****½ "Bond of Silver" by Rebecca York is about Alexander and Claire. Alexander is from Atlantis. When he dreams to find his soul mate, he meets Claire... who not only lives "out in the world," but is the daughter of Bendon, his adopted father. Making things worse is the fact that Claire's mother blames Bendon for abandoning her.

But Alexander has no choice--soul mate bonds keep Atlantis's force field strong. So he decides to keep his identity secret at first.

Well, we all know that's Not A Good Idea. But in spite of that, this is a rich story for such a short one, including emotional growth, lessons learned, and even a secondary romance.

There aren't too many details about Atlantis--just enough to make the story make sense. I hope this isn't the last we'll see of it, though--there's plenty to be explored.

****½ "Red Skies at Night" by Diane Whiteside is about Travis and Gillian. NYPD Lieutenant Travis is looking for the killer of his former partner, and the trail leads him to Gillian, who's an art thief... and a vampire.

Which doesn't shock Travis as much as it might have, because Travis's family has long served Don Rafael Perez, the head vampire in Texas.

They end up on the run and in danger, and there's plenty of excitement and steam. It's unusual for the heroine to be the vampire and the hero to be human, but it works here.

This is part of Diane Whiteside's Texas Vampires series, still one of the more unique vampire series out there, and I thoroughly enjoy it... even if it does make me homesick.

***** "Come Moonrise" by Lucy Monroe is about Ty and Frankie. They're both veterinarians and have been best friends for years. Frankie has been living in another city, but has come to the realization that her feelings for Ty have kept her from pursuing other relationships, so she comes back home with the intention of learning if there's any chance for the two of them or if she needs to let go once and for all.

What Frankie doesn't know is that Ty is a werewolf. Not only that, but they tend to avoid human mates, because even if the human mate leaves or gets a divorce, the werewolf mates for life. Not only that, but Ty is poised to marry a French werewolf. And, oh yeah, it's almost the full moon.

This story really took me by surprise. It's my favorite kind of romance--when friendship turns to romance--and then add the paranormal element, and Ty trying to do the right thing for himself, Frankie, and his clan, and it's just a fabulous romance.

There don't seem to be any upcoming stories about these werewolves, but the world and the secondary characters are just too rich for just one story. I really hope we'll see them again.

*** "Beyond Limits" by Susan Kearney is about Ian and Samantha. Or rather, Ari and Samantha. Samantha is a real estate tycoon, and Ian is her employee--the pilot of her private plane. At least that's who she thinks he is. In reality, he's Ari, an Atlantean, who's shape-shifted to look like Ian in order to get close to Samantha, his soul mate.

Samantha's taken aback when the usually reserved Ian starts flirting with her, and it doesn't take long for him to whisk her off to a private island, where he has to convince her that a) she's his soul mate, b) she's also an Atlantean, and c) she, too, can shapeshift.

The plot and the premise for this story are clever and interesting, but it felt distant to me. I didn't really get to know either character well enough to care what happened to them. They could have been any two people put into this situation--there was nothing that made them individuals.

If you're the type of reader who puts yourself into the plot, I think this story would work marvelously for you. I'm just not that type of reader. ( )