emmajaye's review
4.0
As in most anthologies, I had various feelings about each of the novellas, each of which could have been extended into full length book, each of which ended with a definite 'what's next?' moment.
My favourite out of the collection was the first one, 'Captive Mate' a far gentler, romantic tale compared to the others. It concerns a familiar and much loved trope, that of a non-shifter finding out she is the mate of a hot shifter (make that 2 hot shifters woohoo menage!) The real difference with this one (apart from the shifters being Gryphons rather than the normal wolf/bear/cat types) is rather than being a weak wobbly 'oh my, how can I cope, I'm so scared by these big hunky males' heroine, Berry is bright, asks very pointed questions and had me wanting to give her a high five. Would I read a continuing series? You bet. 5 star.
The second book was Blood of Stone drew me in to an odd world of gargoyles (grotesques) and their female protector, who has to service the males them when they morph form stone to flesh to battle the human hoarde. It's a tough job, but someone got to do it and Fredegund doesn't seem to find the task difficult at all. Problems arise when a human woman with the title 'the Charm' gets involved. Would I read more of this one? Probably, although the lack of a romantic theme, in the novella at least would be a bit of a sticking point. 4 star.
I DNF the third novella 'Flights of fancy'. I didn't really get what was going on. There were hearts with wings, a young couple that lusted after each other and a demoness that got it on with both of them, after kidnapping the young man. Would I read more on this story if it was available? No. Sorry. 2 star.
I found this one strangely fascinating. It's very dark, involves non-consent, multiple partners and f/f as well as multiples. but it was the high prevalence of f/f scenes that tipped this over to a 'no thanks' for me, although I finished it because the premise was intriguing. The SKAKKAN are a group of species from another dimension (I think) would feed off the energy of human orgasms. They pick certain females (women 'taste' better than men) and give them insatiable desire. Orgasm energy is stored in special jewellery (you'll have to read to find out where) and then they come to collect. Wobbling between 3 and 4 because f/f does nothing for me, but I'll give it four because that's my hang-up and not the fault of the author. Would I read more? Erm... because of the graphic f/f scenes, no. If it had been m/f or m/m, oh yeah.
My favourite out of the collection was the first one, 'Captive Mate' a far gentler, romantic tale compared to the others. It concerns a familiar and much loved trope, that of a non-shifter finding out she is the mate of a hot shifter (make that 2 hot shifters woohoo menage!) The real difference with this one (apart from the shifters being Gryphons rather than the normal wolf/bear/cat types) is rather than being a weak wobbly 'oh my, how can I cope, I'm so scared by these big hunky males' heroine, Berry is bright, asks very pointed questions and had me wanting to give her a high five. Would I read a continuing series? You bet. 5 star.
The second book was Blood of Stone drew me in to an odd world of gargoyles (grotesques) and their female protector, who has to service the males them when they morph form stone to flesh to battle the human hoarde. It's a tough job, but someone got to do it and Fredegund doesn't seem to find the task difficult at all. Problems arise when a human woman with the title 'the Charm' gets involved. Would I read more of this one? Probably, although the lack of a romantic theme, in the novella at least would be a bit of a sticking point. 4 star.
I DNF the third novella 'Flights of fancy'. I didn't really get what was going on. There were hearts with wings, a young couple that lusted after each other and a demoness that got it on with both of them, after kidnapping the young man. Would I read more on this story if it was available? No. Sorry. 2 star.
I found this one strangely fascinating. It's very dark, involves non-consent, multiple partners and f/f as well as multiples. but it was the high prevalence of f/f scenes that tipped this over to a 'no thanks' for me, although I finished it because the premise was intriguing. The SKAKKAN are a group of species from another dimension (I think) would feed off the energy of human orgasms. They pick certain females (women 'taste' better than men) and give them insatiable desire. Orgasm energy is stored in special jewellery (you'll have to read to find out where) and then they come to collect. Wobbling between 3 and 4 because f/f does nothing for me, but I'll give it four because that's my hang-up and not the fault of the author. Would I read more? Erm... because of the graphic f/f scenes, no. If it had been m/f or m/m, oh yeah.
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