard for me to say "this is for outrageous parody fans," or "this book is for strong-stomached disgust-hounds!!"
but it's not monsterporn, either. which is a shame, because monsterporn has a rabid and devoted following, and if you write it, they will cum. but monsterporn is taking the romance-novel trope of the brutish alpha male and the forced-consent scenario and making it BIGGER and MOAR SEXIER and saying "taboo, i can barely see you from on top of this dragon i'm banging!!" this one kind of goes in the opposite direction, and the sheepsquatch shapeshifts back into a gentlemen who is more interested in a lifetime commitment than any fleeting sexual pleasures, so it's not for the monsterporn crew, either.
so... i guess it's for people who like smalltown crime novels that also include bestial-romantic elements, curses, and tru luv 4-eva?? dunno. this one is on the low end of the three star spectrum because while i didn't hate it or get annoyed by it, i am still trying to figure out what the heck it was.
it is called "sheepsquatch," which already gives it niche status.
squinted at one way, the title and the cover scream "monsterporn," but there is no actual porn in here. it's more like… tenderly implied potential relationship in the future after a suitable waiting period romance? like the well-mannered jane austen of monsterporn?
squinted at the other way, you think "cheesy syfy original movie gore fest." but it's not that either. there is a murder, resulting in a dead body gruesome enough to literally give the sheriff a heart attack, but for the reader, there is little in the way of gross-out factors.
and as far as parody, yeah, it's a broadly drawn story, but it's not broad enough to be true satire. it's just - here are some reasonably shitty people, but they're not even as douchey as people in your typical new adult book. they're just fast-food shitty - you get what you expect and it's over and through you quickly. it's not particularly funny, nor is it particularly shocking, so it 's hard for me to say "this is for outrageous parody fans," or "this book is for strong-stomached disgust-hounds!!"
but it's not monsterporn, either. which is a shame, because monsterporn has a rabid and devoted following, and if you write it, they will cum. but monsterporn is taking the romance-novel trope of the brutish alpha male and the forced-consent scenario and making it BIGGER and MOAR SEXIER and saying "taboo, i can barely see you from on top of this dragon i'm banging!!" this one kind of goes in the opposite direction, and the sheepsquatch shapeshifts back into a gentlemen who is more interested in a lifetime commitment than any fleeting sexual pleasures, so it's not for the monsterporn crew, either.
so... i guess it's for people who like smalltown crime novels that also include bestial-romantic elements, curses, and tru luv 4-eva?? dunno. this one is on the low end of the three star spectrum because while i didn't hate it or get annoyed by it, i am still trying to figure out what the heck it was.
June 12, 2014
A girl is missing and Becky and her boyfriend Bobby Joe go looking for her. Was she killed by the mysterious Sheepsquatch or did something else befall her?
I got this from Netgalley.
The entry on Netgalley said this was a horror romance parody. There wasn't much in the way of humor, which seems like a necessary element in a parody. There was some romance but very little in the way of horror.
The Sheepsquatch had some potential and was the most interesting part of the story. The romance angle felted bolted on and on top of that, the Sheepsquatch didn't even have sex with anything and got very little action at all apart form some boob grabbage. I guess it did mock Twilight and similar books, although not in a way I found humorous.
The writing was adequate and parts of the story had a B-movie cheezy quality that I enjoyed. I guess the bottom line is I'm not really sure what this was trying to be. Two out of five stars.
I got this from Netgalley.
The entry on Netgalley said this was a horror romance parody. There wasn't much in the way of humor, which seems like a necessary element in a parody. There was some romance but very little in the way of horror.
The Sheepsquatch had some potential and was the most interesting part of the story. The romance angle felted bolted on and on top of that, the Sheepsquatch didn't even have sex with anything and got very little action at all apart form some boob grabbage. I guess it did mock Twilight and similar books, although not in a way I found humorous.
The writing was adequate and parts of the story had a B-movie cheezy quality that I enjoyed. I guess the bottom line is I'm not really sure what this was trying to be. Two out of five stars.
July 24, 2016
I. Ronik does parody's of popular fiction. This time she takes on monster. I liked some parts of this book but I wanted some monster sex. There I said it.
The monster involved is half-man half-sheep..oh it could have been epic. I wants a more involved story from this one. I can so see these redneck monster hunters chasing the mythical beast.
