In the first section by Amanda Ashley, there are some serious plot and timeline flaws. The characters literally manage to set off on a short quest one day and by the following page, we've spanned three seasons. In this story especially, the brevity is jarring and unpleasant. I'm still scratching my head at how these two came to love each other in about 20 pages of descriptive narrative and I have no idea what Darkfest is supposed to actually be. Reading this, you will have many questions - don't bother looking for the answers in the story, they're not there

Maggie Shayne's story is confusing, not particularly sensual or interesting and I was mostly glad that it wasn't longer. The heightened tension was completely forced and the quickie ending was just strange.

Sherrilyn Kenyon's story is the only one of the four that I would have loved to read in longer form. I liked her heroine and liked that the hero was seriously flawed. There's an attention to detail that Ms. Kenyon uses that makes you forget you're reading a short story, and I found everything she said about witchcraft to be plausible. This would have been an outstanding long book and encourages me to look for more books by this author.

The final story by Ronda Thompson was just strange. I know the point of these stories was that they're full of "otherworldly" characters, but the writing doesn't have to be bad, does it? So many words are crammed into each paragraph, it's frustrating when there's still no storyline advancement a dozen pages later. This may have been included because of the werewolf angle, but it really is not any kind of otherworldly romance, it's just a poorly written short story that is unsatisfying.

Finally, overall I was left with a feeling of, "and that's it?" when I finished this book. ( )

I only read the Phantom By Kenyon. So... 2 stars for that story. ( )

I only read the Phantom By Kenyon. So... 2 stars for that story. ( )

Darkfest by Amanda Ashley

This story had some weird kind of beauty and the beast/ medieval quest vibe going on. Darkfest is a reclusive wizard who can change into a large black wolf, Channa is a blind village girl who he, for some reason, is drawn to. Even though I couldn't quite see why the two characters were drawn to each other so strongly, I still enjoyed the story. Ashley could've went the overbearing alpha route with Darkfest but she didn't and in fact made him a pretty nice guy. My only real problem with the story was that it felt like Ashley was trying to cram way too many plot elements into 80 some odd pages, so the story felt rushed and the obstacles facing Channa and Darkfest felt too easily resolved. Other than that I really enjoyed the setting and magic elements of the story.

Phantom Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon

This was above and beyond the best story in the book. Erin is physically drained from the terrifying dreams she keeps having, until a hero named V'Aidan suddenly appears out of no where in one of them. But once V'Aidan saves her from the monsters he can't leave her be and is suddenly in her dreams every time she closes her eyes. Now Erin has the problem of not wanting to be awake. This story is set in Kenyon's dark hunter universe but there is not really any mention of the dark hunters so if you're not into that series, you're still safe with reading this one.

Under Her Spell by Maggie Shayne

Melissa lands the job of her dreams, working as a tech consultant for a paranormal TV show. Her only problem is that her boss seems to be messing around with the dark arts, so of course Melissa decides that she must take it upon herself to save him. I really didn't remember much about this story from the first time I read it, if that tells you anything. This was mostly just an okay read. Nothing really wrong with the story, but nothing really fantastic either. I found myself getting a little bored with the plot about halfway through, but I did enjoy the characters.

A Wulf's Curse by Ronda Thompson

Elise runs away from an arranged marriage to a man who sounds like Blue Beard and hides among a traveling circus. Another okay story. I really enjoyed the traveling circus setting, but the plot, of the hero keeping the heroine at arms length for hidden reasons, got a little old pretty fast. However, Thompson's take on the werewolf curse was interesting and all the characters she incorporated into the story were pretty good in how she managed to make them all not blur together.
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Only rating "Phantom Lover" & A Wulf's Curse ( )