Pandora Pine

As always, this is a joy to read! some stories/authors are better than others, but since the stories are short even the ones i don't love aren't really that bad. Love the way these are set up and the the themes and premise!

I would have liked it if the authors agreed on more than just the basic outline of the universe, as there were some very inconsistent details about it throughout the stories. But overall, if I had to describe this anthology in one sentence, I would say it is cute and fluffy. I had fun reading it. And it's for a good cause!

A Caller from Grand Rapids, part 1– Jeff Adams and Will Knauss
Not sure why they felt the need to make this story into 2 parts, but it feels meh to rate just one part... show more

A Caller From Windermere – Charlie Cochet
Cute little story about a mage and a dog shifter with Cochet's signature goofy humor.

A Caller from San Francisco – Hailey Turner
A story about a selkie and a firefighter. I tried one book by Turner before and I couldn't finish it so I was a bit weary of this one, but in the end I liked it and would love an extended version of it.

A Caller from Springfield – J.D. Light
A story about a human and a demon. My first by this author and very cute.

A Caller from Ottawa– Jenn Burke
A story about a witch with wonky magic who finally finds a home and a family. My favorite so far! Love me some Jenn Burke A Caller from Portland – Kiki Burrelli
My first by this author. A shifter story, and I liked the characters but the writing was not for me.

A Caller from New Orleans – Lisa Oliver
Adorable hedgehog shifter finds his wolf mate. The writing was not for me but I loved everything about the hedgehog!

A Caller from Knoxville – Macy Blake
Another new author. I loved the characters and the setting - a human meets a forest guardian (kind of reminded me of the forest god from Princess Mononoke), but it had way too many sex scenes for such a short story.

A Caller from New York – Maz Maddox
This was just one overly long sex scene. I didn't like it. :(

A Caller from Pittsburgh – Morgan Brice
This writer is definitely not my cup of tea.

A Caller from Boston – Pandora Pine
My least favorite so far. Too insta love. Too much telling, not enough showing.

A Caller from Chicago – Piper Scott
A story about an innocent human and a being from another dimension. Don't know what to think about this one. It had humor that felt like Alice Winters and I'm not a fan. But the setting was interesting so points for that!

A Caller from Seattle – Sam Burns and W.M. Fawkes
A dying 21 year old meets a vampire. Short but still managed to make me cry.

A Caller from Savannah – Silvia Violet
This one was really fluffy. A mage and his love interest enter a baking contest to win a bakery!

A Caller from Montreal – SJ Himes
A dragon finds his treasure. Loved! A Caller from Austin – Susi Hawke
A vampire story. Despite it being a bit clumsily written, I liked it.

A Caller from Grand Rapids, part 2 – Jeff Adams and Will Knauss
I'm still not sure why they divided this story into two parts. Could have left it as the last story imho.
We get an explanation on how the podcast and wish granting works. As for the romantic part of the story, I spent too much time trying to remember what happened in the first part to really enjoy it. show less

I love this series and usually they are without a question a 5 star read. And I still love the series and all the characters, lol, but I just couldn't give it the top rating this time.

Even though the series is rife with men who at times need to be told to start acting their age, or that I find some of the sex scenes a bit repetitive (not so much in the books, but definitely between the books, if that makes any sense, lol) there is something about all of it that has drawn me in and made me show more invest in these guys. And this story really was no different. I did question some of the police actions and the haste in which they acted, but okay, I can live with that. I also questioned the behaviour of Ronan, as I felt that to be quite extreme, and to be honest it was never explained why, or at least, nowhere I could see. I might have missed that though.

No, the reason I deducted a point from my rating is because I felt the end was extremely rushed. I'll go so far as to say, I felt it was unfinished. Not the actual mystery part of things, no that's over. There were a lot of things going on in the periphery that I felt weren't addressed and closed off. Now if that's because there's another book on the horizon that will address it, my bad. But if not, yeah it's left me a bit unsatisfied. I'll put it behind a spoiler as I don't want to ruin things if you haven't read the book yet.
What is really bugging me is why Shiloh went off the deep end. And did he actually summon a demon to capture Bertha and the others? How was Cody involved? I know Shiloh was confessing to the police as long as Ronan was there, but for it to be left out completely felt wrong. And of course what for me was an even bigger deal, how did they free Bertha and the rest of the crowd? Maybe I'm just greedy, but yes, that's going to bug me for a while yet, lol. show less

Great story with a few flaws that keeps it from five stars. I found the reality TV portion of the story to be annoying and unnecessary. I also think that the mystery would have been much better had Tennyson and Ronan not gotten together as a couple. That said, I found the story to be engaging and entertaining. The two MCs were well fleshed out and likable. I did get confused by Ten's friends Carson and Cole but not enough to be bothered. The rape was handled well by Ms Pine as was the murder show more itself. I can't wait to jump into the second installment. show less