Anthology - Wish List

It has been a while since I read an Anthology that was really worth recommending, but this one is just that. The stories that comprise the Anthology really make this one worth the time. There were a couple of stories, like Dain's Union and Kleypas' I Will, that actually felt like full length novels, and I think that itself speaks highly of the stories.

Lisa Kleypas contributed the story I Will where Andrew, Lord Drake enlists the help of Miss Caroline Hargreaves to decieve his dying father into believing that he has mended his rotten ways. He has been cut out of his father's will and he already had half of his inheritance spent on gambling and frivolous diversions. He desperately needs the funds so he bribes Caro into assisting him by promising to stay away from her young brother Cade, who is following in Andrew's footsteps. Although we don't get to experience every nuance of the developing love affair, Kleypas gives us enough to root for the couple and be outraged for Caroline when a twist is thrown at the end of the story. Excellent tale! BTW: Andrew is the half brother of Logan Scott, which appeared in an earlier story of Kleypas. (B+)

Lisa Cach contributed Puddings, Pastries and Thou where we meet Vivian Ambrose, who is the poor relation that has been passed around from cousin to cousin for several years now. She arrives at her new "charitable" relations home the night before Xmas, and her cousin's daughter Penelope does not waste a minute to show Vivian her displeasure of having to share her gowns, let alone her first season with Vivian. Vivian, in turn, would like nothing more that to find herself a husband so she no longer will be a burden for her family, so Penelope, tries to put her in the path of Richard Brent. Richard Brent is looking for a wife that will accept him, faults and all. But, what are those faults? and why is it that he is considered less than marriageable material, even for a spinster like Vivian?
I really loved the way we discover Richard's secrets and Vivian's capacity to eat her way out of a difficult situations made this entry a light, pleasurable read. (B)

Claudia Dain gave us the novella Union and although it read like a full length novel, the characters where not as sympathetic as in the other stories in the book. Clarrisa Walingford is on the marriage mart but she is determined to go about her choices with care since she really doesn't marry an Englishman, regardless of the fact that she is English herself. Her goal is to marry a man that has lands in Ireland, her home. Beau Wakefield, Lord Montwyn, owner of a grand estate in Ireland is searching for a bride and believes Clarrisa just might fit the bill, especially after her meddling brothers indirectly challenged him to win her over.
Regardless of the characters or maybe, in spite of them, I found this one funny. Clarrisa and Beau were being easily manipulated by the hordes of brothers she has and it was just plain funny to see these two dance to the brother's tunes without realizing they were doing it. My disappointment in the story was because I really didn't get a feel for the spark between these two. they appear to be attracted to each other but they mostly wanted the union for other reasons. (B-)

Lynsay Sands gives us the last tale in this book, All I Want, which is another funny tale. Prudence Prescott is determined to grant her mother's Christmas wish of having her father stop his gambling and come home. They are on the way to debtor's prison at the rate they are going and Pru is determine to stop the downward spiral, if she could only speak to her father. Stephen Ballard, Lord Stockton, owns the gambling establishment that is frequented by Lord Prescott. He lives on the fringe of society and is dissatisfied with his life, until Pru steps in and turns it all around. I found this one the funniest of all since poor Pru just cannot get anything right and continuously finds herself in Stephen's way, ruining his business and just making a pie of herself. (B)

Grade: B

Anthology - His Immortal Embrace

This one was my Anthology read for the month of March. I had this one in my TBR pile for forever (at least three years). I bought it for Lynsay Sand's story since, I recall, I was just discovering her vampire series around the time. I was not disappointed in that story although my favorite has to be Howell's tale.

Hannah Howell's The Yearning: Lady Sophie Hay discovers that her ancestor has cursed her line to lose love when in an act of vengeance, Roma cast a curse on her lover's kind. She cursed them to live a life of darkness and to drink blood until one would choose love over wealth. Sophie goes out to seek the MacCordy Laird so that she can try to break the curse and save herself from the fate all her ancestors have lived with, what she didn't realize was that she would have a bigger role to play in breaking the curse. Alpine is on the edge of turning into the beast his forefathers had become when a ray of hope enters his keep. He wants to spare her the life of darkness that is his destiny but finds it more difficult with ever smile she gifts him with. Great short story that didn't feel rushed or abrupt at all. A.

Lynsay Sands' Bitten: Keeran MacKay has been cursed by a vampire that sought vengeance on his family after they killed her mate. He has lived two centuries in darkness, hating who he has become. When he saves Emily from the ship that was taking her to an arranged marriage he never thought she would breath life back into him. When Emily awakens in MacKay's castle she is surprised by the lack of servants that the house has and is upset that the laird is forcing the old couple caring for the place to do so alone. She is put to straight when the housekeeper tells her that everyone fears the MacKay and no one will work for him, Emily is determined to correct this, even if Keeran does not want her interference. In no time at all the house is filled with voices and is getting repaired. Keeran hates the reminder of what he can no longer have but the innocence in Emily is too alluring to deny. I liked this one although Emily's acceptance of the Vampire lure was a bit too easy, but the characters were so well drawn you felt their attraction as well as their suffering, so you were rooting for them all along. Gave this one a B.

Sara Blayne's Stranger in the Night: Worse one in the pack... Georgiana Thornberry is a antiquarian and is summoned away from a very promising excavation by her uncle who doesn't show up in the story at all. Julius is a mystery for most of the story since he barely shows his face until mid way in the book and then delivers a few lines before he is exposed as the boogey man. If you haven't picked up on my complete disdain for this piece, read the review again. There was barely any conversation in the story, mostly it was Georgiana who kept analyzing her life or so much background details that made this short story feel VERY long, then all of a sudden Georgiana is in love with Julius, yet we, the reader, have seen them converse once! Also, the story's point of view kept shifting all over the place. At some points it's told as if it was in the past, then others in the present, sometimes past and present mixed up and had me, the reader, shaking my head and thinking, WTF? On top of that Julius, who has just found acceptance and love wants to throw it away by awaiting the dawn? I thought I would lose it altogether at that point! Gave this one an F.

Kate Huntington's The Awakening was decent writing, unfortunately the plot took a twist down a path I have issues with. Thalia Layton goes to aid her elderly aunt who is very ill. What she finds startles her because the servants of the house flee before sunset and her aunt is eager to have her leave too. The man that has been lover to her aunt is known to be a monster. Adrien Lucerne is not happy to have this young, innocent woman in his home, when he has not feed on a human for 6 mo. Cordelia is dying and her niece is tempting him. This is the issue I have... Adrien is actually the cause of Cordelia's death and he is eyeing her niece as candy? I hate to give spoilers so if you don't want to know, I suggest you...
STOP READING NOW!
The kicker was that the night her Aunt dies, Thalia seduces Adrien. They went from her Aunt's grave to her bed. So not cool!! The writing itself was smooth and enticing but honestly, the distasteful nature of the story was too much for me and graded this one a D-

Grade: C

A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands

Finally got around to reading this one. This is the prequel to the Argeneau Vampire series which contains the titles Tall, Dark and Hungry; Single White Vampire and Love Bites.

This series has been published out of order and so it has been a challenge to follow but they have been worth the aggravation. For those new to the series, A Quick Bite is the first in the series, followed by Love Bites, Single White Vampire and then Tall Dark & Hungry.

Lissianna suffers of hemophobia, which in itself is not a terrible thing if you are a mortal, but for a Vampire, it could be deadly. On her birthday, her mother decides to give her the gift of health by kidnapping a renown psychiatrist with a exceptional track record in curing people with phobias.

Greg Hewitt is finally taking a well deserved vacation when he encounters a mysterious woman that compels him to act irrationally. It seems he has no will of his own and goes peacefully with her to her home and allows her to strap him down to her daughter's bed. Now he finds himself with a cute little bow around his neck and enjoying the best foreplay he has had in ages.

With relatives coming out of the woodwork and a priest determined to rid the world of a soulless Vamp, this story keeps you hopping and is quite enjoyable. It was not the best of the series (that would have to be Love Bites) but it had me grinning for most of the story which made it a worthwhile read.

In the end I didn't really see Greg cure Lissi of her phobia but we are lead to believe that a resolution is in sight. I enjoyed how the relationship between these two blossomed and although their love blossomed fairly quickly, Sands worked the tale in a way that made it acceptable.

Grade: B-

The Deed by Lynsay Sands

I'm not so sure about this one.
This was an alternate selection for my Author of the Month read. Lynsay Sands was chosen as the AOM in my yahoo reading group and I had every intentions of finally sinking my teeth (yes, pun intended) into Quick Bite, the latest installment in Sand's Argeneau series about a vampire family. The thing was that when I went out to look for the darn book in the TBR pile I could not find it. ARG!!! I lent it to my daughter Dre and I could have sworn she brought it back home during her spring break but I tore the house apart and couldn't find it. So, I settled for this one.

Lady Emma has a problem and she has gone off to court to have the King help her. Her husband has not bedded her. After two years of a marriage unconsummated she decided she needed help from the high court. But her husband dies before he can get around to performing "the deed' and leaves the estate in perilous condition with a cousin itching to take over the Duke's duty. The king, aware of the political conspiracies taking place in court, wants a man he can trust taking over the previous lord lands.

Amaury de Aneford, a landless knight who has proven himself true to the king has been given both Emma and her lands. He thinks she must be an old hag if the previous lord couldn't bring himself to bed her but is pleasantly surprised when this assumption proves wrong. There is a race to see the marriage consummated to avoid claims on the land later on and this scene is quite funny. But then we see how Amaury really has no clue as to what a woman might need or how to begin to treat a wife.

Add to the mix the fact that Bertrand, the cousin who aspires to inherit the lands, is trying to kill him and we have a new lord that is up to his neck in chaos.

The book was entertaining but I found that the hero's backward thoughts on woman kind of rubbed me the wrong way. And the heroine's naivete was a bit too much. I think if I was more in a forgiving mood I might have accepted that she was so ignorant of the ways between men and woman but I wasn't really very forgiving. At first I found it funny but then it just added to the grating of my nerves. So in truth I think that this book suffered from my mood and not really of content issues, so I gave it a higher grade than I wanted to give it (C+) because I realize that if I had initially setout to read this story I might have found it more enjoyable,

Grade: B-