The Majicka by MaryJanice Davidson
Honestly, I don’t know what it is, but I really didn’t like this story. I’m usually a fan of Davidson’s work, but for some reason, this one couldn’t keep my attention. Not only was the plot thin, but the entire story was a chaotic mess. It almost seemed like Davidson wanted to use these characters and have them interact in some fashion, but couldn’t figure out a way to make it work.

Voodoo Moon by Lori Handeland
This novella was a really easy read. The plot flowed and we learned enough about the characters to understand their motivation. I will say that it didn’t keep my attention all that well, but it did keep me interested in reading it, which is more than I could say for The Majicka.

Breath of Magic by Cheyenne McCray
I’m a fan of McCray’s and this novella just reinforces that. Probably the best story of the anthology, we’re given another story involving characters from her Magic series. If you haven’t read the series, then you might get a little confused as to the story arc, but the rest of the story is great. I’ve only read the first two novels in the series, so the revelation that I’m missing something was obvious by Darkwolf’s presence. However, even if you haven’t read the series, the story is good all on its own.

Any Witch Way She Can by Christine Warren
Another hit for this anthology. Christine Warren’s story features more of her Others characters and was a fascinating tale that really didn’t rely on a person reading her series. While the characters were familiar, I never felt like I was out of the loop and was easily intrigued with the plot. This was definitely a story that kept my attention throughout the entire novella and it reminded me that I really need to get the next Others novel.

Overall, this anthology started off a little slow and clumsy, but by the end, it managed to pull it all together. The Davidson story wasn’t that great, in fact I can’t really remember anything except for the fairy, werewolf, and vampire; the Handeland story was good, but not really memorable in my opinion; the McCray story was great; and the Warren story was fantastic. If you’re unsure about it, I would probably find it at the library.

http://www.literaryescapism.com/2008/... ( )

This is a collection of short stories with variations on the themes of modern fantasy (witches in today's world, fighting Balor and Fomorii in San Francisco and the like) mixed with a healthy dose of sex and/or romance.

The first two stories are interesting enough to make me look for more by their authors when I'm next in the bookshop. The witches fighting the Fomorii didn't grab me really, and the last story was like a really bad porn movie: no plot and no good sex either.

The Magicka seems like it could be fun in a full length book - the idea that she's a sort of source of magic for all the supernatural things around is not entirely novel, but nicely done and interesting. Voodoo Moon neatly defuses the riffs it sets up on "The X-files" but still works well with them, the skeptical female FBI agent investigating deaths by "voodoo doll." It also, and bonus marks here, correctly identifies them as poppets and part of English witchcraft rather than the voodoo tradition. It could also be a fun book or two to read. In both of them the "OMG I'm in love, I want sex, I get sex" is kind of rapid, as you might guess from a short story with other plot, but it doesn't have that rushed "get yer kit off" feel of the last story, and that helps raise them to be more interesting books, and to have the sex scenes work better to be honest. ( )

3 great short stories, 1 not so good (cheyenne mccray), I liked Christine Warren's so much I am picking up the rest of the series. ( )

Four stories from some very varied writers, all featuring witches and all featuring romance.

The first is by Maryjanice Davidson and it's about a woman called Ireland who lives in a farmhouse with several different races of supernatural creatures. She has a destiny that she has to live up to and a mentor arrives. This is pretty predictable with the characters being pretty typical MaryJanice Davidson characters. Readable but not really memorable.

Lori Handeland's Voodoo Moon is the story of a hard-baked FBI agent, Dana Duran, having to deal with some Voodoo murders, one of her prime suspects she finds quite attractive. The solution is quite interesting.

Cheyenne McCray's Breath of Magic is a story in her Magic world. I found it the weakest in the set, to know what's going on you really need to have read the series to get some of the references. Syndey has to use her powers to save the world but what's the cost of the battle and what are the motives of the people involved.

Christine Warren's Any Witch Way She Can was my favourite story. A love spell goes awry and Randy finds herself getting involved in witch politics. Although it appears to be in her series it stands alone nicely and actually would make me curious about reading more by this author.

Overall not a bad series of stories. Enjoyable. ( )

No Rest for the Witches is an anthology of four novellas. I liked three of them. The other one was, well, problematic.

"The Majicka" by MaryJanice Davidson - Davidson is one of those authors who writes in a very distinctive style--you either find her so grating that you want to throw the book out and take a bulldozer to it or discover that she's absolutely hilarious. I find her sarcasm amusing. This particular story is a wacky twist on the mentor/pupil cliche.

"Voodoo Moon" by Lori Handeland - An FBI agent is assigned to Devil's Fork, a small town right outside of New Orleans, to solve a recent rash of murders. The only catch is that all these murders seem to be locked-room mysteries with the only clues pointing to a local voodoo priest. I thought the concept was interesting, but the story itself could have benefited with the length of a full novel.

"Breath of Magic" by Cheyenne McCray - This story is part of a series. I really did not like this story. I find it hard to believe that the main characters could find the energy to get it on while there was a war waging in their city.

"Any Witch Way She Can" by Christine Warren - This is also part of a series, but in a way, it's more of a direct sequel to just one of those books (Wolf at the Door). Warren doesn't deal at all with the repercussions of time travel, and Miranda falling in love with one of the dinner guests went way too fast for my taste. But it was the heroine's interaction with her grandmother that saved the story from the mediocre. (more)