Lover Beware (Anthology 4-in-1)

Picked this up for the Wilks of it all, but decided to read everything.

My scientific rating breakdown follows:

Magic in the Wind
4 stars
This was my first Christine Feehan, and I really enjoyed it. I liked the Drake sisters and their seaside community a lot, and I’ll probably read the whole series. The sweet sentiment among the sisters and the found family theme made this one a winner for me.

Hot August Moon
1.5 stars
Nothing here really grabbed me—the writing or the characters. And the fact that it didn’t really end knocked its rating down further.

After Midnight
2 stars
Kind of a squicky premise, but at least I cared about the characters. I can’t get too fired up about a love/lust at first sight thing when both characters are show more married when they meet. I know that makes me a big fat hypocrite because I love the Outlander books, but time travel makes all the difference. Because it does.
Plus, this didn’t have a paranormal element like the other three, so I’m not sure why it was in this collection.

Only Human
4 stars
Yay, Eileen Wilks! I didn’t realize this was an older version of what was fleshed out in the first Lupi novel, but it was fun to read. I liked the changes Wilks made when she did a longer version, but after finally getting caught up on the series and not knowing when the last book will be out, it was nice to revisit Lily and Rule’s beginning. show less

A so-so collection of novellas, several of which continue or introduce familiar characters.

In Christine Feehan's Magic in the Wind Drake sister Sarah comes home to find her house has recognized her soul mate - but death's long black shadow clinging very tightly.

Katherine Sutcliffe's Hot August Moon sends FBI profiler Anne Travalli to New Orleans to track down a serial killer - and confront her own past. This one's particularly annoying, as it's a book lead-in and the story's close resolves nothing.

Fiona Brand's heroine faces the consequences of love at first sight - years later - in After Midnight, the only (as far as I can tell) stand-alone.

And finally, Eileen Wilks' entry introduces San Diego police homicide detective Lily Yu and the show more werewolf prince Rule Turner - it's early days for the story and there if you've followed the couple's later adventures you'll notice some a few revisions to details (Worf the dog becomes Harry the cat, etc.). Still a good read, and interesting to encounter an earlier version. show less

I had a bit of trouble making myself read the stories other than Magic in the Wind but after I gave them a chance I totally got into them.

Magic in the Wind - 5 Stars - In my next life I want to be a Drake sister. Their family has so much love and support. This story was great although a bit too short for me, but then again I could read about this family for days.

Hot August Moon - 4 Stars - Very interesting. I'm a bit disappointed in the ending, perhaps I'll read the next installment, not sure.

After Midnight - 3 1/4 Stars - I liked it, it was slightly predictable but still intriguing.

Only Human - 4 Stars - I really liked it.

The first story in this collection is by Christine Feehan's Magic in the Wind, a prequel to her Drake Sisters stories. Sarah is a security specialist; Damon is a man dealing with a lot of guilt. He is going to have to accept her powers to save himself.

Katherine Sutcliffe's Hot August Moon is the story of a profiler who can see in to the mind of a serial killer, she's also torn with the man who is helping her, one of the detectives on the case. This one was interesting and made me want to read more of that series.

Fiona Brand's After Midnight has Jane O'Reilly dealing with coming to terms with her husband's death from cancer, her growing attraction to Michael Rider, a local cop, and a killer, who looks like it could be Michael.

Eileen show more Wilks Only Human is a short story variation on her full novel Tempting Danger, that I've read before this. An interesting story of Werewolf politics and police investigation into strange murders.

Not a bad collection, no real stand-out story but readable. show less

*Review Only For the Eileen Wilks Story*

Despite this short story being listed as a prequel to the World of the Lupi series, it isn't really true. In fact, I would recommend not reading this story before reading the first book in the series, as it would just make things confusing. This is essentially a condensed version of [b:Tempting Danger|81617|Tempting Danger (World of the Lupi, #1)|Eileen Wilks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1307217889s/81617.jpg|78812]. However, there's a lot of differences in the mythology and in how Lily and Rule interact with each other that sets this clear outside of the series.

I didn't care for all of these stories equally, primarily because I'm not a fan of the romance genre, so for me, a story's got to have enough of a plot and story line outside of the romance for me to like it. That said, I liked the Katherine Sutcliffe and Eileen Wilks stories better than the ones by Christine Feehan and Fiona Brand. (Although on Amazon, a lot of other people felt the opposite.)

From back cover...

BE WARNED... Four of today's most popular authors push passion and intrigue to the limit in four thriling original stories:

Magic in the Wind by Christine Feehan: In a sleepy coastal town, early retirement turns deadly for a defense expert--until a beautiful woman steps between him and his assassins... (This story is a prequel to show more her Drake Sisters series.)

Hot August Moon by Katherine Sutcliffe: Among women of the night, an FBI profiler can see into the mind of a French Quarter killer targeting prostitutes--but not into the heart of the detective she must trust with her life...

After Midnight by Fiona Brand: Between two strangers, sometimes one glance is all it takes. And sometimes all it takes is one man to tear apart what fate--and desire--have brought together...

Only Human by Eileen Wilks: Under the light of the moon... Investigating a series of grisly murders, a Sand Diego detective is caught off guard by the enigmatic man helping her find the killer... show less

- “Magic in the Wind” is the story which begins the Drake sisters novels (decent story, although all of them are a teeny bit cheesy). “Hot August Moon” deals with a FBI profiler, Anna, who’s called back home to New Orleans to work with an old flame in catching a serial killer, who’s most recent victims were friends. “After Midnight” was my ‘romantic’ favorite, which deals with a widow, who reunites with the man with whom she fell into instant lust (not acted upon) several years before – while her husband was battling cancer. “Only Human” follows a human detective forced to work with a werewolf to investigate werewolf killings. I’m interested in following the August moon story, and plan to look into more by show more the author of After Midnight. show less