Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: The Gift of Your Love 
AUTHOR: Kayla Bashe
PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press
LENGTH: 69 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2018
BLURB:
Neely has always been able to see things—the details others miss, flashes of color that tell her how people feel, and more. She’s been called everything from witch to psychic to freak. But a lifetime of seeing what the rest of the world misses still didn’t prepare her for being taken hostage mid-escape by a man with tentacles.
And it definitely didn’t prepare her for the intriguing woman who comes to her rescue.
Forester travels the world with her family catching superpowered criminals, but beneath the hero the world sees is a woman in constant fear of hurting civilians with her abilities. However lonely she gets, it’s better than accidentally hurting someone—or worse. But pushing everyone away becomes far more difficult when she crosses paths with Neely—sweet, brilliant, and sorely in need of Forester’s help.
REVIEW:
I’ve read a few of Kayla Bashe’s stories before and I really enjoyed them. She writes excellent female characters in imaginative fantasy settings. But I don’t think this is her best effort. The setting is never established well enough and the romance left me wanting way more.
There’s a lot of worldbuilding and backstory packed into a very short piece of fiction. I never got a very clear image of their world. It seemed archaic at times, then very modern. Magic seemed normal, then rare and shunned. I had a hard time placing Neely and Forester within the context of their surroundings, which made it hard to get invested in the plot. This suck, because in the beginning, I was really interested in learning more. I enjoyed the ways Bashe played with “Gifts” (think X-Men-like abilities) and how they create a superhero-like mythology among those who have them—and those who wield them incorrectly. They all have cool names like Man in the Mirror and wicked abilities like blood that turns into fire. The mythology had great potential, but it is wasted in such a short story that can’t explore it any further.
One very unique aspect of this story that I enjoyed is the intersection of sci-fi/fantasy-type Gifts and real-world mental illness. We’re led to believe Forester has a deep, dark secret about her Gift that will harm the people around her, but her fears are actually rooted in something much more human (I won’t spoil it here). It’s a stance I’ve never seen an author take before. It cements Bashe as an author who thinks outside the box.
The lack of a romantic climax or conclusion is a little disappointing. The build-up of Forester and Neely’s relationship felt sweet and authentic—they both see things in each other they admire and want, they are both obviously head over heels for each other. But their big romantic ending culminates in a simple hug. I’m totally in support of PG-rated lesbian romances, since lesbian characters are often so oversexualized, but at the same time, why couldn’t they at least share a kiss? Their resolution left me pretty cold.
Despite some sweet bits and cool superhero ideas, I didn’t get too much out of this story. Neely and Forester have good chemistry but the plot itself lost me a long time ago. Kayla Bashe’s other works (long and short alike) are much better.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: