Grade: D+
I’m gonna go ahead and say it: Darragha Foster’s story is the only one in this anthology that didn’t make me want to alternatingly pull my hair out or douse my brain in bleach. Ms. Foster’s previous works have always been a little over-the-top, melodramatic, far-flung, and wacky for me, but ultimately I always find myself enjoying them. Ironically, her contribution to this anthology is the only one with its feet planted firmly in the ground (haunted whalebone dildos notwithstanding), namely because she… and stay with me here… actually tells a full, layered story that has a beginning, middle, and end. That Darragha… what a nut. Imagine telling a real story in an anthology of… stories. Look, it’s right there on the cover. Meanwhile, Robin Danner’s tale of a witch involved in a sex orgy cult had me going, “What? Who are these people? How did… Why did… Whuh?” Xandra Gregory’s story, on the other hand, had a lot of information to share about her characters, their worlds, and all of that good stuff, but… I had no idea what the hell she was talking about most of the time. She seemed to be throwing a bunch of science-y sounding stuff, but none of them really meant anything. Seriously, this anthology is like the Goldilocks of storytelling elements: one had too little, one had just right, and the other had too much… only you can’t actually identify what’s floating around in the porridge, so you don’t really want it. Nice cover, though.
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[This review was written by my good buddy Shuzluva. She’s one of the smartest folks I know. Sassy as all hell, doesn’t take shit from anyone, and she… well, she scares me sometimes, but in a “big sister” way. Anyway, this is her first review. Be nice, kids, ’cause she’ll kick your asses if you’re not.]

Grade: C+ {Shuzluva: Dude, the grade is supposed to be a C, not a C+!} C

So…I’m almost finished with Unleashed. I have about 10 pages to go to finish up the Susan Kearney but I know what I’m going to say and I’m assuming you want to hear it.

MEH.

Meh by author:

“Bond of Silver” by Rebecca York. Don’t ask me why this is called Bond of Silver. I don’t think there was anything to do with silver in the story. The hero Alexander is from New Atlantis and has speshul powas that include the ability to shape rock with his mind. New Atlantis is in need of fresh minds to keep up the forcefield that hides their island from the hoi polli. Apparently the way they get them is by coming to the US to…ahem…charm women into going back to NA with them FOREVAH! So our friend Alexander goes to the island temple to dream of his SOUL MATE. The dream is half sexin’, half nightmare (but not really ’cause it reads like something out of Dora the Explorer). Claire, Alexander’s so-called soul mate, is a ceramic artist with speshul powas that are similar to Alexander’s, lives in a fictional town with her mom and owns a studio. AND she is the daughter of Alexander’s step-father. ‘Course, Alexander’s step-father is single because his soul mate refused to move to New Atlantis with him. Lovely misunderstandings ensue throughout the story. The dialogue between Alexander and Claire was stilted and their immediate attraction to each other failed to convince me. The addition of the stepfather/mother element was fucking annoying and simply served as a plot contrivance for conflict and lengthened the story. C-

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Grade: C+

Here’s an anthology that I enjoyed for the most part. None of the stories are new—that is, they all belong to their own respective series or a sequel to something—but they were able to each stand on their own legs, so I didn’t really have a problem with it. Except for ONE, that is, and more on that later. Anyway, I’m pretty much a fan of anything Angela Knight has ever written, especially her Mageverse stuff, so I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed her contribution to this anthology. Virginia Kantra’s story is so-so and I would have probably liked it more if it weren’t for the wide-eyed bimbo Barbie doll heroine that irritated the crap out of me. MaryJanice Davidson’s offering marries her Wyndham Wolves and Sinclair Vampires. Literally. I was pretty amused by it. The ONE rotten apple in this bunch? Guess. Shake your tailfeather, Sunny, you’re the winner, you one-named gal you! Good Science, it was a good thing her story came in last or I would have been too disgusted to finish the rest of the book. Bad? You betcha. I was dismayed enough by it to sink the grade of this entire anthology to a C+. Ugh.
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I’ve always enjoyed reading anthologies that are centered on one theme, because it’s always interesting how different authors deal with the topic given to them. Depending on the talent of the author, sometimes it works out really well, but other times you can see that the author saw the motif as an intrusion and was forced to work around it. The theme that bridges these three stories together is “second chances”, which is brought to our heroines by a magic painting called Midnight Magic. Supposedly, a tortured artist who had a shitty life created the thing with magic paint—where did he get this magic paint?—as a bridge to a place where he could be happy. Basically, the painting is composed of a bunch of dots—pointillism—and different people see different things in it, most specifically their destinies. I guess it’s one of those paintings you see at the mall that you stare at idiotically for a while until you see an image. Once my sister and I saw one of those things and I stared at it for fifteen minutes, but didn’t see anything. My sister stared at it for like… five seconds and saw a sailboat. What a liar. She so didn’t see anything. Anyway, Rebecca York is the only one who took the “second chance” thing literally and brought her heroine back to a time when she could have saved her beloved. Susan Kearney’s heroine goes hundreds of years into the future and does a cute little Green Acres thing. Both of those stories actually weren’t that bad. I was all set to give this anthology at least a B, but then I got to Jeannie London’s story. Not only does it feature a twitty, swooning child-heroine, but London totally pussies out on the threesome aspect of it. I didn’t even really read the thing. I just skimmed through it. If it weren’t for London’s contribution, this anthology would have been a keeper, but now it has to go back to the used bookstore where I found it. Way to drop the ball, Jeanie.
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Grade: B

It’s not often that I find an anthology where I enjoy every single one of the stories. This baby which is kind of like a cross between Desperate Housewives (Wisteria Lane, duh!) and Twin Peaks has two really good stories and two could-have-been-better stories, but ultimately, it’s quite satisfying. I guess what I enjoyed most about it is the atmosphere and the mythology that these four writers came up with. There are monsters around every corner, witchy neighbors flying on broomsticks, and all sorts of mythical things that go bump in the night, yet the writers manage to make it all seem normal. Let’s just pray that Fox Mulder never finds this town or he’d probably have a heart attack. I also thought it was impressive that four different authors could weave their stories so seamlessly into each other so that they flow together into one big story. Susan Grant’s and P.C. Cast’s stories were definitely the best of the bunch, but Gena Showalter packs a pretty sexy punch in her contribution. As for MaryJanice Davidson’s story, it was an entertaining read, but was really the most under-developed and read almost like a YA novel. Oddly enough, the couple in her story had the potential to be the most interesting in the entire anthology. All the stories are filled with humor, “sassy” (but surprisingly not annoying) heroines, yummy heroes, and sizzling sexual tension. I know I said that I was burned out on the paranormal romances genre, but this anthology really gave me hope. I’m not saying I’m gonna go to my local bookstore and load up on the suckers; I’m just saying that if one came across my desk, I’m not gonna set it on fire.
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