What do you think?
Rate this book
Kiss Me at Midnight
Zi Yong and the Collector of Secrets
Every seven years a beast comes down from the mountains to feast upon the youngest children in the village. Zi yong will do whatever is necessary to protect her baby, but what she doesn't expect is help in the form of the stranger who appears at her door vowing that she is a collector of secrets and wants only to help.
31 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 15, 2013
95 people want to read
About the author
E.E. Ottoman
29 books345 followerswrites romance novels, wears pretty clothes, does history stuff.
he/him/his
he/him/his
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 30, 2015
Very powerful story wrapped up in less than 20 pages. I didn't connect with Jing Wei as well but I loved Zi Yong and how much she put on the line to save a baby no one said could be saved. The two women were a great team and I'd love to read more little shorts about them.
January 7, 2019
I loved this short story!!
Zi Yong was a strong protagonist, I adored reading about her care for her baby and how her view of Jing Wei changed over the course of the story.
I wish it was longer and went more in depth, but I still had the best time reading this!
Zi Yong was a strong protagonist, I adored reading about her care for her baby and how her view of Jing Wei changed over the course of the story.
I wish it was longer and went more in depth, but I still had the best time reading this!
July 14, 2019
Marvelous short story.
August 31, 2022
This was good, but another couple thousand words to give a bit more depth would have been even better, I think.
May 29, 2025
3 stars. Really intriguing plot and characters but the writing hindered it all. Unfortunate because there was so much potential here.
January 26, 2013
This review is also posted to Dreaming Infinity.
I really enjoyed this story, from the simple, clean prose to the premise that the protagonist's strength came not from a background of angst or hardship, but from love and the desire to protect the most important things.
Zi Yong was written in a way that was easy to empathize with, a bit of a loner, and her background came across as very real and poignant. Jing Wei was an interesting enigma from the start, and seemed so ordinary and mundane, I was intrigued to learn more about her. The progression between the two of them from strangers, who Zi Yong would barely invite into her home, to someone welcome to homely tasks like preparing food and taking care of Fang, was deftly done.
This read like an Eastern fairy tale, complete with fireworks and a 'dragon' of sorts, and had some delightful imagery that made a strong visual impression on me. I was enthralled with the story from start to finish and would love to see more of these characters, but was pleased with the stand-alone work.
The rating is very mild, but it suits the story. Anything further wouldn't have fit the tone or the genre, so I was pleased the focus stayed on emotions and the culmination of a kiss.
It was a short read, and I finished it in about an hour, less I think. I'm happy to make this part of my collection, and it's very much worth reading when I'm in the mood for a light lady-love tale with wuxia roots.
I really enjoyed this story, from the simple, clean prose to the premise that the protagonist's strength came not from a background of angst or hardship, but from love and the desire to protect the most important things.
Zi Yong was written in a way that was easy to empathize with, a bit of a loner, and her background came across as very real and poignant. Jing Wei was an interesting enigma from the start, and seemed so ordinary and mundane, I was intrigued to learn more about her. The progression between the two of them from strangers, who Zi Yong would barely invite into her home, to someone welcome to homely tasks like preparing food and taking care of Fang, was deftly done.
This read like an Eastern fairy tale, complete with fireworks and a 'dragon' of sorts, and had some delightful imagery that made a strong visual impression on me. I was enthralled with the story from start to finish and would love to see more of these characters, but was pleased with the stand-alone work.
The rating is very mild, but it suits the story. Anything further wouldn't have fit the tone or the genre, so I was pleased the focus stayed on emotions and the culmination of a kiss.
It was a short read, and I finished it in about an hour, less I think. I'm happy to make this part of my collection, and it's very much worth reading when I'm in the mood for a light lady-love tale with wuxia roots.
January 19, 2013
I liked this one. It was interesting and well-written, though even if the execution hadn't been good, I'm not going to say no to supernatural femslash set in pseudo-ancient China. I also enjoyed the hints of a larger world that Ottoman included. I do wish it had been a little longer, though-- it would have been nice to see more moments of intimacy and connection between Jing Wei and Zi Yong.
March 1, 2013
2.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews