Kick Ass
Kick Ass is an anthology of four novellas about supposedly kickass heroines. As is usually the case, some of these women live up to their billing better than others.
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation is a genre-bending book. It begins by introducing Eloise Kelley, our heroine in designer shoes; but instead of being a Chick Lit chick, said heroine is a student researching an historical figure. It doesn’t take too long before she finds a cache of diaries and letters, and pretty…
Man of My Dreams
Is the anthology market getting a bit saturated? I’m starting to think so, because even though the stories here are pleasing enough (with the exception of the final entry that is the best of the bunch), Man Of My Dreams is ultimately so slight that it feels almost weightless. Is it good for a few…
Men at Work
The title of this book is slightly misleading; the heroes are a carpenter, a painter, and…er…a ghost. The plots involve renovating an old house, renovating a castle, and…ah…a haunted house. The heroines are an Atlanta marketing executive returning to her small Georgia hometown, a New York designer returning to her Texas hometown, and…um…a happy temp…
Christmas Revels
Christmas is the time of year when a lot of us get a little sentimental and if you’ve been looking for a well-written collection of stories that unabashedly celebrates what many of us love about the holiday season, then this is a book you may well want to check out. With four Regency entries (all…
Once Upon a Kiss
When I buy an anthology it’s usually for one or two authors whom I know, and I hope the ones I’m not familiar with aren’t too bad. Since this is the fifth book in the Once Upon series I’m pretty familiar with all the authors involved and have certain expectations. Yet, I found my expectations…
Once Upon a Pillow
Star authors and friends Connie Brockway and Christina Dodd had a cute idea: why not write a book together? Once Upon a Pillow differs from most anthologies in that all the stories are directly linked – they’re the tales of the Masterson family, English nobility known throughout the generations for their legendary bed, which is…
Delighted
Delighted is this year’s erotic romance anthology from Brava, and like most anthologies it’s a mixed bag. The quality of the stories ranges from pretty readable to over-the-top and unintentionally hilarious. But while I was diverted, distracted, even at times disbelieving and disgusted, I wouldn’t really say that I was delighted with the end result.
Fantasy
As if the title weren’t direct enough, one look at the cover of Fantasy (a pair of legs clad in embroidered black stockings with stiletto ankle-strap shoes) and it’s obvious what to expect from the stories inside. But what you might not expect is the sheer variety of fantasies these authors manage to cover, ranging…
A Mother’s Way
The stories in A Mother’s Way are all over the map in terms of setting and quality. They range from medieval to modern, reality-based to fantastic, and very, very good to mind-numbingly bad. The one common factor is that each plot features a mother match-making for her daughter. If, like me, you tend to resent…