I shamelessly stole these quotes from Annie Dean. They’re advance reviews for Boundless, our upcoming anthology, which will be released by Liquid Silver Books on September 3rd (which is next week, dudes!). [Shameless begging alert!] Please, please read it. You won’t be sorry, we promise.

Lainey:

WOW…AWESOME…F’N GREAT. Really unique concept. I sat to give it just a glance this morning and wound up still in my jammies an hour later. I don’t generally think of those type stories as my cuppa, but you meshed the real with the unreal so cleverly and penned her temptation so well, I couldn’t pull myself out of the story. Terrific, and way more depth than your average ’short’. I felt as though I was in Dev’s POV by times, his actions and dialogue were so poignant. Again: WOW.

Ella / L:

I didn’t know what quite to expect from Boundless when I started reading it. I mean, I knew the cover was awesome, but I didn’t let my hopes get too high. Anthologies always seem to leave me a bit disappointed. I have worked out so many crack-pot theories on why, but it doesn’t lessen the blows to my long-suffering reader’s soul.

Didn’t take me long to say, “Screw it” and devour the whole thing in an afternoon’s worth of time.

Anthologies, they terrify me. Many brilliant authors I love seem to think nothing of just publishing awful drivel in an anthology.

Who reads them? they ask in chortling tones.

And alone in the dark, one voice cries out, “I do! For ten bucks a pop I do, you bet your sorry ass! May all the gods of literary finances show mercy and refrain from smiting.”

But lo, look! There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Did I have to do some eye-brow raising while reading Boundless?

Yes, on account of the things I learned about nuns. I did a lot more laughing and sympathizing and cheering on behalf of the characters, and it’s on my keeper shelf.

Erm, on my…internet keeper folder.

It’s somewhere important, that’s what I’m saying.

Boundless features three women yearning for change, any change, that might make their lives more full than empty. And each got her change all right, though, in ways they most certainly were not expecting.

This is a sentiment I related to easily, and I saw pieces of myself in each heroine.

Teresa, who yearns for something more and pure to put the past behind her; Marie, who wants the tide of loneliness to recede and find companionship in another; and Kitty, who takes a wild ride to find out what it feels like to be someone else.

That’s not to say that the men don’t shine. From Dev, tortured and endearingly sweet (for being an incubus); to Sam, Marie’s dream man come true (and mine); to Jack, a worldly cynic (a man after my own heart) who gets a whole new view on possibilities.

Though each tale held its own drawbacks, these characters, both the normal and…not-so-much, have found themselves chained down by something intangible and unable to be more than they can be until fate it seems steps in, and helps them out by letting them find each other and a little faith in miracles.

Boundless, I think, is a solid buy to introduce readers (who are like me, always the last to know about stuff like this) to three great writers who will hopefully keep churning out more books. Some of these ladies have frightfully small backlists, I know, but maybe plots will multiply like bunnies and they won’t hear a thing about it from me. Maybe.

No, not really.

Joan:

I was really excited when Ann asked me if I wanted an ARC of Boundless if I would read it before the release and give her my reaction. I don’t even know where to start. The stories are erotic, but it’s a subtle sensuality sometimes, and they’re underpinned with the most delicious intensity. The ladies have imbued their heroes and heroines with so much yearning, but at the same time, like in Waking Kitty, there is a sense of displacement and of longing for home. The writing is just beautiful. Bonnie Dee has such a gift for imagery, she brings fall to life for me. And Sam is just so… I don’t know what to say. I wanted him for myself. I think you should buy it. This is the best anthology I’ve seen all year. Usually there’s a weak story, but I liked all of these.

Kelly:

Ok, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this because I don’t like paranormal stuff. I know that makes me weird, but I hate vampires and werewolves, and I can’t stand stuff where there’s a lot of magic and foofy crap. I didn’t even really want to read this tbh but it was a free book, so I said what the hell. And the first story has a freakin’ heroine who is about to turn into a nun. But she got me, I’m not sure how. The descriptions were really vivid and moving, and pretty soon she was getting naked and teasing him. Dev was great, he seemed so desperate to be human and yet…not. He just wasn’t. I don’t know exactly how she did that fine line, but it was there. And I didn’t even mind it.

Once I started liking that one, the rest of them were just good. I mean, the second one had magic in it and I still liked it. Bonnie Dee writes a hell of a sex scene. The last story was the weirdest one yet, but it was so funny, omg. And Jack was just grungy enough to make me think I’d date him. You guys should get this, even if you don’t like these kinds of stories. They’re magical but in a good way.

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