Wednesday 8 May 2013

BLOOD BY MOONLIGHT BY JOCEYNN DRAKE, TERRI GAREY & CARIS ROANE

ISBN: 9780062238887
ASIN: B008XOA4YW
Publisher: Avon
Pages: 100
Formats Available: E-Book

BLURB from Goodreads
Just in time for the scariest season of all, three popular paranormal authors come together to tell original tales of romance where Anything can happen under a Halloween moon . . .

Tempers flare and passions rise in Jocelynn Drake's Of Monsters and Men as the local werewolf pack clashes with the Winter Court's Wild Hunt . . .

In Terri Garey's The Ghoul Next Door, a witch and a warlock battle it out for possession of a haunted house, but the ghost may have her own agenda . . .

And, in Trick or Treathen by Caris Roane, a master vampire struggles to stay away from the mortal woman who enflames his very soul.


MY REVIEW
I bought this e-book from Amazon.co.uk, I know I have read it at totally the wrong time of year as the books aim is to be read at Halloween, but I bought it and fancied reading something short and a little different. I also wanted to try reading work by these authors too, and I think a collection of short stories that this book is, is an ideal way of doing just that.
The cover is dark and mysterious, leaning towards being scary which totally suits the time of year this book aims to be read at. The title Blood by Moonlight fits each of the three stories as there is blood in each and everyone of them. I think the authors names being on the cover in equal proportions is a good thing too, though I didn't particularly need the "best selling author" tag on there. Also I aren't particularly keen on the Avon books logo being on the cover either. There are three stories by three different authors in this collection. I decided to say a little about each story individually. Kind of like I review an Anthology. I should also state that I have not read anything by these authors before prior to this book.
So first up was Of Monsters and Men by Jocelynn Drake, This one has werewolves, warlocks and elves in it. so a little to appeal to most paranormal fans. I aren't a fan of eves, pixies or even fae anymore as a lot of what I have read has seemed somewhat samey to me, with a few great exceptions of course. I did however really enjoy this short story in fact I am going to research and see if it perhaps was a spin off with characters from a series. I liked the relationship between warlock, elf and werewolf. You probably wouldn't think that they would mix, but in this story they do. Then there's the whole Summer court/Winter Court politics of the fae/elven races too. What more can I say I really enjoyed it.
So did I enjoy this short tale? Yes. Will I be checking out more books by this author? Yes! Would I read a series connected to this short tale? Yes.
Next up was The Ghoul Next Door by Terri Garey, This story had a witch, a warlock, and an interesting ghost witch too. I liked this story too, it centred around an old house that had been in a witches family for generations. Sadly the father of the last witch in the line had let greed overcome him and sold the witches inheritance of the house. The witch had tried on numerous occasions to purchase the house back but to no avail the male who was living in the house seemed determined to stay put where he was. He didn't reckon on the witch turning to fair means or fowl, or her having the help of the ghost of her witch grandmother. This one is quirky and has some humour too, with family politics also playing a part in the tale.
So Did I enjoy this short tale? Yes, I did. Will I be checking out more books by this author? Yes I will. And finally Would I read a series connected to this short tale? Mmm that's more difficult as I just saw this as a more standalone tale but if there were further adventures of the characters in this tale then yes I think I would be very tempted to read more.
Last in the mini anthology was Trick or Treathen by Caris Roane, This was a change of pace and kind of rather er racy in parts, though it did still have a story and a good plot that ran through the short tale too. as you know I dislike erotica where it is just pure erotica and no plot or story. I don't mind a little steam, but that's as far as I go in that direction. I like a plot to follow not reading about pure "bumping and grinding" all the time. anyhow as I was saying this tale, though short did have a plot and decent, interesting storyline to it. I liked both the main characters and their opposition to the Treathen bond. The Treathen bond is what I would describe as simply as possible as a soul mate bond between a vampire and a human. there's also plenty of Vampire politics in this book too. Where and how and when is it acceptable or deemed necessary for one vampire to intervene or interfere in another vampires business. In this book an "evil cruel vampire" has taken and bonded a girl, this girls sister approaches a more "humane vampire" to ask, try to coerce and then even demand his help in getting her sister back. That's if the sister, Britt isn't dead already. So there's plenty of action and drama going on in this tale,as the said hero would be rescuer sister and "humane" vampire kind of have this strong attraction to each other too, though they are both trying their best to fight this attraction. 
So Did I enjoy this short tale? Yes, I really did. I quite surprised myself enjoying it despite the steamy parts! Will I be checking out more books by this author? Yes, I really think I will, despite the steamy content. Would I read a series connected to this short tale? Once again, surprising myself and despite the steamy content, yes I would. I really liked the characters in the short tale.
So to sum up, this is a great collection of three short tales, forming a mini anthology that showcases the three authors very well. The stories are so good that I would love for these short tales to be part of larger series, and I will definitely be looking up all three authors to check out more of their work.
So Did I enjoy the book? Yes, definitely! Will I be checking out more books by these authors? Yes definitely! Would I read more about the characters in the individual tales? Yes I'd like to read more about them all, though I think the tale by Terri Garey may be a stand alone short tale, I could definitely imagine series containing all the characters in all the tales though, just more so with the tales by Jocelynn Drake and Caris Roane.


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