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Rule of Three
Provoked by yet another argument with his rival, Ian sets out to prove he's capable of serious black magic by summoning a demon. Instead of a hulking, red-skinned brute, however, he winds up with the handsome incubus Alistair. Now, Ian must cope with a wily and seductive matchmaker who insists his rival may be more than just an adversary.
46 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 18, 2015
50 people want to read
About the author
Lore Graham
13 books23 followersLore Graham is a queer author who lives in Massachusetts. Ze writes sci fi and fantasy romance, poetry, and rpg settings.
Lore is passionate about spectacular worlds and queer characters.
Outside of writing, Lore enjoys cooking, reading, and spending time with zir cat.
Lore's poetry has been published in Strange Horizons and Liminality.
Lore is passionate about spectacular worlds and queer characters.
Outside of writing, Lore enjoys cooking, reading, and spending time with zir cat.
Lore's poetry has been published in Strange Horizons and Liminality.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 21, 2015
It all begins with friend baiting.
Ian knows better, but when hasn't pride gotten the best of all of us. When his friend and professional rival, Jae prods him, Ian bites. Things don't go exactly as planned.
Alistair is absolutely charming, everything an incubus should be. And when Ian goes to answer Jae's thrown down gauntlet it ends up a bit more than he originally expect, or ze. Let's just say, there's a flurry discarded clothes and limbs entwining.
The first person narrative works, and since a majority of the story surrounds three individuals it makes following who does and says what through the pronoun differentiation easier because it features gender neutral pronouns and speech for a secondary character. It is actually natural sounding and lacking the awkwardness I've experienced before. I'm not sure if it is the author or my continuing exposure that makes it easier. I'm inclined to give the credit to the author because it felt completely uncontrived. This was amusing, made me smile, and I was elated with how a multitude of issues were handled within the story. A delightful short story.
Overall, when charm trumps sass.
~Copy provided by Netgalley~
Ian knows better, but when hasn't pride gotten the best of all of us. When his friend and professional rival, Jae prods him, Ian bites. Things don't go exactly as planned.
Alistair is absolutely charming, everything an incubus should be. And when Ian goes to answer Jae's thrown down gauntlet it ends up a bit more than he originally expect, or ze. Let's just say, there's a flurry discarded clothes and limbs entwining.
The first person narrative works, and since a majority of the story surrounds three individuals it makes following who does and says what through the pronoun differentiation easier because it features gender neutral pronouns and speech for a secondary character. It is actually natural sounding and lacking the awkwardness I've experienced before. I'm not sure if it is the author or my continuing exposure that makes it easier. I'm inclined to give the credit to the author because it felt completely uncontrived. This was amusing, made me smile, and I was elated with how a multitude of issues were handled within the story. A delightful short story.
Overall, when charm trumps sass.
~Copy provided by Netgalley~
November 4, 2015
I expected so much more from this book. Instead I got two sex scenes, which didn't do it for me. But there still are a few great things about Rule of Three. First it's about magic today. Our main character - who isn't the most intelligent mage there is, I'd say - for example uses the internet to get the pronunciations right. Another main character is genderqueer (ze uses - obviously - ze/zir, but sadly there were a lot of mistakes where he/his was used). And the third main character? Alistair could have been so much more. I really liked his character and I would have loved to get to know more about him.
I can't tell you much about the plot, because there isn't much plot to begin with. The relationships seemed to me forced. In my eyes everything would have worked better, if this book would have been longer - more character introduction, more about this world, just... more.
Disclaimer: I was provided through NetGalley with a free copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.
I can't tell you much about the plot, because there isn't much plot to begin with. The relationships seemed to me forced. In my eyes everything would have worked better, if this book would have been longer - more character introduction, more about this world, just... more.
Disclaimer: I was provided through NetGalley with a free copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.
May 4, 2016
Fed up with Jae’s insistence that he is is a gray mage, and a rather boring one at that, Ian is determined to prove that he more than mage enough to summon a demon. Granted the demon he plans to summon is not particularly powerful, but a demon is a demon and Ian can damn well summon one if he wants to!
And, well, turns out Ian is correct. He can summon demons all right. Just not the kind he was expecting. Instead of a low-level demon to show off to Jae, Ian instead gets Alistair in all his incubus glory. And boy is there a lot of that glory to show off.
This was a really fun short story. I wasn’t expecting it to take the turn it does, but I am sure not going to complain.
I’d love for there to have been a bit more story to this short, but for what there was it was very good. I really liked the rivalry/hate/love thing Jae and Ian had going on. Jae was a bit of an ass, but when ze and Ian were in the same room together you could totally tell that they had all sorts of chemistry going on. Granted, most of the time it was more likely that they would take a swing at each other than making out, but it still made for some damn interesting reading.
