A free short story for Love's Landscapes that fit the photo and prompt it was crafted from nicely. Well-written, a good job of world-building and characterization for the length of the story albeit very little backstory. The author did a good job at focusing in on the couple and nothing extraneous. I had a hard time picturing Rio as appealing after the use of the word "orcish" in his description near the beginning, but Sam's attraction to him was obvious. . . the sex was rough, almost violent, as befit who they were, but it didn't touch a chord with me--I guess I was looking for that one little bit of caring or vulnerability sprinkled in that would make all the roughness hot and didn't quite find it. Having enjoyed Laylah Hunter's work in the past, I was excited to see she'd written an Urban Fantasy story for this event. I liked a lot about this story, notably dialogue and descriptions. As always, Hunter's writing is very smooth and enjoyable to read. I do think this is one of the better-written Love's Landscapes stories I have read.I had two niggles with the execution--first being the length. I really felt this was a category length story that was squeezed into 6000 words. It was structured as a much larger story, but the events and details of 5/7ths of the story were summarized rather than described in action. I would have liked to have read those other 5 jobs that were not described, because I feel they were important to the relationship development.My other niggle was the use of magic. I love the idea of assassin elves, but as always when magic is involved in a story, I want it to be more than an accessory or a tool--I need to know its use comes at a cost, and what that cost is. I didn't really feel that here, and I missed the sense of high stakes.I would recommend this story to those looking for a quick bite of badass assassin UF with a hot smexy scene.
What do You think about The Raven's Luck (2014)?
I CANNOT WAIT to read this! This will motivate me to get my work done so I can treat myself.
—lamhip
Loved the action, banter, and chemistry.
—rowanrunner
