After Twilight (Mass Market Paperback)

Thomson's Werewolf story is the most believable, moving and romantic of its type, unique as incredible as that seems, for this wolf-man is almost too human, & sexy is an understatement. I may never go back to mere human romances again. I hope this author keeps her unique edge and continues to breathe life into such marvelous character-driven stories.

Amanda Ashley creates a female antagonist, Leanne, who is a bit too incredible & perfect to believe in fully, plus annoyingly reluctant one minute, accepting too much too soon the next. Jason, not an imaginative name for a vampire from Europe, & Leanne go back & forth constantly--vowing to never see each other again, only to fall back into each other's arms repeatedly--a tiring plot design of crisis & fulfillment that keeps irritatingly interrupting the reader's escape into the story. This seems a lazy, template-driven way to create tension to me. Still, this is a sensual fantasy fairy tale that will satisfy almost any appetite, though the climax may seem effortful once it's over. Ashley delivers on her promises predictably--I'm still hoping to find an author who will surprise me with an unpredictable ending in this genre. I will peek at Ashley's other paranormals to see if she's a worthy new favorite author to explore fully.

Feehan satisfies completely with another fantastic book from her "Dark" series. Dark Dreams features a powerful ancient Carpathian guardian of his people, about to walk into the sun & end his existence. He has given up in his search of the Light lifemate who could save him from becoming the very evil he hunts & destroys. Same exact plot, just different names and details. We get exactly what we expect in Feehan's Dark series, and the climactic moment, while even thrilling at times & eventually satisfying, gets as stale as monogamy in a loveless marriage after awhile. What makes up for that predictability is Feehan's expert character development which makes us care about & love them like we would a chosen family. The humor is perfectly blended and laugh-out-loud hilarious. The romance & sensuality more fulfilling, detailed & REAL than any other in this genre. Still, the laziest phrase authors use in ALL of these novels, though gratefully Feehan uses it less than most, "he deepens the kiss", turns me off like a cold shower. Please authors & EDITORS, delete that phrase from your stories--it adds nothing to our knowledge of the characters or story, and is just unnecessary sloth.

It is exciting to read each author's different idea of what would make mythic monsters romantic and acceptable to the human characters & readers alike. I'm addicted to this new-for-me genre because these authors DO make suspending reality fairly easy, an escape sorely needed in today's world of human monster's with no morals. Here instead, we are confronted with morally good creatures traditionally seen as monsters that are anything BUT. Thanks to these three authors for introducing me to a new source of pleasure--short novel length stories packed into a single-book bargain. I look forward to filling my selves with more books from all three! Like those potato chips we can't eat just one of, these stories are irresistable.

Amanda Ashley's Masquerade is better than a number of her longer novels, though it contains yet another tortured vampire who tries to give up the woman he loves because he won't 'subject' her to what he is. Jason loves Leanne, but has only approached her because she was in danger. He can't resist spending some time with her, but he knows that it's only a matter of time before he must send her away for her own good. Anyone who's read any of Ashley's novels will know how the story goes. What set this one apart for me was the allegory with the Phantom of the Opera musical. Ashley draws comparisons between 'Phantom' and Jason's existence as a vampire. Enjoyable - perhaps 3 stars.

It's really unfortunate that the longest story in this anthology was also by far the worst. Christine Feehan's Dark Dream was appallingly bad. The protagonists meet and 'fall in love' in the space of about an hour, right at the start of the book. Oh, sure, Sara is scared of Falcon at first because she thinks he's a vampire (he isn't; he's some sort of weird sub-vampiric species Feehan has invented for her books, which I've never read); but within seconds she 'sees' into his eyes and she 'knows' him as someone she's known in her dreams for years. And then they're apart for the vast majority of this 150-page novella. The rest of the story is a vampire hunt: it's violent and ugly and unutterably boring. There was far too little interaction between the protagonists, and I wasn't convinced that they were in love. Oh, and just how many times does Falcon have to 'exchange' with Sara before she's converted?! Awful.

Finally, Rhonda Thompson's Midnight Serenade is somewhat different: Rick is a werewolf, and Stephanie is an environmentalist whose job is studying and filming wolves in the wild. This story felt rushed; I would have liked to know much more about how Rick became a werewolf, and I would also have liked to see the protagonists get to know each other better - it was more like falling in lust than in love.

Overall, this isn't a collection I'd read again.

wmr-uk