A bandmates-to-lovers punk fantasy M/F/F monstergirl romance with sex, tusks, and rock & roll. Updates every Monday and Friday.
It's Evan's last chance. No home, no friends, just the clothes on his back, the axe in his hand, and the ad he's answering: Bassist wanted.
It's Kell's big dream. This is the summer the orcish drummer plays the Vail, the biggest rock festival in the world for her kind, and Evan is the one she wants laying down the rhythm with her.
It's Thekla's worst nightmare. The goblin guitarist doesn't trust humans, especially ones who look like they sleep at bus stations. ESPECIALLY when they look at her best friend the way Evan looks at Kell.
As they work together to make it to the brightest, grandest, loudest stage of their lives, their bonds will be tested by road trips, wicked rivals, weird Finnish sound techs, and a lead guitarist who might be practicing forbidden rituals. Will this power trio fall apart when the pressure is on? Or will they get closer than they've ever thought possible?
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BOOK 1 (Power Trio): pts 1-54
BOOK 2 (Power Ballad): pts 55-onward
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Content Advisory: Power Trio contains sexually explicit scenes, mature themes, profanity, and drug use, and is intended for an 18+ audience.
Absolutely incredible story so far, underrated gem that will probably blow up soon and everyone will be screaming its name (much like the band of the series.) I've always loved good band/music stories (K-ON, Bocchi, Kids on the Slope, Carole & Tuesday, even Given) and my only regret about this one is I can only read it rather than watch it so that I can listen to the music.
So far, the romance and relationships have been a well-paced slow-burn while the pace of the actual story stays quick enough to capture you. The world-building is great and the characters feel quite real and distinct. Technical writing is solid; prose is tight. I really want to see this story go the distance, and likewise see the band within make it to Vail and beyond. Keep up the great work, dukerino!
(Updating at Chapter 48: still incredible, still five stars, still a must-read.)
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Listen: Read this.
Let's get the basics out of the way: the smut is hot. But this story would be worth reading as a closed-door romance. It's that good.
This is, and I do not exaggerate, one of the most well written books on SH. I have read and listened to tons of traditionally published works that can't compare. The writing flows, evocative and punchy without ever straying into adjective overload. The author either knows their sh*t when it comes to music, or they fake it well enough that you won't be able to tell the difference. The worldbuilding is interesting, and the characters?
For book 1 you've got an orc amazon drummer, a goblin rocker-chick on guitar, and a sweet, scruffy human dude on bass for the main cast. They're all deep, strong characters, interesting and sympathetic in their own ways, and you'll like them all a few chapters in.
The same goes for book 2: we've got another power trio, of course, with an orc packmistress who picks up the bass, a half-orc guitarist with more secrets than is necessarily healthy, and an elf band manager who destresses on drums and needs to learn that her life isn't over yet. They're all great.
The supporting cast is well developed without taking too much attention from the main players, with some, like Dilma, being interesting characters in their own right.
I already mentioned that the smut is hot. It's as well written as the musical scenes, and you'll see how high praise that is once you read the first jamming scenes. But the romance is at least as good. It grows and develops in a way that feels very natural, and very sweet, before exploding into...
Know what? Just read it. You'll be glad you did.
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Really love the writing. I’m enjoying the characters and build up a ton. I love the new cover art.
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I really liked this novel, even tough I have zero musical knowledge.
The characters feel unique, each with their own personalities and ways of speaking, their dialogues with each other are fun to read and felt natural. Even in the Thekla and Evan POVs, I could see the differences in their perspectives. Though I think it would be nice to see Kell's POV since most of what we know about her is trough T and E eyes, It would be nice to take a look at this from her point of view.
The grammar is good too, I don't remember seeing any mistakes, but English is my second language, so my grammar isn't exactly exemplar.
World building isn't as detailed, but that is good, intentional even, we see the story through the eyes of the characters, it would be strange if they suddenly stopped and started explaining how the world works, considering a lot of these things would be common sense for them.
My only "complaint/problem" would be that the pacing felt just a little too fast on the whole TKE relationship, I think it should have happened after a bit more build-up, maybe one chapter or two. Not to say it was badly executed, it just felt rather sudden.
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This novel (actually 1 - Power Trio, and 1/2 - Power Ballad novels) is brilliant in so many different ways!
The structure, or bones, if you like, of the books are so easily and seamlessly presented to the reader. It is a fantasy setting, but there is no awkward "potted history" pushed in anywhere. The world just IS and it is real and tangible and most importantly believable. Further the plot relies on music. And this is something I have no experience or knowledge of. But it doesn't matter, because again the story flows smoothly along and takes the reader effortlessly with it.
The flesh of the story is also excellent. Dialog convincingly and easily paints the characters out. The plot flows cleanly with no hiccups. The actual wordcraft is very easy to read, and near perfect. I think I picked up three "wrong" words in the first novel. So, not only is it well written, it is also very competently proof read.
The actual story is fascinating. I powered through all of the so far published stuff in like 12 hours flat. I couldn't stop. And I am seriously bummed that Power Ballad is not finished ;). This is not your cookie cutter fantasy novel. It is unique and very very refreshing.
A lot of this genera is sort of lumped into a "porn with monster girls" bucket. These novels are spicy, and the spice is once again well done. But, in my view, the story itself makes my experience so much better that a lot of the stuff in that generic bucket.
The first novel can be read stand alone, and does have a satisfying closure. In my view Power Trio is ready for market. Right Now.
Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!
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I'll give my 5 stars to the first part of the story with Evan and co. All of that was a fantastic and well paced story that was unique in alot of ways. But with the 2nd part and the new cast of characters I'll have to step away from this particular story as the new trio don't really interest me all that much.
Great work overall and I'll check out how things are with this series in the future or if you release a different series.
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I know that I am not a critic by any means but I just have to say that I am in love with this book. I started reading it and got caught up in one day. I think that the romance is great and some of the more pivotal parts had me (as embarrassing as it is) reading out loud and acting it out. Coming from someone who has read probably over 400 novels on this site alone I’d rank this as one of the Greats.
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