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Category: Anthologies

Review: Red Velvet and Absinthe by Mitzi Szereto

[ 6 ] October 21, 2011

Reviewed by Nina Longfield

Red Velvet and Absinthe is a well chosen collection of modern paranormal erotic short stories. Although not my typical choice in short story collections, I was curious to see how well the Gothic themes mixed with the erotic and paranormal. I wanted to know if the stories were subtle or overt. Editor and writer Mitzi Szereto chose the stories, skillfully pulling together a whole collection yet allowing each story to maintain a unique voice.

I was not disappointed in the mix of paranormal creatures that blended well within the context of the Gothic atmosphere. There is the taming of a newly turned beast in “Snowlight, Moonlight” by Rose de Fer. “A Rose In the Willow Garden” by Elizabeth Daniels is both disturbing and engaging as the predator easily becomes the prey. One of my favorite stories in this collection, “Cover Him With Darkness” by Janine Ashbless, investigates the common world myth of god/titan/angel chained for all eternity. The collection holds a seductress in a painting, a vampire who stars in a hit television series, a doll made from scraps and wax, and the list of oddities continues. Some of the stories become more bizarre and others just hint at the paranormal.

The stories within Red Velvet and Absinthe are all alike in that the protagonist or antagonist is something otherworldly. And the females in these stories all seem to have strong willful characters. Yet each story is different and unique in the characters, the settings, and the written styles.

Red Velvet and Absinthe is a rather overtly erotic collection of stories, some more so than others. However, all are well written and engaging. Despite being a quick read, many of the stories have lingered long after the page has turned.

Rating: 4/5

Nina Longfield is a writer living in Oregon’s fertile wine country. When she is not reading or writing in her spare time, Nina enjoys hiking in the hills surrounding her cabin.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Mitzi Szereto. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Always the Vampire by Nancy Haddock

[ 3 ] September 5, 2011

Reviewed by Rachel Mann

Always the Vampire, by Nancy Haddock, is a fun contemporary Southern vamp murder mystery, a bit in the style of the Sookie Stackhouse series. Always the Vampire is the third in Haddock’s series about Francesca, a recently revived vampire who lives in Florida; she’s interested in a part-werewolf named Saber, and she rapidly becomes involved in magical happenings.

I hadn’t read the first two books in the series, so I found a few of the details about the characters’ lives slightly confusing; however, that might just be one of the problems of jumping into a series partway through. Haddock does provide context for readers who are new to the series, but since this is her third book about Francesca, it would be unfair to expect no references to previous events or ideas that had occurred in the first two books. After reading the third book, I’d like to go back to the first and learn more about what brought Francesca to the place she’s reached by this point in the series.

Francesca, or Cesca as she’s usually called, is an entertaining heroine who shies away from many of the details of her vampire nature. She doesn’t like to drink blood, preferring “Starbloods” to human blood, and even though she’s an ancient vamp by many standards, she doesn’t know a great deal about vampire lore; for example, she doesn’t know how to change someone human into a vampire, or “Turn” someone. It will be interesting to see how this lack of knowledge about Turning comes up in later books, since Saber has already asked Francesca to think about turning him. As their romantic relationship becomes more serious, it’s hard to imagine how Francesca could avoid Turning her lover; if he wants to spend eternity with her, how can she deny him that?

The world Haddock’s created is one where hardly any vampires feed on humans; if anything, wizards and other magical beings are the ones to truly be feared. Most of the vampires who show up seem like they’d be pretty fun to hang out with–like the former Marine and current dance instructor Ken, who’s quite entertaining.

The jacket copy on Always the Vampire makes it sound as though it will focus a great deal on Francesca’s relationship with her friend Maggie, a human who is getting married. Yet the plot focuses most on defeating a wizard named Starrack, who’s created a terrible entity called the Void. Francesca must defeat both Starrack and the Void, and in her struggle to do so draws her away from Maggie and the everyday elements of a wedding. I found myself wishing we could have heard even more about Maggie and Francesca’s friendship, and spent more time on the dynamics of Maggie’s wedding. Maybe, though, this friendship will be explored even more later on in the series.

