Story Review: Shark Bait from Posh Bytes by C. Rose

Spoiler Free Summary:  In Shark Bait, from Posh Bytes by C. Rose, Shark is a professional thief who seems to be having a great deal of trouble stealing the pheromones of a popular singer. As Shark, a professional of great renown, fears he’s lost his edge, he strives to get this job right. But when he finds out who his client is, his world will really change.

Character:  First off, I think it’s cool that we see pretty much this whole cast in Supernova. We also get to see Valerian (one of my favorite characters) again. That said, the way readers will feel about this story is directly related to how they accept Shark.  Without seeing Shark at his best, it’s hard for me to buy his skills given the situations he ends up in. This story will be an adorable love story or a hard-to-believe accident depending on how the readers feel about Shark. I was still charmed by the plot, but that’s  because Supernova foreshadowed this particular story. So the way I feel for Supernova probably helps Shark Bait in that way.

Exposition: This story probably has more than some of the others. It relies on a lot of exposition to provide back story I’m not even certain we need. It doesn’t necessarily bog down the story, but it is noticeable.

Worldbuilding: I can only rave about this aspect of the anthology so many times. With several characters in this story having already appeared in the others, this story felt like nice, light dessert after great meal.

Dialogue: I think the reason I like Valerian so much is how uncomfortable she makes people, but also how truly magnanimous she is. She’s like the world’s most seductive, frightening fairy god mother.

Description:  This story relied less on description than others. While this gets a tad steamy (in some cases literally), it doesn’t have the same visceral quality. However, this story was clearly meant to be a light counter to the more tragic story that came before it.

Overall:  The charm of this story helps it hold up in the anthology. I don’t think it would stand well alone like Supernova would (and another I’ll talk about next week). However, as a part of a whole, placed brilliantly between two heavier stories, it works.

Thanks for reading

Matt