I read this in one shot because it's a novella, and because it is compelling. The characters are good, the action's a little slow only when it needs to be, and it has that ending we crave, if you remember what they are. I leave off the fifth star because although I enjoyed this and I'll read more, I prefer novel length work, and the room for more that it allows. I can't tell you what was missing here for me, because I don't know enough about the world yet - which I suppose is my point.

But I will read more, and that is the job of first-in-a-series work. :) It is intriguing. ( )

I really enjoyed this one! It was short, but it left a lasting impression. Recently, I’ve been a bit of a wuss when it comes to any kind of abuse in my books so some parts made me squirm, but thankfully, most of it happened off-page. Fielding’s writing was great — it’s amazing how many details can be packed into one 40-page story.

My thanks to Elena for giving me that little nudge, otherwise the Bureau series would’ve gotten lost in my ever-growing tbr pile! ( )

4.5 stars. This was really short but left me with so many feels. I think I cried for Tenrael. On to the second book in the Bureau series. ( )

Kim Fielding is one of my go-to authors when it comes to angst and hurt/comfort, so when I saw that she had written a new story, I was intrigued. Let's be honest, it was pretty much an instabuy for me, especially since it involved angels and demons.

We find Tenrael, a demon responsible for bad dreams, imprisoned in a traveling circus at some point in the past (early 1900s?), except he's not just on display - for $10 a head (a week's worth of wages back then), men can physically and sexually assault him. This goes on, almost every night, for years and years - Tenrael isn't sure how long it is, even. Charles Grimes, half-human and half-angel (?), works as an investigator for a bureau that investigates, and for lack of better terminology, executes "monsters," like demons. He's sent to Kansas to track down this demon to end him - but once he finds him, he decides to spare his life (existence?) instead. And then then end up together.

The main reason why I gave this (very short) story only three stars is because, well, it was too damned short for my liking. There just isn't much room for character development, or getting to know the characters at all, really. Tenrael was mostly described physically (what he looks like, etc) and what was being done to him (not particularly graphic, but you aren't left with questions, either). I never really understood why he came back to Charles after being freed, because while they had a "moment," I suppose, and Charles was nice to him, I never felt a particular connection between them.

There's also a very faint whiff of BDSM...I think? Tenrael, in spite of being freed, wants to call Charles master, and Charles pretty bluntly tells him that he's going to hurt him when they have sex. Which...Tenrael seems okay with, but as a creature that had been raped repeatedly over decades (?), that felt just a little like we went from point A to point Z without visiting any of the other twenty-four points in-between.

Altogether, it was okay. I think it would have been stellar had it been developed into a full-fledged, 300+ page book, but as it stands, it just whetted my appetite for more, and it doesn't appear that there will be more (at least from this couple). ( )