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Resilience: Puerto Rico
All proceeds from this anthology will be donated to the Hispanic Federation to assist with hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico.
A Faire Encounter by A.M. Valenza—Elena is working the Renaissance Faire with her cousin Luís when she spots the Cutest Girl Ever, a yawning, shivering, chubby little thing dressed up in a dragon onesie. The only problem is getting her attention. She comes up with a impress that adorable dragon girl at all costs. A little magic wouldn't hurt either.
Beginnings by Alexa Black—The Finishers are a collective of alien beings that end worlds when "called" to do so. But when they're not ending worlds, they're extremely bored. When the Finishers meet Vana, a strange, small being, they find themselves a bit less bored—and curious about what other beings do when they're not being destroyed. Intrigued, they examine the contents of Vana's mind... and decide they'd like to try humans' version of companionship.
Diplomatic Complications by Isobelle Winter—After defeating an alien invasion, Earth has taken its place in the interstellar community. But not all alien species are thrilled to welcome humanity, and it's Benjamin's job to work with those species to prevent wars. The Aradon pose the biggest challenge of his career. Not only is there little information about their history or culture, it seems they don't actually sign treaties, but instead seal alliances through marriages...
Silverhands by Megan Derr—Annia was happy being a humble miller alongside her stepbrother—but her stepbrother prefers that Annia agree to be his wife. When she refuses, he brutally cuts off her hands, and Annia flees when he falls asleep. With no one to turn to, and nowhere to go, she leaves the only home she's ever known in hopes a new one might be out there somewhere.
Sleepwalking and the Single Girl by Stephanie Rabig—Jessica wants to make a good impression on her new housemates, but what she wants even more is a good night's sleep after a long shift. But the stress of the move sets off her sleepwalking again, and instead of meeting them over a group dinner, one of them trips over Jessica while in search of a late-night snack...
Dream by Nicole Field—Mia is a painter starting a fledgling relationship with gallery boy Sebastian when her inspiration comes to life in the form of Morpheus, the god of dreams. She is beautiful and compelling, and Mia finds herself caught between the two and unable to choose...
A Night in the Beast's Arms by L.J. Hamlin—Desperate for a cure that might save his father's life, Tom ventures into a mysterious castle and encounters the beautiful, mysterious Benji—who becomes something else entirely when the sun sets.
The Potion Maker by Sasha L. Miller—Sarin ran away from the city for a simpler life making potions in the woods. He has good reasons for avoiding people, but when a poisoned Royal Herald falls through his door and literally knocks him over, life gets more complicated than he ever thought he wanted.
A Faire Encounter by A.M. Valenza—Elena is working the Renaissance Faire with her cousin Luís when she spots the Cutest Girl Ever, a yawning, shivering, chubby little thing dressed up in a dragon onesie. The only problem is getting her attention. She comes up with a impress that adorable dragon girl at all costs. A little magic wouldn't hurt either.
Beginnings by Alexa Black—The Finishers are a collective of alien beings that end worlds when "called" to do so. But when they're not ending worlds, they're extremely bored. When the Finishers meet Vana, a strange, small being, they find themselves a bit less bored—and curious about what other beings do when they're not being destroyed. Intrigued, they examine the contents of Vana's mind... and decide they'd like to try humans' version of companionship.
Diplomatic Complications by Isobelle Winter—After defeating an alien invasion, Earth has taken its place in the interstellar community. But not all alien species are thrilled to welcome humanity, and it's Benjamin's job to work with those species to prevent wars. The Aradon pose the biggest challenge of his career. Not only is there little information about their history or culture, it seems they don't actually sign treaties, but instead seal alliances through marriages...
Silverhands by Megan Derr—Annia was happy being a humble miller alongside her stepbrother—but her stepbrother prefers that Annia agree to be his wife. When she refuses, he brutally cuts off her hands, and Annia flees when he falls asleep. With no one to turn to, and nowhere to go, she leaves the only home she's ever known in hopes a new one might be out there somewhere.
Sleepwalking and the Single Girl by Stephanie Rabig—Jessica wants to make a good impression on her new housemates, but what she wants even more is a good night's sleep after a long shift. But the stress of the move sets off her sleepwalking again, and instead of meeting them over a group dinner, one of them trips over Jessica while in search of a late-night snack...
Dream by Nicole Field—Mia is a painter starting a fledgling relationship with gallery boy Sebastian when her inspiration comes to life in the form of Morpheus, the god of dreams. She is beautiful and compelling, and Mia finds herself caught between the two and unable to choose...
A Night in the Beast's Arms by L.J. Hamlin—Desperate for a cure that might save his father's life, Tom ventures into a mysterious castle and encounters the beautiful, mysterious Benji—who becomes something else entirely when the sun sets.
