What? Cia is posting the blog? That's right! Straight from reading a Promising Story, to reviewing it, to posting the blog. I don't know how Trebs and Renee and all their helpers keep doing this! So readers, help us out! We constantly need volunteers to help review stories for our Authors, Promising Authors, and Hosted Authors for our weekly features.

We know we have great readers on this site, the numbers Trebs posted last week for the reviews in GA. Stories was staggering. All it takes is one little pm to Renee or Trebs to find out what to do if you're not sure. So, since we know you're enjoying the stories on here, grab your courage (and keyboard) with both hands and write a review!

Now, without further ado, on to this week's reviews!!

Status: Complete
Word Count: 7,145
Review by: Cia

So, it’s been a very long time since I joined GA and read my way through the Hosted and Promising. Back then I was always looking for the novel, and tended to avoid reading the short stories, which was a real shame because there are some great ones. This review is for an old anthology story, written and posted before I joined GA.

Now, anyone I’ve talked to knows that I don’t normally like to read teen stories. The graphic nature that some authors use tends to put me off. But this coming of age story by Razor was perfect for me in terms of that content. In it we follow the growing up of a pair of friends, two boys who meet in the first grade and find out that they’re a lot alike.

But the pains and perils of getting older can sometimes outweigh all the good things teens know about their friends and sometimes, when they don’t know any better, they make the wrong choices. Those can spiral beyond their control, but eventually, kids grow up because of the things they experience.

This story doesn’t end in the usual unhappy way for the main character, which was a twist I wasn’t expecting. Since I’m a sucker for a happy ending, I find that in my mind, I’m still wondering about what else could happen afterward for both boys. I love stories that make me feel that way. The writing flow was smooth and since I'm a mom of a young boy I was alternately amused, and horrified, and then reminding myself to put a better lock on the doors in my house in the next few years, LOL! All in all, a good entertaining story that left me with a smile.

Status: Complete
Word Count: 13,332
Review by: Andy021278

This is a lovely story written by Zolia Lily that I came across back in January. It’s her only story currently available, and looking back now, I can’t actually remember why I started reading it; but I’m glad I did.

The two main characters are Paul Rexer and Jake Preston, who are co-workers. The story starts out with the two of them seemingly having bumped into each other quite by accident in the street; they have lunch, and they unexpectedly hit it off. Lunch leads to dinner, and then they spend the night at Jake’s apartment.

All good so far, except it seems that Jake may well be a stalker. After their night of passion, Paul picks up a telephone message from Jake’s mum asking him to “let us know about Rex, ok? None of us can wait to meet him.” Paul now starts wondering just how casual that meeting outside his favourite coffee shop, on his regular Saturday morning stop really was. Had Jake already told his parents that they were having a relationship?

Jake is the quiet, cute, unassuming guy at work, who makes plans, and lists and worries about the tiniest of details; hardly surprising since he has OCD. Surely, Jake couldn’t have engineered their little lunch time meeting, could he? Paul begins seeing quiet little Jake as a male version of Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction, so he hightails it from Jake’s apartment, whilst his stalker is still asleep in bed.

The next day at work, everything seems all right, that is until Paul accidentally receives some personal correspondence in the office mail that is addressed to Jake; except it also has Paul’s name on it as well. Just why is Jake having personal mail sent to him with both his and Paul’s name on it?

Though what will happen when Paul has it out with his bunny-boiling stalker? Just how much of a stalker is Jake? Is he really as scary as all the mounting evidence suggests? You’ll have to read to find out.

The story is beautifully crafted overall and she has created a wonderful and believable character in Jake; most likely a result of her familiarity with OCD. My only criticism of the story is a purely technical point in that there are issues with the punctuation of speech tags; but certainly, it does not detract in any way from what is a very enjoyable read.

I hope you enjoyed these reviews. Remember, our authors don't get paid, so leave them a comment or two in appreciation for their stories!