Blood upon my Lips - Laurell Hamilton - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 10.5... hmmm I found this a disturbing story... she has multiple lovers, but not under her control, but the vampiric connection with Jean-Claude... and this story is of two of those almost lovers - one Damien, a servant vampire who craves her touch, and whose touch soothes her, and the other a shapeshifter, 20 year old Nathaniel - a strip dancer - called her pomme de sang - an outlet for her - it's confusing - her lust, her emotions, her need for blood - but she doesn't have sex with him, I'm not sure if she feeds from him... but... and now he wants sexual completion with her... and she has Micah - a werepanther - who seems to be her true lover - and yet... hmmmm... she is left with Nathaniel & Damien when she will soon be overwhelmed by her''' passion?... and it seems Micah wants her to have sex with Nathaniel... but as the night proceeds, the three go through a weird mind meld of past terrors, sharing with each other... and they end up mostly naked, and she is sandwiched between them... but she does not have sex with them.. and... hmmmm? I didn't get it....Dead Girls Dont Dance - Undead #1.5 MaryJanice Davidson I liked this story much better... a traditional romance. Andrea and Daniel... Andrea is a young vampire (7 1/2 years old) and is just gaining control of her thrist... she is very intelligent, educated, and converted in a horrible ceremony, and she is lost - with no contact with other vampires (but she does seem to know a lot about them)... on the beach, she contemplates staying up for the sun, but buries herself in the sand... where that evening she is tripped over by Daniel... in college she had a crush on him - he's a beach bum, and now has an inheritance to allow it - he's, hmmmm... he wants to know all about her, and she trades her stories for a ride back to Minnesota - to the new vampire queen who is calling for her... they talk - he takes care of her - funny scene when he goes with her to a sleazy bar so she can find someone to drink from - and he won't leave her alone with him, though he is grossed out by her actions - and she is drunk, as her victim is drunk... then 3rd night they are together, they have sex, she takes his blood - it is her first time as a vampire to have sex, it tremendous - they go to a vampire library on their way to meeting the queen (he insists on going with her to protect her) ... and the queen only accidently became queen because of her demon dogs hmmmm... and her consort is taking care of most details of royalty... and she thinks he's going to leave her, but he says he doesn't want to... and they admit they love... and he makes plans for when she will turn him into a vampire so that they can be together forever....Orginally Human by Eileen Wilks ... Molly - succubus - changed - 300+ years old - mostly happy - sad when thinks of people she has raised and lost - now friends with Erin, wiccan, greatgranddaughter of one of her adopted children... she has aged herself (starved herself from sex) enough to look in her 50s - a good looking 50, but it makes it easier to stick to one place longer - people notice 20 year old not aging... and one night, as she is contemplating leaving, she stumbles over a naked man in the sand - one who popped in from node (place where realms met in the past and now of magical power) who apparently has anmesia... as the story develops, he is the physical embodiment of the Codex, lost 800 years earlier - a magical book of spells that became sensient and then watched Molly and then came to Molly... her creator is after Michael (what Molly named him), and if he draws on power from the node (as he does when having sex with Molly, who feeds on sexual energy), the bad goddess can locate them... they travel to Cullen - werewolf/sorcerer - to get help... Michael knows an incredible amount of magic (his memory is mostly returned), but he's never created magic, so they rely on Cullen... and they mix the magic draw so that when they have sex it is Molly who draws on the node, and that is easily hidden.. but it means she can only be with Michael - a state of affairs she and he is very happy about...Burning Moon - Moon # 4 Rebecca York Antonia and Grant... Antonia is a fortune teller, mostly with tarot, runs a bread and breakfast along the Washington coast, blind since 24 and she has been seeing a man coming to her - a man/wolf combination... Grant is a werewolf, whose mate of 6 month was murdered by a seriel killer - and he has spent the past 2 years tracking the man down with the intention of killing him and then ending his own life... The killer made the mistake of killing in his own town... Grant is drawn to Antonia - and she tries to 'keep' him without scaring him off - Antonia knows his darkest thoughts - and wants so much that he choose to live for her... two new werewolf thoughts - there can be a 2nd lifemate and a very sensuous scene as Grant pictures making love with licks to his woman in wolf form - how he eased his first mate into it, and how he pictured Antonia - Ultimately, love conquors - they catch the killer, trapping him when he attempted to poison Antonia - and get his confession on tape, making it so that Grant did not kill him, and saved himself...
Rating reflects all of the stories BUT the Laurell K Hamilton. I tried, I really tried, to find a place in my heart for some time in Anita's world reconnecting to characters I was once fond of. Too bad this novella is right at the cusp (pun intended) of When This Series Went To CrapTM. Sigh, I really spend too much time in these reviews hating on Anita Blake. Truce? I'll probably only last the night.The Eileen Wilks story (the reason I ordered the book), "Originally Human," was fantastic. Having read Night Season and it's preceding novella first, I'm all aquiver for Eileen's writing to improve to that level. This story delivered. A tale of woman meets man with amnesia (that old shtick), it's a well told story that made me hungry for more time with these main characters. Eileen Wilks may prove capable of pulling a Kelley Armstrong, independently creating several main characters within one universe that I love. Of course, that means that I will suffer during "drought" periods, waiting for my favorite characters to have a turn (EVE, Kelley, THINK EVE). According to her website, these two do have a part to play at some point in the main story line. Here's to me and my baited breath, Eileen.Mary Janice Davidson's "Dead Girls Don't Dance," was fun. As my first encounter with MJD, this novella earned her a precious "Hey, look for other things by her when you get a moment" nod. Hopefully when I read the first book to feature this character, I will bond with her more. Not really caring for her, while I found the story enjoyable. Why would the king of the vampires choose Minnesota as the center of his kingdom? That may be the most unbelievable aspect of this story. "Burning Moon" by Rebecca York was the most "romancey" story of the bunch, but I still was amused by it. Loved that the woman is a tarot reader, as the time spent talking about the cards was fantastic.
What do You think about Cravings (2004)?
ORIGINALLY HUMAN by Eileen WilksThree hundred years ago, Molly was cursed by a vengeful goddess to become a succubus, a creature who lives off men's sexual energy. For all that, she remains very much human at heart. When a strange man literally falls at her feet, wounded and amnesiac, she takes him in and cares for him, physically and soon emotionally as well. She calls him Michael, and together they try to piece together who he is, where he has come from and who is chasing him. I loved this story. I loved the characters, the setup, the pacing, everything. It was a delight to read and I'll be getting hold of my own copy as soon as possible. Molly is a delight and Michael is wonderful, knowledge and naive at the same time. The twist at the end of Michael's identity is brilliant and Molly's last line is perfect. This can be read alone, but technically it belongs in Wilks' Moon Children series along with 'Only Human' from the anthology Lover Beware and Tempting Danger. I think I would have got some throw away references to Molly and Michael in Tempting Danger better if I had read this first, but it doesn't really matter.[Copied across from Library Thing; 27 September 2012]
—Kerry
This book is impossible to rate as a whole - the four stories are by different authors, each telling a different type of romantic short story, and all of a different rating. Think of the book as a sampler box of para-normal chocolate - the coconut one tastes awful to people who hate coconut, while at the same time the solid dark chocolate one can taste delicious to some, while others wonder why there weren't more pecans in the mix, and why there was so much nugget. But I digress."Blood Upon My Lips" by Laurell K. Hamilton is for those who like Hamilton's Anita Blake series - you aren't going to really get it unless you've read the books, or rather, there's enough exposition thrown in that you'll get it - you just won't care. "Dead Girls Don't Dance" by Mary Janice Davidson takes place during her Undead series. I'm a huge fan of the series, so its an extremely biased opinion when I say I loved this short story and the main character - a nerdy vampire who misses cake. However, I was an even bigger fan of "Originally Human" by Eileen Wilks. Even without reading her Lupi series I was able to quickly fall into her world - and even faster fall for her characters. She mixes magic and the mundane together quite well, and sets up a very clever twist at the end. Michael is basically the most perfect guy ever and I was quite jealous of Molly getting to curl up with him. I also groaned at the final pun.I was not so much moved by "Burning Moon" by Rebecca York. Werewolves. Gypsies. Moonlight nights. Murder. Revenge. yawn. Haven't we seen all of this before?So, an interesting sampling of the paranormal romance genre - makes for a good tasting to find out if you're interested.
—Kara
It's always difficult rating anthologies as not every story measures up the same as others. I loved the novellas by Rebecca York and MaryJanice Davidson, while the Eileen Wilks was okay and I did not like the LK Hamilton at all. I'd hear a lot about LKH, and maybe you have to have read previous books in the series to appreciate this one, but it did nothing to make me want to seek out the earlier books. I'd say my dislike had something to do with the fact I've never been that into vampires, but the MJD - another series about vamps - had the exact opposite affect. I loved MJD's voice and characters, and the novella in this book had me seeking out and devouring the first four books in the series, with five more (three complete novels and two novellas) to be searched out.
—Heather L
