Lisa Shelby

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What happens when the lights go out in Vegas? According to thirteen authors, a whole lot can happen! From escaping serial killers to falling in love, Blackout: A Romance Anthology gives readers a glimpse into the city of sin with no power, no cell service, and no inhibitions. This anthology blew me away, I can't get over how much I enjoyed it. Longer than your typical anthology, at least in my opinion, Blackout has thirteen novellas, some quite lengthy and others quite short, that follow a mix of new and previously known characters as they visit sin city. The same event, a lengthy blackout, occurs in each novel, but no story is the same. The setting is perfect for this anthology, I hate when authors get together to create an anthology with a similar story line and the characters don't ever meet despite being in a small town. In this case, Vegas is massive and with the lights out it's expected that the characters from each story wouldn't interact. It made it more realistic. I loved all of the characters from the stories that I read and while I didn't love every single story, I did enjoy the entire anthology as a whole. This is a must read and it will work for both longtime fans of the authors and for those looking for something new.

On the fly star rating as I read:

Close Encounter by Stephanie St. Klaire - 4 Stars

The Do-Over by Christi Barth - 3 stars

Night & Day by Bethany Lopez - 4 stars

Night Games by T.K. Leigh - 5 Stars

Absolutely Mine by Terri E. Laine - Not Rating - the ARC edition had too many edits left to be done. I won't count this against the overall score, as I know the anthology went through more edits prior to release.

Just Us by J.H. Croix - 4.5 Stars - If I read the word channel one more time I was going to scream. Once or twice, fine, repeatedly? No.

Blind Faith by Lauren Runow - 5 Stars

Dirty Thoughts by C.A. Harms - 5 Stars

Going Down by Lisa Shelby - 5 Stars

Hard Luck by K.A. Ware - 4 Stars

Becoming His by K.I. Lynn

Honeymoon Hideaway by Cary Hart

Free Bird by Leddy Harper… (más)

5 stars

What a fantastic anthology. I preordered this book as soon as I had heard about it because Vegas is my favorite US city. The storyline intrigued me.

I really liked the various spins on how to work their stories into the Blackout. Many of these authors were new to me an d left me pleasantly surprised. For an anthology this was very well done because every story combined gave a nice variation on this story as a whole. I liked that because it is so hit and miss in anthologies.
… (más)

These books all take place in Vegas & there is an electrical blackout during the story.

Close Encounters - Stephanie St. Klaire - Ms. St. Klaire has become a master at sexy romantic suspense stories. Some of her characters are members of a high class security team called Brothers Keepers. They protect people from the worst dangers & do it successfully. Cane is a member of that team. He’s protecting the only surviving victim of a gruesome serial killer. This story kept me on the edge of my seat. You knew the bad guy was going to show up but not when or how. The addition of a couple running a con added a lightness to the plot. It was witty. It was sexy. It was terrifying!! I really can’t wait until she releases her next book!

Honeymoon Hideaway - Cary Hart - if you’ve never read anything by Ms. Hart, this is an excellent introduction. The characters in Ms. Hart’s story are just that - characters!! They are funny, sassy, loud, rude & totally adorable. The main character is named Vegas Manilow!! Aunt Dottie has always been there for Vegas as she was growing up. I picture her as an elderly, slightly nuts woman with lots of sass! You won’t believe Burt! He’s hilarious! If the rest of the stories are like this one, this is a great collection!… (más)