Hunted

I'm currently reading, along with several others, a Dramione fic by LJ author Bex-chan. I'm a little over halfway through, and it is one of the few stories that I've read that have enough plot and drama that make me want to read the entire thing! I hate endings, truly, so I usually space the last chapters out over a few days, or a week if I really like it.

But this one has endured!

Location: FF.net (here)

Summary: Forced to work together when their old schoolmates start dying, Hermione & Draco must overcome their differences to solve the mysterious deaths. The tension in the office is getting rather...heated.

Rating: M

Length: 200K!

Time Period: 4 yrs Post-War

Status: Complete

Pairing: Dramione

There are some very, very sexy matures in here... Like I like it! Ahhh office relations...

I hate to give much away, but even though the smut is wonderful it reads like a tv suspense drama. We're trying to figure out what's happening, while Draco and Hermione are going through it as well as developing an intimate relationship. Wonderfully paced, and full. No wasted chapters, and always surprising! And I love love love Narcissa!

Revenge Is All The Sweeter

Last week I finished Revenge Is All The Sweeter by TwilightoMidnight! After Parade of the Sun, it was hard going back into the normal swing of things, testing fics, picking through the bulk for a nicely written one...

Any fic that I actually work my way through deserves commending for grammar, punctuation, and good writing. Rave reviews come from a thick plot that makes me think and gets me excited. Although this one is fairly typical, it wasn't bad, and I did enjoy it!

Location: FF.net

Summary: A marriage law has come to pass; an unfaithful boyfriend has been caught and an enemy has been chosen. Draco and Hermione discover the fine line between love and hate.

No listed warnings

Rating: M

Length: Novel Length

Time Period: Post War

Status: Complete

Pairing: Dramione

*2nd Place in the Dramione Awards for Action/Adventure, Best Draco

I always have fics that I go back to after reading something thwarting or riveting, or overly bizarre. Those are usually my favorites that I could read over and over again and never get tired of them. But every once in a while, I just need a certain type of fic to buffer between huge novel fics. Those with a common story line, and a well known plot. Like Marriage Law.

What usually carries through most Marriage Law fics is that Hermione (or the woman) has multiple suitors or is being forced into the coupling against her will. The richest, most detestable match (in her opinion) is set to catch her, and they spend a while hating one another, but then the spark ignites and they spend a load of time sexing. And then all is well. (End story).

This one had a nice little twist. I have to say, what drives this fic is the animosity towards Ron. I really don't like him as a character, and that just helped me right along! But many other things just didn't click for me as important, and I didn't feel like they were executed well. Mainly because I didn't know what was happening in most parts until the very end of the fic.

Some may call that suspense, but for me, it's just unfinished business that has to be tied up hastily at the end.

That being said, this is a very good FF.net fic. It's good for the masses, (hails 3300 reviews) and is great for an intro into Marriage Law. It's nicely written, and easy. And also introduces an OC Dolohov, which was very interesting! I wont rate this one, but it's definitely worth the read!

Parade of the Sun

I just finished quite possibly the best epic fanfiction I have ever, EVER, read in my years as an addict. Everything I was reading prior to opening this story really just dissolved in comparison, and I've stayed up nearly all night for the past week just absorbing all of the mystery and adventure and... Parade of the Sun is in it's own category of brilliance!

Location: Livejournal

Summary: Floralis Fati is a plant with the power to control time, hidden in the wild, and protected by a magic that strips people of their own while seeking to kill them. Hermione wants it to save the world. Draco wants it to save himself. Sometimes what we want can destroy us -- and sometimes it can build us new again.

Warnings: Sex, violence, cursing, EWE

Rating: NC-17

Length: Novel Length

Time Period: Post War

Status: Complete

Pairing: Dramione

If I were to elaborate much, I'd start giving things away... It's that good. There's so much to it, so many emotions, so many events. It never stops, and everything matters. No loose ends, no wasted space, just honesty, and comedy, and pain... Every emotion, every motion is illustrated to the fullest. I've never read anything this refined...

Props to everythursday, and the most amazing set of betas for the crazy amount of work this must've been!

Catch-up

OMG! It's been a while!

Well, a while since I've posted, but I've been reading addictively as usual. I just started a new blog, Secret Slash, which showcases slash (Harry/Draco, Harry/Cedric, ...), but I've really had a hectic time with life lately.

Just terrible time with life.

But in order to keep my mind busy, and not on the impending depression looming overhead, I'm going to be on here. I've just taken up a huge responsibility in some of my other accounts, but I really have been reading, and am going to shuffle more D/Hr stories, and not just the slash and RPF. I really want to get back to rec'ing D/Hr. I read it so much, and it's still my favorite, but I've been so lazy in posting!

Puzzle Pieces

This story, Puzzle Pieces by Em North, was the perfect day fic. Of course, if I didn't have all this homework to do, I would have pounded it out in less than two hours... but that's another story.

Location: IATQO

The summary for this story is:

"All Blaise wanted was some Transfiguration tutoring. What he got instead was a whole new world."

Warnings: Slash

Rating: PG-13 to NC-17

Length: 16 chapters, 50K

Time Period: Hogwarts, 7th Year

How Good?: Really good, 8/10

And the Smut?: So sweet, but the raw kind!

Status: Complete

Pairing: Draco/Hermione/Blaise

Because of the summary, and the first few lines of this fic, I'd skipped over it time and time again. How I read it, it seemed as if Hermione and Draco had some amazing thing going on, and Blaise ended up walking into some Narnia like world to be lured into their orgy trap. Not only this, but it was in first person--one of my instant no-no's.

But for once, I stepped over all that, was seriously surprised by what I read, and quickly got over the first person tense. It not only gave me the slash, but the Hermione and Draco interaction I love so much, and the sweetness of the building of friendship. I loved this fic, so much that I doubt I'll be reading it again too much in the future, but not for lack on it's part. It's a one-time awesome for me, anything else would be reference to the effects of Belladonna and Helleborne in potions. Lol!

So nicely written and backed up with thorough definitions and legitimate arguments between Draco and Hermione... It's not everyday you read a fic which, in many ways, educates you on an imaginary subject so well that you wish it existed in real life!

I don't mean to water it down with speak of schoolwork! The smut is hot, the arrangement is just so sweet and a bit outside the box (for the traditional D/Hr, threesome reader). The reason it received the rating 8/10 was because it was so short. I mean, although things were fulfilled by the end, the author could have easily switched a few things around and expanded the fic to 20 chapters, still carrying things out the same way, yet being able to stuff in a bit more smut and D/Hr/B interaction. 

Sweet, nicely written, and convenient read!

Her Shoes

I'm back! After a long summer of work and H/D reading, I've gotten my muse back and with it, my love for Hermione. 

I have decided to start with "Her Shoes" by one of my top F-listers margaritama. I began reading this fic when it first came out much earlier in the year, but for some reason held off midway through. It is complete now, so I read it from start to finish over the past few days and was just as excited about it as the first time! 

Location: AFFN, GE

The summary for this story is:

"Draco Malfoy has demanded Hermione Granger head up an important new Wizard and Muggle venture he's funding. They'll be working at his home. Why would he do this? It's clear he can't stand her. Isn't it?"

Warnings: BDSM, Bond, M/F, Dom, Oral, SoloF, Spank

Rating: Adult ++

Length: 19 full chapters, Mid length

Time Period: Post Hogwarts, rather AU

How Good?: So, so good!

And the Smut?: Downright naughty

Status: COMPLETE

Pairing: Dramione

Ever notice how the great writers of fanfiction come up with an idea, stick to it, and manage to come out with an awesome story no matter how different it may be to other people? No matter how it starts out, or how odd or farfetched people call it? Or how many mixed reviews it gets? And to still come out on top, with EVERYONE loving it?! Margarita rolled this one out, with a standoffish and dreadfully aloof Draco and a Hermione addicted to expensive, designer shoes. And it works (out) so nicely! 

And when I say Margarita has style, I mean it. A style all her own, with witty phrasing and easily flowing reading like no other. It's fairly rare that I find a fic that can move me to tears, have me laughing out loud, and at times angry enough to write the author a big chunk of my mind about what she's done with a situation, only to have me wanting more and more and more at the end. And this was her first fic, I believe!

This story is intense, yet playful, stuffed with obsession and girlyness and heartache and sweetness. I wish I could give more detail without giving it all away, but I doubt I could. But I will say this: you won't find an easily submitting Hermione here. Sure, she might be lead by some heady attraction at times but she fights for equality, and is one of the stronger Hermione's I've ever read... and I've read alot... 

Love y'all, and I'm happy I'm back! I have another fic that I've given a shot and read today, and am ready to post my response while I'm on here!

-13Secrets

The Nymph Hunt

The Dramione Awards

Round 5 Nominee

" Sometimes you're a hag in a nymph's body, and sometimes you're just a witch trying to hide the nymph in you..."

Location: FF.net, (here)

Title: The Nymph Hunt

Author: akashathekitty

Rating: T

Categories: Best Short Story, Best Draco

There were some things that I really just didn't like about this fic... But Everything else was perfect! Draco and Hermione's interaction was fun, funny, and a bit quirky. I love the idea for the costumes... I hope that wasn't a spoiler!

Pros: Wonderfully written, complete, funny, and had a certain level of predictability that comes with knowing the characters well!

Cons:... Hag?

Stone Dragons

The Dramione Awards

Round 5 Nominee

"Sometimes there are no right decisions. There are only actions and consequences. Hermione's only choice now is who to betray. "

Location: dmhgficexchange, (here)

Title: Stone Dragons

Author: gravidy

Rating: R

Categories: Best Short Story, Best Action/Adventure, Best Heart-Wrenching Angst, Most Creative, Best Hermione

This was great... Great in that heavy, heady, emotional roller coaster kind of way. It was so well supported, with a huge backstory and so much new material that I don't believe I will ever see the worlds the same again. It could completely change the way I read HP fiction, and things related to the series... The pureblood/muggle dynamic in this really makes you think...

Pros: Thought provoking, well written, and although there is very little "happy" in this fic, it's worth it to push through the tears...

Cons: So, unfailingly sad. The D/Hr relationship is really subdued because of the amount of tragic and terrible stuff going on.