Lately, I’ve been playing and really enjoying Ooblets. The game is like if Pokemon were a cozy farming sim where you grow them all instead of catching them. And also there are no regular battles. There are dance battles instead. We should replace all battles with dance battles.
Some ooblet friends
It also has some good quotes that are somewhat relevant to my life:
Grammar and spelling is something to worry about when you’ve run out of all other things to worry about.
I completely agree, even though it’s kind of different when you’re an author.
My favorite author wrote a new book I don’t like and now I’m unsure of the best way to ruin their life.
When the Ancient Greeks and Romans turned to magic to solve their problems, they used curse tablets. These stone sheets were hidden in places like crypts with pleas to the underworld asking for love, success, or revenge. I posted about using these tablets for romance and passion here, and now I’m sharing a scene I wrote inspired by this magic.
Curse You:
Does counting sheep work? Who knows. Only seven sheep jump over a little fence in my mind before I’m tempted to give up. Sleep still feels so far away. I scold myself for nearly giving up on the imaginary livestock.
Three sheep later and they grow wings, floating around while Tyler Riley’s smile appears in my mind.
No. Sheep. Think of flying sheep.
Four more sheep. They start spewing fire for some reason. One more sheep and the fence burns down. Six more and there’s enough for them to form small armies and launch into battle, flying over a destroyed farmland and spewing fire and—dragons. My sheep are basically dragons.
Screw the sheep. Screw the dragons hiding in sheep’s clothing. I turn on my side and throw a pillow over my face.
I’m going to sleep dammit.
There’s no point checking all Tyler’s social accounts for the millionth time tonight. Seeing if he posted anything new. Observing all the photos of him with other guys like an anthropologist, noting how close they stand and trying to extrapolate the relationship. Looking through all his messages for any queer subtext as if it will definitively prove he likes guys too.
I’m sure he likes guys. Pretty sure. I just don’t know if he likes me.
Eventually, I fall into a fitful sleep.
Then I get up.
“Fuck you, Tyler Riley,” I swear, cursing him for plaguing my sleep.
I want to stay in bed but my legs rise on their own. All it takes is trying to recall the half-remembered dream of us tangled in the sheets together and it’s like a frenzy overtakes me, the urge to take the visions in my head and turn them real.
In the dead of night, exhausted and frustrated, the line between real and not blurs, making me think I can set fantasy into motion through sheer force of will.
A passenger in my own body, I watch myself grab the supplies from the closet, given to me by a witchy friend.
She had fixed me with a steely-eyed gaze and commanded me to only use magic responsibly. Extend a gentle invite and ask for his affection, if he feels it too. Nothing about this feels responsible or gentle.
No. I scroll the internet and find a recipe for what I really need. For the desire to consume him like it consumes me.
The magic comes together. Dried rose petals. Honey for sweetened thoughts. A lock of my hair. A piece of paper with Tyler’s name on one side and mine on the other. Fold the paper, stick a pin in it, binding us together. My hands work on their own when assembling the spell, but the need crawling up my spine and choking my throat? I feel every second of want.
Once I assemble everything and stick it all in a velvet pouch that smells of mothballs, I stare at the result and have no idea what I’m looking at or who made it. Can’t be me. It can’t be real.
But Tyler is real. The divot in his chin and his smile are real.
I attach a little gift tag on the front, one with a label for ‘to’ and ‘from.’ Is that part of the spell or did I add that? What a bizarre present. It doesn’t feel like a gift.
Still in pajamas when I pile into the car and make the drive, it’s a miracle I arrive safely since I barely saw the road. All I see is him. I need him.
The fog of magic and sleep parts somewhat at the edge of the cemetery. This is the really weird, even creepy part. Giving my magical not-present to the dead will allow my plea to travel to places beyond this world.
Wandering around in the dark, am I really going through with this? I think not, until my feet come to a stop at an old headstone. I like the angel statue near the stone, with a space between its clasped hands to place a real flower. Overgrown grass covers the weathered marble of the grave marker, yet a single rose rests in the angel’s hands. Fresh. The crimson color draws me in.
