My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding Anthology

Werewolves, vampires, witches, voodoo, Elvis---and weddings

An “ordinary” wedding can get crazy enough, so can you imagine what happens when otherworldly creatures are involved? Nine of the hottest authors of paranormal fiction answer that question in this delightful collection of supernatural wedding stories. What’s the seating plan when rival clans of werewolves and vampires meet under the same roof? How can a couple in the throes of love overcome traps set by feuding relatives---who are experts at voodoo? Will you have a good marriage if your high-seas wedding is held on a cursed ship? How do you deal with a wedding singer who’s just a little too good at impersonating Elvis?

· L. A. Banks
· Jim Butcher
· Rachel Caine
· P. N. Elrod
· Esther M. Friesner
· Lori Handeland
· Charlaine Harris
· Sherrilyn Kenyon
· Susan Krinard

Shape-shifters, wizards, and magic, oh my!

My main reason for picking up this short story collection was so that I continue working my way through Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. An unfortunate side effect is that I am pretty sure I read something out of order for the Harry Dresden series, but what can you do really? I am not 100% sure if some of the other stories were parts of series as well because that will really knock my "only read a series in order" mantra around a bit as well!

In Spellbound by L A Banks, the Hatfields and the McCoys have been feuding for generations, "working roots on each other, casting evil spells, dabblin' in hoodoo". When Odelia Hatfield and Jefferson McCoy fall in love, the one thing that can be guaranteed at the wedding is problems! It doesn't really help that the wedding was something of a surprise to all parties who thought they were coming to town to celebrate individuals graduations!

L A Banks is an author who I only ever seem to read in anthologies, but I do like her voice, and will maybe try to make an effort to read more of her longer books!

I really enjoy reading Jim Butcher's Dresden files stories, and Something Borrowed was no exception. Wizard Harry Dresden is a last minute replacement best man for his friend's wedding, but there just isn't quite something right about the bride! Once he puts his finger on what the issue is, it's a matter of life and death and Harry has to pull out all the stops to save the big day!

The only thing that was a bit annoying for the OCD in me, is that this story should be read between Dead Beat and Proven Guilty (books 7 and 8 in the series) and I am only up to book 3. I have previously read another short story out of order as well! Let it go Marg, let it go!

Dead Man's Chest by Rachel Caine was a really fun read. At first I was really confused at where the author was trying to take the story, but in the end I think this will be one of my favourites from the collection.

Cecilia couldn't believe her luck when romance cover model Ian Taylor fell for her. Only problem is that things are going a little bit fast for her when suddenly she is whisked onto an old style sailing ship to be married in what appears to be a ship wench outfit. Turns out there is something strange about the crew, and suddenly Ian doesn't seem to be quite the catch either. Lots of fun.

All Shook Up by P N Elrod was another fun read. Frankie is catering at a celebrity wedding reception when she is completely shocked to see that the entertainment is a VERY good Elvis impersonator. Whilst she is an excellent caterer, she also has another gift - seeing the future, and she is not sure that she likes what she sees, but Elvis seems to be doing a good job of distracting her for now! Another author that I only seem to read in anthologies. Last time I reviewed one I said I can definitely see myself reading more by this author. Same still applies - I just need to get around to starting a whole book by her.

If there was one story in this collection that didn't really work for me, it was Esther M Friesner's The Wedding of Wylda Serene. There haven't been many events held at the exclusive Club, basically because absolutely anything could, and has happened. It is therefore something of a surprise when the local darling, Wylda Serene insists that she must get married there, especially when no one seems to have met the lucky man yet. Whilst I did enjoy the premise, and think that it is one that the author could have a lot of fun with (who couldn't have fun with a bunch of ancient and trouble making Greek Gods), I don't think I really got the mother-of-the-bride-zilla moments enough to be able save this story from being meh!

Lori Handeland seems to be yet another author that I only read in anthologies, and yet I liked the last story I read from her featuring characters from her Jager-Sucher series. In this story, Charmed by the Moon, Jessie and Will are about to get married when they find a love charm that has been hidden amongst their belongings. This leads them to question whether they are really in love or if they have been manipulated, and by whom?

