Candy's Raves (and Rants) » short story http://candysraves.com Reviews on books, movies and products I Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:38:34 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Effie at the Wedding by Tracy Marchini http://candysraves.com/2011/10/effie-at-the-wedding-by-tracy-marchini/ http://candysraves.com/2011/10/effie-at-the-wedding-by-tracy-marchini/#comments Sun, 23 Oct 2011 10:37:54 +0000 Candy http://candysraves.com/?p=3373

This is a cute and very fast little short story. Being the oldest of 3 girls and the first to get married, I couldn’t really identify with the main character and what she was feeling about her sister getting married, but I think I understand it.

Effie is a cute character and one I hope the author will resurrect into a full fledged novel one day. She cute, funny, with a little bit of that dark humor that I think every good female lead character needs. Her lists were funny and endearing.

This short story was way too short. I want more.

This is recommended for those chick lit fans that are looking for a super fast read (it took me about 15 minutes, tops). Well worth it for the smile it gave me.

Description:
Effie has a million reasons why she’s not thrilled to be at her sister’s wedding — and the monstrously pink bridesmaid’s dress isn’t even on the list. When Effie finds herself locked in the bathroom, she thinks she might just stay there. After all, it’s better than hearing from her mom about how often she’s been to the buffet or how beautiful Ophelia looks in her wedding dress.In this hysterical young adult short story, Effie will have to find a reason to celebrate… or get used to her porcelain throne.

Sample:

5 (Totally Selfish) Reasons I Do Not Want George As A Brother-In-Law

5.) My sister is only 20, and he is 29. That means he’s almost thirty, which means that when she’s forty, he’ll be almost fifty, and then when she’s fifty, he’ll be almost sixty. Too old.

4.) He just graduated med school. People never see their spouses when one is a doctor. And on Grey’s Anatomy, the doctors are always sleeping with the other doctors and nurses. Ophelia is cute, but she can’t compete with a tall, blonde-haired millionaire doctor. (Sorry, Ophelia.)

3.) He’s too nice. Nice is lame. Ophelia will be SO BORED when she’s like, 23 and realizes that her older, doctor boyfriend is too busy saving lives and golfing to go out clubbing.

2.) He’s too good looking. Again, the nurses are bound to fall in love with him.

1.) I will never be able to bring a boyfriend home without him also being a good-looking, well mannered doctor. Which means that I am going to be single for the rest of my life, while my sister and her husband make lots of good-looking doctor babies. I will have lots of cats.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 55
]]> http://candysraves.com/2011/10/effie-at-the-wedding-by-tracy-marchini/feed/ 0 Down the Drain by Daniel Pyle http://candysraves.com/2011/04/3042/ http://candysraves.com/2011/04/3042/#comments Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:30:59 +0000 Candy http://candysraves.com/?p=3042

I may never take a bath or shower again. In fact, maybe I should just avoid all bathrooms with tubs/showers all together. This is a great short tale about well… a bathtub in a really bad freaking mood.

Unlike another book I read by this author, this one is much less realistic; it tries too hard, but on purpose. It wants to scare and shock you, but it really wants to make you do that “ha ha, I’m not scared” laugh while you lock the bathroom door – from the outside.

It takes a lot for me to enjoy a short story/novella/whatever you want to call them. I usually find them underdeveloped (duh) but I didn’t feel that way at all with Down The Drain.

You need to be not a prude and enjoy a little scare tactics (and not mind a real WTF moment). Recommended for those that can take it :)

This is a fun horror little story, well worth purchasing.

Description:
Bruce has lost everyone he ever cared about—even his cat.

Now he thinks he’s finally alone in the house, but something is about to come clawing its way out of the plumbing to prove him wrong.

[Down the Drain is an 8,500-word, 30-page novelette.]

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 21
]]> http://candysraves.com/2011/04/3042/feed/ 0 Die Already by Kipp Poe Speicher http://candysraves.com/2011/02/die-already-by-kipp-poe-speicher/ http://candysraves.com/2011/02/die-already-by-kipp-poe-speicher/#comments Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:30:36 +0000 Candy http://candysraves.com/?p=2982

I’m not entirely sure what to think of this book. The short story itself was really well done. A little predictable, but the writing was absolutely spot on and the story was creepy. Very imaginative. I would definitely look for other (full length perhaps) books by this author.

