Cravings (Undead)

Laurell K. Hamilton is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series and the Meredith Gentry series. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri.Ruth Glick has written more than 70 novels, most of them under the pseudonym Rebecca York . She and her husband live in Columbia, Maryland. MaryJanice Davidson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Undead novels featuring Betsy Taylor; Derik's Bane ; and the young adult novels featuring Jennifer Scales, written with her husband, Anthony Alongi. Her works also include the Wyndham Werewolf series and the Royal series. Eileen Wilks is the New York Times bestselling author of the Novels of the Lupi . She is also a three-time RITA Award finalist and the recipient of a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times . From Booklist Four novellas focus on feminine desire. Hamilton, the reigning queen of vampiric romance, offers a new Anita Blake tale, "Beyond the Ardeur." Anita is attending a friend's wedding when Nathaniel, her pomme de sang (i.e., the outlet for her intense desire, or "ardeur"), makes known in no uncertain terms that he wants to take the relationship to the next level. Anita's subsequent actions take her to a place she has hitherto carefully avoided. In MaryJanice Davidson's "Dead Girls Don't Dance," vampire Andrea Mercer is literally dug up by an old crush, Daniel Harris, and during a trip to Minnesota to see the vampire queen, her desire for him reignites. Succubus Molly Brown discovers a gorgeous, naked man in the woods and decides to help him recover his memory in Eileen Wilks' "Originally Human," and in "Burning Moon," Rebecca York brings a werewolf seeking vengeance for his mate's death to a psychic's door. Exciting, spicy tales sure to please fans of steamy supernatural fiction. Kristine Huntley Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the mass_market edition. From Publishers Weekly One need only glance at this anthology's lineup of authors to know that it's bound to be loaded with kinky, creative sex. And indeed, that's exactly what Hamilton delivers in "Beyond the Ardeur," which uses the setting of a wedding to bring back virtually the entire cast of characters from her popular series about necromancer Anita Blake. While Hamilton's fans will enjoy revisiting these night creatures, some may be disappointed to find that this tale is all sex and no slaying; the only mystery is which paranormal hunk(s) will satisfy Anita's ardeur. Far more suspenseful is York's "Burning Moon," which follows a blind tarot reader and a werewolf as they steam up the sheets and try to trap a serial killer. Equally compelling but more inventive is Wilks's "Originally Human"; neither the succubus heroine (whose age varies between 19 and 300, with stops at 50 and 35) nor the reader uncovers her amnesiac mystery man's identity till the final pages. Davidson, meanwhile, delivers nonstop, witty repartee and a surprise denouement in "Dead Girls Don't Dance," a delightful romance between a vampiress and her old college classmate. By turns sensual, suspenseful and amusing, this anthology will satisfy almost any craving. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the mass_market edition. Read more