Short Story #1: Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs
I started this during my lunch hour and could not put it down! There is something about the story of Charles and Anna that I really enjoyed and I picked it up again as soon as I was off work and finished it really very quickly and wanted more. I was happy to see that she has followed up with a book titled "Cry Wolf." I'll be checking that out of the library soon.
Anna has been living in Chicago as a werewolf for the past three years when she was changed against her will or knowledge of what was to come. Charles is a dominant alpha male werewolf and the son and second of the Marrok - the leader of all the alphas. He is sent to Chicago after Anna warned the Marrok about the murder of a boy by the alpha in her pack. Upon arriving in Chicago Charles immediately realizes that Anna is an Omega, a rare wolf that has the ability to calm those around her. Anna doesn't believe him at first since she is considered submissive (and therefore useless) in her own pack. That Anna was changed against her will and then beaten into the appearance of submission absolutely pisses Charles off and he sets out to find out what is wrong with Anna's pack.
It is a swift plot but sets the characters and scene for a much wider scale of possible events. And I liked Anna as a character quite a bit. Charles I could take or leave since most (romantic) male leads are alpha males anyhow. It is Anna that sets this plot apart.
Short Story #2: Inhuman by Eileen Wilkes
This was not such a great story from my point-of-view. There was so much potential! The otherworldly characters and friendship and love despite the differences are an excellent foundation for a story. It just didn't follow through or came out to be too trite. There was danger, sort of, in the creature that took on human form but even that was tamed. All in all the tale seemed so watered down it was hardly worth it...
Short Story #3: Buying Trouble by Karen Chance
I've now read Karen Chance quite a bit and like much of her Cassandra Palmer series. That series is so swift and complicated that the swift but uncomplex plot of "Buying Trouble" was a tad jarring. It does touch on the Cassie Palmer series very briefly but the plot is mostly just standalone. Our heroine in this novel is a 'null' human - one that by her very presence blocks magic. Nulls can be very powerful weapons in the magical world and Claire has narrowly avoided being sold by her family (her real father is unknown) by escaping with a elfin hottie. The amusing thing is that she can't seem to keep herself away from him despite all the trouble they get into once they land in Faerie (I think I sense a theme here, Ms. Chance...). After a rather crucial interlude (*coughcough*) Claire is reborn into her second self - a dragon.
Short Story #4: Mona Lisa Betwining by Sunny
By far the worst short story in the anthology the story seems to be a work of fan fiction based off of someone else's work but poorly chopped together and badly explained overall. There is also quite a bit of unnecessary sex. I remember picking up the book and wondering "Who the heck is Sunny?" and find that now that I've read a short story of hers I really don't care to know.
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