A great collection of suspense-filled novels and novellas, Love Under Fire will keep me reading quite a while. I've finished two of the tales and loved them both...

The Asylum by Aaron Paul Lazar: From gripping first sentence to final resolution, Aaron Paul Lazar’s The Asylum is a mystery filled with warm characters and great sense of Maine coast locations. The story grows from the author’s mystery series, giving life to side characters in a very pleasing way as a young Mexican-American woman loses her job and starts to work at an… asylum. Of course, this is not the old-style asylum. Patients are treated and cared for here, in luxury and safety… But Carmen’s soon convinced there’s something hidden behind the scenes.

Warm family life, honest emotions, great dialog, and some thoroughly scary scenes all add together to make an enticing mystery that feels like being invite to the home of friends. Sitting around the fire, comfortable with the assurance of good writing, which has to mean a good ending, learning what happened, how and why… it’s a dark cozy mystery or a warm dark mystery or… just a seriously good read.

And Virtually Lace by Uvi Poznansky: Michael has been working on a virtual reality model in his garage. The military might be interested of course, but Michael’s interest lies more in the question of beauty—“Could beauty be taken apart… Would its data be synthesized, somehow, into a lifelike experience?” And how many different angles and points of view would one need to create that simulation? Then he sees real beauty and ugliness, life and death alongside the Pacific Coast Highway.

The police are investigating of course, but the tale is told from Michael’s point of view, with beautiful scenery, complex mystery, fascinating art, and a touch of romance. The artist’s hand of the author is readily apparent in the character’s creations, both real and virtual. Suspicions grow. Reality intersects with the virtual. And a well-sculpted plot tells it all. A fast, fun and enticing read. ( )