May 28, 2014

ArmchairBEA #3 Novellas/Short Stories



Novellas/Short Stories
Now it is time to give a little love to those little stories in your life. Share your love for your favorite shorts of any form. What is a short story or novella that doesn’t get the attention that it deserves? Recommend to readers what shorts you would recommend they start with. How about listing some short story anthologies based upon genres or authors?

It's really hard for me to get into short stories because they always feel unfinished or I'm dying to read more and just feel sad that it ended.

But what I do love about some novellas is that they tie bigger stories together, characters that didnt get enough attention get their own story.

Some of my favorites include: Laurell K. Hamiltons Micah, Lauren Christina's Beautiful Bastard novella series, Samtha Young's On Dublin novella series and more.

But one of my major favorites, that gave me insight into one kick butt lead heroine, was Sierra Deans The Secret Guide to Dating Monsters.

The series as a whole is fantastic, but the novella grabbed my attention write away, with the writing, humor, lead characters persona and the world building.

If you haven't read this series yet, I'd say give the novella a try and go from there. See the blurb below!

BLURB:
Are blind dates supposed to be this bloody?

A Secret McQueen Story
They say it's impossible to find a man in New York City. Secret McQueen needs to find two in one night. Of course, it’ll mean pulling off the impossible—find and kill a displaced rogue vampire without disrupting the first promising date she’s had in ages. As a werewolf hybrid used to walking a fine line of survival in the vampire world, though, Secret eats impossible for breakfast.

Somewhere between hello and the first round of drinks, Secret makes her move. Her target, Hollywood’s biggest star, shouldn’t be hard to spot. Just look for swarms of fans. Except every time her vampire liaison, Holden, helps keep her mission on track, her date runs further off the rails.

Either Holden has a hidden agenda, or he knows more than he’s letting on about her quarry. One way or another, Secret is determined to get her man, and meet Mr. Right. Or die trying.

9 comments:

  1. I'm not usually a fan of novella's but this does sound like something I'd enjoy!

    Thanks for sharing. Sharon - Obsession with Books

    ReplyDelete
  2. I prefer to read full length novels since I fall in love with the stories...I want them to go on forever. I do occasionally read shorter works to find new authors to follow.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the recommend. I have added it to my Goodreads ArmChairBEA shelf. I love short stories--well done they are the just right size for a quick read that gives you it all...character arc, satisfying plot. But I have never tried a novella...will now!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've had one or two unpleasant blind dates but at least none of them involved blood, haha!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, I forgot about Secret. I love her novellas! Good call ;)

    Jessica @ Rabid Reads

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the Beautiful Bastard novella series. So much fun packed into a small book.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Novellas that serve as leads to a series often have so much riding on them. And the payoff can be great. if I know there's an introduction novella written for a book series, I definitely try to read that first, if possible (and if without spoiler).

    Sierra Dean's novella was done wonderfully. She even did a great job with "A Low Down Dirty Shane," which is a novella that's both mid-series and intro (since it's for a spinoff; or so I thought...haven't heard anything new about that lately).

    ReplyDelete
  8. I haven't ever read a novella, perhaps because I worry that there won't be enough substance to them, but there are definitely characters I would like to see more of, so perhaps I should give them a chance :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love reading Novellas! For short stories, I love reading anthologies especially during traveling because I want to read something short but with a sort of conclusion to it.

    ReplyDelete