I hate it when I like the first story in a book of short stories the best, no matter how much I still liked the rest I can't appreciate them as well if I am comparing them unfavorably to the first story.

This book has four romance stories all with a tapestry, hence the title. Two are historical and two paranormal romance with time travel. The two with supernatural aspects seemed a little contrived when compared to the historic ones. They also felt a little rushed in parts. ( )

Four interesting stories all featuring a tapestry and all featuring romance. The tapestry in all incidences is almost a character in it's own right and as the stories also feature a certain amount of paranormal and historical details I found them quite enjoyable. ( )

TO KISS IN THE SHADOWS by Lynn Kurland
Jason of Artane has his heart set on a noble quest, but his plans change when he meets a mysterious young woman who hides behind her tapestry frame yet manages to capture his heart.

AN INTERRUPTED TAPESTRY by Madeline Hunter
The novella tells the story of Giselle, whose charming, spendthrift brother has been abducted and held for ransom. In desperation she turns to Andreas von Bremen, a merchant with the Hanseatic League who years ago had been a friend. As they try to save her brother, they rediscover their friendship. . .and much more.

DRAGONSWAN by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Beautiful scholar Channon MacRea has spent years studying the legendary Dragon Tapestry, devoting days and nights to deciphering the impenetrable Old English symbolism. Then one evening the unnaturally handsome Sebastian appears. He claims to hold the key to solving the tapestry's mysteries. Bearing magnificently taut and tanned flesh marked by intriguing scars of battle, he also claims to be a dragon slayer trapped between two worlds.

For Channon there's only one way to finally uncover the secrets of the intricate embroidery-by following the seductive stranger into a fantastic alternate world of magic, danger, and erotic adventure.

INTO THE DREAMING by Karen Marie Moning
IT WASN'T ALL JUST A DREAM...

Aspiring romance novelist Jane Sillee was completely in love with her fantasy man--the hot and strapping dark-haired Highlander who'd been coming to her in her dreams for years and inspired her sensual flights of literary fantasy.

But it was more than her imagination that conjured up the brilliantly woven tapestry sporting the spitting image of her magnificently arrogant warrior. It was more than a dream that transported her to medieval Scotland to break an evil spell. And it was more than she could handle when she found herself wrapped in the muscular arms of Aedan MacKinnon, who had his own fantasies to fulfill... ( )

This book has won (and has been nominated for) numerous awards as an anthology, and several of the novellas have also been nominated (or have won) individually. Each of the stories has a plot point surrounding a tapestry, thereby giving the collection its name, although some work it in better than others.

The first novella is To Kiss in the Shadows, by Lynn Kurland. Lianna of Grasleigh has recently become a ward of the king after her parents were killed. Disfigured and despised, she awaits the time that she, and her land, will be married off to form a political alliance. Kendrick of Artane is much admired, handsome, and sought-after. His brother, however, is another story. Jason of Artane once served as a squire to a man rumoured to be a practitioner of the dark arts, and he is therefore treated with fear and loathing. Jason has been sent by his father to find Kendrick when he unexpectedly meets and falls in love with Lianna. But the king would never agree to such an alliance with a reviled third son. To Kiss in the Shadows is an award-winner and quite a lovely story. I particularly enjoyed the brothers' interactions and how they played off one another, nothing like a bit of sibling rivalry to keep things interesting!

An Interrupted Tapestry, by Madeline Hunter, is the second novella in this collection, and like the first, is strictly a historical romance. Giselle's brother Reginald has wasted the family fortune away. He has left debts all over London, making false promises, and bad trading decisions. Now he is being held ransom, and unless his debts are repaid, he may just lose his life. Desperate, Giselle approaches Andreas, an old family friend and successful tradesmen who she hasn't seen since he had a falling out with her brother. And although Andreas is engaged to be wed to the daughter of a wealthy Venetian merchant, his heart belongs to Giselle and he agrees to help her.

The third novella, Dragonswan is another award-winner written by Sherrilyn Kenyon which has subsequently been published individually. It is the third story in her Dark Hunter series, following the novel Fantasy Lover and a short story entitled "The Beginning". Dr. Channon ("Shannon with a C") McRae has always been fascinated by the Dragon Tapestry which hangs in art museum. In fact, she made it the subject of her dissertation. One day while studying the tapestry at the museum, she encounters a dark, handsome, and mysterious man name Sebastian Kattalakis. Although very unlike her, she ends up sleeping with him. As it turns out, Sebastian is no ordinary human, he belongs to a race of beings known as the Drakos. After stealing the tapestry, he takes Channon back in time with him to pre-Norman Britain. While enjoyable, the story really should have been an entire novel; it is simply too complex a plot to be squished down to novella length and still do the story justice. Perhaps a little over the top at times, but you gotta love were-dragons!

The fourth and final novella in this collection is Into the Dreaming by Karen Marie Moning. Like Dragonswan, this story also has a bit of time-travel and magic mixed in with the historical romance. (By the way, if you read the plot blurb at the beginning of the book for this story, it is almost completely wrong.) To save his clan, Aedan MacKinnon agreed to be imprisoned by the Unseelie King but was tricked into five hundred years of imprisonment, by the end of which he has lost both his sanity and his humanity. Jane Sillee is a modern day woman, aspiring to be a romance writer; inspired by her dreams of a handsome highlander. Although she didn't know, the dreams and the man she loves are real. The Seelie Queen arranges for the two of them to be brought together, but Aedan is no longer the man Jane knew from their meetings in the Dreaming. She has a month to bring him to his senses, or he will be lost to her forever.

Overall, I enjoyed this collection very much. The stories presented a variety of writing styles and romantic genres. As novellas, they were quick reads, but contained a surprising amount of substance despite their length. I can definitely understand why so many like this anthology.

Experiments in Reading ( )

This is probably my favourite of Kenyon's HunterLegends short stories. Of course, it has a dragon in it - and a super sexy one at that - which gives it a good head start. Sebastian is a lovely character; I love the way he always tells Channon the truth and because of the situation, she initially takes it all as a joke. She is strong and clever and takes things in her stride in a realistic kind of way.

Perhaps because this is a short story, although it has many of the usual trappings where the hero keeps agonising over whether he can subject the heroine to his dangerous lifestyle, it's in character here and doesn't go so far as to be annoying. There's a nice explanation of the creation of the Were-Hunters that I probably didn't pay full attention to the first time as I didn't know how important it would become.

I like the reason why dragons can't safely live in the 20th (or now the 21st) century and I really like Channon and Sebastian. I hope we'll get to see them make a guest appearance in a later book. ( )