Usually, an anthology has one really incredible story and one dud, but in my opinion, none of these really impressed me and there was a definite dud. I bought it to have a Halloween-seasonal read, but it wasn't at all scary nor were any of the stories set during Halloween.

"Soul Desire" by Laura Baumbach featured a haunted B&B getaway and I felt the romance between visitor and the B&B's owner/host was a bit too convenient.

"A Ghost of a Chance" by Josh Lanyon (unfortunately), follows his formula of a sleuth and a cop. In this case, the sleuth is an amateur ghost hunter investigating the cop's uncle's historical house. I thought this was the best of the bunch, as Lanyon kept the action going and intrigue entertaining.

"Wild Onions" by Sarah Black mixed present and past via reincarnation in her story involving a romance between a broken photojournalist and a Blackfoot anthropologist. The story is somewhat slow but she made the paranormal elements interesting.

"Rendering of Souls" by William Maltese is not my cup of tea. Within the first paragraph, it struck me as simultaneously vulgar and silly. (Giant candle dildos, anyone?) ( )

Scared Stiff Anthology, The Good and The Bad:

The Good: Soul Desire by Laura Baumbach
The mystery was interesting and had an intriguing history behind it. The Romance didn't look forced and the first step toward it came from the guy I didn't expect, pretty hilarious.

Summary: Mason decides he needs to get away from his life when it seems he can't let go of his lover that died 2 years ago. Thinking some peace and quiet is in order to put his life back on the right track, he ends up at an old inn where he learns quickly that he has to share his bedroom with an occupant less than alive. Together with the young inn owner Eli Storm who doesn't believe in ghosts, they get swept up in the house's history and uncover the truth about an old murder.

Neutral: Ghost of a Chance by Josh Lanyon and Wild Onions by Sarah Black
I enjoyed the mystery stories of these two authors tremendously in Partners in Crime but this time I found them lacking somewhat.

First off Josh Lanyon's Ghost of a Chance, it was the scariest one for me, the mystery was also interesting enough but the high point was one of his character who wasn't drop dead gorgeous. It made for an interesting romance until it came to the climax of the anticipated sex scene. This was prolly disappointing only for me since I'm not much for reversi, but yeah having the rather vulnerable and emotionally unstable guy on top while the confident, arrogant, rough cop gets to play bottom for the only sex scene of the story was, as I said, disappointing, it looked out of sort and it didn't fit with what we read of them previously. I can deal with reversi if the situation calls for it and it doesn't look weird, this sadly wasn't it tho.

Summary: In this story book writer and ghost hunter Rhys is invited to stay at a friend's house to investigate about an old house close to the cliff on his propriety that's falling apart. He gets mistaken for a burglar the minute he arrives by the nephew who's staying at his friend's house while he's away, Sam. They can't seem to get along at all and the romance takes a back seat while Sam believes Rhys is one of his uncle's boy toy and Rhys himself just came out of a relationship with a cheating lover. Can they put their different aside in time before the old house devours Rhys?

Next up, Sarah Black's Wild Onions. It was somewhat confusing and...let's face it, boring. It was long and nothing really exciting was happening. It wasn't bad but it def. wasn't good either.

Summary: Robert lost his longtime lover, Val, in an accident a few years ago and with the hospital bills to pay for the both of them he has to make a decision about what to do with their cabin in the woods. Melancholy grips him when he sets foot in it after so long and it seems memories of them together are there everywhere he turns. He meets Coby up the river one day while he's trying to fish, an indian who left his roots and denies his heritage. Coby used to have a crush on Val and so him and Robert realizes they can share their feelings and lick each other's deep wounds. Suddenly dreams of the part seem to take over both of their lives and evil ghosts attempt to separate them, again.
Can Robert finally let Val go? Will he find what he's missing with Coby? It seems that someway, somehow, the three of them are linked together deeply then anyone else could ever imagine.

The Bad: Renderings of Souls by William Maltese
This is going to be as short as the story. It was totally incomprehensible. So much so that it made me think I was retarded until I realized it wasn't me that was, but this story. There's absolutely nothing to understand in it. A bunch of different guys and they all have sex. That's all there was to it for about 56 pages. It was crude and made me grimace. And that's saying something when I can read Tortuga's infinite circle of orgasms without flinching, and even enjoy it. The point, there was nothing good in this story at all and it's making me totally wary to even try anything else by him if that's how he writes. Very uninteresting and I'm so very glad it was the shortest story of them all.
I'd like to do a summary, really I would, but I already said everything going on in there and I didn't understand anything else, so there. ( )

A Gost of a Chance by Josh Lanyon, 3 stars
Rending of Souls by William Maltese, 2 stars
Soul Desire by Laura Baumbach, 4 stars
Wild Onion by Sarah Black, 5 stars
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