Chapin City Blues

Rating:

What It’s About:

Jeremy hopes that Lily can cast a spell to make Amanda fall in love with him. The spell requires his blood and something special and deeply personal to Amanda, which he procures from the girls changing room. Just one problem: Lily is no expert in Latin.

Let’s Talk About It:

This story probably deserved a better rating than three measly stars, but there was an ick factor that kept it here. I understand the old trope of a student/teacher relationship is probably older than I am, but it still unsettles my stomach. While it’s not the crux of the story, the scene where the cheerleading coach takes advantage of Jeremy—not just with his authority as a teacher, but because he covered Jeremy’s tomfoolery and this protection became transactional. I understand that Jeremy is 18 in the story, but the power imbalance is there. I guess maybe I shouldn’t be reading these sorts of stories if that is an issue for me, but I still don’t understand what’s sexy about this sort of thing.

Jeremy is weird, let’s not gloss over that. The moment he orchestrates a panty-raid in order to steal a valuable possession from Amanda to cast a spell on, I knew (to quote Hank Hill) that boy ain’t right. As the story reaches its climax (no pun intended), I learned that it was I that “ain’t right.” It seemed that Jeremy wasn’t the boy I was led to believe. The moment he put on the enchanted panties (not to be confused with the magical Mormon undies), I understood what sort of person he was deep, deep inside. And while the story does say it’s a spell, there were a number of ways that he could have skin contact with them that didn’t require putting them on. 

The story does have some growth with its main character, understanding that he was never in love with Amanda and that she deserved better. And I applaud any growth where a guy realizes that he only saw women as a prize to show off. And while I wanted it to happen from the moment he stumbled upon Lily’s magical exploits under the stairs, the ending was seen a mile away (at least for me, which is probably why I wanted it to begin with).

Like with E-Girl, this story does have its typos though this time they were easier to ignore. Perhaps because I didn’t find the characters as annoying it was easier to lose myself within the tale rather than focus on its structure. I do look forward to continuing reading her works featured on Kindle Unlimited. 

Until next time, keep on huntin’.