Number Two - Wanted

Story:  Wanted

Author:  Amberdreams

Fandom:  Supernatural

Stats: One shot, 12,041 words, Published in 2011

Summary:  I've never read a Supernatural fan fiction before, but wanting to come up for air out of the Potter fandom for the purposes of this reading challenge I thought I had better branch out.  I wouldn't say I'm a big fan of Supernatural, I've watched every single episode, but all my favourite characters have been killed off over the course of time and I think I now watch it out of habit rather than pure indulgence.  I found this by doing a general search in the Western genre, because I'd never read a Western fanfic and to my understanding, they are in fact, quite rare.  (Well, they are in Potter anyhow.)

There are some grammar problems, but nothing major, I think they are perhaps more due to tired eyes not catching the odd slip-up than genuine error on the authors part.  At 12k, believe it or not, it's not the longest one shot I've ever read.  I have a bit of a soft spot for long one-shots, stories that would otherwise be poorer for being split into smaller sections.  The story takes place around season 3 of the show and diverges from the canon in order to tell the story.

The Winchesters are in 1874 and they are hunting evil, but get caught by a lawman who is sure that the boys demon hunting activities are just a series of spree murders, rather than helping people.  I felt that the writing overall was quite good and some of the dialogue is peppered with little character moments that help to encapsulate the feeling of the show and how the characters are portrayed in the canon. 

I feel quite bad for saying this, I mean there's nothing really wrong with the writing and it was written for a challenge and I know how challenge fics can sometimes end up a little odd due to the nature of how they are written, but, it's little on the boring side.  Nothing really happens.  Well, things happen, but those things aren't really all that interesting and I found my rebellious forefinger kept reaching for the downwards arrow key, but I persisted in reading it.

I kinda wish I could give it a higher rating, as I said there's nothing wrong with it, it's just not my personal taste and so it's probably a bit lower than completely unbiased reviewer would mark it.  Saying that however, I have seen some of the supposed 'unbiased' reviewers kicking around fanfiction.net and some of them have a tendency to be rather cruel and seem to forget that fan fiction writers put just as much hard work into their writing as published authors, but these guys aren't being paid for it.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Number One to Five

(I have changed this from one to ten, to one to five, as I didn't realise how long it was getting.)

A High Stakes Game by Crista McHugh

Author:  Crista McHugh lives in the Seattle area with her husband and daughter, she has degrees in English and History from Emory University  after diversions to Oxford College and the University of Sussex along the way.  She also has an MD from the University of South Alabama.  She is an active member of Romance Writers of America.  Her website can be found here: http://www.cristamchugh.com

Blurb:  (From Amazon) A Tale of the Kavanaugh Foundation.

Espe enjoys the naughty games of hide-and-seek she plays with Greg. Not only does he satisfy her kink for having sex in public places along the Las Vegas Strip, but he also is a no-strings attached lover. Vampire hunters are strictly forbidden from forming serious relationships, so when Greg asks for something more, she's not sure if she can break his heart, especially since the thought has crossed her mind more than she cares to admit. Before she can give him an answer, their liaison is interrupted by a vampire, and Espe is forced to choose between her dreams and her desires.

This is a short story that takes place between books 1 and 3 of the Kavanaugh Foundation series.