Having said that, this particular edition has more about another author than the the one who wrote the short story, the story is very short, the rest of the book is an interview and excerpt.

I would recommend this for horror readers, but know the story is less than 100 locations.

Description:
Meet Horace, he has a very unusual gift or what you may consider a very grim curse anything and everything that dies in his presence will not die. No matter how violent or brutal their death may be they do not die.

Die Already is the new tragic and disturbing love story.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 9
]]> http://candysraves.com/2011/02/die-already-by-kipp-poe-speicher/feed/ 0 DATING MY VIBRATOR (and other true fiction) by Suzanne Tyrpak (Kindle Only) http://candysraves.com/2010/09/dating-my-vibrator-and-other-true-fiction-by-suzanne-tyrpak-kindle-only/ http://candysraves.com/2010/09/dating-my-vibrator-and-other-true-fiction-by-suzanne-tyrpak-kindle-only/#comments Tue, 28 Sep 2010 15:30:01 +0000 Candy http://candysraves.com/?p=2573

I wish I knew what this book was missing. I almost hate to say that; I mean how useful is that to anyone “Oh, something is missing but I’ll be darned if I know what it is!”, right? This is a small collection of mostly humorous short stories by the author that she wrote about her dating life after becoming single again. There are a few obvious stand outs in the crowd including Double Date, Dharma Dan, Rock Bottom and of course, Dating My Vibrator. All of these were well formed short stories with a smile at the ending. The author made me laugh out loud a few times and I kind of wanted to invite her out for a drink so we could gossip some more.

Where she lost me was in some of the other stories. I felt some didn’t really belong in a small collection of humorous short stories. One was a very self-indulgent (albeit very well written) almost poetic story. It just felt out of place as did one concerning her father. Maybe that’s what was missing, more stories about her dating life. I think perhaps it lacked a final story that showed her moving completely on with her life, if not settled down again. Maybe an acceptance of herself?

I’m not saying that the final story didn’t have some of that, but I really felt like it was unfinished. It needed that final story of redemption – but of herself.

Overall, a great read. I’d recommended to any of my friends that were or have dated in the past 10 years or so… they’d get a good chuckle out of it.

Description:
This is a collection of nine stories, all based (unfortunately) on my own dating experience. After nineteen years of marriage, I was suddenly thrust into a brave new world of dating—online, offline, standing in line, listening to lines—and I’ve survived to tell these tales. CAUTION: if you’re contemplating divorce, these stories may convince you to consider marriage counseling. If you’re out there dating, chances are you will relate. OMG! Here’s a scary thought: maybe you’ve met some of these guys! Names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2010: 73
]]> http://candysraves.com/2010/09/dating-my-vibrator-and-other-true-fiction-by-suzanne-tyrpak-kindle-only/feed/ 4 Her Very Special Robot by Ann Jacobs (Short Story / Erotica) http://candysraves.com/2010/07/her-very-special-robot-by-ann-jacobs-short-story-erotica/ http://candysraves.com/2010/07/her-very-special-robot-by-ann-jacobs-short-story-erotica/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:30:55 +0000 Candy http://candysraves.com/?p=2424

This wasn’t bad as far as short story erotica goes, but maybe the author could have left out one sex scene and develop the characters just a little bit more. It opens with the main characters being all hot for each other and spends too much time thinking (and later doing) the horizontal hustle and not enough time telling us about who they are.

There was some character development, don’t get me wrong and I think the back story could have been fleshed out. Maybe drop the whole robot thing. Okay, maybe that changes the whole book, I dunno, but this could have been a great story (yes, it’s been done before, I know, thus the robot thing).

The writing isn’t horrible either, it felt a little stilted at times, but for erotica, it didn’t suck – and at the time I “purchased” it, it was free, so hey…

Description:
Trace, a movie stuntman, will do anything-anything at all-for his best friend-s widow. He sets out to give Allie what she asked for, a vacation at the House of a Thousand Pleasures, complete with a very lifelike robot who is going to make her wildest sexual dreams come true. Allie soon learns the robot is really Trace. He-s on a mission-to make Allie love him enough to overlook the fact he-s in the same business that killed her husband, and take him on for more than a few days of pure sexual pleasure.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2010: 50
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