Do you know how there are stories that get so much hype on social media that you end up giving it a chance and buying coins just to be able to read more? Well, that is what happened with me with Moonlit Mates, a recommended anthology by Dreame. Moonlit Mates is supposed to be a compilation of short(ish) stories from different authors that Dreame highly recommends. But is it all hype or are the stories really good?
Here’s my experience. So far I am on chapter 19 of the first story called “Lies and Betrayal” by Melissa and it is an uphill battle. The story has potential but I don’t see what all the hype is about. The author does not seem to have the chops yet to be receiving the raves this book is supposedly getting. Character building, world setting, and story flow are half-baked. Intimate scenes are rushed and rough, with no finesse.
As for grammar … sigh. Often the author is guilty of using homonyms or simply possibly similar-sounding or spelled words. For example: composer when what she really means is composure.
But this is how much I want to believe it is worth it … I purchased all the 150+ chapters then crossed my fingers hoping I didn’t just throw money in the shredder. So far, with the first story, it is a bust. What are the other stories and who wrote them? No idea. One would think Dreame would have put it in the preview blurb at the very least, but nope!
Why is no one recommending copy editors, at the very least, to these authors? I get the value of uplifting, but doing so should not make us blind to room for (much) improvement.
Color me disappointed. 🙁
The following are the stories within:
Lies and Betrayal by Melissa
Deepest Regret by Valerie Irene
The Moon Goddess Daughter (The Hybrid) by Titania Sattaur
His Warrior Luna by Cassidy Wilson
The Alpha Games by Jessica Christensen
I’m hoping your experience is better than mine. I started reading this in December 2023 and I have yet to get beyond chapter 19 of the first story. This, from someone who reads at least 1 completed story a day.
I’ve been agonizing for two days on whether or not I should say something about this story, Denying the Alpha, by Teaganjayne. I started reading it on Dreame out of curiosity, mostly because it seems to be getting heavily promoted on Facebook and Instagram, and I figured that if they would promote it so much, then it must be good, right?
The blurb of the story, which is meant to attract new readers is interesting. After all, it got me to add the story to my library and start to read it. However, as I started reading it, I couldn’t help grimacing at the numerous grammatical and syntax errors in the story. Is it laziness or ignorance?
For example, “your” and “you’re”. While this is, perhaps, a common mistake. When done repetitively, I can’t help but think that the author just doesn’t know the difference at all. Another one is “defiantly” when what he/she/they mean is “definitely.” Dear native English speakers out there, I’m sure you can agree with me that those two words mean something different entirely. And how about interchanged genders and misspellings such as “rom” instead of from?
How about dragged-out scenes and characters who don’t appear to have common sense and take so long to come to realizations? Sigh. Over time, I have become more tolerant of all that, but this is just too much. I can’t even properly enjoy the story anymore.
To give it a chance, I bought ten chapters and continued reading, optimistic that it would get better. So far, I am on Chapter Twenty-1, and the story has FINALLY moved forward. If a seasoned author had written this story, the point where it is right now would have happened in chapter ONE … chapter TWO at the most.
The story opens with the blurb as part of the first chapter then after a beat, it moves to the story. It is the birthday of Faith Huntress, the youngest daughter of the beta. Her wolf has not yet appeared, but she gets overwhelmed by this amazing scent and she knows it must be her mate. She follows the scent, and it leads her to the room of Declan, the Alpha’s son, who she finds balls deep in her elder sister, Samantha. She gets hurt, makes a sound, and runs away.
That evening, she shifts without the help of her mate or family, which means she was in a lot of pain when it happened, but she survived it. She keeps mum about finding her mate. Later the same day, she feels a stabbing pain in her chest, and when she goes to Declan’s room and sees him and Samantha in another sexual position, she faints from the pain.
They bring her to the hospital, of course, without telling anyone what really happened. Declan knew she was his mate, but some family trauma made him decide he would reject her.
Fast forward to when she is well enough to leave the hospital. Faith confronts Declan and finds out part of the truth, and in the end, she has no choice but to reject him, and he pushes her down the stairs while telling her she WILL be his mate.
Make up your freakin’ mind!!!
I’ve reached the point where her family and the doctor help her escape, and she has renounced the pack and the alpha of Crescent Moon, and all I can think is … FINALLY! I am also asking myself … is there any point in going on? So far, my sentiment is that this book is long-winded and takes too long to get to the point. What has been written in twenty-two chapters could have all been expressed in five chapters, tops.
I’m truly hoping that she does not end up with Declan because that would just be messed up. Give her a second chance mate! Should I even give this book a second chance?
If you want to read Denying the Alpha by teaganjayne to form your own opinion, you can find it on Dreame by clicking HERE.
Raise your hand if you love freebies! If you are one of those people that just raised your hand then you will like this news. Author Stu B has a FREE STORY on Dreame! Yes, you read that correctly. It is 100% free!
Alpha’s Ex-Mate by Stu B is the aforementioned free story. It is about a wolfless girl named Serena, the daughter of an Alpha, who finds herself married off to the Alpha King, Xander.
While their start was rocky, their marriage was passionate and they were happy. Despite many attempts at having a child, Serena kept miscarrying, which cast a shadow on Xander and Serena’s relationship.
Finally, Serena confirms that she is pregnant and can possibly keep this baby, and she rushes to find Xander to tell him the good news. When she found him he was talking to his best friend Hailey. and she overheard them say that he had her family and pack killed.
Devastated she decides to reject him and then flee without letting him know that she was carrying his child.
Years later she returns to the pack on a secret mission and finds herself working for Hailey, who is soon to marry Xander. If she is caught, she will most likely be killed. But if she is successful, her future and that of her son’s will be secure.
What she didn’t count on was the attraction between her and Xander, which only seemed to be getting stronger.
And then there is the interest of the Vampire Prince.
Alpha’s Ex-Mate by Stu B is a slow burn. It is hot and steamy and I’ve already caught up to the latest chapters and still have no idea of where it will go and how it will end. I have some theories, though.
Despite the mutual rejection, Xander and Serena are actually still mates.
The Vampire Prince is a second chance mate.
Hailey is the mastermind of it all.
Did that whet your curiousity? Go to Dreame, click on Alpha’s Ex-Mate by Stu B, and find out for yourself. Once again, it is absolutely FREE!
I discovered Bullied Mate of the Lycan Kings by Deenma on Dreame while looking for something new to read. I didn’t see the preview blurb on the app, just the first chapter, and it was an intriguing start.
Everyone in school hated Lily, a wolfless Omega, because of her father, who was executed for being a traitor. Despite that, she has always been a good student and mostly kept her head down and tried her best to ignore everyone’s bullying. One day she just reached her breaking point and tried to take her own life by slashing her wrists. She would have become successful, too, if not for Cade.
Cade became her only friend and later her boyfriend. When asked why he saved her he told her that they are mates. But things are not as they seem as it turns out, he was playing a long game and plotted with his friends to pull the ultimate prank on her which ended with a rejection.
In despair, she pulls out of school and decides on homeschooling. A couple of years later she enters Shadow Cove Academy, an elite school in hopes of graduating with flying colors so that she could enter an ivy league school after and improve her and her mom’s lives. It is there that she meets the three most powerful Lycan Alphas … Aiden, Ren, and Zac.
On her first day, she accidentally bumps into Aiden … that was all he needed to green-light the bullying from everyone on campus. She also meets Ren who becomes her guardian angel. Then there’s Zac who has a deep dark secret only a few people are aware of. She finds herself strongly attracted to Ren but unfortunately, he has a mate, Mauve. As the book progresses her only friends are Ren, Rhea, and Chelsea.
The title and the blurb imply that this is a reverse harem. It also shows 4 males. However, 68 chapters in and there are no signs that the story is going anywhere in that direction. Also, if I had read the blurb first (which I only saw a few minutes ago when I visited Dreame from the computer) I probably would not have opened this so soon as it is way too graphic for me for a blurb. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for steamy scenes per se, but I think the build-up to those scenes matters.
That aside, many parts of the story are quite compelling. I confess I found chapters 65 to 68 difficult to read because I don’t like seeing Ren suffering or in pain. I only wish that the story moved a little faster so that we could see how Aiden, Ren, Zac, and I assume Cade, find themselves mated to Lily which will lead to the contents of the blurb.
If you think this is something you might want to sink your teeth into you can check out Bullied Mate of the Lycan Kings by Deenma on the Dreame app.
If you are looking for a story with heat then you should check out A Night with a Vampire by Roanna Hinks on Dreame. It only has 40 chapters so it isn’t difficult to read. A word of warning, though, erotic scenes happen very early in the story.
Jax is a vampire. For many years he has been traveling with two vampires, Ward and Riley, and a werewolf, Vance. Together this foursome has been visiting clubs in many places and indulging their sexual appetites. He always keeps a part of himself aloof as he yearns for his mate who he has yet to find.
Renee is human. As is often the case in these romances, she was mistreated in her previous relationship. The moment she meets Jax sparks fly and she finds herself irresistibly drawn to him.
If you are on the lookout for a story that would qualify as porn then this is the novel for you. I think my eyes must’ve crossed more than a few times as I was reading this story. It barely goes a few pages before the main characters are at it again. I think it actually took me longer to read this book because I had to keep coming up for air often, lol!
It does take a step up, though, in that it isn’t just a fuckfest, there actually is a story to follow, phew! It just takes a long, hot, steamy route to get there. This story deals with sexual proclivities like voyeurism, light BDSM, and group sex. Since it is a vampire romance novel, you can also be sure that there is a lot of biting and nibbling involved.
For the writing itself, the story needs editing as there are some incorrect terminology and some redundant phrasing. Thankfully, it isn’t so bad that I couldn’t get passed it to enjoy the story. As I am posting this review A Night with a Vampire by Roanna Hinks on Dreame. I don’t know how much longer it will be so consider snapping it up soon!
Alpha’s Ex-Mate by Stu B is the aforementioned free story. It is about a wolfless girl named Serena, the daughter of an Alpha, who finds herself married off to the Alpha King, Xander.
Everyone in school hated Lily, a wolfless Omega, because of her father, who was executed for being a traitor. Despite that, she has always been a good student and mostly kept her head down and tried her best to ignore everyone’s bullying. One day she just reached her breaking point and tried to take her own life by slashing her wrists. She would have become successful, too, if not for Cade.
Jax is a vampire. For many years he has been traveling with two vampires, Ward and Riley, and a werewolf, Vance. Together this foursome has been visiting clubs in many places and indulging their sexual appetites. He always keeps a part of himself aloof as he yearns for his mate who he has yet to find.
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