Darkfest by Amanda Ashley: Darkfest is the creepy and secluded wizard on the hill. The village below his castle is frightened and awed by his powers. He doesn’t care much about them, until he comes across Channa Leigh, who somehow breaks through his cold and icy heart.
I thought this was pretty good. The only thing is I actually would have loved this to be a full novel. There was a solid story here in my opinion and, while the beginning was done at a really good pace, the ending seemed to wrap up a bit too quickly. So it would have been nice stretched out for some more pages. But I found the story to be really unique and fascinating and their love was so innocent and new-feeling. Very sweet story.
Story-Specific Tags: Fantasy, Weres/Shifters, Witches/Wizards
Phantom Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon: (Dark-Hunter, #2.1)
This one was the reason I picked up this anthology. But, it wasn’t really anything like the Dark-Hunter series stories, in my opinion. Erin has been having terrible nightmares about a dragon trying to kill her. Just when she feels like she can’t take it anymore, another creature, a snake, turns up in her nightmares instead. This time though, a valiant night comes to her rescue, and her heart starts to feel things for him that she’s never felt before.
Like I said above, this didn’t really feel like the Dark-Hunter world to me. Despite having the Greek gods and mythology, it still felt different. I don’t know if it’s a bad or good thing. I didn’t enjoy this as much as the full length novels, and the bits of humor we get in the full novels weren’t really there. But, I did like the characters and I thought the romance was sweet and kind of fairy-tale like.
Story-Specific Tags: Dragons
Under Her Spell by Maggie Shayne: Melissa has just landed her dream job as a technical consultant for a TV show that seems to be hitting rock bottom. As a practicing Witch, her job is to help them to get it right in a show about witches. What she doesn’t expect is to meet and fall hard for Alex. But what neither of them expect is the darkness that’s coming after Alex. Melissa might just be his only hope of surviving it.
I’ve read a few short stories by Maggie Shayne, nothing full-length though. Overall, she’s a pretty good short story teller. She manages to pack everything into a nice little package that actually works very well for the length of the story, and this one was no different. I thought it flowed really well and she did a good job with the story overall. But, while I found this one pretty entertaining, I was hoping for the ending to be a bit more of a surprise. I also was a bit disappointed in the witchcraft part of it. It seemed just a little too boring to me; but then again witch stories aren’t really my favorite genre.
Story-Specific Tags: Ghosts/Phantoms, Witches/Wizards
A Wulf’s Curse by Ronda Thompson: (Wild Wulfs of London, #1)
This was probably my favorite story in the anthology. It’s 1820, and Elise is running away from an arranged marriage from hell. She is scared, but finds a traveling freak show caravan to stow away in. But when The Beast Tamer (Sterling) finds her, she’s not so sure she made the right choice.
I found this one to be a really sweet story with a really positive message about loving completely and not for what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside. I really liked Elise and her sweet and innocent, yet honest, personality. I also liked and could understand Sterling’s point of view. Overall, this was really well written for a short story and I very much enjoyed it. I’m considering trying out the rest of this series as well.
Story-Specific Tags: Historical, Weres/Shifters
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