Reviewed by Carissa
TITLE: Duende
SERIES: Mechanical Universe #2
AUTHOR: E.E. Ottoman
PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press
LENGTH: 50 pages
BLURB:
Famed opera singer Aimé has a lot in common with Badri, the Royal Ballet Company’s most popular male lead. They have both dedicated their entire lives to their art, and struggle to be taken seriously among the Empire’s elite. And both harbor a secret admiration and desire for the other.
This year for his birthday Aimé treats himself to a night at the ballet seeing Badri perform, and after the show decides to meet Badri and confess his admiration for Badri’s skill. But when that first awkward meeting turns to more, they are left wondering if there is room in their lives for both career and romance…
REVIEW:
For his birthday, Aimé takes the day off from his job at the opera to go see the Royal Ballet Company perform. But while he loves the ballet, he will admit (to himself at least) that is not the ballet that he came to watch…but Badri, one of the top performers. Aimé has had a bit of a crush on the dancer, and tonight he might just screw up the courage to talk to the man. And who knows, maybe if he is lucky, Badri might just want to talk to him as well.
From what I can tell, this book takes place before the first book in the series, A Matter of Disagreement. But the stories are only loosely connected, so I don’t think it matters what order you read them in.
I found I quite enjoyed this short story. I loved the multi-ethnic aspect (though heaven knows I’ll never be able to pronounce all those names) and once again Ottoman has given us unique characters to read about. Aimé is a castrato, which I admit made me wince and cross my legs, but I quite liked reading about something that has never shown up in my stories before. Personally think the practice is a bit barbaric, but it did make for an interesting character.
For a short story, these characters certainly had lots and lots of chemistry. And that scene with that rocking-chair thing…omg, so freaking hot. I liked how similar the characters were, but they each felt like there were not mirror copies of each other, but they just fit so well together.
My one big complaint about this book is I can never pin down where it is happening. I was pretty sure it was a fantasy story…but then it went and mentioned China, so I guess not. I have no idea in what country or what time period this happens, if it is in fact on earth, and the ambiguity is just frustrating.
Overall it was a hot story, with some interesting characters. I would have loved to hear more about the guys in the first book, but since this happens before those events even occur, I guess that would be a bit difficult. I hope there are more stories in this series, because while the world building is a bit frustrating at times, the characters are unique and refreshing.
RATING: 
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