The Potion Maker by Sasha L. Miller—Sarin ran away from the city for a simpler life making potions in the woods. He has good reasons for avoiding people, but when a poisoned Royal Herald falls through his door and literally knocks him over, life gets more complicated than he ever thought he wanted.
- GenresShort StoriesAsexualLGBT
330 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 30, 2018
3 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Sasha L. Miller
59 books233 followersSasha L. Miller spends most of her time writing, reading, or playing with all things website design. She loves telling stories, especially romance, because there’s nothing better than giving people their happily ever afters. When not writing, she spends time cooking, harassing her roommates, and playing with her cats.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 10, 2018
First of all, a big kudos to all who were involved with the production of this work as the proceeds will be donated towards the rebuilding of Puerto Rico.
A good description of these short stories would be LGBTQIA speculative fiction stories. It's a good contribution to the realm of fantasy and science fiction, where sadly diverse sexual and cultural representation is still rather poor. However, I will confess to being disappointed with quite a few of the stories because their whole raison d'etre appears to be the LGBT relationships. Take "Dream" by Nicole Field, for example. A painter Mia is being visited in her dreams by Morpheus, god of dreams. There is so much potential material here: Morpheus could be a muse for the artist to produce fantastical paintings, the exploration of the thin line between insanity and artistry, Mia could be a entry conduit for Morpheus into real life, discussion of immortality and beauty. Nope, Morpheus wants to be in a three-some, that is all.
What I did like were some personal real-life vulnerabilities that the characters had that would pop up at odd times. "Sleepwalking and the Single Girl" - sleepwalking and fear of heights. Also loved the mention of Tad Cooper and Galavant. "A Faire Encounter" - hypoglycemia from diabetes. "The Potion Maker" - bullying and student debt.
In "A Faire Encounter", the main characters had Mexican origins and so would sprinkle Spanish words like 'tia' or 'abuela' into their conversations. I like the concept but the words were inserted into speech in a rather awkward unnatural manner. This story seemed best for tweens or middle-graders. The setting of a medieval renaissance fair was interesting but the way the story developed fell flat for me.
My favourite story of this anthology was The Potion Maker by Sasha Miller. Although the culmination of the story again was the gay romance but there was enough other happenings - poisoning, potion making, magical spell of lightening loads, illegal magery, urgent political message to be delivered - to make the whole story entertaining. "A Night In The Beast's Arms" by LJ Hamlin was really just a re-telling of Beauty and The Beast with a homosexual twist.
Thanks to Less than Three Press and Netgalley for providing a copy of this book for review.
A good description of these short stories would be LGBTQIA speculative fiction stories. It's a good contribution to the realm of fantasy and science fiction, where sadly diverse sexual and cultural representation is still rather poor. However, I will confess to being disappointed with quite a few of the stories because their whole raison d'etre appears to be the LGBT relationships. Take "Dream" by Nicole Field, for example. A painter Mia is being visited in her dreams by Morpheus, god of dreams. There is so much potential material here: Morpheus could be a muse for the artist to produce fantastical paintings, the exploration of the thin line between insanity and artistry, Mia could be a entry conduit for Morpheus into real life, discussion of immortality and beauty. Nope, Morpheus wants to be in a three-some, that is all.
What I did like were some personal real-life vulnerabilities that the characters had that would pop up at odd times. "Sleepwalking and the Single Girl" - sleepwalking and fear of heights. Also loved the mention of Tad Cooper and Galavant. "A Faire Encounter" - hypoglycemia from diabetes. "The Potion Maker" - bullying and student debt.
In "A Faire Encounter", the main characters had Mexican origins and so would sprinkle Spanish words like 'tia' or 'abuela' into their conversations. I like the concept but the words were inserted into speech in a rather awkward unnatural manner. This story seemed best for tweens or middle-graders. The setting of a medieval renaissance fair was interesting but the way the story developed fell flat for me.
My favourite story of this anthology was The Potion Maker by Sasha Miller. Although the culmination of the story again was the gay romance but there was enough other happenings - poisoning, potion making, magical spell of lightening loads, illegal magery, urgent political message to be delivered - to make the whole story entertaining. "A Night In The Beast's Arms" by LJ Hamlin was really just a re-telling of Beauty and The Beast with a homosexual twist.
Thanks to Less than Three Press and Netgalley for providing a copy of this book for review.
February 4, 2018
This anthology is one that's raising funds over the next year for Puerto Rico, through the Hispanic Federation. All authors, editors and cover artists donated their time to contribute to this anthology.
Within this collection, you will find stories on fairy tales (new as well as reimagined), a couple of polyamorous romances, an absolutely striking Renaissance Faire novella, and many others. In all, this anthology is eight stories strong.
For me, the absolutely stand out stories were those by A. M. Valenza, Megan Derr, L. J. Hamlin and Sasha L. Miller. Sasha's story, The Potion Maker actually reminded me quite a bit of Blackberries and Buckthorn, a short story by T. S. Porter in Heart of Steel, though obviously with genders reversed.
A. M. Valenza absolutely blew me away with her story about a witch who falls in love with a girl in a dragon onesie. I'd never read anything by this author before and I can tell you I may just have found a new favourite author. Definitely one to look out for, and a fantastic way to open this anthology.
Megan Derr I'd read before and quite enjoyed, and her short story Silverhands was honestly beautiful. It was a story of two asexual people who fell in love which, on its own, I loved. But the fairy tale way that she opens the story and doesn't shy away from the gruesome nature found in fairy tales was absolutely breathtaking. I don't think I've read another recently written story like it.
L. J. Hamlin's A Night in the Beast's Arms was a reimagining of the classic, with a twist. Although it took me a while to get used to the present tense telling of the narrative (it's a personal dislike and not something I'm criticising the author for) I really loved the story of Tom and Benji, and the explanation of magic. The changes to the original story were well thought out and enjoyable. I always love a good fairy tale retelling.
Within this collection, you will find stories on fairy tales (new as well as reimagined), a couple of polyamorous romances, an absolutely striking Renaissance Faire novella, and many others. In all, this anthology is eight stories strong.
For me, the absolutely stand out stories were those by A. M. Valenza, Megan Derr, L. J. Hamlin and Sasha L. Miller. Sasha's story, The Potion Maker actually reminded me quite a bit of Blackberries and Buckthorn, a short story by T. S. Porter in Heart of Steel, though obviously with genders reversed.
A. M. Valenza absolutely blew me away with her story about a witch who falls in love with a girl in a dragon onesie. I'd never read anything by this author before and I can tell you I may just have found a new favourite author. Definitely one to look out for, and a fantastic way to open this anthology.
Megan Derr I'd read before and quite enjoyed, and her short story Silverhands was honestly beautiful. It was a story of two asexual people who fell in love which, on its own, I loved. But the fairy tale way that she opens the story and doesn't shy away from the gruesome nature found in fairy tales was absolutely breathtaking. I don't think I've read another recently written story like it.
L. J. Hamlin's A Night in the Beast's Arms was a reimagining of the classic, with a twist. Although it took me a while to get used to the present tense telling of the narrative (it's a personal dislike and not something I'm criticising the author for) I really loved the story of Tom and Benji, and the explanation of magic. The changes to the original story were well thought out and enjoyable. I always love a good fairy tale retelling.
May 15, 2018
I always find it frustrating to give a star rating to anthologies, because there are times where I don't read all of the stories (fight me), or if I DO read them all-- one story was AMAZING while the another might just be meh.
The stories in here were all pretty solid though. I personally felt like there could have been a greater effort in choosing more diverse stories for the anthology, but the stories themselves were entertaining enough. If you're just looking for some short stories with LGBT+ themes, this will fit the bill.
The stories in here were all pretty solid though. I personally felt like there could have been a greater effort in choosing more diverse stories for the anthology, but the stories themselves were entertaining enough. If you're just looking for some short stories with LGBT+ themes, this will fit the bill.
June 18, 2018
It took me longer than expected to finish this anthology, but I’m glad I did. What an interesting and unique mix of authors and stories! Some I liked better than others, but that’s normal for reading anthologies; everyone has different favorites.
I’d really rather not have to repeat everything I’ve already said about these stories, so all my little reading updates as I finished each story ought to serve as mini-reviews.
I’d really rather not have to repeat everything I’ve already said about these stories, so all my little reading updates as I finished each story ought to serve as mini-reviews.
March 20, 2018
I rec'd a copy from NetGalley/Less Than Three Press.
Wonderful idea from conception to donation of proceeds to Puerto Rico. My favourite in this anthology was A Faire Encounter by A.M. Valenza. Nifty and magical.
Overall 3 stars.
Wonderful idea from conception to donation of proceeds to Puerto Rico. My favourite in this anthology was A Faire Encounter by A.M. Valenza. Nifty and magical.
Overall 3 stars.
April 15, 2018
What an eclectic group of stories and characters, written by some amazing authors.
Some stories I didn't quite *love* (only because the lingo was to "young for me and gods that makes me sound old!!) And others were absolutely amazing, and I have found new authors to stalk later :)
I love what you're doing for charity and I hope it does well.
Some stories I didn't quite *love* (only because the lingo was to "young for me and gods that makes me sound old!!) And others were absolutely amazing, and I have found new authors to stalk later :)
I love what you're doing for charity and I hope it does well.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews