Dates From Hell (Anthology 4-in-1)

Entertaining enough collection of novellas by four urban fantasy authors. I'm familiar with Harrison and Armstrong and enjoyed both entries, particularly Armstrong's. Both are likely more enjoyable to someone who is familiar with the world that these stories fit into. I couldn't quite get into Sands' story so I admit I skipped it. My favorite of the whole collection, however, was Handeland's story of a literary agent pursued by a succubus and defended by a mysterious stranger. As far as I know this isn't part of any series and I'm sad there isn't more to read about them and their world.

A mixed bunch of stories. The first is a story of Ivy Tamwood before she meets with Rachel. The vampire politics didn't make my day and I really wanted to slap several of the characters until they left silly behind. Ivy is trying to solve a murder while also trying to stop her boss from using her for blood and sex. Honestly vampires would have died out a long time ago if some of what was going on here was typical of the species. Oooh the angst. BAH. 3/5 just about.

Lynsay Sands had an interesting idea and then went pretty much nowhere with hers. An experiment that starts on animals ends up giving a woman the power to shapeshift. She decides to help a friend get revenge at a reunion. Another 3/5 and I was now starting to despair of the show more stories.

Then Kelley Armstrong came to the rescue with the story of a half-demon tabloid reporter working undercover for the good guys, on a date with yet another one of her mother's prizewinning blind dates bumps into a werewolf jewel thief. This was a fun read, complete in itself yet leaving hints that there could be more. I'd like to meet the two main characters again in a story. 4/5

Lori Handeland's Dead Man Dating was another quite good story, lagging a bit occasionally and suffering badly with the Armstrong but well against the other two. Hers is a Manhattan Literary agent is rescued on her date by a demon hunter, to find that the demon may have disappeared but he isn't dead. And he does want her. A fun, light read. 3.5/5

Nothing I'd really add to my collection but the Kelley Armstrong was worth the price of admission. show less

Overall I really enjoyed this anthology. All of the stories were entertaining. My two favorites were Kim Harrison's story about Ivy and Lori Handeland's "Dead Man Dating". My least favorite story was Kelley Armstrong's "Chaotic".

-Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison
This story was about Ivy when she was dating Kisten; Mia (the banshee from "White Witch, Black Curse" is involved as well). This story helped explain some of the back story between Ivy and Mia, as well as gave nice incite into Kisten and Ivy's history. It was an engaging story and I enjoyed it; overall (4/5 stars).

-The Claire Switch Project by Lynsay Sands
This was a cute story about a girl who gets zapped by a molecular destabilizer and finds she can change show more shape. I liked how it was written; it was cute and funny. I have found that I like Lynsay Sands writing style, it is usually pretty funny and makes for a fun, quick read. (4/5 stars)

-Chaotic by Kelley Armstrong
This story was about a half demon girl drawn to chaos who finds other paranormals breaking the law. It was an okay story, but my least favorite of the bunch. I didn't like the female lead that much and I thought that the male werewolf lead was also a weak character. The idea of being drawn to chaos was neat, but I just couldn't get into the story. (3/5 stars)

-Dead Man Dating by Lori Handeland
This one was a pretty darn good story. It is about a woman who is using an online dating service and accidentally hooks up with a demon. The heroine was a little flighty and weak for my taste, but there was a lot of action and it was an interesting premise. The story could be a nice set up for a series; maybe we will see more of the main characters as they take on demons all over the world in another book. show less

Short stories that round out a story arc I'm following. My current feeling about Kim Harrison is that she's not the top tier of paranormal romance/ mystery/ whatever, but she's solidly in the second tier and she's getting better.

Kim Harrison - Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil
Interesting. Ivy Tamwood before The Hollows series. I liked her in this story, more than I like her in the books. This makes me wonder if her decision to stop taking blood was a good one for her, and makes me think yet again that she and Rachel are bad for each other. I had instant hatred for Art (GRR) and it was great to see Kisten again, if only briefly.

Lynsay Sands - The Claire Switch Project
I generally avoid the whole "scientific accident leads to people with superpowers and then superbabies" genre. With good reason. In this story Claire got zapped by a something destabilizer and instead of having chameleon skin she can shapeshift. Turns out her body shifts into clothes, too, which show more leads to the ever-wacky "Claire shifts back into herself and is naked" plotline. Also, the reason Claire and Kyle aren't dating is because 12 years earlier her father asked him not to ask her out so she could grow or something and now they're still there waiting on each other? I'm not saying I hated it, but I won't be reading it again.

Kelley Armstrong - Chaotic
Hope meets Karl and I like him more here than I do in any of the following books or stories. Weird, that. The story didn't add anything to Hope or to the series that I needed to know. I read Personal Demon just fine without knowing this backstory and found nothing to be missing.

Lori Handeland - Dead Man Dating
This story caused me to seek out Lori Handeland's books today. Well, hello, Chavez, you rogue demon hunter, you. Yes, he knows about Wesley, he gets the joke, he doesn't think it's funny. There's also Samantha, the psychic, who lost her son in the World Trade Center bombing and willingly gave up her sight so she could See, and then there's Satan who kind of likes Chavez, at least in the way he likes to taunt him. This worked for me in so many ways: hot, humorous, and a little bit scary. show less

This book/novella gives more insight into Ivy and her relationship to Kisten and Piscary etc. This insight is about the only positive thing to say about this novella. Should i have read this novella first, i most certainly would have never picked up the series....It is boring, full of unnecessary long descriptions and very drawn out. My recommendation: if you have read one or two other books before and want some Ivy background, go ahead and read it, but be prepared for a boring day. If this is the first you read in the series, stay away until you have read some other books in the series.

Absolutely loved the Kelley Armstrong story about Karl and Hope's first meeting. Brilliant and it didn't completely overshadow the other stories either, one of the better anthologies I've read.