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||2|| >>ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES<< Fantasy

I present you with ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES. Rough on the surface but amazing when you stop to think about it. And well, there are some who aren't even all that rough at all.

2. A Game Of Cards By Mufaro R Nazare (zrheya)

Status: On going. Currently on chapter 5

How did I find this author? I'm not sure. Perhaps I joined a contest and she's a judge and I was forced to follow her? Either way, she popped up on my screen asking why no one's read her book so I figured, "How bad could it be? Let me go take a look then offer my uninvited and often unwarranted, obnoxiously condescending two cents."

What's the story about? Well, as the title suggests, it's about rulers and rulers slighting other rulers. We start off with the narrator who I suspect is Hibi (the female protagonist). She gives the brief history of the four kingdoms. You've guessed it, they are all named after suits of a deck of cards. The king of hearts is dead and everyone suspects the queen. Newly widowed and untethered, she's sweeping across the lands, making refugees and enemies in her wake. Some kingdoms shut their borders to her and her subjects, some take a different approach. Her only son, the prince, is her pride and joy and her one true treasure.

He runs for his life.

This story is about him, and how easily he's led right into danger at every turn when he runs into a street-smart bandit with a good figure...and a past.

What I like the most about this story (author)? Now, let me first say that I'm probably the only human alive who's never, EVER seen Game of Thrones. NEVER. Not even so much as a highlight or a clip. I have seen the references in other forms of fiction like cartoons that play on a scene or a trope but I don't know the story well enough to even know if this is Fan Fiction. The name suggests that it might be. But what I like about it is that it hits the ground running. The characters and their personalities are on full display and they are distinct and playful. It does have an air of danger to it while keeping upbeat. I think for a short, but not serious, story, this isn't a bad choice at all. If it is Fan Fic, then so be it. If not, then all the better.

Shortcomings. There are a few shortcomings to keep in mind. The first one being that it's not edited...much. It's cleaned up, so it's not unreadable. There aren't many typos (I only found about 3 in 5 chapters) and the sentences are fine. It's the punctuation. "What's so bad about that?" you ask. Well, without any visible Dialogue Tags and formatting where the character speaking is not the one doing the action, it can be confusing at times. I didn't run into much trouble that it would stop me reading, and I'm a lazy reader. Therefore, I think the average reader will enjoy it without stopping.

I do think that can be fixed rather easily. So the punctuation is a concern. Another (and this is a matter of taste) is that the cover doesn't really draw you in. In fact, I rudely made my own cover to pass off as the original for the purpose of this review. And no, I'm not sorry.

The last thing is the current pop culture references. There aren't many at first, but by chapter 4, they pop up, ruining the fantasy world. In a land of kings and queens, I wasn't expecting that. But with a bit of suspension of disbelief, it's still a cute story and its bite-sized chapters go down easy.

Hell, I even started at the prologue, and you know that Ashlyn Forge don't do prologues.

BEFORE YOU START: Make sure and comment or give a shout out if you like this story. Authors work hard and a bit of encouragement here and there isn't a bad thing. Take notes on how the chapters are set up. She certainly knows how to start and finish each one well.