First Blood (4-in-1 Anthology)

I’ve said before that I’m a fan of anthologies, especially when the anthology has a stellar lineup of authors. “First Blood” includes stories from four paranormal authors whose series’ are pretty well established and have a large fan base. The book will be a big-seller for those reasons and that’s not a bad thing at all as I enjoyed each story in this anthology for different reasons!

“Cave Canem” is a story set in Susan Sizemore’s ‘Laws of the Blood’ novels. We get a twofer starring both a vampire and a werewolf who have to team up and work together to overcome an ancient threat that’s reappeared. The sparks between these two could light up Las Vegas, especially once they quit fighting each other. Extra points for show more the cute Hellhounds.

Erin McCarthy returns to New Orleans with “Russian Roulette” a tale of a former slayer turned vampire who is about to find out why a bitter vampire has got to be the world’s worst ex-girlfriend…especially when you’re attracted to the object of her desire!! Strong emotional overtones were the icing on the cake for me in this one.

From Chris Marie Green’s ‘Vampire Babylon’ world, “Double the Bite” is an intense disturbing retake on good and evil, and nature vs nurture when she pens the tale of twin sister vampires. Can good overcome evil and how far would you go to protect a new love…from your evil twin. Very dark, very deep, and a riveting read.

“Thicker Than Blood” is the final story from Meljean Brook and a new twist on enduring love and whether or not some sins can ever be forgiven. Strangely uplifting for an urban fantasy, paranormal story.

So there you have it. Four stories, four winners, and each gave me a very different reason to like it! If you haven’t read these authors, you can still enjoy these stories, and just may end up picking up some of the other books set in the same worlds. If you’re already a fan, then “First Blood” should be on your ‘to-buy’ list already. Shame on you if it’s not! show less

Bloody Boring

Before I go any further let me just say that I purchased this anthology because it featured four authors I had not yet read but had an interest in sampling before commiting to buying their series books. I know many other readers purchase anthologies for that same reason and because of that I have given this one a pretty low rating. Why? Because every one of these stories fell into a series that the author already writes without offering enough info about said series to be helpful to someone in my never-read-it-before situation.

Fans of these series will probably love these stories as all were well written and though I've not read these authors outside of other anthologies I feel confident saying these are decent examples show more of what one can expect in their work.

[CAVE CANEM] by Susan Sizemore is set in the world of her Laws of the Blood series. When a hellhound pup is stolen a vampire and a werewolf partner up to get it back -- I'll admit... after a couple of chapters I had to skim a lot of this one because I didn't understand who the characters were and what was going on half the time. It was intriguing but impossible to enjoy without knowing more about this world/series. 3/5 stars

[RUSSIAN ROULETTE] by Erin McCarthy is a Vegas Vampires tale... set in New Orleans. Sasha Chechikov has had a really unpleasant life made worse by being a newly turned vampire. When she is rescued by Alistair Kirk she's ready to keep on running but her safety depends on his protection. -- I might have liked this one if I had liked the characters even a little bit. They felt one dimensional and that really took away from the story since they spent most of the story dancing around their attraction to one another. 2/5 stars

[DOUBLE THE BITE] by Chris Marie Green is stated to take place in the scope of her Vampire Babylon series. When Ben hits NYC in search of the truth about his brother's mysterious death he tangles with a pair of beautiful twins who seem to know information he needs. Ginny and Geneva might look alike but they give a whole new meaning to the concept of good twin and evil twin. -- I did like the general idea of this story but it was really weak and didn't play out in a fashion that was particularly entertaining. 2/5 stars

[THICKER THAN BLOOD] by Meljean Brook doesn't actually state that it ties into her Guardians series but I'm pretty sure it does loosely as Guardians make a cameo. Annie is a vampire in search of a missing young girl she has sworn to protect but when her need for blood leads her back to the man she deserted six years ago things get more complicated before they get better. -- I liked this one best of the four because it didn't feel as series oriented as the others. I didn't really care for the characters much but the story moved along decently enough I didn't hate it. 3/5 stars

Overall this one just doesn't work for a reader looking to get to know a new author as I was trying to do. The stories all have good potential to entertain but unfortunately seem to all require some knowledge of the series they tie into. Fortunately I'm still interested in these authors based on the quality of writing so I hope that fans of these series will find the stories to be a treat. show less

From amazon.com:

"Four all-new stories of forbidden passion and dark desire.

You never forget your first blood...Susan Sizemore returns to the universe of her Laws of the Blood novels with a sizzling story of the relationship between a vampire enforcer and a werewolf.

Erin McCarthy’s Sasha Checkikov flees the bright lights and dangerous slayers of Vegas for New Orleans, where she is saved by a vampire haunted by his past—and hungry for passion.

Set in the Vampire Babylon world, Chris Marie Green’s story puts the bond between twin female vampires to the test when one of them falls for her prey.

Meljean Brook’s vampire Annie Gallagher needs help to save a young human girl, but she doesn’t expect the help to come from the FBI agent show more she loved—and had to give up— when she was transformed."

The first story is about the origins of Hellhounds. Two puppies are missing, both are being trained, one by a demon that superimposed itself on a cloak of magic in order to wreak havoc on humankind and vampires as well..... The vampire who is responsible for all Hellhounds is teamed w/ the werewolf daughter of the Werewolf who birthed the original Hellhounds.

The second story is about a slayer, turned vampire and held captive & tortured by another vampire who intends to turn her over to those she "betrayed". The slayer/vampire is saved by a Vampire who is bent on "doing good" for the damsel in distress.....

The third story is about vampire twin sisters involved with a murder. The murdered man's brother comes to seek justice & the truth of the crime. He falls in love with one of the twins....

The last story is about a vampire who is intent on saving the human child of a vampire couple who have been slaughtered along with a few hundred other vampires. As she goes out to feed, she follows a man home.... only to find out he is the man she left behind when she was turned....

I liked all the stories and I'm glad they did not evolve to full length books, or they'd have become tedious. The last story in & of itself was a bit tedious.... not really getting into the main point of the story. There was too much of the whys of the main character hiding her turning from the man she truly loved.

These are satisfying, erotic, (for the most part) well written stories. show less

I only read Erin McCarthy's story and it was a good one. Sasha has always intrigued me in the series and this short story had the right mix of romance, action and steam. Old vampire Alistair rescues new vampire Sasha from captivity.

I read Susan's story, a return to her Laws series. Nice story. Couldn't get into the others though.

I kind of enjoyed this book, a few of the stories needed you to know about the universe to get into them, which is very annoying when the rest are just short stories.

All four stories were good reads, except 2 of them were hard to kinda get into but once i did i couldn't stop reading!