#43 Hot Blooded by Christine Feehan, Maggie Shayne, Emma Holly, Angela Knight

My Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

For an anthology, all of these stories were surpisingly good and well-written.

“Dark Hunger” by Christine Feehan
This story takes place within Christine Feehan’s Dark series and tells the story of Riordan de la Cruz and his lifemate Juliette. But Juliette has a secret identity of her own, as well as her own agenda protecting her sister and cousin. Definitely a romance but enough other action going on to hold my interest throughout.

“Awaiting Moonrise” by Maggie Shayne
Jenny Rose is a university professor who travels to the bayou of Louisiana to research tales of a possible unknown, and as yet undiscovered, species of mammal. But she meets up with the town’s sexy (and single) doctor, whose interest in her is more than just academic. I enjoyed this one even more than the Feehan story.

“The Night Owl” by Emma Holly
This story takes place within Emma Holly’s Midnight series (Catching Midnight, Hunting Midnight, Courting Midnight) and if you like to read series in order, is best read after Hunting Midnight since it tells the continuing tale of Bastien and Emile who first appear in that book. It was a good story, though I probably didn’t like it quite as much as Shayne’s contribution.

“Seduction’s Gift” by Angela Knight
Grace Morgan is a Latent, she has the Gift of the Mageverse but would rather live in the real world serving and protecting fellow humankind in the role of a deputy police officer. But her grandmother, Morgana le Fay, sends Lord Lancelot du Luc to seduce her and bring her over, activating her Gift with the act of lovemaking, at least 3 times.

This is the second short story I’ve read by Angela Knight that takes place in the Mageverse series, the first one being “Galahad” which appeared in the Bite anthology, though that one actually takes place later in the series. I didn’t really care for “Galahad” all that much as I couldn’t get into the whole Knights of the Round Table as Vampires thing… but for some reason, I liked this one a little better. Perhaps because it’s actually the first story in the tale. But because so many others thought it was great, I didn’t want to judge the series by a short story and I’ve since acquired the other books of the Mageverse series. If anything, this story has forced me to move Master of the Night closer to the top of my TBR pile.

See the BookCrossing journal page for this book for more reviews and information. See more progress on: read 100 books in 2006.