And once you toss Alistair into the mix you definitely get a blow out. Alistair was very well written in that he came off as seductive and slightly shifty, but you could tell that he is damn good at his job of seducing unsuspecting–-ok, they are probably more suspecting than they would let on-–men to their well pleasured doom. Add to that the fact that Alistair is more bottom than top and you have a character well worth reading.
I had a lot of fun reading this, and wouldn’t mind reading more about these three characters. The world doesn’t get nearly enough time to shine, but I have a feeling it could be really interesting if given the chance.
This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
And, well, turns out Ian is correct. He can summon demons all right. Just not the kind he was expecting. Instead of a low-level demon to show off to Jae, Ian instead gets Alistair in all his incubus glory. And boy is there a lot of that glory to show off.
This was a really fun short story. I wasn’t expecting it to take the turn it does, but I am sure not going to complain.
I’d love for there to have been a bit more story to this short, but for what there was it was very good. I really liked the rivalry/hate/love thing Jae and Ian had going on. Jae was a bit of an ass, but when ze and Ian were in the same room together you could totally tell that they had all sorts of chemistry going on. Granted, most of the time it was more likely that they would take a swing at each other than making out, but it still made for some damn interesting reading.
And once you toss Alistair into the mix you definitely get a blow out. Alistair was very well written in that he came off as seductive and slightly shifty, but you could tell that he is damn good at his job of seducing unsuspecting–-ok, they are probably more suspecting than they would let on-–men to their well pleasured doom. Add to that the fact that Alistair is more bottom than top and you have a character well worth reading.
I had a lot of fun reading this, and wouldn’t mind reading more about these three characters. The world doesn’t get nearly enough time to shine, but I have a feeling it could be really interesting if given the chance.
This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
February 8, 2016
Well this sucked. Ohh, I mean yeah... literally and figuratively.
I started reading this hoping Ian would end up with Alistair. The direction the story took... didn't really please me.
I didn't like Jae. I felt indifferent towards Ian. I sort of liked Alistair but I felt he got the short end of the stick in all this.
I started reading this hoping Ian would end up with Alistair. The direction the story took... didn't really please me.
I didn't like Jae. I felt indifferent towards Ian. I sort of liked Alistair but I felt he got the short end of the stick in all this.
November 18, 2015
A Joyfully Jay review.
4 stars
This short novella is big on the erotic moments, with characters that have great chemistry, but without a lot of backstory. I think the author does a great job setting up the premise of the story, and though I would have wished for a bit more information, I thought that for the most part, this story worked as it was.
We come into the relationship between Ian and Jae after things have been brewing for a year. Their rivalry runs deep, with Ian being painted as a goody-two-shoes and Jae pushing and teasing him to do something bold and daring. Ian came across as a bit reckless for summoning a demon just because he was dared, but he also took every precaution he could so that it wasn’t too big and scary. I thought that showed his character better than anything else in the story, and I kind of thought he was just adorable. I found myself rooting for him, and wanting him to get what he wanted.
Read Kris’ review in its entirety here.
4 stars
This short novella is big on the erotic moments, with characters that have great chemistry, but without a lot of backstory. I think the author does a great job setting up the premise of the story, and though I would have wished for a bit more information, I thought that for the most part, this story worked as it was.
We come into the relationship between Ian and Jae after things have been brewing for a year. Their rivalry runs deep, with Ian being painted as a goody-two-shoes and Jae pushing and teasing him to do something bold and daring. Ian came across as a bit reckless for summoning a demon just because he was dared, but he also took every precaution he could so that it wasn’t too big and scary. I thought that showed his character better than anything else in the story, and I kind of thought he was just adorable. I found myself rooting for him, and wanting him to get what he wanted.
Read Kris’ review in its entirety here.
Read
September 16, 2016Erotica about two rival mages, the male MC and a snarky nonbinary person with lavender hair, dealing with a shape-shifting incubus one of them goaded the other one into summoning. I like the way this started out but I think I zoned during the extended threesome. The first half was hot, though -- my favorite part was the MC's interaction with the demon when it's just the two of them together. I do like the trope of human and "devil" together.
I've seen other reviews say the writer slipped into using he/him for the nonbinary character who was supposed to be going by ze/zir, and I counter that I didn't run into any of these (again, though, I zoned during the threesome) so perhaps those slips have been fixed.
Don't take my reaction to the threesome as a sign of bad writing, by the way -- I'm pretty picky about male characters and I don't think any of these were big and burly and beardy, which is what it takes if all I'm reading about is sex.
I've seen other reviews say the writer slipped into using he/him for the nonbinary character who was supposed to be going by ze/zir, and I counter that I didn't run into any of these (again, though, I zoned during the threesome) so perhaps those slips have been fixed.
Don't take my reaction to the threesome as a sign of bad writing, by the way -- I'm pretty picky about male characters and I don't think any of these were big and burly and beardy, which is what it takes if all I'm reading about is sex.
September 30, 2017
For a PwP (the Point Was Porn) story, this worked for me. There was enough world and character building to get me motivated about the characters but holding back enough that I don't feel robbed of development by the long porn scenes.
MC is a impulsive lawful good who wants to prove "his badassery" to his hot rival by doing black magic. Hot rival clearly has strong feelings for MC which ze cloaks with barbs and sass. MC semi-accidentally summons an incubus, who finds their competitive flirting sexy. It ends in a Happy For Now bondage threesome.
I felt there was too much exposition at the beginning and not enough sex dynamics discussions (my tastes run for "show don't tell" for plot, not for sex). On the other hand I liked the characters being clear about desiring each other by the end. The sex scenes were nicely explicit, the incubus character both interesting and a clever porn shortcut, the writing smooth.
This is what it said on the tin and I was pleased.
MC is a impulsive lawful good who wants to prove "his badassery" to his hot rival by doing black magic. Hot rival clearly has strong feelings for MC which ze cloaks with barbs and sass. MC semi-accidentally summons an incubus, who finds their competitive flirting sexy. It ends in a Happy For Now bondage threesome.
I felt there was too much exposition at the beginning and not enough sex dynamics discussions (my tastes run for "show don't tell" for plot, not for sex). On the other hand I liked the characters being clear about desiring each other by the end. The sex scenes were nicely explicit, the incubus character both interesting and a clever porn shortcut, the writing smooth.
This is what it said on the tin and I was pleased.
October 20, 2016
Okay, this was kinda... dissapointing.
There is not much of a plot, plot is basically "my rival keeps pissing me off so I will summon a demon to prove him wrong, opps, summoned an incubus, i do wonder where this is going"
Yes, it's going to a threesome sex, dear reader.
The problem, however, that the smut scene which are supposed to be climax *sniggers* of the story are actually pretty... unsexy. In fact, the whole book, despite being about incubus and two people who are supposed to be so much attracted to each other that sparks are flying, I didn't feel a thing. The hotness wasn't there. Positively unhotty, this book. There was virtually no attraction between the main hero and his rival.
Like, it's not badly written or unreadable, but it's just *shrug of the shoulders*.
(bonus points for including a nonbinary char, tho, that was cool)
There is not much of a plot, plot is basically "my rival keeps pissing me off so I will summon a demon to prove him wrong, opps, summoned an incubus, i do wonder where this is going"
Yes, it's going to a threesome sex, dear reader.
The problem, however, that the smut scene which are supposed to be climax *sniggers* of the story are actually pretty... unsexy. In fact, the whole book, despite being about incubus and two people who are supposed to be so much attracted to each other that sparks are flying, I didn't feel a thing. The hotness wasn't there. Positively unhotty, this book. There was virtually no attraction between the main hero and his rival.
Like, it's not badly written or unreadable, but it's just *shrug of the shoulders*.
(bonus points for including a nonbinary char, tho, that was cool)
November 2, 2015
Quick, entertaining and sexy read with a bit of magic thrown in. Ian and Jae are both mages. Their constant banter leads Ian to prove that he can perform dark magic. His goal, conjure a demon and show Jae he's not weak. One issue Ian didn't count on having was conjuring an incubus named Alistair. That's where the fun times begin. Will Ian be able to convince Jae what Alistair is?
My only issue at first was the use of ze and zir to replace common pronouns. I adjusted and didn't even notice after a while. So if you enjoy a little m/m/m action with some humor and magic, this is for you.
I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
My only issue at first was the use of ze and zir to replace common pronouns. I adjusted and didn't even notice after a while. So if you enjoy a little m/m/m action with some humor and magic, this is for you.
I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 30, 2018
Hey, fellow smut lovers!
This book has its own episode on Straight Girl Goes Gay - a Vimeo on Demand web series.
Subscribe and watch here.
Everything contains spoilers! You have been warned :)
April 23, 2016
Three people brought together by a bet gone off the rails! Quirky and steamy in fantastic turns.
October 13, 2016
Diverse characters, an incubus (I love incubi), poor little magician trying to prove it worth, I liked it a lot, it was fun to read
Read
July 2, 2017Didn't realize this is a genderqueer story, which is not my cup of tea.
June 1, 2019
A little more of an erotica than romance novel, this was a fun romp involving rivals-to-lovers and an incubus. A light, sexy read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews