This book contains two shorter works by two of the hotter authors in the paranormal romance genre: Dark Dream by Christine Feehan and A Dream of Stone and Shadow by Marjorie M. Liu.

I have not read any other of the Carpathians - Dark series before and this novella didn't make me want to read any of the full length novels by Feehan I've missed. In fact, I got about 30 pages in and decided life was too short and my "to be read" pile is too high to waste my time further, so I skipped right to the next story.

The second, shorter, story was much better in my opinion. Like all the Dirk & Steele books Liu's story can stand alone, but if you've read the others you'll see some familiar characters. The hero is not what I expected, but I came to like him a lot over the course of the story. He's heroic without being overbearing. The heroine is the active force in this story which is a nice change from the usual. ( )

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Dark Dream (Carpathians - Dark series) by Christine Feehan
Witnessing a vampires evil, the being hunted by that vampire for 15 years, left Sara Marten more aware than most humans of what can be. Having her own dark angel to help her through the traumatic events in her life even if it was just an image to hold in her mind, words to hold in her heart, she was able to eluded that evil. The words had been written centuries ago, Falcon never realized they had the power to help anyone but himself. Finding each other would call the ancient vampire to them both, leaving everyone around them in danger.

Book 7.…. Slightly shorter story then normal, but lacking in nothing. Nice to see a gentler Carpathian man, he let her make the chooses, she made them freely and without hesitation. Exciting to meet an ancient older than Mikhail, to revisit him, Raven, Jacques, Shea and the Carpathian Mountains.

A Dream of Stone & Shadow (Dirk & Steele series) by Marjorie M. Liu
Being a pre-cog for the Dirk & Steele agency, Aggie Durand saw some of the most evil of the world. Concentrating on saving children from the worst horrors, she found herself being drawn to a little girl that had a guardian angel of sorts. Charlie had never thought about anyone or anything but protecting his own identity, until he heard the call of the little girl trapped in a basement, even though he was trapped himself, he knew he had to find a way, a person to help the girl, even if he had to die to do it.

Book 4 …..The girls story was hard to read (physical, sexual and emotional abuse), but if you can get through that, the romance of a pre-cog and a gargoyle is interesting. I have never read anything like this story, it took me a while to understand what Charlie was, the beginning of the story was very confusing but after I started to get the concept of Charlie’s situation, I was much more able to understand the beginning section. The added mythical creatures of demons, shape-shifters as well as gargoyles and all the psychics made for a very diverse group of characters. I personally could have used a little more character development, but for a short story the main characters were enough, the link between Agatha and Charlie was great. I am really interested in finding more from this author (like maybe more of her Dirk & Steele series). ( )

This gets 4 stars for the Liu story.

This contains two stories (novellas), one by Christine Feehan, and one by Marjorie M. Liu. I finished the Feehan story today, Dark Dream, and was much less than impressed.

What should have taken me a morning to finish took almost two days. I know her Carpathians are loved, and she’s hugely popular, but this is this first I’ve read from her. I can’t say I’ll be rushing out to buy another.

I found the story and the characters beyond cheesy. I actually chuckled when not once, but twice, someone bit their fist in fear/anxiety (I believe there was another instance of the poor girl shoving her fist into her mouth, which gave a picture I’m sure is different than what the author intended). And the mind control. How many times did the girl need to be “nudged” into bending to his will? And all the talk of marking her as his. I thought that at any second he would just go ahead and urinate on her. When he went to bite her, she pulled away in fear. His response? He informed her it was silly to be afraid, that she would have found it erotic. But, hey, it’s nothing a little “nudging” didn’t cure. All this only a few hours after they met.

Alright, I was also thrown off by the sleeping deal. He had to “go to ground” to sleep, and while she was out and about, heading into known danger (at his command), she managed to send a psychic signal that she was in trouble. He does come to her aid, but while noting that he hadn’t had enough sleep.

Really? Because even mere mortals suck it up.

The moral of the story is that I found the girl to be a twit, the guy downright laughable, the dialogue groan-inducing, and the plot fairly boring.

Now, on to A Dream of Stone & Shadow, Liu's story...

This story was the second half of the Dark Dreamers book, and it more than made up for the disappointing Christine Feehan Dark Dream.

Aggie is a pre-cog who works for the Dirk & Steele detective agency. D&S isn’t your average company: they employ psychics, shape-shifters, and all manner of “deviants”. Charlie is a ghost of sorts- he can keep dying and coming back to life. It’s when he dies that he can travel outside of his prison, where he’s kept by a witch. Charlie is very unusual as a love interest, mostly because he’s a disembodied gargoyle.

Charlie recruits Aggie to help him rescue a little girl who’s kept as a sex slave by a son and his mother, who happen to be part demon.

I loved the characters. Aggie is fantastic, original and very well written. The dialogue is absolutely top notch, and the plot moves fast and interesting. You don't get disembodied gargoyles every day.

I’m going to be searching out more of Liu’s Dirk & Steele books. ( )

Review for Christine Feehan's Dark Dreams.

This one was a little different from the other Dark Carpathian books, but I really enjoyed it. I like that we are getting to the stories of the true ancients, at last! I can't wait to start the next book. ( )