I sink to my knees by the statue, apologizing to whoever’s rest I disturb while digging into the ground to find a spot—oh god, what is that? The casket? No, this is just below the surface. I pull the object out and find a spell bag, wiping away the dirt to read the message there.
This grave already holds a plea. From him. It bears my name.
~
When I read about curse tablets and saw they were usually desperate pleas where love is like an affliction, my first thought was ‘oh, a man leaves a curse tablet for another guy only to find there’s already one there with his name on it, from the guy he’s obsessed with.’ I liked the idea enough to write it out, but I definitely need to come up with ideas that contain dialog next time. I’m a dialog gal and this has none.
I kept the part about using the dead to ferry the pleas, because damn, that takes commitment and is a memorable detail. But I didn’t use actual tablets because that feels awkward. Who makes steel tablets unless you’re some sort of metalworker?
The quote I’m sharing today is from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, though I feel less impressive because I didn’t select it after reading the book. I saw it on a calendar.
Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden – in all the places.
Love sick and struggling to get over an old flame? What if you turned to magic?
This sounds like the start of a dark fantasy romance novel, which is a much safer place to put the the curse tablets that ancient Greeks and Romans used. Probably best not to take after them.
Ancient practitioners hammered lead into delicate sheets, then carved their deepest desires and darkest intentions into the malleable surface with bronze styluses. Archaeologists have uncovered approximately 1,600 of these tablets, known as defixiones in Latin or katadesmoi in Greek.
The words they etched weren’t meant for mortal eyes. Messages targeted the gods of the underworld, deities who controlled fate and could bend reality to match human will. Hecate, Persephone, Charon. Lead connected the curse to Pluto’s realm since the metal belonged to the underworld, making it the perfect messenger between worlds.
Folding the tablet trapped the target’s fate within its creases.
Nails bound the magic tight, ensuring the gods couldn’t ignore the petition.
This love magic had a bite, seeking to bind the target’s will, create obsessive thoughts, or cause physical discomfort until the victim surrenders to the petitioner’s desires.
Personal items often accompany the tablets to strengthen the magical connection. Strands of hair, bits of clothing, or even bodily fluids from the intended target create a sympathetic link. These items contain the target’s essence (ousia), establishing a magical bridge between the tablet and victim. This connection ensures the curse finds its mark, regardless of physical distance.
Practitioners deposit tablets in locations where the boundary between the living and dead grew thin. Graves, wells, temple foundations, and underground springs became repositories for longing and desperation. Wells and springs provide access to underground water systems that connect to the realm of the dead. Temple foundations rest on sacred ground where divine power concentrates. Crossroads were good too, spaces where multiple worlds intersect. Using graves let petitioners recruit the restless dead as supernatural messengers, carrying their requests to underworld deities.
Here is one example of a tablet for love magic from Papyrus Stories, this one written by a man about another man. I like the poetry of it and how it’s like part magical spell, part stream of conscious desperation.
If he stands you will not let him stand, if he sits you will not let him sit, if he sleeps you will not let him sleep! He will seek after me from village to village, from city to city, from field to field, from land to land, until he comes to me and he subjects himself beneath my feet – me, Apapolo, the son of Nooe – his hands filled with all good things, until I fulfil with him the desire of my heart and the request of my soul in a good desire and an unbreakable affection, now, now, quickly, quickly, do my work!”
If you have ever experienced gender norms about men and women, it won’t surprise you that men were more likely to try inducing passion while women asked for affection. However, the sample size isn’t very big. And not all of the discovered artifacts were created for romance since, you know, they were curse tablets.
Court cases inspired many curses. Litigants bound their opponents’ tongues and minds to ensure victory. Victims of theft created tablets naming stolen items and cursing unknown thieves. Athletes and performers cursed rivals before competitions.
Many tablets contain specialized vocabulary or voces mysticae. Magical words and phrases believed to carry supernatural power. These mysterious utterances appear to be nonsensical combinations of Greek, Egyptian, and Hebrew sounds that possibly represented a special language only demons could understand or words more appropriate for conversing with gods than human language. Not sure why but I love the idea of writing gibberish and then calling it a super special magical language.