I recieved an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The monster involved is half-man half-sheep..oh it could have been epic. I wants a more involved story from this one. I can so see these redneck monster hunters chasing the mythical beast.
I recieved an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 5, 2014
I received an ARC of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
So, I requested this book on a dare from a friend, and ended up enjoying it way more than I thought. Becky was a fun main character, and I appreciated the fact that she wasn't the typical helpless maiden that usually populate these books. I thought the romance was well done, and better than a lot of serious romance novels I've read. I liked the plot, and the ending made me happy. I was expecting silly, nonsense monster porn, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that this had much more going for it.
So, I requested this book on a dare from a friend, and ended up enjoying it way more than I thought. Becky was a fun main character, and I appreciated the fact that she wasn't the typical helpless maiden that usually populate these books. I thought the romance was well done, and better than a lot of serious romance novels I've read. I liked the plot, and the ending made me happy. I was expecting silly, nonsense monster porn, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that this had much more going for it.
June 11, 2014
Bizarrely Entertaining!
I wasn't sure what I was getting into when selecting this book to read. I don't tend to do bizarro fiction, but the title, cover, and plot were so intriguing, that I had to check it out.
Well, I read this entire little novella with a grin on my face!
Spatterpunk fans will want to know that there is no extreme gore or sex here. But the horror is extremely well done. It's a bit of an homage to those old horror flicks we all loved and I really enjoyed it.
And the romance is surprisingly sweet and romantic. It thoroughly surprised me.
The book is profane, a little raunchy, and oddly sweet.
The only thing that kept this from a full five stars for me is that I wanted more Sheep in my Sheepsquatch and more Ba-aad in my bad. It needed a bit more camp. I think that the author spent so much time crafting an extremely well-written book that they forgot to be a little bad sometimes.
A very enjoyable (and odd) read!
June 16, 2014
Short, dull, and kind of failed to deliver.
I understand what she tried to do here, and if you think of it deep enough she got it....almost.
But it could have been better. RTC
I understand what she tried to do here, and if you think of it deep enough she got it....almost.
But it could have been better. RTC
January 12, 2017
You know, if a book bills itself as being bad, it should be. With a title like Sheepsquatch, I thought this book would have to be amusingly bad. It wasn't. It wasn't even plain-bad (though it wasn't good, either).
A comment on Amazon compared it to one of those bad SyFy movies, which was pretty accurate. Unfortunately, what works for a movie (not caring about the characters because they're all stupid and will be dead soon) doesn't work in a book.
There's not much plot to explain. A Sheepsquatch (or, I suppose to be more exact, a were-sheepsquatch) is loose in the woods and likes to kidnap women. The police are trying to catch it. Unfortunately the chief of police has a fatal flaw: When he saw a dead woman, he had a massive heart attack and died. The book outright said it was because he saw a dead body. (Not grossly killed or gory or anything.) How in the world does one survive as a copy long enough to become chief if he will fall over dead when he sees a dead body? (I know, I know, the book description says "it's best not taken seriously", but how can one read a book without questioning things like that?)
The subtitle was what sold the book to me. "It's ba-aaad." Sheepsquatch. Ba-aad. I'm easily amused.
The writing was surprisingly good. Not like "wow I have to stop reading to admire that sentence!" good, but no typos and no grammar issues. That was a nice change from the books I've been reading lately.
There was one odd issue: There must have been a typo in the file name(?). On the home screen of my Kindle, the book's title shows as Sleepsquatch instead of Sheep.
July 5, 2014
I read this on a dare, and it wasn't half bad. Author I. Ronik created this as a parody romance and it was pretty campy and silly, but actually not badly done. I'm not sure how much of a parody it was, it basically read like a straight ahead paranormal, just very short and obviously not taking itself seriously at all. I did kind of expect monster sex, which we don't get. Not sure if I'm relieved about that or not. The story takes place in a small West Virginia town where a girl has gone missing. Becky, her boyfriend Bobby, her brother and friend go off to search for her because what else is there to do in West Virginia? Becky and her brother have heard tales of the mysterious Sheepsquatch from their grandfather who claimed to be attacked by one. Why the beast is called a Sheepsquatch is anyone's guess, but it's so absurd that it works. It's short, fun and forgettable, but not boring and actually kind of sweet. I'd read more parody romances, though I didn't really find any irony in these pages.
June 12, 2014
While the concept itself is pure SyFy Sharknado material, and the subject of a recent spoof documentary on Discovery Channel (or was it Animal Planet?), I. Ronik's short novel, Sheepsquatch, is a good and light-hearted read by the same author behind Secrets In the Shadows and the related series of romantic suspense novels, T.L. Haddix.
Told in twelve simple chapters that almost seem like commercial breaks of a television movie, the prose found here is smooth and readable, well-written and crafted, even as the simple tale plays out with a deceptive level of fun and ease.
It takes real skill to craft adventures this enjoyable, so don't take the cover art's claim that "It's Ba-a-a-a-ad" too seriously; this short parody-thriller is the product of a talented storyteller, and well worth the yuks it inspires.
Told in twelve simple chapters that almost seem like commercial breaks of a television movie, the prose found here is smooth and readable, well-written and crafted, even as the simple tale plays out with a deceptive level of fun and ease.
It takes real skill to craft adventures this enjoyable, so don't take the cover art's claim that "It's Ba-a-a-a-ad" too seriously; this short parody-thriller is the product of a talented storyteller, and well worth the yuks it inspires.
June 24, 2014
If you have read I.Ronik's previous stories - Who's Your Baby Daddy?,What She Didn't Know - as I have, then you know what to expect.
But while those previous stories where ingeniously hilarious, mocking the contemporary romance and paranormal novels, then this story ... maybe I just do not know the books that this story is based on, so I miss the references and puns, and this story isn't as hilarious and as brilliant as the previous story's where.
It wasn't a bad story, it just didn't have the same fascination as the previous ones.
But while those previous stories where ingeniously hilarious, mocking the contemporary romance and paranormal novels, then this story ... maybe I just do not know the books that this story is based on, so I miss the references and puns, and this story isn't as hilarious and as brilliant as the previous story's where.
It wasn't a bad story, it just didn't have the same fascination as the previous ones.
June 19, 2014
With a title like Sheepsquatch, this could have been epic. The premise of a sheepshifter finding his white trash true love is neat. Subplots involving a missing harlot and a cheating POS boyfriend. Sadly, this falls a bit flat. The dialog is a bit middle school and doesn't really go anywhere. There's a little bit of snark, but not much. I'm sure it's awful, but I was expecting a bit of Sheepsquatch loving not just junior high nibbling.
It just felt a bit rushed and probably could have been fleshed out a bit more or even expanded but still a neat quick read.
*Digital review copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher.
It just felt a bit rushed and probably could have been fleshed out a bit more or even expanded but still a neat quick read.
*Digital review copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher.
August 17, 2014
Pretty cut and dry. Small town full of simple people. Hero and heroine hold hands with a HFN at the end.
Do I even bother with a spoiler alert? The Sheepsquatch (actually a wholesome wonderful fella named Duncan - such a swell guy!) and whatsherface end up together at the end. I would have fallen asleep if this one wasn't campy as all hell and REALLY fast to read. Seriously. If you can't finish this in under an hour, something is wrong. I'm not even a "fast" reader like some boast.
We never find out what happens to that one deputy who kills the sheriff. Meh.
Do I even bother with a spoiler alert? The Sheepsquatch (actually a wholesome wonderful fella named Duncan - such a swell guy!) and whatsherface end up together at the end. I would have fallen asleep if this one wasn't campy as all hell and REALLY fast to read. Seriously. If you can't finish this in under an hour, something is wrong. I'm not even a "fast" reader like some boast.
We never find out what happens to that one deputy who kills the sheriff. Meh.
August 6, 2016
The temptation exists to toss off a story involving a new type of "backwoods Bigfoot," but that would be a mistake. There's more here than the expected: not devolved humanity, but realistic issues and an undercurrent of true evil. This author KNOWS character and how best to elicit it. I'd read some of this pseudonymous author's other works, and was eager to try this one. It's short, but packs a potent punch. Don't blow it off: read it.
July 26, 2016
I'm not quite sure what to make of this story. I'd never even heard of a sheepsquatch before, but apparently this is a real legend! The story is extremely well written, as other books from this author are. It a horror/romance parody, but I think the story needed to be longer and to have more silliness thrown in. 3 1/2 stars. I received a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews