Contents:
Ritual in death / Nora Roberts - Eve Dallas is attending a party with her husband when a man enters covered in blood - 3/5;
Love endures / Mary Blayney - in Regency London, a gambler & habitual liar returns as a ghost to correct the wrong he did his wife and his best friend - 1.5/5;
Cold case / Ruth Ryan Langan - a copy on leave crashes his car and has a vision of murder from the 1930s - 2/5;
Wayward wizard / Mary Kay McComas - a mother & son at a museum touch an exhibit and are transported back to the Middle Ages and a wizard looking for a lost artefact - 2.5/5. ( )

An anthology with the theme of Suite 606. The story by Robb worked very well and is typical of the Eve Dallas shorts. However the second story (Blaney) simply didn't work at all for me and I found the third (Langan) barely OK. However the last story (McComas) tied them all together and was a fairly good one on its own. I will keep the book for the story by Robb; otherwise it would be traded away.

The JD Robb story with Eve Dallas was excellent. I didn't care for the Cold Case story (Langan) because it didn't keep my interest. The Love Endures story by Blayney was set in the Regency period but seemed so ahistorical that it was too jarring to be a comfortable read. Of the non-J>D> Robb stories, I liked the Wayward Wizard (McComas) best. It had humor and interesting characters. It's chief shortcoming was that it wasn't longer. I may even try to find some other books by McComas. ( )

This is an anthology with four stories there for basically four reviews. It seems a bit long but it covers all four stories as individuals.

Ritual in Death by J.D. Robb
When a naked stranger covered in blood and holding a knife crashes a party, lieutenant Eve Dallas goes into action. Along with her husband Roarke, the owner of the hotel that the party is taking place in, they try to unravel not only who the stranger is but where all the blood came from. Finding a body in Suite 606 added the questions of who was the victim, why was she murdered and whether it was devil worship or just plain evil.

*** (3 stars) Been wanting to read J.D. Robb’s ‘In Death series’, never started it. Didn’t realize this would be part of that series. Set in the future (I think) based on all the slang words and abbreviations used. While this was a good story, I felt like I was missing a lot (probably because I was … the first 20-something stories of the series). As a suspense story with a little occult feel to it, good story but I wouldn’t say it was much of a romance. I did really like Roarke (the husband) and I am going back to an earlier ’In Death’ book to give Eve a chance . In general not a real good stand alone short story.

Love Endures by Mary Blayney
Start with the death of a gambling, lying husband (Reggie Cassidy) then add the grieving widow (Summer) and the ex-best friend (Lord Stephen Bradley). Coming back as a ghost with the need to right a few wrongs night be humiliationg for Reggie, liberating for Summer, but a dream come true for Stephen. Love the connect to ‘Wayward Wizard’

**** (4 stars) I don’t normally like romances that had the ‘falling in love’ before the book started, but this rekindling was very touching. I also enjoyed the reluctance of Reggie to change his nature, even though he was dead he seemed to think of only protecting his lies. Set as a historical (which I read a lot of), London 1814.

Cold Case by Ruth Ryan Langan
After a fatal accident on the job, Sam Hunter needed to find himself again. During a November storm in Vermont, he saw a figure in the road that caused him to crash. Walking to the nearest farmhouse, Sam was helped by Mary Catherine McGivern only to want to learn her story too. The emotions started to come to him unexpectedly and he needed to help her and keep her safe, if he could.

**** (4 stars) I really enjoyed the story, the twist was expected but still fun. I liked this kind of twist and wished we could have spent a little more time with the romance as well as the ending. Great cast of characters Mary Catherine and her sister were warm and loving (to be expected), I even kind of liked Hoag (as a character) and his rough crazy way, but I was a bit disappointed in Sam, in the end his heart seemed fickle.

Wayward Wizard by May Kay McComas
Losing herself (Marie Barnett) and her son (Hugh) somewhere in time (in the year 1223) might be an adventure, meeting the wizard (Nester Baraka of Viator) was. Through time and space, getting back to the Philadelphia Museum where it all started became and interesting combination of past and futures, giving the three a chance to get to know each other, and maybe even reconciling some of past mistakes.

**** (4 stars) Predictable love match, a gentle romance but what a fun way of getting it done. The relationship between mother and son was a great match also, to see the changes in how Hugh saw himself and his mother interact was a mothers dream come true. Great connection with ‘Love Endures’, it was a laugh out loud moment for me when I realized where the house was, who the ghost was and why the name of Reggie Cassidy sounded familiar. I have never read an anthology that had done that. What an incredible way to end this particular collection.

The only author here that I have read before has been Ruth Ryan Langan and Nora Roberts, but not her as J.D. Robb. The other stories in this book are good enough for me to want to read more of there books/stories. While I wouldn’t say any of these stories are strong occult or paranormal stories (they have a little), I would call them all a light romance with a little suspense. Overall a good fun read. ( )

My rating and review are just for the J.D.Robb portion of this book. I am fascinated with the Eve Dallas, In Death series, and was only interested in that section of this anthology. Someday, ,maybe, I will find time to read the other stories, but for now, this is the only one from this book. This one story was worth the price of the entire book. I was not disappointed.

Robb's futuristic cop, Eve Dallas, is at a party when murder finds her in this novelette... A naked, blood covered man, waving a knife and incoherently babbling suddenly appears, once restrained and placed in custody, Eve follows the bloody trail the man left back to another suite in the hotel to find the body of a brutally murdered young woman lying in a large pool of blood within a pentagon on the floor. Evidence of a party/orgy is everywhere.

Since there are only 82 pages, this story is wrapped up rather quickly, but not witout giving the reader an exciting and thrill packed glimpse into the world of satanism and ritualistic murder.

Eve, working in tandem with husband, Roarke, partner Peabody and Dr. Mira, quickly identifies the events that lead up to the murder, and the many suspect/participants.

Concise, and tightly written, I enjoyed every minute of this, another episode in the Eve Dallas series. ( )