Pretty Fly for a Vampire Guy sank its fangs into my heart from page one. (Is this a pun? It’s as close to puns as I get.) Anyway, the book is easily one of this year’s most delightful reads. It may be my favorite book of the year.
I enjoyed The Nokk and The Jock with its emo boy and bi awakening storyline but it didn’t hook me from the start like this one did. Maybe it’s because that book was my first time in the world and this wasn’t. Now I’m more familiar with the monster-filled university that recently welcomed human students, including many guys that are falling head over heels for monsters.
Overall Thoughts: This novel by Leslie McAdam and CD Rachels is so adorable and cozy. Not too much angst or drama but there is enough plot going on to make things interesting.
Also the pun game was super on point. So many monster puns. I am not a pun person because I’m terrible at them but that’s also probably why I appreciate them and I am in awe of all the puns at work here.
Tropes and Keywords: College/university setting, jock/nerd, adorable awkwardness, romantic comedy, misunderstandings, bat dads, learning to fly, kissing bets, study buddies
About the Novel
Owen embodies the quintessential nerd with his tortoiseshell glasses and insatiable curiosity. Despite his academic brilliance, he remains adorably oblivious to social cues and the awkwardness of creating a Powerpoint about why vampires are ‘objectively’ attractive. This earnest dork shows his presentation to his friends, and it happens to focus on a certain vampire.
Which is Clay, he’s the sexy jock who plays water polo. He isn’t perfect, he’s insecure about not flying, but he’s used to hooking up and getting anybody into his bed with ease. But he has his work cut out for him with Owen.
It’s a credit that so much embarrassment can happen and it only hooks me further because when Clay and Owen become lab partners for monster anatomy, Owen is all about studying Clay intensely. For science. But Clay thinks it’s a hook up and greets Owen naked and things get awkward. Er. Awkwarder.
What breaks the ice and gets them on the right track?
They become bat dad. To a bat. Bat dads. There may be a few daddy jokes involved.
When Owen accidentally injures a bat and seeks help from Clay, they forget about their strained relationship and go all in on nursing the bat back to health. Who knew co-parenting a bat would be so completely adorable?
The only thing I took genuine offense to was when naming their bat Bat Bathanson after Matt Nathanson they called the musician old school, which is probably true, but I didn’t realize how old school he was and I instantly felt ancient for liking him ‘back in the day’ since I was around back in the day. How do I become a vampire who doesn’t age? Someone please make that happen ASAP.
And when Clay and the bat need to learn how to fly, earning a kiss from Owen acts as an incentive, which is just pure classic rom-com material. Here’s a quote from that part:
Pretty Fly For a Vampire Guy Book Description
Clay
I suck at being a vampire—literally. When the Halloween Wave turned a third of the population into monsters, I thought I was one of the lucky ones. I get to have my fit twenty-year-old body for decades. And vampires are supposed to be sexy, right?
But now that I’m finally in university, I still don’t fit in. I was supposed to find myself and spread my metaphorical vampire wings. Yet, I’m not good enough to be an academic, and too inept at flying to hang with monsters like me. At least flirting with my new nerdy lab partner can be some fun in the meantime.
Owen
I can’t stand my lab partner. It’s not because he’s a monster—far from it, I find vampires attractive. But jocks don’t go for academics like me, especially airheads like Clay. We only need to get through this class.
Then one day we’re nursing an injured bat together, and Clay’s sweet, compassionate side rears its teeth. Despite my best efforts, this gorgeous bloodsucker has me enchanted. When he wants to learn to fly, how can I refuse? This jock keeps failing at taking to the sky, but I fear I’m the one that’s falling. A nerdy human like me dating a himbo vampire could spell a monster-sized disaster.
Pretty Fly for a Vampire Guy is a spicy paranormal romantic comedy set in the Creepin U shifter universe. Don’t read if you’re not interested in nerd-jock connections, flying lessons through the forest, monsters at university, and yes, a happily ever after
When magic and mortals mix in myths and legends, it usually doesn’t end well for the humans. I’m not quite sure if the cambion proves this or is an exception. The humans commingling with the demons that create the cambion definitely get a raw deal though the offspring has the best of worlds, otherworldly power and human roots and emotions.
The cambion is one of the many versions of human and supernatural offspring, this one resulting from the union of humans with incubuses or succubi. Since I don’t play the right video games, the cambion isn’t very well known to me. I decided to look into the lore surrounding this creature since TJ Rose featured a version in their novel Bite Marks and Broken Hearts.
The Birth of Cambions
The word “cambion” itself tells a story of transformation and substitution. Originally derived from the Latin cambiare meaning “to exchange,” it first described changelings in eerie tales of fae or demons stealing human babies and leaving their own offspring behind. Parents would wake to find their child somehow… different. Heavier. Colder. Silent.
Cambions came to represent the product of unholy unions between demons and humans, most commonly the offspring of seductive succubi or charming incubi who’ve ensnared human lovers. These babies are insatiable for milk and show no signs of breath or a pulse.
The witch-hunting manual Malleus Maleficarum (1486) offered a complex explanation for cambion conception. Being unnatural beings, demons can’t naturally conceive. A succubus first sleeps with a human man and collects his sperm. She gives it to an incubus to strengthen and corrupt. Then an incubus can sleep with and impregnate a human woman. I would have accepted “magic” as an acceptable answer for how cambions are conceived, but sure, this game of sexual telephone works too.
Throughout European folklore, these beings embodied parental anxieties about unhealthy or unusual children, a huge concern in times when infant mortality rates were devastatingly high. That’s actually relatable. A supernatural explanation for an ailing child provides some answer for sicknesses and misfortune that are otherwise beyond understanding.
Some of the lore I looked at seemed cringe-y when talking about how the joining of demon and human, basically two ‘unalike’ things, was so wrong and unnatural. It gave me the sense I’d be considered one of those wrong affronts to the natural order as a mixed person. Maybe I’ll have to look out more for cambions in the future. I’ve always had a fondness for changelings, humans who are more than they seem.
The cambion seems much more at home in fantasy contexts like dungeons and dragons and video games. History usually isn’t kind to those thought different.
Recognizing a Cambion
Medieval texts describe cambion infants as unnaturally heavy, requiring multiple people to lift them despite appearing normal-sized. They’re cold to the touch, their skin never quite reaching human warmth, and they may not cry or make sounds for the first few years of life.
Around age seven, physical markers often appear: eyes that flash red or yellow in certain light, small horns that sprout from their temples, vestigial wings, or tails that they quickly learn to hide.
While generally alluring, they carry a faint sulfuric scent that can be a turn-off. Some emit a barely perceptible humming sound that seems to resonate in listeners’ bones. Their voices and gazes develop a quality that makes people lean in closer, hang on every word, and struggle to shake off their influence long after the conversation ends.
The Cambion Personality
Medieval sources painted cambions as inherently cunning and malevolent, but modern interpretations offer versions that are influenced by both sides of themselves instead of just demonic wickedness.
Their interactions with humans often center around charm and seduction. Not necessarily sexual, but an almost magnetic pull that makes others want to trust them, confide in them, follow them. They are suited to leading cults or working as spies and assassins.
Powers and Abilities
The powers that cambions inherit vary depending on their demonic parent, but most possess an innate charm that goes beyond mere charisma, almost a supernatural compulsion that makes humans more susceptible to suggestion.
Many cambions possess telepathic abilities, allowing them to read surface thoughts or plant ideas in others’ minds. Minor teleportation, often called shadow stepping, lets them move short distances through darkness. Their physical strength typically exceeds human limits, and they show remarkable resistance to fire and heat.
Some cambions can alter their appearance slightly, enough to enhance their natural attractiveness or hide their more demonic features.
Part of the reason I wanted to start learning more about different myths, legends, and monsters and species that show up in paranormal and fantasy stories is to use them as inspiration and write little scenes I could also post. I’m still working on that part. Shadow stepping intrigued me, but I have to keep practicing when it comes to only writing a scene and not getting carried away.
Weaknessess
Cambions remain vulnerable to holy relics, blessed weapons, and exorcism rituals. Iron burns their skin and weakens their abilities. The “Seven-Year Pulse”—a period of supernatural weakness that lasts until they reach age seven—leaves young cambions particularly defenseless.
Notable Cambions
Raven from Teen Titans and the DC Universe
Hellboy from Dark Horse Comics
Merlin, legendary wizard
Apparently, Merlin’s wizard powers could be thanks to his demonic parentage. All of these examples involve a human woman and an incubus as the parents.
The Cambion’s Potential
Where mortal and demon blood mingle, the cambion has all the narrative power in the world. Some fight against their darker nature, desperately seeking connection and love to anchor them to their humanity. Others embrace the power coursing through their veins, using their supernatural charm and abilities to manipulate and seduce. And then there are those caught somewhere in between, struggling with an identity that doesn’t quite fit in either world. Whether a cambion leads to seduction or salvation depends on the author telling the story.
I enjoy that this song is just casually about a vampire. Or maybe about a lover who feels like a vampire when their affection bleeds you dry. Plus, Arrows in Action is a pretty cool band name.
I’ve got this feelin’ that she gonna be the death of me Blood runnin’ hot when I’m feedin’ off of her energy She leads me down alleyways under false pretense Sharpen her teeth, flash a smile before she pulls me down
I can feel it in her bite There’s somethin’ just a little more than ecstasy Beneath those pretty little eyes
Have you ever looked out at the sky during a thunderstorm with a sense of awe and wonder as lightning danced across the heavens?
Preferably from a safe location, of course.
The lightning magic in my M/M paranormal romance novel Strikes Twice may be extraordinary, and entirely fictional, but the real-life world of lightning is pretty impressive in its own right. Let’s explore several lightning phenomena that blur the lines between scientific understanding and sheer magic.
Ball Lightning
Picture a luminous sphere, glowing with an otherworldly light, drifting through the air like a visitor from another dimension. That’s ball lightning.
These spheres often appear during thunderstorms in a variety of colors, either hovering near the ground or dancing amongst the clouds. They can last from a few fleeting seconds to several minutes, moving erratically before vanishing, sometimes with a startling explosive pop.
Its formation process is still a puzzle that scientists struggle to fully explain. Several theories attempt to unravel the enigma, ranging from vaporized silicon ignited by a lightning strike to small black holes colliding with Earth’s atmosphere… I’m not an expert here, but that one sounds equally awesome and unlikely. More grounded hypotheses propose plasma clouds confined by swirling magnetic fields, or nanoparticles of metallic oxides ignited by lightning, though none have been definitively proven.
One notable historical account tells of Czar Nicholas II witnessing a fiery sphere during a church service he attended with his grandfather, Alexander II. Both men described a glowing ball that materialized within the church, moved across the room, and then vanished. Other stories describe ball lightning entering homes through windows or even chimneys, sometimes leaving burn marks in their wake.
St. Elmo’s Fire
Another electrical phenomenon associated with thunderstorms is St. Elmo’s fire. The movie Rob Lowe starred in a loooong time ago was a bit before my time though I recognize the name. Had no idea this was what it referred to.
St. Elmo’s fire manifests as a luminous plasma, a soft glow that emanates from pointed objects like masts, spires, or chimneys. A faint ethereal light, typically blue or violet, sometimes tinged with green, clinging to the edges of these structures like a spectral flame. This occurs when the atmosphere becomes electrically charged during stormy weather, causing the air molecules to ionize and create a visible corona discharge, much like the glow around a high-voltage electrical line.
The electric field required to create St. Elmo’s fire is typically very strong, often preceding a lightning strike. However, unlike lightning, St. Elmo’s fire itself is not dangerous. Out of all of these, this one is probably something I could have seen before, but I don’t think I have.
Throughout history, St. Elmo’s fire has held a significant place in maritime lore. Sailors often viewed its appearance as a good omen, a sign of protection from their patron saint, Erasmus of Formiae, also known as St. Elmo. They believed the glowing phenomenon indicated the saint’s presence, watching over them during storms.
High above the familiar flashes of lightning that illuminate storm clouds, a hidden world of luminous events unfolds. Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), occur in the upper atmosphere and include:
Sprites: Fleeting bursts of bright red light, resembling jellyfish or carrots, appearing high above thunderstorms. These are the most common type of TLE. They occur in the mesosphere above the Earth’s surface and are often triggered by powerful positive cloud-to-ground lightning strikes.
Blue Jets: As their name suggests, blue jets are narrow cones of blue light that shoot upwards from the tops of thunderclouds. They are faster than sprites and thought to be associated with strong updrafts within the storm.
strikes. Maybe not the most common or impressive, but they have the coolest name due to the acronym.
Gigantic Jets: The most impressive of the TLEs, gigantic jets are massive electrical discharges that connect thunderstorms to the lower edge of the ionosphere. They are much larger and more powerful than blue jets and appear as a bright column of light extending from the cloud tops.
ELVES (Emissions of Light and Very Low Frequency Perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources): ELVES are rapidly expanding rings of light that appear in the ionosphere. They are extremely brief, lasting only a millisecond, and are caused by the electromagnetic pulses generated by lightning strikes. Maybe not the most common or impressive, but they have the coolest name due to the acronym.
The scientific community is still unraveling the mysteries of these upper-atmospheric phenomena. While high-speed cameras and specialized instruments have allowed researchers to study TLEs in more detail, many questions remain about their formation, frequency, and overall impact on the Earth’s atmosphere.
Catatumbo Lightning
In a remote corner of Venezuela, where the Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo, a breathtaking spectacle of nature unfolds. Known as the “Beacon of Maracaibo” or the “everlasting storm,” Catatumbo lightning is a unique atmospheric phenomenon that produces almost continuous lightning displays. Imagine a relentless barrage of lightning illuminating the night sky, flashing across the horizon up to 280 times per hour, for up to 10 hours a day, and occurring on as many as 160 nights a year. This nearly constant illumination has served as a natural lighthouse for navigators for centuries.
A unique combination of geographical and meteorological factors make this possible. The warm, moist air from the Caribbean Sea flows over the lake and collides with the cold air descending from the Andes Mountains, creating ideal conditions for thunderstorms. The presence of methane, rising from the nearby marshes and oil fields, is believed to contribute to the electrical conductivity of the atmosphere, further enhancing the lightning activity. The lightning also plays a crucial role in replenishing the ozone layer in the region.
This one sounds the most magical, eternal lightning. Might be a good idea for a fantasy setting in there too, a mystical city where lightning always strikes and lights up the sky. Reading about it sounds beautiful, but it’s possible I’d be scared to experience it firsthand.
Superbolts
Rare and extraordinarily powerful lightning strikes are known as superbolts. Unlike regular lightning, which typically carries tens of thousands of amperes of current, superbolts can unleash currents exceeding a million amperes, packing an energy punch hundreds of times greater than their more common counterparts. With lightning so bright it momentarily outshines the entire surrounding area, these bolts release enough energy to power a small city for a short period.
Occurring only about once in every 240 lightning strikes, the exact mechanisms that give rise to superbolts are still being investigated. Some research indicates a higher likelihood of superbolts occurring over the ocean, particularly in the winter months.
Upward Lightning (Ground-to-Cloud Lightning)
As the name suggests, this type of lightning originates from tall structures on the ground, such as skyscrapers, radio towers, or mountain peaks, and propagates upwards toward the clouds. Imagine a bolt of lightning defying gravity, reaching up from the Earth to touch the sky.
Several factors can trigger upward lightning. Sometimes, it’s initiated by a preceding downward lightning strike, creating a channel of ionized air that allows the upward discharge to follow. In other cases, upward lightning can occur spontaneously, particularly during the colder months or in thundersnow events when the cloud base is lower to the ground, reducing the distance required for the electrical discharge.
