Title: Drag Prince Charming
Author Name & Publisher: B.A. Huntley (Less Than Three Press)
Publication Date: June 29, 2016
When 33 year old Katharyn reluctantly returns home to recover from an illness, she is forced to attend several elaborate parties with eligible gentlemen she has zero interest in. All to make her stubborn, pushy mother happy.
One night, she meets the beautiful seamstress and drag king Renata. In order to fool Katharyn’s mother until Katharyn moves back out, Renata dons male apparel while taking her out on the town.
But the deception can’t last forever, and once she’s well again Katharyn will not just move out, but return to a life of traveling, meaning she’ll be leaving Renata behind her one way or another…
I really liked this story. And there was a lot to like. The chemistry between Renata and Katharyn is great, and kind of magical, drawing me in to their conversations and interactions and leaving me wanting more. Katharyn seemed like a pushover, until you realize that there is a core of steel there that allows her to be true to herself, even in the pressure from her mother. And Renata is willing to do a lot in order to get to know Katharyn better, but never allows Katharyn to mix up who she truly is with Mateo. It’s an interesting dynamic. There are a couple of things I’ll point out that held me back from an even better rating. First, as with a lot of short stories, while I was reading it, I kept wondering why it wasn’t longer. There was a lot of room to be able to turn it into a longer story, which may have made it fuller and deeper. However, even while saying that, at the end of the story, I was satisfied, so I guess it didn’t actually have to be longer. That’s just my own penchant for wanting to spend more time with characters that I like. Next, the relationship between the two seems to happen off the page. By that, I mean that while we’re there a bit when Mateo and Katharyn are together, we get told that they’re engaging in courting rituals. We don’t actually see, or read, about them interacting as Mateo and Katharyn in that deep way that would indicate them getting closer, and I miss that. Third, I’m not sure exactly what time period this occurred in; the beginning made me think of Pride and Prejudice, especially with all the names of the sisters, but it’s described as contemporary, which didn’t feel quite right either. I did love the last question for Katharyn’s mother from Renata, since I had wondered the same thing, and I loved the answer. That made me laugh out loud, something that doesn’t often happen for me. In all, a lovely short, fun and engaging.
AmyP
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