Title: Of Swine and Roses
Author: Ilona Andrews
In: Small Magics (Ilona Andrews)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Animagus, Easy reading, Paranormal romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook short story
Publisher: NYLA
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: Almost there.
A young adult short story about a girl, a pig, some magic, and the worst date ever.
Chad Thurman is a thug, who carries brass knuckles in both pockets and lays magic traps for intruders into “his” neighborhood. The last thing Alena Kornov wants to do is to go on the date with him. But when her family pressures her, she can’t say no. Now the ice-cream is absent, the pig is running for its life, and we won’t even mention the dead guy…
I’ve not really been on many dates, so I don’t have terrifying first date stories like many of my friends, but, Of Swine and Roses is kind of exactly how I picture some of those more horrific first dates. Awkward, unpleasant and just one disaster after another. It kind of makes me grateful that I fell in love with my best friend! Having said that, this great and uplifting short story is in no way a deterrent from finding someone to spend your time with. In fact, the ending is so damn sweet that it reminds you that sometimes the most awkward clouds have a silver lining.
Alena’s sweet and endearing goodness burst from the very first page of this story. Normally I find naïve heroines a little tedious and frustrating, but Alena somehow just worked. She is sweet, kind and does get talked into doing things for her family. However, her morals still stand and her standards and ability to hold herself up to these morals helps to dispel some of the frustration at her borderline angelic disposition. Something for which I was very grateful, and made me enjoy the story even more.
Earth and Skye 
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