In Wild Thing, Berkley has brought together bestselling authors Maggie Shayne and Marjorie Liu and relative newcomers Alyssa Day and Meljean Brook to give their readers four new stories of paranormal passion that their faithful readers are sure to love, with one exception.
Animal Magnetism: Maggie Shayne
Macy McNamara is an unusually skilled veterinarian; she has the ability to communicate mentally with animals. This makes her a wonderful vet however she has absolutely no people skills. When Detective Jay Harris brings in a gunshot dog Macy springs into action and saves the dogs life and in doing so the dog reveals to her the image of the man who shot her. The shooter is also the serial rapist who has been terrorizing the area. Macy will have to find a way to make Jay believe her but can she accept her own growing attraction for the handsome detective? Review: I liked this one. I love animals so I thought it was cute the way she connected with them and saw through them. The story wasn't overdone and it was well-written. I'm picky about sex-scenes too and these weren't over-the-top or annoying so A+!
Paradise: Meljean Brook
The Guardian Selah is sent to the Pacific Northwest to investigate several vampire sacrifices that are being done in an attempt to pervert a gate to Caelum. Selah enlists the help of the leader of the local vampire coven, Lucas. Since the recent death of his partner Lucas has been subisting on animal blood and is considerably weakened. Selah will need him at full strength the fight the demon but this means she will have to force him to feed from her. Will she be able to fight her memories of Colin and Chaos in order to take care of Lucas? And will Lucas be able to accept the bloodlust and the rising attraction he feels for this creature who is not a vampire and is not like anything he has ever known? Review: I'm a big fan of Meljean Brook so this was easily my favorite. This takes place between Demon Angel and Demon Moon. It had familiar characters but focused on some that we don't usually see as much which I enjoyed. And as always Meljean writes a killer love scene.
Hunter Kiss: Marjorie M. Liu
As demon-hunter Maxinne Kiss stands in a Seattle market place, she senses zombie-like humans, possessed, all around her. She believes they are after her until one old woman pulls a gun and attempt to shoot a harmless, crippled flute-player. As Maxinne races away from the marketplace with the flute-player she questions him and begins to learn that he has skills beyond mere music. What he is doing is great enough to send the demon-queen from beyond the veil to find him. Maxinne must fight to save Grant as she falls in love with him, knowing that to love him is to bring about her own fatal destiny that much sooner. Review: This story was seriously cool. From dawn until dusk Maxinne is covered head to toe in silver and black tattoos but when the sun goes down they slither off her body and become her demons, her boys. It was really neat. I'm hoping there is more of this character that I can read about. Major thumbs up.
Wild Hearts in Atlantis: Alyssa Day
Per the back cover of the book ... Get swept away by the passions that rise out of the unfathomable depths of the lost city of Atlantis. Review: I was swept right out of the book actually. I read one page and I couldn't read anymore. It was just, well, my editor told me that I couldn't say my exact words about it so I'll just say that it wasn't for me.
Overall, it was a very good anthology. I'm sure there are others who will appreciate the last story since it seems to be part of a popular series but it was not my cup of tea. I did however, love the first three stories. They were, dare I say it ... wild??!!
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Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade (May 1, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0425215164
ISBN-13: 978-0425215166
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