chez_jae | Entries tagged with genre: anthology

Holiday With A Vampire: Christmas Cravings / Fate Calls (The Calling #6.5)

Holiday With A Vampire: Christmas Cravings / Fate Calls by Maureen Child

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

At work today I finished reading Holiday with a Vampire. It was a two-fer anthology, containing stories by Maureen Child and Caridad Pineiro.

The first story, by Child, was "Christmas Cravings". Vampire Grayson Stone has returned to what was his home when he was mortal, as he has done each Christmas since he was turned. He is surprised to find the home occupied. Tessa Franklin has been on the run for years from a stalker, but she's done running. She's putting down roots by buying a home and opening a Bed and Breakfast. When she finds an injured man in the snow, Tessa brings him in. She soon learns he's a vampire, and that he's brought danger to her doorstep.

This story was confusing, in that Grayson was refusing to align himself with either the vampire king or the 'other side' in a vamp war. As a result, the 'other side' wanted to kill him. Wha? Why not attempt to woo him to your side? It made no sense. Also, Grayson can't tell when another vampire is near, nor when Tessa's mortal stalker was around? Plus, the stalker ended up getting killed (of course). Um, what did they do next? Bury the body? Call the police? I don't know.

The second story was "Fate Calls" by Pineiro. This one was worse. It skipped around in time, back to when Hadrian was turned. He was an utter ass, hating on Connie Morales just because she was dressed as Santa and doing the bell ringing for the Salvation Army. He kidnapped her, tied her to the bed, fed from her without her consent, and enthralled her to moon over him. Who the hell considers this to be romance?! There was also explicit sex between Hadrian and other characters, which is a big no-no in a short romance. Even bigger in a novella. Connie, of course, is too vapid to stay away when she finally escapes captivity.

What an awful story to market as a holiday romance.

Favorite line: In her experience, promises weren't worth the breath used to make them.

The first story was average, but the second story disgusted me, frankly. It drags the rating as a whole down to a two. Blah.

Current Mood: annoyed
Current Music: "Naughty List" ~ Meghan Trainor

In Celebration of Lammas Night by Josepha Sherman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At lunch, I finished reading the book I'd taken to the office. It was In Celebration of Lammas Night, an anthology edited by Josepha Sherman. Each story is based on a song written by Mercedes Lackey, entitled 'Lammas Night', in which a young, traveling mage is persuaded to stay in a small village to replace their wizard, who died under mysterious circumstances. She is given his cottage to live in, and gradually, she realizes she is being haunted by her predecessor. He shows her a spell book with two, virtually identical spells--one to banish a spirit, and the other to return said spirit to life. Now the witch must choose the wizard's fate.

Although the theme of each story was the same, it was interesting to see how the various authors interpreted it. Some had the mage making a clear choice, while others left it to the reader's imagination as to which spell she chose to cast.

Favorite lines:
♦ "You can't make a cow back into a heifer."
♦ Dervish is his name. Hah!

I'm not a big fan of anthologies, but the book was entertaining enough. Giving it 4 stars.

Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: Scooby Doo and the Samurai Sword

Summer Kittens by Janice Bennett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yesterday, I had only one chapter left in my work book, so I brought it home to finish. It was an anthology called Summer Kittens, and it featured three Regency romances that involved kittens.

In the first story, lovely young widow Lady Stanyon is shepherding her step-daughter through her first Season, when she encounters Viscount Breydon. The attraction between them is immediate, and Emma may be on the verge of making her own match. The only problem is, cats seem to be attracted to her, and she fears it will drive Nicholas away.

The second story was about Miss Anne Tandridge, who is about to be married to stuffy Sir Arthur Ide. Her plans are upended, however, when her first love, Richard Kingsley, returns from India to claim her hand in marriage. Anne has a dilemma on her hands, but with the help of two rescued kittens, she will decide which gentleman to spend the rest of her life with.

In the final story, Miss Margaret Denby is stranded at an inn while awaiting her brother. There, she encounters Mr Jonathan Holm, a member of Parliament. Seeing that Miss Denby is alone causes Jonathan to believe she is a lightskirt. Nevertheless, he finds her attractive, intelligent and charming, if not marriage material. When this misunderstanding threatens to tear them apart, it is Anne's kitten that comes to the rescue.

I don't read historical romance any more, but all of these stories were entertaining, with lively heroines and crafty cats.

