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Texture Like Sun
Liang is a painter. While there's nothing else he'd rather do, he's ready to be finished with his current commission; he's been in one place far too long and it's starting to wear. His only relief is in the lucid dreams he's been having. They feature the same strange man, and though he seems to find Liang incredibly frustrating, he keeps returning to Liang's dreams. The conversations are often odd, but the company is welcome.
Xerxes is an incubus. When he's drawn to the dream of an attractive foreigner, he's expecting a fun night and a tasty meal. He is certainly not expecting to be given a sweater. All his seduction attempts fail spectacularly, leaving him annoyed and confused.
But more than anything, he's curious—curious enough to visit Liang in the waking world. Unfortunately, the waking world also holds danger for Liang, in the form of the man who commissioned him. A man who has decided that no one else should be permitted to enjoy Liang's skills.
Xerxes is an incubus. When he's drawn to the dream of an attractive foreigner, he's expecting a fun night and a tasty meal. He is certainly not expecting to be given a sweater. All his seduction attempts fail spectacularly, leaving him annoyed and confused.
But more than anything, he's curious—curious enough to visit Liang in the waking world. Unfortunately, the waking world also holds danger for Liang, in the form of the man who commissioned him. A man who has decided that no one else should be permitted to enjoy Liang's skills.
45 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 21, 2016
113 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 18, 2018
Lovely, interesting story, nice twist on an incubus character. And it's been nice lately to read two stories with asexual characters (and not demisexual, as I have seen previously in romance) and see what feels right to them and to their partners in terms of touch and affection and unequal sexual desire (the other one being TJ Klune's "How to Be a Normal Person").
July 14, 2018
Lovely. Incubus versus ace human, and a surprisingly scary plot twist! I read this nearly straight through, in a day because it isn't that long, and it is delightful.
May 4, 2017
Things I liked:
- I really liked the way asexuality was handled here. I liked that it wasn't made into a big deal by either the MC or the love interest.
- I loved the magical painting!
- I liked their character dynamic, though I would have wanted to read more conversations between that extended to things they had in common.
Things that could be improved:
- the MC seems a bit too slow at picking up on what the naked man in his dreams might be going on about.
- the ending felt a little rushed. The revelation at the end didn't even have time to have an emotional impact before being resolved. That part could have had much more of a payoff.
Overall, this was a sweet and quick read!
- I really liked the way asexuality was handled here. I liked that it wasn't made into a big deal by either the MC or the love interest.
- I loved the magical painting!
- I liked their character dynamic, though I would have wanted to read more conversations between that extended to things they had in common.
Things that could be improved:
- the MC seems a bit too slow at picking up on what the naked man in his dreams might be going on about.
- the ending felt a little rushed. The revelation at the end didn't even have time to have an emotional impact before being resolved. That part could have had much more of a payoff.
Overall, this was a sweet and quick read!
April 5, 2016
Book – Texture Like Sun
Author – Ils Greyhart
Star rating - ★★★★★
No. of Pages – 45
Cover – Nice
POV – 3rd person
Would I read it again – Yes.
Genre – LGBT, fantasy, paranormal
** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **
I really enjoyed this. It's a rather sweet story about an asexual painter who feels emotionally and physically attracted to an incubus. It's an odd pairing, but it works. Having a painter who used magic to take colours from the world – literally from trees, the sky and such – was really original and intriguing.
The whole concept of an incubus meeting someone who doesn't know what an incubus is or what to do with one was really fun. To see Liang flounder through meeting, never understanding Xerxes's frustrations, was great. There were some really sweet moments, but also some funny parts. There was also a nice inclusion of a “concubi” and a “procubus”, which are not concentrated on sex.
There are a few spelling/grammar issues. It would have been nice if the last scene was a proper Epilogue, as well, with a warning of how long it had been since the previous scene, as it was confusing for a while.
Overall, it was a great short story, with some brilliant characters and a really original story.
Author – Ils Greyhart
Star rating - ★★★★★
No. of Pages – 45
Cover – Nice
POV – 3rd person
Would I read it again – Yes.
Genre – LGBT, fantasy, paranormal
** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **
I really enjoyed this. It's a rather sweet story about an asexual painter who feels emotionally and physically attracted to an incubus. It's an odd pairing, but it works. Having a painter who used magic to take colours from the world – literally from trees, the sky and such – was really original and intriguing.
The whole concept of an incubus meeting someone who doesn't know what an incubus is or what to do with one was really fun. To see Liang flounder through meeting, never understanding Xerxes's frustrations, was great. There were some really sweet moments, but also some funny parts. There was also a nice inclusion of a “concubi” and a “procubus”, which are not concentrated on sex.
There are a few spelling/grammar issues. It would have been nice if the last scene was a proper Epilogue, as well, with a warning of how long it had been since the previous scene, as it was confusing for a while.
