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Unicorn Favorites: Love's Landscapes Stories : Week Seven

The M/M Romance Group on Goodreads hosts a Don't Read in the Closet event each year where they invite members to submit a photo with a story prompt.  Interested authors then volunteer to write the requested stories, which are published for free for everyone to read.  It's a fun/exciting/stressful process, and a great opportunity to read stories from favorite authors.  And chances are, you'll also discover some new authors, who hopefully have a backlist of goodies to check out :)

This year's event was named Love's Landscapes and they started releasing the completed stories on June first. Here at BMBR, we've been following along on comment threads, anticipating the stories from our favorite prompts, and now greedily reading the stories as they become available.

You can read about some of our favorite stories from earlier weeks of the event here. And some of our favorites from the seventh week of the event, Jul 13-July 19, are below:

Breann: Spring, Bax & Butterflies by Riina Y.T.

Oh. My. Fucking. Geesecake.

Cute boys are CUUUUUUUUUUUUTE.

I'm such a sucker for a cutesy YA romance and these two cutie-pa-tooties were no exception. Jacob and Baxter were so sweet and the way their relationship progressed from friends to more felt real and genuine for who they were at the time. They had angst when there didn't need to be any and there was tension with just a touch.

There was a lot of telling. Sometimes a whole chapter it seemed without any dialogue, which made the story feel longer than it should have.

But way cute and definitely worth the read for a YA fan.


Lorix: Scent of Hope by Summer Devon

Thank you for this enjoyable and different short story. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this going in, I soon changed my mind. It is short, and yes greedy little me would have loved this to be a full length novel with all the aspects of it made longer, but it really did still work as a short story.

Both Carl and Dez were great characters and I think they would have worked well in a longer version..sorry, I'll stop harking on about this being longer (and I'll ignore the juvenile length joke trying to get into this review) because it honestly does work well as a short story.

I loved the setting, the writing style, the set up and execution. It was all good. I'll definitely be checking out more work by Summer Devon.


SRAL: Sugar& Sawdust by Debbie McGowan
The Big D.

Leaves a lasting impression, hmmm?

*whispers* One of the MC's has got a foot long between their legs.

Let's have a few seconds of silence together, shall we?

Okay, I seriously dug this story. A pretty twink model who is not the sharpest tool in the shed (don't worry he has someone looking out for him) meets a possible love match in an older one night stand who has a past and a few surprises up his sleeve.

Alec is older, sweet and different. And a great match for Jorje because I can see Jorje flitting about in the future and he needs a partner to help keep him grounded.

There's a porn star MC, a big D and some family drama. I'd watch this story if it was a show. I liken this story as a not-so-good-for-you-but-fucking- delicious snack.

I actually liked Jorje's sister. I saw it as her caring for her brother, who is not so good with money. Some may say she's invasive or hovering but I see it as love. (Can you tell I'm the eldest sister? Don't worry I'm not as bad Taylor...but I might have my moments.)

Adorable, smexy story with an age gap lovers that I think will actually last for the long haul. They get each other. Loved the title. :D

Thanks to the author and the team for the story.


Sunny: The Court of Lightning by Amy Rae Durreson

Another amazing, I can't believe it's free, story!

Fantastic world building...incredibly imaginative, and clearly described. I loved the details...of the wings, the toys, the land and the people.

Likeable characters with distinct personalities. I could easily picture them, and wondered if they were based on real people.

Intense, gripping storyline, although I didn't like parts of it because I was too nervous/scared for the characters. In general, I don't like stories set during wartime. Too many good people die and the survivors live in fear and misery. So, this was uncomfortable for me to read at times, but those characters! I couldn't get enough. And, luckily, there were moments of humor to ease my stress :)

The ending, though...please, please, please...tell me there will be more stories. Tell me we'll see what happens to the Seven Courts!

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