I keep a library of Mercedes Lackey books, but this one didn't stay on the shelf. That should pretty much encapsulate how little I enjoyed this overall. It was ok but not going to be a reread for me. ( )

Counting Crows by Mercedes Lackey: 2 stars
Rape scene gets a bit too graphic for the age bracket I thought they were aiming for, otherwise rather standard for recent Lackey.

Drusilla's Dram by Rachel Lee: 1 star
blah.

Moonglow by Catherine Asaro: 3.5 stars
Interesting magic system. Seems like it either wanted to be longer or shorter than current length -- characters have spurts of wooden behavior, plot starts off nicely tangled but then resolves a bit too easily. ( )

3 novels in one - Mercedes Lacky, Rachel Lee and Catherine Asaro all contribute a short fantasy romance to this volume.

Mercedes Lackey's "Counting Crows" was the first up - and my favourite. Gwynn is wedded to a man she has never seen before, in order to ensure the safety of her father's lands. She goes to her husband hoping that he will be a man she can learn to love and finds instead that he is a brutal man who rapes her and beats her. Gwynn has a secret though and she eventually is pushed to the point where she uses it.

Rachel Lee's "Drusilla's Dream" was next - and the one I least liked. Drusilla works night shift - inputing data into a computer. As she types, she's on autopilot, daydreaming about a world where she is a princess on a quest to find the Key of Morgania. Details from her job work her way into her daydream, such as the janitor, who becomes a powerful wizard, and Miles, her supervisor at work and the Behemoth tamer in her dreams. Reality and dreams get really mixed up, and so did I - but somehow the daydreams turn to reality - I think.

Last up was Catherine Asaro's "Moonglow". Jarid is the heir to the throne until his parents are killed in an ambush. The entire kingdom believes he is dead, but he is alive and now deaf, mute, and blind. Iris, who believes she has no real magic, finds him. It's decided that Iris must marry Jarid, and much of the story covers how Jarid and Iris get to know one another.

Overall an average read ( )

Charmed Destinies is a three-in-one book, by three different authors, only one of whom I'm really familiar with. I love Mercedes Lackey, but her story here was only kind of good. A bit deus ex machina - of course I think I spoiled it for myself by looking at the end before I read it through. Stupid. But still not among her best. Rachel Lee's was OK, a bit cute - and I noticed (before she mentioned it) when the 'fantasy' and 'reality' started running together. But Catherine Asaro's was truly excellent; I want to look up the other story written in this world, and I'm going to take a look at her other work too. I've seen her name before and ignored her - the blurbs didn't catch me. But the characterization in this story was good - that is, the characters actually thought about what they were doing and why and what the other characters felt...Made me cry. Definitely an author to check on. ( )

In Lackey's "Counting Crows", Lady Gwynhefar and Sir Elloran fight for honor and love. Lee's Drusilla's Dream was in my opinion the least of the three stories, but worth a read to those fans of urban fantasy romances. Asaro's Moonglow is the first story in her Charmed series and tells of the meeting of Iris Larkspur and the long lost prince Jarid. ( )