How Striking
From the eerie glow of ball lightning to the majestic spectacle of Catatumbo lightning, the world of electrical phenomena is full of wonder and beauty. I’ve never been a storm chaser or someone who feels comfortable outside when the weather is stormy, but reading about lightning and watching videos almost makes me want to be more adventurous. Almost. I am an author, so maybe reading about unique natural spectacles is more my speed anyway.
Sources:
National Weather Service. Lightning Types.
Scientific American. Ball Lightning: A Shocking Scientific Mystery.
National Geographic. St. Elmo’s Fire.
Rakov, Vladimir A., & Uman, Martin A. (2003). Lightning: Physics and Effects. Cambridge University Press.
This is the first book I’ve ever read by Rhea Fox, but I feel like it’s a good introduction to the author. Flighty Hearts & Broken Parts is a quick read that’s easy to jump into and sweet as can be. All the best moments of falling in love and building a life together are offered in convenient novel form and shared between a breezy Slyph and a solid orc.
How it all starts
Beryl is an airy flighty Sylph, which is a pun because Sylphs are air spirits. (I’d heard of Syphs before but definitely didn’t know what they were, so I learned something.) Beryl works in a cafe and isn’t expecting a serious relationship but there’s something about the quiet orc that captivates him.
Kjartan is an orc who’s seen his share of battle in the past and is now trying to enjoy a normal life. He’s got some scars and baggage, but a new relationship with the right Slyph is apparently just what he needs to open up his heart.
While it starts as mutual attraction and an attempted hook up, things get domestic fast.
My Thoughts – It’s All About the Relationship
The novel is sweeter than a chocolate latte with extra caramel drizzle. Low stakes and no angst or greater plot isn’t really my cup of tea, but it’s a nice little change of pace to just read a book all about a romance blossoming. Beryl and Kjartan grow closer and build a relationship together and it’s fun to see them fall for each other.
Adorable as the couple here is, they have no trouble heating things up. There’s a lot of steam and not from cappuccinos. Not really what I expected from such a cute read but the scenes were welcome and very well done.
I also liked the Slyph and orc pairing, two rarer paranormal species that you don’t see every day.
Here’s a passage from the novel:
Reading Order and Hetero Warning
Reading out of order makes me twitchy and not only is this the second book in this series, it’s part of a whole larger universe that takes place in the Scottish city of Kirkmuir, which is not a real place since it’s heavily populated with supernatural folk.
This a cozy little novel, and there’s no huge plot details to learn before diving in so it’s probably okay to read in any order. But if you like low angst cozy romances and really want to get absorbed in the little world, probably best to read ‘em all. I mean, you don’t have to, but I can’t encourage you to be a rebel and go out of order like I did.
Keep in mind the first book and some of the novels in the series are M/F in case that’s not your thing.
Official Book Description
One is all wind and whimsy. The other all scars and silence. Together, they’re building something that just might last.
BERYL Relationships? Not my thing. I like flirting, pretty things, and keeping things breezy—just like a good Sylph should. I’ve got a job I love, coworkers I adore, and enough sparkly highlighters to wallpaper a house. So why does Kjartan, the hulking orc carpenter with a quiet voice and a missing finger, make my heart flutter like it’s been caught in a windstorm?
One failed hookup and a surprising proposal later—dating, not that other D-word—and suddenly we’re buying furniture together like a couple of nesting lovebirds. But is good sex and shared home decor taste enough to bridge the gap between his countryside roots and my city life? Or am I doomed to fly solo again?
KJARTAN After everything I’ve been through, I know better than to believe in second chances. But Beryl—bright, bold, unpredictable Beryl—sees through the walls I’ve spent years building. And somehow, he likes what he finds.
A single night with him turns into something more: weekend visits, cozy nights, and building a life one bookshelf at a time. But can I risk my heart again for someone who’s made of wind, here today, gone tomorrow? Or is this the moment I finally let myself believe in love?
Flighty Hearts & Broken Parts is a cozy MM monster romance featuring a silent orc with a broken heart, a flirty Sylph who talks a mile a minute, chore play, shared home improvement projects, and a low-stakes love story filled with warmth, healing, and a guaranteed HEA.
Book 2 in the Scales & Steam series – can be read as a standalone.
Gay Paranormal Romance 