Tacky by Charlaine Harris is set in the same world as the Sookie Stackhouse books, but Sookie isn't one of the characters. This short story examines what might possibly happen if a vampire decides to marry a werewolf. The main character is neither bride nor groom, but the bridesmaid. She also has to figure out what the bridesmaid's role in the wedding is meant to be, with a special focus on not ending up with a bridesmaid dress that looks tacky! There is also the fact that not everyone on either side is comfortable with this union, which leads to some problems on the big day, and then there is also the opinions of regular humans that might well get in the way as well.

A Hard Day's Night-Searcher by Sherrilyn Kenyon was the reason I read this book, and was in itself an okay story. It certainly didn't blow my mind though. Rafael Santiago's squire Jeff is a bit of a problem. He has published a story where he has changed the names, but other than that he has basically written about the Dark Hunter world, and now the top squires want to see him. They send Celina to pick up Jeff, but Rafael manages to stall by offering her a deal - he can get her to break the Squire within a week if she has to stay with him.

"...Or Forever Hold Your Peace" by Susan Krinard, was more a mystery than a romance, but I would love to read more set in this world. It is set in a alternate Victorian style world called Albion, where all the best families pass on not only land and treasures but also paranormal Talents. At the key moment in the wedding of Lady Emma Wakefield and Lord Edward Parish, a stranger bursts into the wedding and objects to the union. As he runs away from the wedding, he is killed. The next day, the bride goes missing and it is up to Lady Olivia Dowling and her friend, Kit Meredith, to figure out how those two events are connected. I really liked Olivia and Kit as a couple and you could easily see something more developing between the two characters.

Dates from Hell anthology

She thought her date was out of this world.
Actually, he was not of this world . . .

We've all been on bad dates, nightmare dates, dreadful experiences that turned out to be uniquely memorable in the very worst way. But at least our partners for these detestable evenings were more or less . . . human!

Now Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Kelley Armstrong, and Lori Handeland -- four of the very best writers currently exploring the dangerous seduction of the supernatural -- offer up dating disasters (and unexpected delights) of a completely different sort: dark, wicked, paranormally sensual assignations with werewolves, demon lovers, and the romantically challenged undead. Sexy, witty, chilling, and altogether remarkable, here is proof positive that some love matches are made someplace other than heaven.

I originally picked this anthology up because it had the next story in the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong included (it follows Haunted) . Two of the other authors seem to be authors that I only read in anthologies, and the third was new to me!


Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil
Kim Harrison takes us to the Hollows, where living vampire homicide cop Ivy Tamwood, investigating a string of very nasty murders, finds herself caught between two different men, who put every dating principle she holds dear to the ultimate test.

Kim Harrison is the new to me author in this anthology. I have had her Hollows series on my TBR list for a while now, with the intention of getting to it eventually. When I saw that this was a prequel to that series I thought it would be a fair introduction to the series. I really hope this story wasn't a good representation of what the series is like because I really didn't like it. What I suspect is that this prequel was written a fair way into the existing series, because there was little coherent world building, full of vampire politics, and I suspect a lot of assumptions made in terms of what the reader did and didn't know.

It also didn't help that I didn't really like Ivy as a character. Given that each of these novellas is around 100 pages long, I normally would have got through one of these stories in just over an hour - this one took my three nights. Ivy was meant to be this kick-ass heroine living vampire, but she ended up coming off as alternating between whiny and needy, and distant and aloof. The other strange thing is that the blurb says that she is caught between two men, but I counted three - the one who was the date from hell, the one that seemed to control her and she had a really unhealthy relationship with, and then the third man who she seemed to dominate (although he at least seemed to have genuine feelings for.

I will still give the series a go, but I wouldn't necessarily think that this is a good starting point for anyone else reading the series.

The Claire Switch Project
Lynsay Sands gives the power to shape-shift to a most resourceful woman, who uses it to her wickedly sexy advantage at her high school reunion.

I have read one book and one novella by Lynsay Sand previously, and it is fair to say her writing didn't really do it for me on either occasion, so I was a little sceptical when it came to reading her contribution to this book.

A young lab assistant works in a laboratory where they are doing testing on animals for molecular destabilisation. Due to the antics of a really bad guy, instead of the bunny getting stung by the ray gun, Claire gets zapped. Once her boss, who happens to be her best friends brother, and the (unrequited) love of her life since the time she was a teenager, finds out that she has been zapped he takes her home for the weekend. Her best friend has just been dumped and when she finds that Claire just has to look at a photo of someone and then she can shape shift to appear to be that person, she asks her to be her date to the school reunion that night, and take on the form of Hollywood heartthrob Brad Cruise (yes, really). Matters are complicated when Kyle (said boss) he then asks her out to the same school reunion (because she is the unrequited love of his life since he was a teenager). Of course, she agrees to go with both of them and much hilarity ensues.

Actually, I probably shouldn't have written the summary quite like that, because up to a point, this was an entertaining story with a fun premise, but instead of leaving it be, the author decided to take the hilarity a couple of steps too far in my opinion. Of course, humour is completely subjective, and so there are probably some that loved those extra couple of extra laughs, but for me it pushed it from the realm of amusing to silly.

I think it is time I just accepted that Lynsay Sands humour isn't for me.

Chaotic
Kelley Armstrong enters the Otherworld to help a beautiful half-demon tabloid reporter escape a disastrous blind date by giving her a hot lead...that leads to an even hotter werewolf jewel thief.

My main reason for reading this anthology and the best story out of the four!

Hope is a half-demon whose talent is for finding chaos. She can see it, smell it, taste it when there is any kind of chaos nearby, and she loves it! Craves it in fact. Having been raised outside of any kind of demon community, she was grateful when she was found, and given the task of assisting the Interracial Council by identifying when things are happening that shouldn't be.

Hope's blind date from hell is with a particularly arrogant and selfish man at a crowded museum gala, a man determined to belittle her chosen profession, and who doesn't even notice when she disappears having sensed something a little out of the ordinary going on in another part of the museum.

Having tracked her prey, she comes across a particularly debonair werewolf who is helping himself to a couple of the most priceless items from the museum. Little does Hope know but the chaos is really just beginning for her. The werewolf is Karl Marsten, who in some of the earlier books was something of a bad guy, but who seems to be mostly reformed now, and he is pretty sure that Hope really isn't working for who she thinks she is working for. Hope has to decide whether to trust him or not.

Let me tell you just one of the reasons why I liked this story so much. The whole story covers the event of just one night. There is no happy ever after, although there is a hint of a future happiness. Hope and Karl meet, are thrown into a situation, are attracted to each other, and to a certain degree they act on that attraction, but this is no hasty meet on page 1, kiss on page 50 and live happily ever after. Because the author is not trying to cram a whole relationship into a shorter than normal novel, you manage to get to know each of the characters better, and to get a well written story of the events of one momentous night. I am really hopeful that we will get to see more of the development of Hope and Karl's relationship during other books in the series.

Dead Man Dating
Lori Handeland gives the term "dating hell" a whole new meaning, when a Manhattan literary agent out on her first date in months, is forced to choose between a sexy devil, and the rogue demon hunter who's out to destroy him.

I have only read one other Lori Handeland story, and that was another novella in the Stroke of Midnight anthology. This one had a completely different premise and feel to it.

Kit Marinelli is a literary agent who is looking for love. Having given up on meeting a man any other way, she places an ad in the personals and is completely surprised when she gets a response, especially when he is a totally gorgeous man. Kit has been saving herself for true love, and therefore can't believe her sexual response to this man, and it is only when she is at the point of giving it up in a dark alley, and she is stopped by a rough looking demon hunter, that she starts to think there might be something strange going on. Her date is actually dead, and his body has been inhabited by an incubus who needs to sacrifice a virgin to sustain himself.

The incubus isn't really playing fair, in that he keeps on changing bodies, and almost getting to Kit before she can be rescued. She isn't totally helpless for her particular skill is ancient language and research and so while Chavez (the demon hunter) tries everything he can think of to kill the demon and not being very successful, Kit is able to contribution at least something to the puzzle, and that is not only the due to the fact she has to sacrifice her virginity. After all, if a incubus is desperate for a virgin, one way to keep her safe is to make sure she isn't a virgin any longer right! (Highlight for spoiler)

I did enjoy this one, even though it did have a couple of eye-rolling worthy elements in it! It could be an interesting premise for an urban fantasy type series.

Stroke of Midnight Anthology

Four of romance's most intriguing authors have come together to create a mesmerizing anthology— unforgettable tales of vampires, shapeshifters, and were-wolves. At the heart of these deeply sensual tales are everyday people facing extraordinary events—men and women thrown together by fate and an irresistible desire. In this world, your eyes can betray you as myth becomes reality, curses are vanquished, and love is the only weapon that can stand in the face of evil. In this world, there is a moment when passion and forbidden desire collide at the... Stroke of Midnight.

I picked up this anthology because it contained the next story in the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon


Winter Born by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Two enemy Were-Panthers discover that fate has destined they become lovers. Pandora must learn to trust Dante's foreign nature. But as she slowly succumbs to the truest passion she has ever known, dark forces have already set out to reclaim her...

I'm not really sure why but this DH short story didn't really do anything for me. Pandora is a young were-panther who has just gone into her first heat - a very dangerous time. When she goes to Dragon*Con to try and find Ash to try and be protected from the pack of were-panthers who would take her and basically destroy her life. At the same Dragon*Con are Dante and his 3 brothers, only one of whom is mated. Basically as soon as Dante and Pandora meet each other, they are in bed because they both can't resist their animal instincts, and then they are basically bonded forever, they just have to choose whether or not they want to make their vows. There's a lot of action packed in this story, but just didn't really ever draw me in really.

Born of the Night by Amanda Ashley
When Lady Shanara Montiori is taken hostage, she learns that the rumors about her captor are true. Lord Reyes is afflicted with the dark curse of the werewolf. Still, Shanara can't fight the attraction they both feel. Will their love break the curse-or feed its powerful hold?

I've only read one other novella from Amanda Ashley, and I really didn't like it! This one was better.

Make It Last Forever by L. A. Banks
An innocent mistake forces the beautiful Tara onto a mission to save herself from the dark fate that awaits her. Salvation comes in the form of a seductive biker with a heart of gold. But will surrendering to their ripe attraction unleash a danger even she cannot control?

I haven't read any L. A. Banks before. I read the first chapter of this novella, and thought WTF? I very nearly put the book down at that point because it just seemed such a strange story, but I kept reading, and was glad that I did. In the end this was the best story in the book - mainly because I haven't read a story like it before. Tara is on the point of being turned to vampire, and is trying to get to her Native American grandmother's house to try to stop the turning from happen, but along the way the undead are trying to stop her. Rider is a guardian, but doesn't know it yet, and as he falls in love with Tara, and tries to save her, his life changes.

Red Moon Rising by Lori Handeland
Novelist Maya Alexander's peace is shattered when she is stalked by a Navaho skinwalker who has taken on the guise of a wolf. Her only hope is the mysterious Clay Philips. In his arms, she seeks protection-but as the red moon rises, no one is safe from the danger that lurks nearby...

This one was interesting. Lori Handeland is another new to me author, and I didn't mind her novella. I think it is part of a series, but can't quite figure out where it fits!

The idea that there were Jager-Sucher's (basically paranormal hunters) out there to try and track down paranormal creatures - some of which were ancient creatures, and others created by the Nazis was interesting. Maya was apparently gifted in that she could hear the winds, and Clay has to track down the skinwalker, and protect her, whilst trying to stop himself from falling in love with her, because the last people he loved were killed because of him.



Overall, this was a pretty lacklustre collection, but it does mean that I can now move onto the next book in the Sherrilyn Kenyon series, so that's okay with me!


Rating 3.5/5