Title: Stick an Orc in it
Author: Milly Taiden, Celeste King
Published by: Latin Goddess Press, Inc
Publication date: 31st March 2022
Genre: Erotica/Orc-Smut
Pages: 173
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Series: Monster Orcs of Protheka

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Blurb/Synopsis

I was born and bred an Orc warrior.
My Ax has drunk the blood of many foes.
I have rank and prestige, and yet…
I am alone.

Eileen is as beautiful as she is enigmatic.
She’s here to mend my chief’s broken body,
But will she break my heart as well?
I will do anything to protect her.
Even from herself.

Because as clever as Eileen may be,
There’s one thing she has failed to realize.
She is mine. Now and forever.

Review

Keeping the whole orc thing going a bit longer with this one. Stick an Orc in it came up on an internet search for Orc-related-books, and it follows a similar theme to my previous reads. I don’t think this sort of thing is going to go away in a hurry. Sorry. Not sorry. I will try and do some more ‘serious’ reading at some point, but not going to push it for the sake of it.

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Stick an Orc in it (what a title!) is the first in the ‘Monster Orcs of Protheka’ series by Milly Taiden and Celeste King. It follows the story of Eileen, who, under her father’s wishes, sets out to infiltrate and rob an orc settlement of a mysterious jewel. There she runs into Haizen the Just and, generally, things do and don’t go according to her plans. The orcs aren’t what she thought they were and things go terribly wrong from there on.

The story is presented from two points of view, that of Eileen and Haizen. Eileen is a strong-minded woman that does what is right for her family, even if her choices aren’t morally right. Haizen is an orc, reeling from the debilitating affliction affecting their chief and thrust into a leadership he doesn’t feel prepared for. The two meet under duplicitous circumstances and their stories entangle together. I leaned more towards Haizen as a character I enjoyed, but not for the obvious reasons (him being the orc and all) but because I felt like he was a more carefully considered and developed character. Eileen, while she had her merits, I found was bordering on the invulnerable, untouchable, amazing at most things she tried type – her flawless ways became dull pretty quickly and I tired of her as the story progressed and it make the reading pretty heavy going.

The setting of the book was pretty interesting, I thought the idea of the orc breaking into the world as we know it through a portal, ravishing the lands and claiming it for themselves was pretty… orcish and it fit. Having hints threaded through the story about the world that once was by the human characters, was a nice touch and made the story feel more real. I also took particular enjoyment in the development of orcish culture and how Stick an Orc in it had its own take on the beloved fantasy race.

While the story was pretty basic in its plot, there was more to bulk it out compared to the other books in this genre. A few dramatic twists and turns kept the plot moving forwards. The characters develop in their own ways, unfortunately, Haizen turns from a fight-y, domineering sort of orc to one that waxes poetry and pines for a love that feels forbidden. It’s a bit jarring, especially when interspersed between scenes of violence. Which brings me nicely to my biggest bug-bear of the story.

While I enjoyed the overall plot and premise of this book some of it was just terribly written. The fight scenes were, honestly, the worst and were written akin to; ‘He killed them with martial arts.’ They were brief, vague and clearly not a strength of the writers.

Also; a lack of editing really hindered the book. Names switched out and mis-spellings were rampant and distracting.

Onto the smut content. Even though Stick an Orc in its blurb gives hint to possession, obsession and protection, it was all rather light in content. The build-up to the final coupling was decent and the tension between the two characters was hinted at, but I honestly wasn’t feeling it. There was a lot of frustration in the form of ‘Just get on with it.’ And the payoff wasn’t worth the wait.

Summary

Honestly, this one didn’t really do a lot for me. There were a lot of mistakes that could have been picked up in editing. The relationship felt forced and the payoff wasn’t there. I’ve been reading these books as quick, cheap reads (thrills) and this book took me far to long to get through considering the aim.

You’ll be relieved to know that I am currently taking a break from out-and-out Orc Smut to read Grak: Private Investigator. Which is ticking all my dry, sarcastic humour buttons! It’s a great read so far and I’m eager to share a review of it with you as soon as I’ve finished it.

Maybe after that, things will get a bit more serious on the reviewing front again? But… don’t hold your breath!