Nope, your eyes are not deceiving you. I'm back! A huge thank you to everyone who helped cover the blog while I was gone. I hope everyone had a wonderful week and that you're ready to forge ahead into a new one. To start off our week, Timothy M. has brought us a review of Prophylaxis by Rambling Robin. Let's see what Tim has to say, shall we?

Reviewer: Timothy M.
Status: In Process

Do you like supernatural stories with beings with different abilities ? (a la Cia and SashaDistan)

Can you accept threesomes and sex as recreation / healing ? (a la Cazpedroso and Mark Arbour)

Are you able to stomach cruelty and violence, but told with compassion ? (a la Nephylim, craftingmom and InTheMindOfSunshine)

Will you be OK with occasionally tearing your hair out, shouting ‘NoNoNo’ at the main character, and swearing at the author ? (a la aditus and jwolf)

If so, you may like Prophylaxis by Rambling Robin. It’s still in progress, so I have no idea where it’ll end, but at least the author is posting chapters again after a long pause. Apart from the qualities listed above, the story may be described as full of secrets and plot twists, sad and scary memories, the worst villain I’ve met on GA, but also some seriously sexy and huggable guys.

One of the things which hooked me right away was how we got thrown into the middle of a tense situation together with Mick Williams (as Nate calls himself on assignment). From hearing his thoughts and seeing the reactions of him and the people around him, we slowly build an understanding of who he is and what he can do. As the story unfolds, the multiple consequences of Mick’s empathy skills become clear.

Further enjoyable traits are the snarky humor and the sarcastic comments, both internal and out loud. Nate has a way with understatements which leave me chuckling and serve to release tension most of the time. A couple of my favorites are:

I liked my guts on my inside, not hanging from the light fixtures, thank you very much.
“Nope, I'm just really good at being an idiot.” I said dryly. “I even practice in front of a mirror sometimes.”

Another fun surprise is Nate’s normal job, but when he explains why, it makes a lot of sense. It gets even better when we learn how some of his ‘clients’ find him online, unexpected yet weirdly logical at the same time. I won’t spoil it by telling you more, but so far it’s one of my favorite scenes – together with the clean restaurant date, the compulsive cuddle, and the garden fight. Nate is a complex person with lots of issues and behavior which occasionally makes me cringe with discomfort. Yet I cannot help caring about him and wishing the best for Nate.

I hope I haven’t scared you off, and I want to repeat that you must be open-minded about sexual stuff. This is a story where many of the characters are non-human, and their morals and customs are very different from what’s acceptable in our religion-based culture. Due to his past, Nate fits well into the hidden supernatural culture, including the sad but understandable fact he doesn’t date or want a boyfriend. But he does enjoy sex…a lot. His explanation: ‘Empaths are easy.’

Go read and find out more, if you dare.