Favorite lines:
♦ Cats seemed to sense her presence from miles away and come running to surround her.
♦ ...Tyger was wailing as though consigned forever to feline perdition.
OMGatos, I can relate to both of these lines!

Although no longer my cuppa, I did enjoy these stories. Four stars!

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: "A Woman Needs Love" ~ Ray Parker Jr

I brought my work book home with me tonight so I could finish it. The book was Christmas Spirits, and I did begin reading it before Christmas. It's an anthology, featuring four short stories that include a ghost in some capacity. One story was a Regency, and the others were contemporary.

My favorite was "Only Fifteen Shopping Days Left..." by Elizabeth Bevarly; it's the one that made me laugh the most. The stories were mostly holiday fluff with a pinch of angst to make the endings all the sweeter. A good collection, overall, but nothing really grabbed my interest.

Three stars:

★★★

Current Mood: sore
Current Music: "The One That Got Away" ~ Katy Perry

I didn't quite make it to 25 books in 2013, but instead of scaling back my goal for 2014, I am ramping it up. My goal is to read 30!

Off to a good start...

On Thursday, I finished reading Holidays Are Hell, which is an anthology of four short, holiday stories by renowned paranormal authors.

The first story by Kim Harrison featured her well-known character Rachel Morgan. It was an interesting take on Rachel's beginnings.

The second story, by Lynsay Sands, was about a woman who was turned into a shape-shifter by a diabolical scientist who wanted to study her. It was a different take on shape-shifters, in that Jill could assume any form, including taking on the appearance of other people as well as changing into an animal. Cute love story!

The third story was by Marjorie M Liu and told of government assassin Six going up against supernatural creatures with the help of a sexy necromancer.

The final story, written by Vicki Pettersson, may have been the most gripping, but there was no HEA in it. Boo.

All in all, a good, solid collection of stories. I'll give it four stars.

★★★★

Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: "Chasing Cars" ~ Snow Patrol

I have been remiss in my book "reports"!

I finished book #21 a few weeks ago. It was The Last Viking by Sandra Hill. It was a contemporary romance with a time-travel twist. I used to devour time-travel romances, but since I discovered paranormals, I've veered away from time-travel. However, I hung onto this book to read, because I enjoy the author. Unfortunately, this book was not as laugh out loud funny as Hill's books usually are. The story was interesting, if a bit farfetched. As if time-travel romances aren't farfetched enough, yeah? Most of them feature one of the characters going back in time, which is more plausible to me than someone coming forward, and that was the premise of this book. Viking warrier Rolf Ericsson travels from the tenth century into present day Meredith's life. The author used a bit of magic to ease the language barrier. One of her amusing, recurring themes throughout was that Rolf continually called Meredith "Merry Death". The plot centered around Meredith trying to fulfill her grandfather's wish to recreate a Viking longship, while Rolf was known as a master shipbuilder in his time. Some of the secondary characters and plot devices were eye-roll worthy, which lessened my enjoyment of the book. This one gets three stars.

★★★

Book #22 is one I just finished last night. It was an anthology of paranormal short stories, called Dead After Dark. The first story by Sherrilyn Kenyon was annoying, if only because the author seemed to assume I was familiar with the verse she was writing in. While I enjoy her books, I was NOT familiar with that verse, and I found it aggravating. For the most part, however, the stories were engrossing, steamy and entertaining. Four stars for this one.

★★★★

Current Mood: sore
Current Music: "Celebration" ~ Kool and the Gang

On Thursday, I finished reading an anthology of Halloween-related stories, titled Moonglow. Three of the four stories were good, the final one made me *head desk*.

Musketeer by Moonlight, by Maggie Shayne, was delightful.
Midnight Lover, by Lindsay Longford, was dark and sensual.
Shades of Moonlight, by Angie Ray, was an intriguing mystery that kept me guessing.
The Wolf Keeper, by Katherine Sutclliffe, made me want to knock on her door and punch her in the face. The story was gripping enough, but the ending was ambiguous and left me seething. Since it was the last story in the anthology, it (dis)colored my perception of the entire book.

So, thanks to Sutcliffe's late-game fumble, the book only earns 2 stars out of 5. It could have been at least 3 or even a 4 with a good performance by her, but she blew it.

*blows raspberries at author*

Current Mood: irate
Current Music: "I'll Die Trying" ~ Lonestar