Book Review: Games Untold by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Games Untold
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Series: The Inheritance Games
Publication: Little Brown Books for Young Readers (November 12, 2024)

Description: Romance, luxury, and secrets abound in this thrilling new collection that takes readers deeper into the world of the #1 bestselling Inheritance Games series

There is nothing frivolous about the way a Hawthorne man loves.

An amnesiac playboy and the woman with every reason to hate him. A daredevil, his favorite heiress, and three nights in Prague. An unlikely pairing between a cowboy and a goth. Four brothers with an inescapable bond, strengthened by the family they chose, in a house of wonders that promises to always deliver one more secret.

Discover their stories of love and loss, power, puzzles, and life-and-death secrets in this mind-blowingly romantic collection that proves that when you love the way Hawthornes love, there is no going back.

This collection includes: 

• That Night in Prague (novella)
• The Same Backward as Forward (novella)
• The Cowboy and the Goth
• Five Times Xander Tackled Someone (and One Time He Didn’t)
• $3CR3T $@NT@
• One Hawthorne Night*
• What Happens in the Treehouse*
• Pain at the Right Gun

*previously published in limited release

My Thoughts: This was an excellent collection of stories. I liked the romance and the puzzles. My favorite - because it gave a background to the whole series - was The Same Backward and Forward. 

Fans of romance and puzzles will enjoy this collection. 

I bought this one November 21, 2024. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Games Untold by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

Beginning:

I wasn't worried about him. Worrying about Jameson Winchester Hawthorne was about as useful as trying to argue with the wind.

Friday 56:

I moved, swift and sure, reordering the letters, unscrambling them and writing them anew in the dirt below the original.

This week I am spotlighting Games Untold by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. This is a collection of short stories and novellas set in the Inheritance Games world. Here's the description from Amazon:

Romance, luxury, and secrets abound in this thrilling new collection that takes readers deeper into the world of the #1 bestselling Inheritance Games series
 
There is nothing frivolous about the way a Hawthorne man loves.
 
An amnesiac playboy and the woman with every reason to hate him. A daredevil, his favorite heiress, and three nights in Prague. An unlikely pairing between a cowboy and a goth. Four brothers with an inescapable bond, strengthened by the family they chose, in a house of wonders that promises to always deliver one more secret. 
 
Discover their stories of love and loss, power, puzzles, and life-and-death secrets in this mind-blowingly romantic collection that proves that when you love the way Hawthornes love, there is no going back.
 
This collection includes:

• That Night in Prague (novella)
• The Same Backward as Forward (novella)
• The Cowboy and the Goth
• Five Times Xander Tackled Someone (and One Time He Didn’t)
• $3CR3T $@NT@
• One Hawthorne Night*
• What Happens in the Treehouse* 
• Pain at the Right Gun

*previously published in limited release

Book Review: The Locked Tomb Mystery and Other Stories by Elizabeth Peters

The Locked Tomb Mystery and Other Stories
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Publication: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road (October 9, 2018)

Description: Four classic stories by the New York Times bestselling “grandmaster” of mystery, each paired with an incisive new introduction (Publishers Weekly).

A thriller writer is embroiled in a real-life whodunit when a friend drops dead with her hatpin impaled in his back. The violation of a sealed West Bank tomb, its rock walls intact, provides a Thebes investigator with a mystifying conundrum. Two sisters take shelter in a shuttered old house at the end of a country road…only to discover they’re not alone. And the author’s most beloved characters, Amelia Peabody and Radcliff Emerson, make an appearance in a newly uncovered tale with a witty nod to Sherlock Holmes.

The Locked Tomb Mystery presents an unforgettable quartet of short mysteries from one of the genre’s greatest practitioners. An expanded edition of Peters’s Mystery Stories, this volume includes the never-before-collected story, “Vengeance of Sekhmet”—along with a new preface by Barbara G. Mertz and new introductions to each story by mystery authors Tasha Alexander, Juliet Blackwell, and Daniel Stashower, and Egyptologist Salima Ikram.

My Thoughts: This book includes four of Barbara Mertz's short stories which each come from one aspect of her writing. Mertz was an Egyptologist who wrote under the names of Barbara Michaels and Elizabeth Peters for her fiction work and her own name for popular books on Egyptology.

The book includes a short story which brings back her beloved characters Amelia Peabody and Radcliffe Emerson who need to solve a mystery of a presumed curse. There is another mystery set in ancient Egypt.

The Runaway was a ghost story which fits in with most of her work as Barbara Michaels. And Liz Peters, PI was evidence of the humor she infused in many of her stories. It tells of a mystery author who also works as a private investigator and is a gender bent send-up of the hard-boiled mystery genre.

I enjoyed the introductions to each of the stories which tell how Mertz influenced a variety of writers and egyptologists in her long career. 

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Skin and Bones by Paul Doiron

Skin and Bones
Author: Paul Doiron
Series: Mike Bowditch Mysteries
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 13, 2025)

Description: For the first time in print, Skin and Bones features a collection of eight gripping original short stories in the bestselling Mike Bowditch series―including one brand new, never-before-published story―from Edgar-award nominated author Paul Doiron.

In THE BEAR TRAP, legendary Maine woodsman and bush pilot Charley Stevens tries to convince young Mike of the dangers awaiting rookie game wardens.

RABID draws Mike into the story of a gruesome case involving a bat with rabies from his Charley Steven’s past (2019 Edgar award nominee for Best Short Story).

When a visiting hunter goes missing in the middle of a snowstorm, a young Charley Stevens sets off to rescue him―but begins to suspect the man may not want to be found in BACKTRACK.

In THE IMPOSTER, Mike is confronted with a baffling case of stolen identity when he discovers a dead body whose driver’s license claims he is none other than Mike Bowditch himself.

Mike tracks down a sinister prowler who turns a couple's dream vacation home into a nightmare in THE CARETAKER.

An investigation into the killing of a bald eagle in SKIN AND BONES unearths an old case of a missing young man whose physically abusive brother might have murdered him.

In SNAKEBIT, Mike must hunt down a killer who uses the unlikeliest of murder weapons: rattlesnakes.

(Brand New!) Mike suspects there’s more to a grisly murder-suicide than meets the eye in SHEEP’S CLOTHING.

Critically acclaimed for his brilliant crime novels, Paul Doiron proves he is also the master of short story in Skin and Bones.

My Thoughts: This interesting collection of short stories feature Game Wardens in the State of Maine. Both Charley Steve and Mike Bowditch are characters in Paul Doiron's long-running Mike Bowditch series. 

The stories were all interesting and span a number of years. They are filled with an intriguing variety of characters who live in very rural Maine from poachers to recluses. 

I've only read a couple of the Mike Bowditch stories but found getting to know him in more depth through these stories to be illuminating of his character. 

Short stories aren't really my thing since I like more depth in my stories. Fans of the genre and fans of Mike Bowditch will enjoy these glimpses into unseen episodes in his life and career.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Skin and Bones by Paul Doiron

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

Beginning:

The wind moved across the surface of the lake like breath upon a mirror.

Friday 56:

Charley stroked his lantern jaw as he often did when he was working through a problem. 

This week I am spotlighting Skin and Bones by Paul Doiron from my review stack. This book is a collection of short stories. Here is the description from Amazon:

For the first time in print, Skin and Bones features a collection of eight gripping original short stories in the bestselling Mike Bowditch series―including one brand new, never-before-published story―from Edgar-award nominated author Paul Doiron.

In THE BEAR TRAP, legendary Maine woodsman and bush pilot Charley Stevens tries to convince young Mike of the dangers awaiting rookie game wardens.

RABID draws Mike into the story of a gruesome case involving a bat with rabies from his Charley Steven’s past (2019 Edgar award nominee for Best Short Story).

When a visiting hunter goes missing in the middle of a snowstorm, a young Charley Stevens sets off to rescue him―but begins to suspect the man may not want to be found in BACKTRACK.

In THE IMPOSTER, Mike is confronted with a baffling case of stolen identity when he discovers a dead body whose driver’s license claims he is none other than Mike Bowditch himself.

Mike tracks down a sinister prowler who turns a couple's dream vacation home into a nightmare in THE CARETAKER.

An investigation into the killing of a bald eagle in SKIN AND BONES unearths an old case of a missing young man whose physically abusive brother might have murdered him.

In SNAKEBIT, Mike must hunt down a killer who uses the unlikeliest of murder weapons: rattlesnakes.

(Brand New!) Mike suspects there’s more to a grisly murder-suicide than meets the eye in SHEEP’S CLOTHING.

Critically acclaimed for his brilliant crime novels, Paul Doiron proves he is also the master of short story in Skin and Bones.

Book Reviews: Kris Longknife Boot Recruit & Kris Longknife's Maid Goes on Strike by Mike Shepherd

Kris Longknife Boot Recruit
Author: Mike Shepherd
Publication: Self-Published (June 11, 2021)

Description: Everyone has known since Kris Longknife – Mutineer that Kris ran off to join the Navy after graduating college much to her parents’ dismay. However, the story has never been told of how that came to pass. Worse, how does a scion of the Longknife clan survive that massive drop in social levels, plummeting from the Prime Minister’s brat to a lowly Boot Recruit. Here, at last, is the story in all it’s fuss and feathers still on this rare bird. Enjoy.

Kris Longknife's Maid Goes on Strike
Author: Mike Shepherd
Publication: KL & MM Books (October 13, 2017)

Description: This collection of 4 short stories under one cover: Maid Goes on Strike, Ruthie Longknife's First Christmas, Among the Kicking Birds and Bad Day.

My Thoughts: These are fill-in pieces to the long-running Kris Longknife series. 

Boot Recruit is a novella and talks about Kris's reasons for joining the Navy after college and things that happened when she attended OCS. Fun story with all sorts of adjustments for both Kris and the Navy. 

Kris Longknife's Maid Goes on Strike contains four short stories. The first is about a problem on Alwa and the way Abby decides to solve it. Ruthie Longstreet's First Christmas is about a visit to Grandfather Al which turns into the second assassination attempt the baby manages to survive. Among the Kicking Birds takes place on Alwa and has Kris negotiating with the ostriches for land for the humans. Bad Day has Kris at Navy Headquarters on Wardhaven during her time as a staff officer and the reason why she asked for another job. 

The stories were all entertaining and filled in some other adventures in the universe. None were really essential, and none would really stand alone without having read the rest of the series. 

Favorite Quote:

"Why didn't your famous computer tell you that was a defective pod?" gunny asked.

"The interface on the pod's computer was so obsolete I could not attach," Nelly answered for herself.

"That was when I realized I had a problem," Kris put in. "I just didn't know how bad it was."

I bought these. You can buy your copies here and here.

Book Review: A Liaden Universe Constellation by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

A Liaden Universe Constellation
Author: Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Series: Liaden Universe Collection - Book 1
Publication: Baen Books (December 8, 2013)

Description: Thirty‑three shorter tales of the Liaden Universe® brought together for the first time in two mega‑volumes.  Seventeen tales to start with in Volume One!

The nationally best‑selling Liaden Universe® novels are treasured by space opera aficionados for their wit, world‑building, strong characterizations, tender romance, and edge‑of‑the‑chair action.

Since 1995, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller also created shorter tales, illuminating additional facets of the Liaden experience. Here is a vast tapestry of tales of the scouts, artists, traders, priestesses, sleight of hand magicians, and pilots who fill the Liaden Universe® with the excitement, action, and romance that readers of the hit series have come to adore.

My Thoughts: This is a collection of seventeen stories from the Liaden Universe that were first published in the authors' chapbooks. While they provide new insights for long-time fans of the Liaden Universe series like me, they are also a great introduction to the character-driven science fiction the authors are know for.

There are a couple of stories about Val Con yos'Phelium as he is before we meet him in Agent of Change. One of the stories tells about one his first missions where he meets Edger, the Clutch turtle, and how they came to be brothers. Another tells of a skimmer race on Liad when he and Shan outrage Lady Kareen.

There are stories of Pat Rin yos'Phelium which tell about him balancing for a man who committed suicide, deciding on what he wants to do with his life since he is neither a pilot nor a dramliz. I especially liked the story where he and Nova are sorting some rugs for Luken Bel'Tarda and he learns some interesting things both about Nova and about how Bel'Tarda became part of Korval.

I liked the stories about Moonhawk and Lute even if I can't figure out how, or if, they fit into the Liaden Universe. I also enjoyed the story about Priscilla and why she was exiled from her home planet of Sintia. Another story is also related to Priscilla's as it tells about the events that led to her exile from a different point of view.

All of the stories were engaging and interesting.

Favorite Quote:

One of the questions that readers often ask writers is, "Where do you get your ideas?"

There are a couple of ways to reply to this, depending on your writer. In general, answers range from Harlan Ellison's now-classic, "I get my ideas from a post office box in Schenectady," to the more factual, and most often disbelieved, "Ideas are easy," to the in-your-face, "Do you mean that you don't have ideas? For God's sake, tell me how to make them stop!"

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Mary Russell's War by Laurie R. King

Mary Russell's War 
Author: Laurie R. King
Series: Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes
Publication: Alibi (September 13, 2016)

Description: Laurie R. King illuminates the hidden corners of her beloved Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series in this dynamic short story collection.

In nine previously published short stories and one brand-new, never-before-seen Sherlock Holmes mystery—available together for the first time—Laurie R. King blends her long-running brand of crime fiction with historical treats and narrative sleight of hand. At the heart of the collection is a prequel novella that begins with England’s declaration of war in 1914. As told in Mary Russell’s teenage diaries, the whip-smart girl investigates familial mysteries, tracks German spies through San Francisco, and generally delights with her extraordinary mind—until an unimaginable tragedy strikes.

Here too is the case of a professor killed by a swarm of bees; Mrs. Hudson’s investigation of a string of disappearing household items—and a lifelong secret; a revealing anecdote about a character integral to >The God of the Hive; the story of Mary’s beloved Uncle Jake and a monumental hand of cards; and a series of postcards in which Mary searches for her missing husband, Sherlock Holmes.

Last but not least, fans will be especially thrilled by Mary’s account of her decision, at age ninety-two, to publish her memoirs—and how she concluded that Ms. King should be the one to introduce her voice to the world.

My Thoughts: This is a collection of short stories centered around Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. In the first, we are introduced to Mary's disreputable Uncle Jake. In the second, we learn Mary's reactions when war is declared in 1914 and what happens when she suffers an unthinkable tragedy.

We see Mary's first meeting with Sherlock Holmes from his point of view. We see the story about the events surrounding their marriage. Mrs. Hudson even has a case of her own in this anthology.

We read how Mary comes to decide that Laurie King should be her biographer and why the stories were framed as fiction. That story is the only one I had trouble with in this books because, while I can believe that Mary lives to a healthy 92, I can't quite get around the idea of an active Holmes at 132.

This was a wonderful collection. I liked hearing Mary's voice and Sherlock's too. I liked the illustrations using period postcards. This anthology makes me want to reread the series.

Favorite Quote:

Although we had addressed the primary negotiations of the marriage contract then and there (Holmes: I promise not to knock you unconscious again, unless it's absolutely necessary. Me: I promise to obey you, if it's something I'd planned on doing anyway.), the next stages were somewhat less straightforward.

I bought this one in October 2016. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Liaden Universe Constellation IV by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

The Liaden Universe Constellation IV
Author: Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Series: Liaden Universe
Publication: Baen (June 4, 2019)

Description: BOOK 4 in the multivolume Liaden Universe ®  short fiction collection.  Tales of the Liaden Universe® brought together for the first time. Space opera and romance on a grand scale in a galaxy full of interstellar trading

For more than thirty years, the Liaden Universe® novels by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller have captivated readers with their unique blend of action adventure, science fiction, and romance. In addition to twenty-one novels (and counting) Lee and Miller have written dozens of shorter works based in the Liaden Universe®, featuring the strong characterization, detailed world-building, wit, and derring-do that readers of the series adore.

This fourth volume collecting Lee and Miller’s shorter Liaden Universe® stories features four novelettes, two novellas, and two short stories – including the celebrated linked stories, "Block Party" and "Degrees of Separation."

Sure to delight longtime fans and newcomers alike, these tales highlight why the nationally best-selling Liaden Universe® novels are treasured by space opera aficionados, with detailed world-building, strong characterizations, compelling romance, and edge-of-the-chair action in stories that range from cosmic to comic.

My Thoughts: The book is a compilation of recent short stories, novellas, and novelettes in the Liaden Universe. All are previously published. It is nice to have them all in one place in a convenient format.

STREET CRED takes place soon after exiled Korval resettles itself on Surebleak. It is about culture clash as the contract-loving Liadens butt heads with Surebleakers who think contracts are just suggestions that can be disregarded if a better opportunity arises. The contract in question calls for the death of one or the other of the Road Bosses for wrongs done by Korval on the homeworld of Liad and the solution is uniquely Surebleakan.

DUE DILIGENCE is the story of Fer Gun pen'Uldra and Chi yos'Phelium which results in the birth of Daav yos'Phelium. It is a story of Balance as Chi finds a way to give Fer Gun a future away from the Clan that doesn't treat him with appropriate care. It takes place on Liad and has fish-out-of-water Fer Gun learning to navigate Liaden High Society with all its complexities.

FRIEND OF A FRIEND is a story set on Surebleak. Quin yos'Phelium and Villy are friends despite their different cultures. Quin is Liaden and Villy is a native Surebleaker. Villy works as at the Sticks table in Quin's father's casino and is also a hetaerana who works in Ms. Audrey's house of delights. Quin is working in the casino when an unknown Liaden woman comes up to him asking for Quin's location. Villy is suspicious of her and rightly so since she arrives at Ms. Audrey's having purchased two hours of his time. Luckily, Villy is able to contact help before this Agent of Change can get him alone.

CUTTING CORNERS takes place on Codrescu Station. Therny Chirs is the cargo master and a thrid class pilot for the Fringe Ranger. He find that he needs to renew his piloting license and discovers smugglers as he is taking his flight test. He also gets a chance to meet Hevelin, a norbear who appears in a lot of the Liaden Universe books.

BLOCK PARTY takes place on Surebleak. Baker Don Eyr has been taken there from Low Port, Liad, along with the children in his care. However, the other adults in their group including his partner Serana are missing. They were helping the mercenaries when Korval brought the fight against Liad's enemies to Liad. He and the children are settling into their new neighborhood and are generally welcomed except by Roe Yingling who is determined to blame the refugee Liadens for all of Surebleak's problems. I liked the glimpse of Kareen's committee that is trying to gather information about the history of Surebleak.

DEGREES OF SEPARATION tells the story of how Don Eyr and Serana met and came to be on Liad. Don Eyr was the unwanted child in his clan. He was ignored by everyone but the servants and developed a talent for baking. When his Delm wanted him gone, he chose to go to s very famous culinary school on Lutetia where he met Serana who was a trained soldier in the employ of the Council. The Council had a bad habit of using its soldier to fight wars between rival counselors. When Serana and Don Eyr fall onto the bad side of a vengeful member of the Council, they decide to go to the planet where Don Eyr was born to start a bakery. Before they could go, Don Eyr was called home to Liad by his Delm who had lost him in a card game to a rival gambler. It took a while for Don Eyr to wrest himself out of the clutches of his clan and, while he was planning, he and Serana came upon some orphans in Low Port and decided to become guardians to them and to begin a Watch House like the one where Serana grew up.

EXCERPTS FROM TWO LIVES tells the expanded version of the Ballad of the RosaRing in which scientific progress becomes a scientific nightmare and lovers, one a scientist on the RosaRing and the other a military commander of a ship coming to it, need to make a horrible decision.

REVOLUTIONISTS is the final story in the book and takes place on a space station that is undergoing a revolution.

I liked the stories that took place on Liad and Surebleak better than the stories that took place elsewhere. I also preferred finding out more about characters who were prominent in the Liaden novels over meeting new people in unfamiliar places.

Favorite Quote:

Miri sighed and reached for her coffee mug. Change, and more change, and suddenly, everything'd be different.

All you could hope for, really, was that it'd be better too.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: The Liaden Universe Constellation IV by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

Val Con yos'Phelium leaned back in his chair and sighed.

Friday 56:

Well, that might not've been the best decision she'd ever made in her life, Algaina thought, but it'd sure do for now. 

This week I am featuring The Liaden Universe Constellation IV by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. I have been a fan of the Liaden Universe books since the 1980s. I can't wait to read this newest short story collection. Here is the description from Amazon:

BOOK 4 in the multivolume Liaden Universe ®  short fiction collection.  Tales of the Liaden Universe® brought together for the first time. Space opera and romance on a grand scale in a galaxy full of interstellar trading clans.

For more than thirty years, the Liaden Universe® novels by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller have captivated readers with their unique blend of action adventure, science fiction, and romance. In addition to twenty-one novels (and counting) Lee and Miller have written dozens of shorter works based in the Liaden Universe®, featuring the strong characterization, detailed world-building, wit, and derring-do that readers of the series adore.

This fourth volume collecting Lee aned Miller’s shorter Liaden Universe® stories features four novelettes, two novellas, and two short stories – including the celebrated linked stories, "Block Party" and "Degrees of Separation."

Sure to delight longtime fans and newcomers alike, these tales highlight why the nationally best-selling Liaden Universe® novels are treasured by space opera aficionados, with detailed world-building, strong characterizations, compelling romance, and edge-of-the-chair action in stories that range from cosmic to comic.

Cherry-Picking Anthologies 2 (Hexed, Unbound, The Unquiet, & Mirror, Mirror)

I am not a big fan of anthologies. I much prefer longer works of fiction. However, occasionally, I am still tempted to purchase an anthology because it has a story by an author I do read. Most of the time, these anthologies sit on TBR mountain unread. Since my goal is to lower the number of books on the mountain, I am going to be checking out some of these anthologies, reading the story by the author I bought it for, and donating these books to someone who will like them better.

Unbound by Kim Harrison, Melissa Marr, Jeaniene Frost, Vicki Pettersson, Jocelynn Drake

• Ley Line Drifter by Kim Harrison tells the story of Jenks' first case when another pixie comes to him for help with a haunted statue. I liked Jenks' concern for the futures of his children and his love for his wife.
• Reckoning by Jeaniene Frost tells the story of when Bones went to New Orleans during Mardi Gras to track down some ghouls who were visiting while Marie was away. He finds and kills them but loses an innocent that he involved along the way. He also learns that Marie hasn't sanctioned the hunt which puts him in danger from her. Interesting to read a story about Bones before he meets Cat.

Hexed by Ilona Andrews, Yasmine Galenorn, Allyson James, Jeanne C. Stein

• Magic Dreams by Ilona Andrews tells the story of Dali and Jim. She has been crushing on him but thinks he can't want a clumsy, near-sighted, vegetarian of a tiger shifter. When Jim is cursed, Dali uses her talents to save him and along the way lets him know that she wants him.
• Blood Debt by Jeanne C. Stein has Anna Strong, bounty hunter and relatively new vampire, brought to an unearthly plane to stand trial for breaking sanctuary and killing an evil witch who was killing young vampires to use their blood to make a beauty cream. I haven't read any other Anna Strong stories but found this one interesting.

The Unquiet by J. D. Robb et al.

• Chaos in Death by J. D. Robb has Eve trying to solve a case where three former addicts are brutally murdered by a monster.

Mirror, Mirror by J. D. Robb et al.

• Taken in Death by J. D. Robb is a novella that has Eve working a kidnapping of seven-year-old twins after being called in because of the stabbing death of the nanny. This had a fairy tale feel because the kids saw the kidnapper as a wicked witch. Eve saw a criminally insane woman with cannibalistic tendencies.

What do you think of anthologies?

Cherry-Picking Anthologies 1 (Running with the Pack, Evolve, Hex Appeal, & An Apple for the Creature)

I am not a big fan of anthologies. I much prefer longer works of fiction. However, occasionally, I am still tempted to purchase an anthology because it has a story by an author I do read. Most of the time, these anthologies sit on TBR mountain unread. Since my goal is to lower the number of books on the mountain, I am going to be checking out some of these anthologies, reading the story by the author I bought it for, and donating these books to someone who will like them better.

Running with the Pack edited by Ekaterina Sedia had a few stories that I needed to read. This anthology has been on my stack since May 12, 2010.

• Wild Ride by Carrie Vaughn tells the story of T. J. who was gay and newly diagnosed with HIV when he met Alex at the track where T. J. was a motorcycle mechanic. After Alex's miraculous recovery from a crash, T. J. asked him his secret and confessed his own. Alex turns T. J. into a werewolf which cures him but then Alex leaves rather than staying part of his pack.
• Blended by C. E. Murphy tells the story of a young woman who was the only survivor when her pack was attacked by hunters. Now in human form, she gets a chance to get revenge on the man who led the hunt and meets a man who can be her mate.
• Locked Doors by Stephanie Burgis tells a very brief story about an eighth grade boy alone dealing with a father who is a werewolf and out of control for days at a time. He is also trying to understand the mother who left them both.
• Werelove by Laura Anne Gilman tells the story of a were relationship gone wrong that sends a young woman to an old alpha woman for advice - advice that is good for wolves but contrary to what a human would do.
• Mongrel by Maria V. Snyder is the story of an 18-year-old abused foster child who is living homeless surrounded by the dogs she has adopted. One night she rescues a wounded wolfhound and gets in the middle of a werewolf power struggle and, ultimately, finds a home.

Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead edited by Nancy Kilpatrick had a story by Kelley Armstrong—Learning Curve. This tells of a bit of time in vampire Zoe Takono's life when she attracts a stalker. She teases the stalker for a couple of weeks and then confronts her. Zoe tries to convince the half-demon stalker that she should either train harder or make another career choice. It was a nice story showing that all vampires aren't evil. This anthology has been on my stack since Sept. 8, 2010.

Hex Appeal edited by P. N. Elrod also had a few stories I needed to read. This anthology has been on my stack since Sept. 18, 2012.

• Retribution Clause by Ilona Andrews takes place in a Philadelphia that has also been transformed by magic waves. It stars Adam Talford who is a frost giant and cousin of Saiman and his partner Siroun also a magical being of some sort. The work for insurance investigators and need to carry out a retribution clause in a life insurance policy. I loved the relationship between them and the action as they try to get to the man they are supposed to kill.
• Bigfoot on Campus by Jim Butcher has Harry doing a favor for Bigfoot and trying to keep his son out of trouble. Bigfoot's son is dating the daughter of a White Court vampire. Unknown to her, she is supposed to come into her powers by killing her first lover. But Bigfoot's kid is a match for her and young romance triumphs.
• Holly's Balm by Rachel Caine was a story in a world new to me. Holly is a witch who is a revivalist. On a previous case she revived Andy Toland who died back in Old West days. They are in love but he feels out of his time and she worries that he will die again. She is working on a case when a serial killer is reviving his previous victims and killing them again.
• The Arcane Art of Misdirection by Carrie Vaughn features Odysseus Grant, a blackjack dealer, and a kid using magic to cheat.

An Apple for the Creature edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner had two stories that I needed to read. I added it to my stack on Dec. 14, 2012.

• Playing Possum by Charlaine Harris was a Sookie Stackhouse story. Sookie is bringing cupcakes to her nephew Hunter's kindergarten classroom when the school is invaded by a shooter with a grudge against the school secretary. Both Sookie and Hunter's teacher who happens to be a witch secretly use their powers to save the day.
• Magic Tests by Ilona Andrews is a story told by Julie. Kate wants her to attend school and the school she wants her to attend is currently immersed in a mystery. A student has disappeared and it is up to Julie to find her using both her deductive skills and her own unique brand of magic.

How do you feel about anthologies?