Rating: 3.5/5

Rachel, who has a Ph.D. in English, is a freelance writer/editor and a voracious reader. You can talk to her about books at http://twitter.com/writehandmann.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Berkley Trade. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: The Devil Colony by James Rollins

[ 3 ] September 2, 2011

Reviewed by Caleb Shadis

The Devil Colony is the 7th book in James Rollins’ Sigma Force series. This time an ancient secret, sought after for centuries, has resurfaced once again. It caused a strange explosion, then everything seemed to disintegrate into sand, including the bedrock. Sigma’s arch-nemesis ‘the Guild’ have an excellent idea what it is, so they have a large head-start. Painter Crow becomes personally involved when he discovers his niece was present and is being blamed for the catastrophe.

The trail goes back in history all the way to Thomas Jefferson and Lewis & Clark, who were attempting to find the treasure before the ‘enemy’. There are hints all over the U.S. – Utah, Kentucky, DC – as well as Europe. It appears to be a weapons grade nanotech and could kill the entire planet.

Honestly, I enjoyed the last book in the Sigma Force series much more. I think my biggest problem with The Devil Colony was the whole back story on the nanotech, how dangerous it was, and how it got to be in the places it showed up in. Half the story was hand-waving to distract the reader away from some very important things that were needed for me to accept it, and I couldn’t swallow it.

I know a bit about history, about cultures, and about physics which interfered with plausibility of this book. The rest of the story was excellent, the weaving of histories and the suspense, even the conspiracies. I just couldn’t believe in the threat itself, in how it ‘worked’ or in how long it existed undetected.

Rating: 3.5/5

Check out Caleb’s review of another Sigma Force novel, The Doomsday Key

Caleb is a software engineer and amature woodworker living in southern Minnesota. He has more hobbies than he has time or money for, and enjoys his quiet time reading.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by William Morrow. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.
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Review & Giveaway: Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong

[ 77 ] August 5, 2011

Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

At 21, Savannah Levine, daughter of a dark witch and a sorcerer, is perhaps the most powerful witch alive. She has always relied on her powers to see her through any situation, so after she thinks to herself that she would give up her powers if only a young girl’s guardian would not end up in prison, an unknown entity takes her up on the offer. Savannah must learn to rely on the help of others, especially Adam (the half-demon she has loved since she was 12), and find new strengths within herself that she never knew she had.

Now a group of witches is hunting Savannah, hoping to turn her to their side. When she finds herself within their clutches, she learns of a gathering of supernaturals intent on revealing themselves to the entire world. Savannah must find a way to escape and warn the Council of their plans–before it’s too late.

Spell Bound is another exciting installment in the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong. One of the first urban fantasy/paranormal series that I picked up, the Otherworld series is still a favorite; I look forward to a new release every year. Savannah Levine has long been a favorite character for me; I might be a few years older than her, but I feel as if I grew up with her. This is the second book in a row that she has been the narrator, and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Spell Bound is the first book in the series that brings almost every main character in the book together: Elena, Clay, Jeremy, Jaime, Hope, Adam, Savannah, and several others. Not every one of them has had the chance to narrate their own book yet, but given what is ahead for Savannah and her friends and family, I won’t be surprised if someone else gets a turn. I would especially love a book told from Cassandra’s perspective; she’s been kind of a background character in previous books, but her larger role in this book has made me really interested in Armstrong’s vampire lore. Just when I thought there wasn’t anything new with vampires, Armstrong piqued my interest in a very big way.

Armstrong provides enough back story so that new readers won’t get lost, but it’s definitely worth it to start at the very beginning with Bitten.

Rating: 4/5

Check out Jennifer’s review of Kelley Armstrong’s Waking the Witch

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

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Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Dutton. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Dreams of Joy by Lisa See

[ 6 ] July 15, 2011

Reviewed by Mac MacCaskill

At the close of Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls, Joy learns that the woman she has known as her aunt May is actually her biological mother, and that her real father is an artist in Shanghai. The parents whom Joy grew up with, Pearl and Sam, are really her aunt and a man that Pearl was arranged to marry. See’s sequel, Dreams of Joy, picks up in the early morning hours after Joy’s discovery. With everything she has known turned on its ear, Joy writes a quick note to Pearl and May and leaves for the People’s Republic of China to find her father, and a new life that feels true. When Pearl finds the note, she returns to the country that nearly claimed her life to find Joy. The year is 1957 and Chairman Mao is about to announce his “Great Leap Forward.”

Leave out that last sentence above and the description might sound a bit like the setup for a “Chick-Lit” beach read or a Lifetime Television movie. But anyone familiar with See’s Shanghai Girls will be prepared for a gritty and bare description of a land in turmoil. In Shanghai Girls, See exposed the bloody Japanese invasion of China and the humiliating experience of immigrating to a country that was not prepared to accept and understand such a foreign culture. This time, See brings her pin-point gaze to Mao’s devastating revolution where every individual human spirit is a target. Famine, starvation, and slavery reduce everyone to mere ghosts.

I’d unconditionally vouch for See’s accuracy if I had a better working knowledge of the time and events, but to date, the only other book I’ve read on the subject is Woman from Shanghai: Tales of Survival from a Chinese Labor Camp by Xianhui Yang. Yang’s book, while a true account, was marketed as a novel so that it could escape Chinese government officials’ attention. And based on Yang’s account, See is dead on with her description of this bleak period of history.

What appealed to me most about Shanghai Girls is missing in Dreams of Joy. In the former, tragedy befell everyone; no one was safe and happy endings were in short supply. The story felt real, credible. And while there is plenty of tragedy in Dreams of Joy, the ending feels somewhat rushed and contrived with nearly everything working out for our heroines.

Bottom Line: Dreams of Joy is another solid and enjoyable work of historical fiction focusing on a time and culture that receives far too little attention, even if the ending feels designed for a Hollywood movie deal. All those who might shy away from this one based on the cover or the author or a feeling that it is designed only for half of the world need to think again.

Rating: 4.5/5

Be sure to check out our review of Shanghai Girls

Mac, aka blackdogbooks on Librarything, lives in the American Southwest and works in law enforcement.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Random House. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Naamah’s Blessing by Jacqueline Carey

[ 7 ] July 14, 2011

Reviewed by Rachel Mann

What an excellent book! Carey is one of my favorite authors and so I was thrilled to get an advanced reading copy of her latest book, Naamah’s Blessing.

Naamah’s Blessing is the third in a series of trilogies about the people of an ancient world which is similar to our own, and yet somehow more full of magic, love, and mystery–reading these books is like visiting a parallel Renaissance world, where the maps have been slightly redrawn and religion reevaluated. The alternate version of Europe and the new world (here, called Terra Nova) is precise and lovely. While the first few books Carey wrote concentrated more on an alternate version of Western Europe, the last three books have sent the characters even further, to versions of China and South America.

The first book about Terre d’Ange and its unearthly beautiful inhabitants, Kushiel’s Dart, remains my favorite of Carey’s work. Its protagonist, Phèdre, is an iconic and wonderful character, and she narrates the first trilogy about Terre d’Ange, which gives the characters in the next two trilogies a lot to live up to.

The heroine of the third trilogy, which includes Naamah’s Blessing, is the fascinating Moirin, who has gifts that in some ways are parallel to Phèdre’s, but who accesses them in a very different way. Of course, Moirin shouldn’t be Phèdre all over again, and she’s not — but in this book she seems to take on even more of the qualities I admire most in Phèdre. It’s nice to see how Moirin balances her love and faithfulness to her husband, Bao, with her desires for other people, just as Phèdre struggled between faithfulness to her own lover, Joscelin, and her desires for other lovers.

Naamah’s Blessing is a rousing end to the trilogy, returning to the ramifications of events set in motion in the first book, Naamah’s Kiss, and hammering them through with a realistic representation of the brutality and danger that journeying to Terra Nova would cause. It’s faster paced than the second book, Naamah’s Curse, in the trilogy and includes a major surprise right in the middle.

The main concern I have is finding out how we’ll get back into Terre d’Ange. Naamah’s Blessing seems to tie up the threads of Moirin’s story, but what about the young princess, Desirée? What will befall her, and what will befall the descendants of other beloved characters? I hope we aren’t kept waiting too long to find out.

Rating: 4.5/5

Please visit Jacqueline Carey’s website to learn more about her and her books

Rachel, who has a Ph.D. in English, is a freelance writer/editor and a voracious reader. You can talk to her about books at http://twitter.com/writehandmann.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Grand Central Publishing. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Death Is Not an Option by Suzanne Rivecca

[ 7 ] July 10, 2011

Reviewed by Caitlin Busch

I nearly knew what I was getting into when I picked up Death Is Not an Option. The book’s synopsis and jacket agreed we would explore “a world where sexuality and self-delusion collide.” In fact, it delves deep into the psyche and pushes the imagination beyond where some readers may want to go. At times, the text pulled me in so far that I struggled to remember Death was about “a” world, not “the” world. It is a testament to the author’s craftsmanship to say I was carried away, despite my efforts to the contrary.

