The Book Gourmet

Mad Dog Love is "vintage" Angela Knight and much, much better than her contribution in Beyond the Dark. Despite the futuristic setting, the story and characters maintain a rather realistic feel, and the combination of action and excitement is spot on and complimenting the plot, instead of (so many times) deterring from it.

Lora Leigh's A Jaguar's Kiss merely confirmed my "suspicion" the Breed series should be added to my TBR pile (which I'm working on). I love any kind of paranormals (vampires, shifters, witches, demons...), but there is just an extra kick when the paranormal stuff begins in a lab (like Christine Feehan's GhostWalkers) and the heroes and heroines have to fight with the dark nature thrust upon them by (more or less crazy) scientists...When there's a "mating" issue thrust into the mix, so much the better. There's just something about an Alpha going all soft and cuddly because of a (mere) woman that makes me grin with glee.
In this instance, Saban is one of those Alphas, but he's met his match in Natalie. I liked her, she had spunk, and I was just waiting for her to kick his ass. Not that she could hurt him, but I bet he would let her win. *evil grin*

Both Shifter's Lady by Alyssa Day and Sea Crossing by Virginia Kantra were so-so.

Shifter’s Lady was a little hard to follow in the first chapter, since it’s a part of a series (Warriors of Poseidon) I am not familiar with and Ms. Day’s take on the history of Atlantis, and the interaction and relationships between established characters was utterly foreign. I expected (since it’s a series) a little more background to the workings of the world, but alas, I was left in the dark...Anyway, the story was a decent shifter novella with the usual (in all things Alpha) rivalry subplot, but the ending had lots to be desired. It was probably meant to be a cliffhanger for the next book, but I’m sure not dying to find out.

Sea Crossing sounded a little recycled to me. Been there, done that, have the bookshelf to prove it. While the initial scenes applied it was a historical, the tone was a little modern at times. Also, the heroine, though a teacher (aren’t teachers supposed to be perceptive and have a little intelligence?), came out as an utterly clueless creature as to what was going on around her.


Overall, this is a pretty good anthology, but the first two novellas are what’s earned it 4 stars.