Jenn Moffatt (–2020)

tl:dr: two out of four, a better average than most collections I've tried.

'Monster Hall Pass,' by Bru Baker, is pretty good. It needed a better edit.

'Kismet and Cadavers,' by Jenn Moffatt. This felt disjointed to me. Part was the two POVs were hard to tell apart for over half the story. Part was interweaving of one character talking while the POV character thought things, same paragraph. And, there were odd time skips. Needed work.

'Elf Shot,' by TA Moore. Awful title, rich world, engaging characters. Best story so far.

'Wolf at First Sight,' by Rhys Ford. Well. I got close to the end, but only by skimming, and then I gave up. Very wordy, nothing unique, lots of repetition. Definitely the worst of this author I've read.… (altro)

Bad, Dad, and Dangerous is an anthology composed of four stories. They’re all told in third person povs.



The stories in order are:

Monster Hall Pass by Bru Baker
Kismet and Cadavers by Jenn Moffatt
Elf Shot by TA Moore
Wolf at First Sight by Rhys Ford

Monster Hall Pass was my favorite. First, I have to mention I love the title. It’s way too cute! I like reading this author’s paranormal books and she keeps improving her writing with every one I’ve read. This one was about a vampire dad, Hugh Whitby, who thinks once he ships his daughter off to camp, he hopes to embark on his monster hall pass of replenishing his stores of energy from criminals, and a few dalliances. That is until he meets a fae prince who turns his world upside down.

I believed the characters as a couple although I would have liked more information about Rykoff in terms of his emotions. I wasn’t able to get into him as much as a character as I could Hugh. One thing I liked that the author did, was while being in Hugh’s head we got to hear a lot of the questions he had about what was happening. For me it made the story more humorous, but also showed how much he cared for his daughter. The fact that Hugh was a father first and foremost, even willing to sacrifice his health, came through loud and clear. I give this story, 4.5 Stars

Kismet and Cadavers was a fast, quirky read. Two best friends hunt ghosts. They plan on going to a cemetery on the Solstice to see if they can get any good videos. There’s a prologue to this story that starts back when both KJ Beshter and Thomas Anders are young. I didn’t care for it, but it was necessary to set up the rest of the plot. Thomas runs an occult shop and has shipped his daughter off to camp. He’s hoping to relax and maybe find some hook ups, but he has his daughter’s resurrected dead cat to take care of. In walks magic sensitive KJ and the two immediately hit it off. But they can’t get together to do anything about it until after the graveyard video. And there’s some bad energy around town that Thomas has to look into.

The author did a good job with the characters. Each was distinct and I could believe in KJ and Thomas as a couple. The dead cat was a great idea and leant humor to the story.

I think this story could have been longer, especially the ending which felt rushed, but it worked. KJ slid easily into Thomas’ life because he already believed in the occult and he was a sensitive. Even though the daughter wasn't physically present for most of the story, the author conveyed her presence through the dead cat as the subject. At times the father even communicated through telepathy with his daughter. I give this story, 4 Stars.

Elf Shot is a dark story and the one I liked the least. While the other three stories were written in the same optimistic style as many contemporary paranormal fics, this book required lots of world building because of the fae’s otherworld. It took the legend of fae’s kidnapping people and how some returned as changelings.

Quick rundown of the plot. Conri drops off his son at camp. I’m guessing his son is either fae or a changeling. This whole story is vague and often left me wondering what was happening. I never really understood what the truce entailed or even if some faes were given to live in our world in exchange for the humans that were taken. It was never clarified and that’s one of the issues I had with this particular story. Also, the plot is focused on rescuing other teenage fae/changelings rather than involvement with Conri’s son.

There is a tremendous amount of monologue describing what is seen and what the characters thoughts are about everything. It felt like this was the longest story of the four because it droned on and I grew bored. I had to frequently put the book down because my mind drifted reading the monologue.

The writing style was vague and convoluted which I didn’t care for. Here’s one example I’ll paraphrase: Conri, the changeling, has a brand under his arm. Bell traces it with a finger. Conri says he’ll tell him about it if he wants to know. Bell asks if he wants to tell him. Conri says no. And that’s the end of the subject. Vagueness that’s never answered later in the story, unless it’s a series, is not appealing to me. It’s like a dropped plot point and I don’t find it clever or interesting. There were numerous scenes that gave these vague non-answers and I found them aggravating. I read another book by this author that was evasive like this one and didn’t care for it either. I’m guessing this is the author’s style and I just don’t like it.

I didn’t care that much for the characters, no matter how much Bell talked about how he found Conri more and more attractive, I never believed it, probably because of the overwhelming amount of monologue. I couldn’t see them as a couple and the ending was bittersweet rather than HEA or even HFN because they already agreed the chances of them staying together were dim. I found this to be a depressing book and wouldn’t read this again. I give this story a reluctant 3 Stars because the author put a lot of effort into creating a tangled-up world.

Wolf at First Sight was a fun, quick read. SFPD Lieutenant Joseph Zanetti stumbles into a world he didn’t know existed even though it was right under this nose. Once he sees Levi Keller, owner of St. Connal’s Pub, he’s extra committed to finding out what’s happening there.

I loved the characters. Joe, Levi and every other character was distinct. The interaction between Levi and his son was heartwarming and at times hilarious when his son called home from camp. This story is, I think, the most family oriented of the four books. It’s not just between Levi and his son, but between Joe and his grandmother too.

The author has a way with words. Even in this short story, conversations, descriptions and thoughts are all vivid without extra flowery words or by being vague. I always know I’ll have an entertaining read with one of this author’s stories. The only thing I wish about this one, was I wish it was longer. It feels too short and a bit rushed, and that’s not just because I liked it. I therefore give this book, 4 Stars.

Overall, I liked this anthology. Three of the stories were in the same uplifting contemporary style. The third story was darker and didn’t have that optimistic feel. For me, it’s out of place in this anthology and would be better on its own or in a different type of anthology. Because of this, I can only give this set, 4 Stars.



I received a copy of this book from the authors for an honest and unbiased review.… (altro)