Dates From Hell [Mass Market Paperback]

If you're a fan of vampire, werewolf and other such paranormal fiction, you do not want to miss this anthology! All four are masters in their genres and none fail to entertain the reader. If you've never read any of the authors, prepare to suspend your belief system (that means let loose, fellow readers--it makes for much more fun reading) and hang on for a great thrill of a reading ride.

"Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil" by Kim Harrison--A very exciting story as it is a prequel to Harrison's Rachel Morgan series (Dead Witch Walking). This one is told from Ivy's point of view. She's trying to climb the corporate ladder in her office, but must do so on her boss's terms. Art is a "dead" vampire, as opposed to Ivy, who is a living one with the vampire virus. He wants Ivy to feed off of. When she discover's Art is covering up a serious crime, she takes measures to put a stop to his interference in her job.--Loved this one as we get a more intimate view of Ivy's character, one I didn't fully understand, or like, till reading this short. If you're a fan of Harrison's books, pick this one up and enjoy. You'll be sorry you missed it otherwise. Five stars.

"The Claire Switch Project" by Lynsay Sands--Claire Beckett and Kyle Lockhart are scientists experimenting with and perfecting a molecular destabilizer. A rogue employee, impatient to test the device on humans, tricks Claire and zaps her with the device's beam. Concerned, Kyle takes her home with him to watch for any harmful effects. What neither knows is that teach of them has cared for one another for quite some time. Claire sees an opportunity to get close to Kevin, and Kevin wants the same. When the destabalizer's beam ends up effecting Claire after all, they're in for an interesting night when they go to their high school reunion.--A very humerous story that flowed well, despite some silly moments. Of course there's going to be some silly moments--the heroine is zapped with a destabilizer!! It makes for some hilarious scenes, as only Sands can write them. Four stars for the lighthearted read of the four.

"Chaotic" by Kelly Armstrong--Hope is half demon, her ability to see and feel chaos magic both a help and a hindrance at times. When her mother sets her up on a blind date, chaos jumps up and runs amock in the form of jewel thief and werewolf, Marsten. An enigmatic man, to say the least, her boss wants something from Marsten and she's to make sure he stays put till the boss arrives. When she realizes she's being used, she and Marsten throw in together to ensure their survival.--I've heard such wonderful things about Armstrong's books, never picked them up though. This short was an excellent intro to her kick-butt, no-nonsense style and I definitely plan on picking up her books in the future. Hope and Marsten were an interesting pair I would love to see in a full-length book. Four Stars.

"Dead Man Dating" by Lori Handeland--A must buy author for paranormal fans!! This short is no exception. Kit Morelli, plain jane and bored literary agent, has a hot date, which she knows is fishy since she's not hot. What she doesn't realize is that her date is dead. He's seeking something from her that only she can give. It becomes obvious on their date what that is, but in comes demon hunter, Chavez to the rescue. He's hunted every kind of monster and demon there is, but he doesn't know what is hunting Rachel. He's determined to find out though, at any cost--to himself, to Kit and to the world. I loved this tale by Handeland!! I'm very much in love with her werewolf series (Moon series) and this tale was a great switch to see what else she can produce. A great five star read.

Though fairly short in length, all four stories came across as very satisfying. As a fan of most of these authors it was a delight to experience their styles in the short story format, and anyone else who is a fan of these authors will know what I mean. If you've never read any of them before, these are a great intro into what each is capable of--then go get their fuul-length books! Great weekend, week-night or any other time reading. Very highly recommended!!

What a great anthology! Every story held my interest. Kim Harrison's "Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil" is actually a prequel to her novel, DEAD WITCH WALKING, although the story is about Ivy Tamwood rather than Rachel Morgan. Ivy wants to advance in Inderland Security (I.S.) but her supervisor, Art, is holding her back. Ivy is a living vampire whereas Art is a dead vampire and Art wants sex and blood in exchange for a positive evaluation. Ivy finds her way out from under Art when she discovers he is using his position to cover up a crime; Art finds a banshee tear at a homicide scene but Ivy learns that the banshee has been dead for 3 years and thus the tear has no power and was actually in the evidence room. The story is intriguing and ends with Ivy getting an intern- the intern is not named but is presumably Rachel Morgan.

"The Claire Switch Project" by Lynsay Sands is humorous despite some fairly predictable scenes. Claire Beckett and Kyle Lockhart are working together on a molecular destabilizer when another scientist, John Heathcliffe, decides to speed up the human trials by zapping Claire with the ray. No side effects are noticed until Kyle leaves Claire at home with his sister, Jill (her best friend from high school), and Claire realizes she can look at a picture of anyone and morph into that person. Jill has just been dumped by her boyfriend who is now going to their high school reunion with the bane of Jill and Claire's high school years, Magda. Jill convinces Claire to go as her date in the guise of movie star, Brad Cruise, only Kyle also invites her as his date to the reunion. Claire attempts to shift between both dates and the results are what one would expect- and yet it worked as I found myself laughing out loud.

I haven't read anything by Kelley Armstrong before (a mistake I definitely plan to correct!) but her entry, "Chaotic" was my favorite one in the anthology. In "Chaotic", Hope is half-demon with the ability to sense chaos (i.e. trouble of a supernatural sort). While stuck on a blind date her mother set her up on, she runs into jewel thief/werewolf, Marsten. She contacts Tristan Robard, her employer through the interracial council, who tells her to keep Marsten until he arrives. However, things get interesting then as Hope realizes she has been deceived all along.

The final story is Lori Handeland's "Dead Man Dating" in which literary agent, Kit Morelli, finds herself being pursued by a demon/incubus. What starts as a harmless blind date turns into a nightmare as Satan's latest demon creation tries to have sex with her to maintain his power. She is rescued by rogue demon hunter, Chavez, and together they have to figure out how to keep her alive.

Overall, this was an excellent anthology. Highly recommended!

As others have mentioned, I like anthologies because it's a great way to discover new authors that may interest me, along with reading other offerings from authors I know I already enjoy. In the case of Dates From Hell, I purchased it because I'm already a big fan of both Kim Harrison and Kelley Armstrong.

They did not disappoint in Dates From Hell. I thoroughly enjoyed both stories by these authors. But the big winner for me was the Ivy story by Kim Harrison. I've been fascinated by Ivy in the Rachel Morgan series, but she's such an enigma. "Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil" did a lot to help fill in the blanks and explain more about who she is and what makes her tick. For me, that story was worth the price of the book alone and is a valuable addition (as prequel) to that series. It's also what helped rate this book a four stars.

Lynsay Sands is new to me and I was disappointed by her "Claire Switch Project." Though I do love the title's clever play on words. While the concept had potential and the story was quite humorous at times, it was also highly forgettable. I think part of why it didn't resonate with me was because of the weird mix of science fiction with what is normally a paranormal feature, that of shapeshifting. I'm a fan of both genres, but the SF context was really out of place in this collection. If she had kept it a pure paranormal story, it would have been better. The zapped with a ray thing came across as really stupid and the writing was rather bland.

Lori Handeland, on the other hand, was a nice little surprise. I very much enjoyed "Dead Man Dating." Part of what made it so appealing was the fact that the female lead wasn't some hottie in a short skirt and impossibly high heels, but instead was a rather dumpy and ordinary woman. With a wonderful sarcastic bite. I'm a sucker for sarcastic female characters I guess. The story itself had a few weak points, but was a very enjoyable read and more than made up for the lackluster Sands story.

So three out of four goodies in a four story anthology ain't so bad. Overall, Dates from Hell definitely was worth my money and time spent reading.

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