June 26, 2006

Mysteria by MaryJanice Davidson, Susan Grant, P.C. Cast, and Gena Showalter, 3

Book description: Hunky werewolves, delicious demons and, drop-dead sexy witches all have the same address...

Hundreds of years ago, in the mountains of Colorado (just close enough to Denver for great shoe shopping), the small town of Mysteria was "accidentally" founded by a random act of demonic kindness. Over time, it has become a veritable magnet for the supernatural-a place where magic has quietly coexisted with the mundane world.

It's a town like any other town, where the high school's Fighting Fairies give fans something to cheer about, where everyone knows your name-if not exactly what you are-at the local bar, and where the wishing well actually lives up to its name. Strange occurrences happen every day, but now the ladies of Mysteria are about to unleash a tempest of seduction that will have tongues wagging for centuries to come...

Review: The first story in this anthology is Mortal in Mysteria by Susan Grant. It’s about a demon who gets banished from hell and falls in love with a mortal woman. I liked the idea of the story but there was almost no characterization. The romance felt like it was just going through the motions.

Next up is Alone Wolf by MaryJanice Davidson. A werewolf searching for his own kind moves to Mysteria and hooks up with his relator. This was an odd story. I liked the secondary characters but hated the romance. The story lost me at the unprotected sex and never won me back.

The third story is The Witches of Mysteria and the Dead Men Who Love Them by Gena Showalter. This one is about a witch who gives a longtime crush a love potion but isn’t sure if he really wants her. Finally, a story I liked! It was really cute. I’ve never read anything by Showalter but I’d read more by her.

The last story is the best in the anthology. It’s Candy Cox and the Big Bad (Were)Wolf by P.C. Cast. After a string of disastrous marriages, a woman dates a much younger man who happens to be a werewolf. This was a really well done younger man/older woman romance. The romance was well developed for a short story. I also loved all the Dark Shadows references in the Cast and Showalter stories.

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