That is not to say it was a pleasant read! No story in this collection is able to see innocence; in fact, none make the attempt. Rivecca has a great ability, but writes with an unmistakable edge. (Take, for example, her open letter to Anne Lamott.) She has no reservations about exposing the jealous and futile world which Death inhabits. That she makes no apology may immediately alienate or overpower the reader. It would be no surprise to learn the stories in her debut fiction collection came in part (or wholly) from Rivecca’s own experiences working in social services or elsewhere in her personal life.

Every selection in Death Is Not an Option explores the expanse of imagination and its effects on the human psyche. The different narrators are inner-directed or stunted in some way, so they compensate through various modes of story-telling and manipulation. Each must find escape or face their lies, whether competing with or outgrowing old friends, perfecting emotional dismissal or coming to terms with bitterness and the desire for validation. The reader who pays close attention to Death’s secondary characters will be rewarded with a clearer picture of reality.

Then there’s the particularly raw subject matter in the selection titled “Very Special Victims.” Some readers may find the overt treatment of incest and pedophilia unsettling; admittedly, I was neither pleased nor surprised when it finally came up. I did appreciate Rivecca’s subsequent truth-seeking as she explored the changes a family must make when sexual abuse is uncovered. She adroitly revisited the breadth and depth of imagination in her descriptions of the brutal cycles of chicken-and-egg faced by a now-grown victim of abuse.

Critically speaking, Rivecca should be honored for digging deeply and putting her discoveries to page with such conviction. Her technical talents are obvious in close reading – and that’s just the trouble with Death Is Not an Option! I certainly wouldn’t recommend this book to an average reader. Someone whose casual reading list includes Beloved or As the Crow Flies may be better equipped to deal with Rivecca’s creation than one who leans toward Jane Austen or Jane Green. This book will push you well beyond your comfort zone… Proceed with caution!

Rating: 4/5

Caitlin is a fiction writer who also dabbles in poetry, creative nonfiction and acrylic painting. When not reading, she enjoys hiking, cooking and spending time with friends and pets. She earned her B.A. in English from the University of Portland and currently resides in Louisiana.

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by W. W. Norton & Company. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Those Who Fight Monsters by Justin Gustainis

[ 4 ] May 30, 2011

Reviewed by Nina Longfield

In Those Who Fight Monsters, Justin Gustainis has brought together an exciting collection of short stories from some of fantasy’s finest detective writers. You’ll find Marla Mason, the no nonsense chief sorcerer of Felport from T.A. Pratt’s series. There is also the sardonic wit of Nick Taylor from Simon R. Green’s Nightside series. Or there is the enigmatic, ex-cop turned private detective, Danny Hendrickson, who has his own mystical qualities, from Laura Anne Gilman’s Cosa Nostradamus series. These are just a few of many other, possibly stranger, characters offered within this assortment of tales.

The stories are entertaining and engaging. They range from detectives searching for lost children to a soccer mom battling demons to a sorcerer taking on a monster from the past. Each story is a welcome diversion from reality. Although the tales fall into a common theme of detectives thrashing it out with paranormal baddies, the stories are all dissimilar from each other. Each of the authors has their own take on the genre and has created their own micro-universe within the confines of the story. The opportunity to enter a different world with each tale keeps each story within Those Who Fight Monsters fresh and exciting.

I delve into the worlds of the occult detective from time to time. As expected, this collection offered entertainment. Those Who Fight Monsters also allowed an exploration into the worlds created by authors who I hadn’t read before. The stories fall into the realm of well written to fun, noir-styling. Another fun aspect of this collection includes character bios at the end of each story after the author profiles. I would recommend this collection to the fan of the genre and those who are looking to explore new avenues in story telling.

Rating: 4/5

Nina Longfield is a writer living in Oregon’s fertile wine country. When she is not reading or writing in her spare time, Nina enjoys hiking in the hills surrounding her cabin.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Justin Gustainis. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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