An odd bunch of stories, and nothing that stands out...
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I only bought this for the Lilith Saintcrow follow up on the Danny Valentine series. Like many reviewers I found the end of the series unsatisfactory and hoped to learn something more - I did, and it was not good! My hopes of Danny being happy at last were crushed! I imagine that if you haven't read the series this story will be pretty impenetrable.
As for the others - I was distinctly underwhelmed. Some people have a pretty odd idea of what constitutes a romance, and while I fully admit I am not a great fan of short stories, these really did nothing for me. Another reviewer has gone through them all individually, so I won't repeat. Probably only really worth it if (like me) there's a particular author you want to keep up with.
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A mixed bag...but with 25 you're sure to find something!
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The phrase `dark gift' springs to mind whilst reading this truly mammoth anthology of vampire orientated short stories, there's 25 in total. Many deal with the transition from mortal to vampire, others with the troubles with being one. Almost all centre around the vampire bite; whether it means a transformation, a disease, a connection or pain and suffering. Some manage to be genuinely engaging and reflective, others read like deleted scenes from established series and others are simply poorly written. Although sex is present in most, the majority aren't romance, in fact the ones that try for a more conventional love story fail miserably because they aren't given enough pages to make it work. In fact there's a good mix of horror, action, gore, lust, sex and romance, with not only established paranormal romance writers but urban fantasy and horror authors contributing.
Most are around twenty pages, given how short they are it takes a really good writer to engage and luckily there are a few but also there really are some terrible forays into vampirism. In Telep's foreword she happily says that this edition is meant to show the ever growing Paranormal Romance phenomenon in all its glory, containing stories by established names and new comers. It was easy to identify the authors who actually have something interesting to say about vampire mythology and others who just seemed to be jumping on the paranormal bandwagon hoping it will get their writing noticed.
`Fade to Black' - Sherri Erwin - A teacher gets a little more than she bargained for from her overly pale student ; ) *3.5 stars* Not bad, well written apart from the abrupt ending and silly imagery. A basic vampirism = disease premise.
`Ode to Evdard Munch' - Caitlin Kiernan - A young man shares his blood periodically with a mysterious stranger. *2.5 stars* A dreamy, surreal prose. O.k but there was no connection with the characters. I think she was trying for depth...
'Fangs for Hire' - Jenna Black - A vampire mercenary finds her target to be more than she expected. *2.5 stars* One of the shorter ones, I found the leads irritating and the plot pretty darn dull.
'The Righteous' - Jenna Maclaine - The balance between humans and vampires is established, with the help of a sorceress and a King. *4 starts* One of the longer ones, with a fuller and more interesting story.
'Knowledge of Evil' - Ravent Hart - A vampire intellectual experiences a meeting of the mind and soul. *2 stars* This concentrates on the turning, it tries to be disturbing but was just annoying, with transparent characters.
'Viper's Bite' - Delilah Devlin - Equally lonely a vampire and mortal connect through a bite that brings lost memories to the surface. *4 stars* One of the better ones, about loss, memory. Both sad and reflective, not quite poignant though. (Attached to an established series, feels like this is building Viper's character for his own book).
'Dreams' - Kerri Arthur - Riley Jensen stars with vampire Quinn. *2 stars* Dreams and their connection are the focus with a tiny bit of action (and plot!). I'm not a fan of Arthur, people who have read her Jensen books might like this, though it's not really a story in its own right more like a extra scene.
'Love Bites' - Kimberly Raye - A vampire slayer or `SOB emplyee' is unable to complete her first kill, instead she takes her handsom target home to heal and well you know.... *2 stars* The characters were poorly defined and had little chemistry.
'What's at Stake' - Alexis Morgan - A chancellor decides to help a past vampire friend and almost lover when he gets charged with murder. *3.5 starts* I enjoyed this, the leads had great chemistry but the world could have been built up more.
'Coming Home' - Lilith Saintcrow - I skimed this, something about the lead being hired to kill an old flames nemesis. *2 stars* I'm not keen on Saintcrow's writing and I couldn't get into this. Features characters from her Dante Valentine series.
`To Ease the Rage' - CT Adams & Cathy Clamp - To help her old police partner, whose now a vampire, Sylvia might need to go through some changes. *3.5 stars* Very good, solid writing and engaging characters.
`Dancing with the Star' - Susan Sizemore - A vampire finds her soul mate through a series of dream sequences. *2 stars* Irritating prose and dull plot.
'Play Dead' - Dina James - Vampire finds soul mate and fights to keep her. *2 stars* Entertaining enough.
'In Which a Masquerade Ball Unmasks an Undead' - Colleen Gleason - The hunt is on! *2.5 stars* More lust than romance, good but reads like a stuck on scene to an established series (which is what it is), I'm not too bothered about reading other stuff by Gleason.
'A Temporary Vampire' - Barbara Emrys - A vampire finds someone unexpected and alluring in New Orleans. *3 stars* Emry creates a nice atmosphere here but could have been longer.
'Overbite' - Savannah Russe - Dentist meets vampire! *3 stars* why this has never been done before I don't know as was pretty good.
'Hunter's Choice' - Shiloh Walker - A newbie to the slaying game seeks help from an old flame, who happens to be a vampire. *4 stars* This works quite well as the leads had an established connection.
'The Sacrifice' - Rebecca York - A beautiful princess will give her own life to a powerful monster to save her father's kingdom. *2 stars* Terribly uninspired writing, beyond boring.
'Remember the Blood' - Vicki Petterson - Two vampires lovers have to face periodically losing their memory. *2.5 stars* I expected more from Petterson, not great.
'The Midday Mangler Meets his Match' - Rachel Vincent - A sister must protect and save her little sister in a world where vampires are the established species. *3.5* stars* I liked this, it felt like the beginning of a series with the amount of description on the fantasy vampire society.
`The Music of the Night' - Amanda Ashley - Our obsessive lead gets to meet her very own phantom. *2 stars* Blah
`The Day of the Dead' - Karen Chance - Chance tells Thomas's story from the Cassandra Palmer series. Will he finally be able to destroy his former evil master once and for all? With the help of a certain fiery mercenary maybe. *4.5 stars* My favourite, Chance stands out as being one of the better writers here, I love her series and this added to it, I don't how accessible others who haven't read it will find it though.
'Vampire Unchained' - Nancy Holder - A vampire's secret dealings my cause trouble for him and his human lover. *3 stars* A spin off from an established series, I found it quite engaging though.
'A Stand-up Dame' - Lilith Saintcrow - A PI returns from the dead to settle unfinished business. *2 stars* Unoriginal and dull.
'Untitled 12' - Cailtlin R. Kiernan - A sick women will undergo anything to live. *2 stars* Concentrates on the turning, I didn't like this.
Overall it's o.k but there were too many stories I didn't care for in the least and the ones I did enjoy were too short to fully engage. As a packege it's varied enough to entertain but I think dedicated readers of PR will be disalusioned and others looking to get into the genre would be much better off reading someone like Gena Showalter or Kresley Cole.
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Could be better!
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The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance contains tales from some of the most famous supernatural authors around, including: Karen Chance, Keri Arthur and Lilith Saintcrow. That alone was enough to make me buy it. I'm a huge fan of Karen Chance, in particular. Anyway, I digress. The book contains 25 short stories on the theme of - yes, you've guessed it - vampire romance. You'd think it was a pretty niche theme that wouldn't give much scope, but this book proves otherwise. The stories are wildly varying and told from both sides of the fence, or mortal realm, whatever you like to call it. And to be honest, the quality of the stories varies wildly too! Some of the stories are marvellously told, containing the sexy and seductive vampires we know and love, and giving them a more human element, because they're not all bad guys.
However, on the flip side, some of the other stories failed to light my fire. They were flat and uninspiring. I didn't believe in or care about the characters at all, and for me, that's crucial to my enjoyment! It's a shame, because the good stories are in there, but the bad ones have obviously dampened my appreciation of the book as a whole. In its defence, I'd say the good stories definitely outweigh the bad - and the good ones are excellent.
Overall, I wouldn't dissuade any avid vampire fan from buying this book - I'd just tell them to be aware that there are some bad apples nestling between the sexy covers of this anthology. But I suppose that is the very nature of an anthology, and people's opinions vary. On the whole, it's still worth buying, but if you get it discounted, all the better, because that'll make up for the rubbish stories!
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