Overall, it was a great short story, with some brilliant characters and a really original story.
June 16, 2016
3.5 stars
I took a chance with this one without even reading the blurb after finding out that Ils Greyhart was another name for Aidan Wayne, whose book Loud and Clear I liked. So I was pleasantly surprised when along the way, I discovered that this short story was part of the asexual collection of Less Than Three Press. As an asexual myself, that is always lovely :)
I though Liang and Xerxes' encounters were cute, considering the circumstance of Xerxes being an incubus who feeds of sexual energy, while Liang isn't interested with sex. At all. Instead of being sexually attracted, Liang keeps thinking of different things, like oh, sweater *lol*. ADORABLE.
I would love to find out more about the background or the painting process though. They were mostly glossed over which resulted in a rather incomplete picture of the setting. However, I was pretty charmed with Liang and Xerxes -- Liang most particularly, because he's just a SWEETHEART -- so I could say that I really liked this :).
I took a chance with this one without even reading the blurb after finding out that Ils Greyhart was another name for Aidan Wayne, whose book Loud and Clear I liked. So I was pleasantly surprised when along the way, I discovered that this short story was part of the asexual collection of Less Than Three Press. As an asexual myself, that is always lovely :)
I though Liang and Xerxes' encounters were cute, considering the circumstance of Xerxes being an incubus who feeds of sexual energy, while Liang isn't interested with sex. At all. Instead of being sexually attracted, Liang keeps thinking of different things, like oh, sweater *lol*. ADORABLE.
I would love to find out more about the background or the painting process though. They were mostly glossed over which resulted in a rather incomplete picture of the setting. However, I was pretty charmed with Liang and Xerxes -- Liang most particularly, because he's just a SWEETHEART -- so I could say that I really liked this :).
February 18, 2016
Liang is a painter working on a large project that has kept in one place for way too long. One night while dreaming he is visited by a man named Xerxes, who is an incubus. Liang is asexual so Xerxes is at first completely frustrated by him but then his frustration turns into curiosity, and then something more.
I am so surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. The idea behind this is something I've never read before but I loved it! I thought the way that they got to know each other was really sweet. I also really enjoyed reading about Liang's art because I am also an artist. I found myself chuckling at a couple parts and other parts really made me smile. This was a very short story and I think it had the potential to be even better if it was just a little longer and the author got to build the characters and their relationship more. I would have loved to know more about the Dreamscape. I would say this was a 3.5 but I rounded up to 4 stars because this was such a different type of idea. So creative.
** I received an ARC of this title via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. **
I am so surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. The idea behind this is something I've never read before but I loved it! I thought the way that they got to know each other was really sweet. I also really enjoyed reading about Liang's art because I am also an artist. I found myself chuckling at a couple parts and other parts really made me smile. This was a very short story and I think it had the potential to be even better if it was just a little longer and the author got to build the characters and their relationship more. I would have loved to know more about the Dreamscape. I would say this was a 3.5 but I rounded up to 4 stars because this was such a different type of idea. So creative.
** I received an ARC of this title via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. **
May 29, 2018
Lovely little novella about an incubus who visits the dreams of an asexual painter who first confuses and then intrigues him.
I wish the world and magic had been explored a bit more in depth, but the way it's written very much fits the mood!
Liang and Xerxes both are lovely, their magic and interactions delightful, and I especially loved Liang.
I wish the world and magic had been explored a bit more in depth, but the way it's written very much fits the mood!
Liang and Xerxes both are lovely, their magic and interactions delightful, and I especially loved Liang.
May 21, 2018
Super sweet and exactly what i needed.
October 20, 2016
A story based on a famous tumblr post with incubus wearing a sweater and asexual person who doesn't want to have sex with him.
I put on the "weird" tag not because of the plot, but because the writing itself was weirdly dreamy and unreal. Which could probably be author's intent, but in the end, the book was hard to read for me.
While I am asexual myself, I couldn't connect to the main hero at all - despite being ace, I understand sexual innuendos very well and main hero's absolute cluesness about the topic was more annoying than cute.
However, the book is nice and funny and I enjoyed the ending. But... some thing could be better.
(and I do wonder if the author was trying to portray the main hero as autistic or not)
I put on the "weird" tag not because of the plot, but because the writing itself was weirdly dreamy and unreal. Which could probably be author's intent, but in the end, the book was hard to read for me.
While I am asexual myself, I couldn't connect to the main hero at all - despite being ace, I understand sexual innuendos very well and main hero's absolute cluesness about the topic was more annoying than cute.
However, the book is nice and funny and I enjoyed the ending. But... some thing could be better.
(and I do wonder if the author was trying to portray the main hero as autistic or not)
June 17, 2016
Very cute ♥
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June 22, 2017This was soooo sweet <3
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews