Review - Dark and Stormy Knights Edited by P.N. Elrod (4/5 stars)

All of these stories have something in common; they feature a "knight" someone who will go to heroic measures to protect innocents (or to make some money). 

The best of the bunch is Ilona Andrews "A Questionable Client"; this is a great story in and of itself and is a great sample of Andrew's writing style.  Kate Daniels fans will love it too because it fills an important event that happened between Kate and Saiman.  My second favorite was Caine's "Even a Rabbit Will Bite" loved the characters and the irony of the story.

There were some stories that were entertaining but not outstanding.  "Even Hand" by Jim Butcher give insight into John Marcone's character from the Dresden Files.  "Rookwood and Mrs. King" by Saintcrow introduces some new characters that I hope she expands on in a series.  "Shifting Star" by Vicki Pettersson gives you a story about Zoe's Tulpa, Skamar; unfortunately if you aren't reading Pettersson's Signs of the Zodiac series I think you will be totally lost as to the meaning behind this story.

My least favorite of the bunch was Beknighted by Deidre Knight; there was a bit too much of a romance vibe going on here and the world wasn't described well...I thought it didn't really fit with the rest of the stories and the theme of this anthology.

Overall a decent anthology.  The Ilona Andrews story makes it worth reading.  The other stories provide good samplings of some of the best Urban Fantasy authors out there.  This is definitely urban fantasy and not PNR; which was awesome...it seems like so many anthologies tend towards paranormal romance (PNR).  I personally got it from the library but it might be worth buying if you are a huge fan on one of the series represented.  See below for a description and mini-review of each story.

- A Questionable Client by Ilona Andrews (5/5 stars)
We get to find out about that time Kate served as a bodyguard for Saiman.  Action-packed filled with sharp humor; it was nice to have that story filled out some.

- Even Hand by Jim Butcher (4/5 stars)
A story from John Marcone's point of view.  It was interesting to gain some insight into Marcone.  The story was entertaining but over-all nothing mind-blowing.

- The Beacon by Shannon K. Butcher (4/5 stars)
A story about a hunter who assassinates Beacons that lure evil creatures called Terraphages to earth to destroy humanity.  This was an entertaining story, I enjoyed the main character and there was a lot of action.  I am curious as to what else Butcher has written, but not curious enough to immediately pick up books by her to read.

- Even a Rabbit Will Bite by Rachel Caine (5/5 stars)
Story about a retired dragon trainer and the young trainee that is supposed to take her place.  I liked this story it was entertaining and ironic.  I love how the story wrapped up but wasn't all that surprised at the ending.  Overall a great story.  I have read some of Caine's Weather Warden series and like her okay as an author in general.

- Dark Lady by P. N. Elrod (3/5 stars)
This is another Jack Flemming story.  In general I am not a big fan of Elrod's Jack Flemming stories and this story was no exception.  I've read some short stories with Jack and the first book in the Flemming series.  This was another noir/gangster-type vampire story.  It was okay and was well-written.

- Beknighted by Deidre Knight (2/5 stars)
An artist has to pay a steep price to free a knight from his prison.  The world surrounding this story isn't very well defined and it is a bit confusing.  This is more like a romance than anything else and was my least favorite of the bunch.  There are parts of it that are a bit amusing and the idea is interesting...just not that well done.

- Shifting Star by Vicki Pettersson (3/5 stars)
If you have read all the Signs of the Zodiac book (which I have) then this story will be an interesting read for you.  It features Skamar, Zoe's tulpa, and takes place sometime after the 4th book in the series.  We get to learn more about Skamar as an individual and about what she is doing while Johanna is recovering.  Kind of interesting.  I think anyone who has not read the series will be totally lost though.

- Rookwood and Mrs. King by Lilith Saintcrow (4/5 stars)
Story about a woman named Amelia who comes to investigator Rookwood with a plea that he kill her already dead husband.  Not much world-building but there was a lot of action and the characters were interesting.  It would be great to see some books about Rookwood and Amelia in the future.  Previously I have also read Saintcrow's Dante Valentine series and liked it.

- God's Creatures by Carrie Vaughn (3.5/5 stars)
Story from the point of view of Cormac the Bounty hunter from Vaughn's Kitty Norville series.  Basically it just tells about Cormac going on a wolf hunt.  It was okay and I enjoyed reading it, but it didn't add much to the characters for me and as a stand alone story it wasn't anything special.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

 

The Dead Girl's Dance (The Morganville Vampires, Book 2) by Rachel Caine (3/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Morganville Vampires series. For some reason I just cannot get into this series. The story is okay, but the characters aren't all that engaging. I didn't finish this book thinking "Oh, I just can't wait for what happens next!".

This book starts out exactly where the last book left off, which is good considering the last book left off with a knife plunging toward Michael's heart. In this book Shane's father, a crazy vampire hunter, shows up and starts creating trouble for the residents of Glass House. It's up to Claire to try and figure out how to fix everything, especially when Shane gets imprisoned for a murder he didn't commit.

I will start out with the good stuff in this book. The Founder of Morganville, Amelie, is a great character; in fact I think she is the only interesting character in this book. She is intriguing and must have a very interesting past indeed. I also liked the addition of Sam the newest vampire in Morganville; although he wasn't in the story much. Okay, well that was the good stuff. I think the other characters are very stereotypical. The story is okay, but not all that engaging. The writing style is fine but nothing special.

I thought the title and synopsis of the book were both a bit misleading. The Dead Girl's Dance doesn't happen until almost the end of the book and the main characters have nothing to do with the preparation of it. The Dance just happens to be a place where some bad stuff happens. I also thought it was a bit strange that Claire rarely goes to class; I mean I understand that she is in danger, but Claire's actual classwork is really pushed into the background and dealt with as an afterthought...it's kind of weird since the whole reason she stayed in Morganville initially was to go to school. I also thought that Claire's parents were dealt with in a clumsy way; it was like Caine didn't really know what to do with them so she made them magically forget and left it at that.

Overall, this book was okay. I just didn't really get into it all that much. Everything about it remains average. The nice thing was that this book wrapped up the plot somewhat instead of leaving it wide open like the last book. I won't be reading anymore of this series. I just am not enjoying it; there is not enough creativity and the characters are not engaging enough.

The Glass House (Morganville Vampires, Book 1) by Rachel Caine (3/5 stars)

This is the first book in the Morganville series by Caine. Previously I have read the first four books in Caine's Weather Warden series. I liked those four books okay, but I didn't like the main characters all that much, so I ended up dropping the series. When I heard she had a young adult series, I wanted to give that one a try because I thought I might like it better. Overall I thought this book was okay, but it had some of the same problems that I had with the Weather Warden series.

Claire is super smart. So, smart that she graduated early and started going to college at the age of 16. Only her parents wouldn't let her go away to school, so she is stuck going to University in the town of Morganville. Right from the beginning things go wrong; the cool girls are picking on her and stealing her laundry. It isn't until one of the girls actually tries to beat her to death that she realizes something is seriously wrong. She ends up finding her way out of the dorms, where she feels like her life is in danger, and instead renting a room in the Glass House. There she finds that Morganville is not at all what it seems. She is in more danger than she ever suspected.

Everything about this book was okay for me. The characters were okay. I didn't really love any of them, they were pretty stereo-typed in general. Claire is an okay character, and I think as we get to know her she might become more than okay. The guy characters in the book were okay too. The idea of vampires being evil is old. The action scenes were written okay, and the plot of the book was interesting enough to keep my interest, but not so engaging that I couldn't put the book down.

The most interesting thing about this book is the way Caine set up the vampire/human relationship structure in the city of Morganville. The type of society she has set up is pretty neat. I also think that Claire has potential to become someone more interesting, and that the lead vampire Amelie could be a fascinating character if we get to read about her more. Additionally Caine doesn't pull any punches when it comes to what her characters, especially Claire, has to endure.

The only thing I really hated about this book is that it ends with someone literally stabbing a knife at someone else; seriously in the middle of an action scene. What is up with that? I hate it when authors can't wrap up a book in a decent way.

I have the next two books so I will read them and see if the series gets better. I would recommend at least getting the second book with the first because, as I said, the first book ends in the middle of an action scene. My first impression of this series is that it is okay, but nothing special.

Strange Brew edited by P. N. Elrod (4/5 stars)

Overall this is a decent set of stories. The highlights for me were Karen Chance's super action packed "Vegas Odds" and Jenna Maclaine's beautifully written, action packed, and intricate "Dark Sins". I found Cin from "Dark Sins" to be a very interesting heroine and I would definitely like to read more about her. I also really liked meeting Jane Yellowrock in Faith Hunter's "Signatures of the Dead." Jane is a character I would also like to read more about.

My least favorites were Elrod's story (not surprising because I have read a couple of the books with Jack and don't enjoy her writing style all that much) and Harris's "Bacon". See a summary of each below. I liked the book in general and really liked that is gave me a look at some of the new authors and characters coming out in series.

Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs
A witch named Moira and a werewolf named Tom go to save Tom's brother from an evil coven. Pretty good, I enjoyed it. 4/5

Last Call by Jim Butcher
Entertaining story about Murphy and Harry tracking down the source of some tainted beer that Mac accidentally served in his bar. Tons of action, very entertaining! 4/5

Death Warmed Over by Rachel Caine
About witch named Holly who resurrects an old witch, Andy, to help the police find a witch killer. Unfortunately Holly and the resurrected witch have a history. Fast-paced and engaging story although I didn't like the main character all that much. 4/5

Vegas Odds by Karen Chance
Lia is a War Mage stuck in the middle of a war between good and evil. When her house comes under attack she is left to figure out who the attackers are and hunt down their master. I really liked this story; it was packed with action and set in an interesting world that I want to learn more about. 5/5

Hecate's Golden Eye by P. N. Elrod
Jack and Charles are hired to recover a stolen piece of jewelry. The crime turns out to be more than it first seems. This was a fast paced story featuring Elrod's well known Jack Flemming. Overall a decent story. 3/5

Bacon by Charlaine Harris
This story is about a vampire, Dahlia, who hires a witch to help avenge her werewolf husband that has been murdered. Overall I thought this story was boring and the plot a bit hard to folllow at points. I didn't really like any of the characters much either. 2/5

Signatures of the Dead by Faith Hunter
About a witch named Molly who works with a Skinwalker named Jane Yellowrock to bring down some rogue vampires. I really didn't find Molly to be all that fascinating of a character. I did really like Jane Yellowrock though. The story moved quickly, was very engaging, and had lots of good action scenes. I am eager to read more stories involving Jane Yellowrock. I know that Hunter's book "Skinwalker" featuring Jane came out earlier this summer and this short story really makes me want to check it out. 4/5

Ginger: A Nocturne City Story by Caitlin Kittredge
A witch named "Sunny" gets kidnapped as part of a larger plot onvolving a witch coven. This was an okay story, although I didn't think it was great and didn't like any of the characters much. 3/5

Dark Sins by Jenna Maclaine
I really liked this story. Cin Craven is a vampire who attained her witch powers. Her and her S.O. Michael are attacked and captured; and need to escape to save their lives and the lives of their friends. This story was set in the Victorian era. I really liked both Cin and Michael as characters. Just the glimpse this story give hints at a very interesting and intricate world with a lush history. Lots of action and a tad of romance. The entrance of the goddess Morrgan made things very interesting. One of my favorite stories of the bunch. 5/5

Many Bloody Returns, various authors (4/5 stars)

Usually books with a number of short stories in them have some big names with great stories and some unknown authors with either surprisingly good or surprisingly bad stories. This was not the case with this book. All of the stories were really good and there was a larger variety of writing styles than I expected given the genre. All of the stories have to deal with vampires and birthdays.

The main reason I read books like this is to get a sampling of some authors I haven’t read and get a glimpse into the series that they are writing. This book was a good read and I found a couple new (to me at least) authors to check out from it. Because of this book I will read more of PN Elrod’s work, check out the Morganville vampire series, see what else Hallaway and Kelner have written, and possibly check out some of Jeanne Stein’s work too. Below is a quick comment/synopsis of each story.

Dracula Night by Charlaine Harris
This story is an addition to the Sookie Stackhouse series and addresses the celebration of Dracula Night by the vampire community. It’s a fun read; although there’s not a ton of content here.

The Mournful Cry of Owls by Christopher Golden
The only other book I’ve read by Christopher Golden is “The Boys are Back in Town”; which I liked pretty well. This story follows a girl as she learns about her unique heritage. I enjoyed it and it was well written and mysterious.

I Was a Teenage Vampire by Bill Crider
This was probably my least favorite story of the anthology. The story was predictable, boring, and seemed quickly and lazily written.

Twilight by Kelley Armstrong
I liked Twilight okay. It was a little boring and moved slowly but it was well-written and dealt with the topic of vampires dying of boredom.

It's My Birthday, Too by Jim Butcher
Fun addition to the Dresden Files series. I enjoyed a story in which Thomas played a main role. I especially enjoyed the role-playing; being a DnD player I thought it was hilarious.

Grave-Robbed by P.N. Elrod
This was my first time reading anything by PN Elrod and I liked it. The main character, Jack Fleming, is a bit campy. Some of it reminded me of Harry Dresden a bit. I enjoyed it and will read more of Elrod’s writing.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life by Rachel Caine
This was a story that took place in the world of Rachel Caine’s young adult vampire series “The Morganville Vampires”. This was my favorite story in the book and now I am interested in reading this series. I’ve read some of Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series and that is also a good series.

The Witch and the Wicked by Jeanne C. Stein
This story creeped me out. I believe Stein is the writer of the Signs of the Zodiac series. The writing style wasn’t my favorite since it was kind of plain and straight-forward; not as much flare to it as I had hoped. The premise is pretty darn creative and creepy though.

Blood Wrapped by Tanya Huff
This was a nice addition to Henry Fitzroy’s world; it was a fun read. It really brought home the fact that I haven’t read the last few books in this series yet. I was like, what do you mean Vicki is a vampire?

The Wish by Carolyn Haines
I’ve never read anything by Carolyn Haines but I did like this story. The story is very sad and yet it is beautifully written and really grabs a hold of you. It is a very beautiful and well-written story, if not as fun as the rest of the book.

Fire and Ice and Linguini for Two by Tate Hallaway
I’ve never read anything by Tate Hallaway before; this was a fun story. I was intrigued by the witch having a demon trapped in her and by the elemental evil forces at work. I could really sympathize with the characters and the cold weather, being from MN myself.

Vampire Hours by Elaine Viets
I really enjoyed this story. I liked that the main character was an older woman dealing with day-to-day issues a lot of women deal with (okay maybe not as extreme as these issues). I liked how the woman cleverly got back at everyone; it was funny and a quick read.

How Stella got her Grave Back by Toni L.P. Kelner
I’ve never read anything by Toni Kelner, I really liked this story. I liked the idea of vampire dams and I liked the mystery solving that went on in this story. The characters were fun and likable. I really want to know the history between them now.