Hex Appeal

Another solid supernatural anthology featuring some of the biggest names in urban fantasy.

Retribution Clause by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels' world)

The magical world of the Kate Daniels series is unparalleled in urban fantasy. Truly. So it was great fun to read a story that takes place across the country from Kate's Atlanta in Philadelphia. There are no character crossovers, but the hero is Saiman's cousin and also a frost giant. The characters are impressively developed for the page length, and the Seek and Assassinate mission that Adam and his partner go on is packed with magic and mayham...and even a little romance. Fans of this world will love this and new readers will get hooked on this world.

Rating: 4/5 Sexual Content: Kissing

Bigfoot on Campus by Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files)

Jim Butcher is the king of short stories. I've yet to read one that wasn't thoroughly entertaining, and I think Bigfoot on Campus is the best yet. Professional wizard, Harry Dresden agrees to investigate a potential threat against his friend Bigfoot's son. There aren't any real clues as to when this story takes place chronologically in The Dresden Files, so longtime fans and newbies alike can jump right in. Harry's trademark biting wit and sly observations are out in force here. Easily my favorite story in the anthology.

Rating: 5/5 Sexual Content: Kissing, magical lust magic that causes a orgy in a college dorm (no descriptions), a non graphic/vague sex scene.

Holly's Balm by Rachel Caine

So glad to see Holly and Andy back. I loved them in the STRANGE BREW anthology and hope to see more of them in future short stories (or full novels). It reads a little like an early Anita Blake story...she's a Resurrection witch and he's an Old West gunslinger she resurrected and then fell for (read their first story in STRANGE BREW). The romance is sweet and hopeful which contrasts nicely with their hunt for a magical serial killer who is resurrecting his victims to kill them again. This story/series is unlike anything else Rachel writes and it's one of my favorites from her. Here's hoping she has future plans for these two.

Rating: 4/5 Sexual Content: One sex scene

Snow Job by Carole Nelson Douglas (Delilah Street)

Having read only the first book in the Delilah Street series previously, I felt a little disoriented reading Snow Job. The worldbuilding in this series is very good, but it's complex and really difficult to grasp in these few pages. The author does explain everything, but that unfortunately hurt the story and emotions in my opinion. Too many info dumps. I image readers who are brand new to this series will feel overwhelmed rather than intrigued by this story which involves a missing rock star, a vengeful hell goddess, and a personal grudge between Delilah and Snow.

Rating: 2/5 Sexual Content: Kissing

Outside the Box by P.N. Elrod

A simple, straightforward story that appears to be separate from Elrod's Vampire Files series in which a witch and a vampire work as partner's for The Company, a bureaucratic agency that monitors new vampires. A supposedly standard rising turns into a search for a missing woman and a hunt for her sire/killer. A little lackluster in terms of excitement, but the world was intriguing.

Rating: 3/5 Sexual Content: N/A

How Do You Feel by Simon R. Green (Nightside)

The Nightside series features a diverse and densely populated world, and that is no more apparent in How Do You Feel. In this story, we follow an unwilling zombie (aka Dead Boy) on his quest to feel and track down his murderers. Nightside tends to be hit or miss for me, and I'm afraid this story falls into the latter category. It's just bizarre. The ending especially since it involves a shapeshifting, self-aware car from the future as a love interest. Too weird for me.

Rating: 2/5 Sexual Content: N/A

There Will Be Demons by Lori Handeland (The Phoenix Chronicles)

Here's another series where I've read the first book, but it's been years and my memory is foggy at best. Not sure if these are primary or secondary characters from The Phoenix Chronicles series, but it involves fairies, dhampires, skinwalkers and fallen angles. Forced to partner together in a demon killing mission, Summer and Jimmy complete their bloody task and then fall into bed together. It wasn't exactly clear, but there may have been reincarnation or soul mate destiny between these two. That or memory loss. Again it wasn't clear enough for me which ended up leaving me more confused than entertained.

Rating: 2/5 Sexual Content: One sex scene

Cherry Kisses by Erica Hayes (Shadowfae Chronicles #4.5) Read an excerpt

Set in the world of the Shadowfae Chronicles, Cherry Kisses follows a resourceful con artist on a job that literally forces her to take a trip to hell to steal an object from a demon. A much too handsome and definitely too honorable guy has his own reasons for helping her. I'm so glad this story was included as it gave me the opportunity to enjoy Hayes' writing without the darker, erotic tone of the full novels. There is a wonderful flavor to the writing that really brings the fae/vampire/demon infused world to life. One of my favorites in the anthology.

Rating: 4/5 Sexual Content: Kissing

The Aracane Art of Misdirection by Carrie Vaughn (Kitty Norville)

According to the author's website, this story is part of the Kitty Norville series, which I've read some of, but I didn't recognize the characters. It follows a blackjack dealer in Vegas who spots a cheating scam and leads her to magician Odysseus Grant. A little on the slow side compared to the other stories in this anthology, but it is an unusual tale.

Rating: 3/5 Sexual Content: N/A

Purchased for Ilona Andrews "Retribution Clause" which was great (5 plus stars). I have loved all of Ilona Andrews books and the characters and worlds they create in them. Big Foot on Campus by Jim Butcher was another great story. I found all the stories enjoyable and will reread several of them. 4 stars for the book overall.

Not every story is a home-run but I think that well more than half were good and a few were very, very good. Overall, it was totally worth the time to read and I'm even going to look up an author I had abandoned and another I haven't read based on the strength of their short stories.

I think short stories are really hard to pull off. They are so brief that there isn't a lot of time to pull together good characters, a strong conflict, a compelling narrative, and a decent resolution. The fact that some authors managed is really impressive. All of the stories were really well-written, all had at least one strong and well-drawn character, and most had a solid story line.

The Stories:

Ilona Andrews- Retribution Clause. The Andrews writing team never fails to impress me. This story read like the introduction to a brand new paranormal suspense/urban fantasy series. Two completely new characters who were really well-drawn. In fact, the heroine had this great shadowy back story that was alluded to (as if we will see her again and I hope we do). The Andrews' teased us really, really well. I could have done with less adventure and more on the characters. It was a brief story (too brief!) but it really felt like a complete adventure. It was a highlight and an example of how to write a short story without relying too heavily upon an established franchise (though they did rely upon their Kate Daniels universe a bit).

Jim Butcher- Bigfoot on Campus. This is a Harry Dresden short story that relies upon his established franchise and universe. Still, it was really, really good. It was exactly the right sort of adventure to make into a short story and the franchise background just added depth to the conflict but the major players, aside from Harry, were all new (at least, I think so- I took a Butcher break after the last Codex Alera book- sigh... I'm still sad that ended.) Anyway, it is tightly plotted, deft touches of humor and genuine affection for the characters, and Harry gets beaten up (of course). It was really good- the best in the collection, in my humble opinion.

Rachel Caine- Holly's Balm. A very good story from an author I haven't read. Apparently the characters have appeared in another anthology, but I'm a newbie and it didn't hurt my reading enjoyment at all. It was mystery that was surprisingly complex for the page space. I was impressed. It did not feel rushed or facilely resolved. I enjoyed the touch of genuine moral ambiguity- a lot of authors like to pretend their characters are bad boys/girls but still have them act like heroes in a Western. Caine did a good job of putting an interesting moral spin on her story without clubbing her readers over the head with a moral!

Carole Nelson Douglas- Snow Job. In a tie for my least favorite of the anthology. One, I've never read her and the background of her short story seem to tie in too tightly with her established franchise. So, there is a lot I missed. Next, I found her writing style to be a bit jack-rabbity: too fast, a little too pat, and jumped around a lot. There was this slick, David Mamet talking going on that I found required too much effort for a short story I was having to cruise through to get to the parts of the story I could understand. Clearly written for her fans and readers.

P.N. Elrod- Outside the Box. Nice story. Good set-up, original characters, a fully developed conflict and mystery, and a resolution that wasn't ridiculously easy. She has a really nice writing style. Bonus points for the intimations of a romance- that was neatly done.

Simon R. Green- How Do You Feel? The other contender for my least favorite story. I'm not a Nightside reader, so that may impact my opinions. I wasn't a fan of the noir-ish style. I wasn't a fan of the lead character and his love interest- decidedly odd. All together, an odd story. Well written, though. I had no trouble reading it. Others may love it.

Lori Handeland- There Will Be Demons. This reads like it is back-story for an established series (and I'm planning on looking the series up). But, I thought the author did a fabulous job of bringing her love interests together with a solid and believable back story for quick intimacy. The story required a certain level of emotional commitment, between the pair, to survive the slightly negative resolution of the story. It was really intriguing- which is why I'm getting that series. She wrote really well and did a pretty nice job of explaining her universe in quick strokes without detracting from the story. And, the ending? I'm still a little astounded that I was as intrigued as I am. Good story.

Erica Hayes- Cherry Kisses. Heh- this one actually made me giggle. The author has a slightly wicked perspective which comes across throughout the story. It is pretty fun. The story was fine- mostly action. But her lead character, Lena, was a fire-cracker. The finale? Delightful. The author took a surprising sideways step from the traditional hero's path.

Carrie Vaughn- The Arcane Art of Misdirection. Meh. The story was fine. However, it took a character I didn't know, who seemed interesting, and, yet, I still didn't know him by the end of the story. He was a mysterious gentleman. I rather liked him turning the girl down for coffee- that was kind of funny. I wasn't thrilled with the mystery resolution- I thought the apprehension of the villain was easy and tying it all up with the authorities was magically pat. I'm of the mind where if it isn't part of the story, then just leave it out.

All in all- read it!

I haven't read a collection of short stories in a while, and admit I bought this simply because it had a new (to me) story by Jim Butcher. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the other stories and authors in here though, and now am looking at other works by Elrod, Ilona Andrews, Rachel Caine, and especially Carole Nelson Douglas. Others in this collection are more forgettable and formulaic.

I usually only read short story collections if they contain a story from a an author I already like. This one happened to contain several of my favorites.
Since all collections have an underlining theme, this one has stories that include lovely and sometimes, dangerous women in them. Stories are all fantasy themed and include vampires, big foot, a sex droid from the future, magicians who wield real magic, witches, and even men who are brought back from the dead, and even a trip to Hell. These tales do contain a bit of romance at times, but are much more.
Contains authors such as Jim Butcher, Carrie Vaughn, Simon R. Green, and many others.
I enjoyed most of these stories, two really weren't my favorite, Cherry Kisses and I think it was titled There will be Demons, were not really my cup of tea, but the rest of the tales were interesting and a good read. This is one of the better collections I have read. If your looking for a break from full novels, this wouldn't be a bad choice.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. All of the authors were top notch and their stories interesting and intriguing. I highly recommend this book as a fun read.

great c ontinuation of a great series.

great stories from all the great fantasy writers

Good read

Really good loved it ^_^