A review by alexreadsboooks
Into the Mystic, Volume Two by Jason Bradley
5.0
This review also appears on my blog alexreadsboooks
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Into The Mystic. Volume Two is a collection of ten lesbian and/or bisexual paranormal short stories published by NineStar Press.
I’d like to thank Laura Bailo, who has her story The Holy Company featured in this collection, for providing me with an eARC.
I really loved the range of stories in this collection. There is a great diversity in the topics and the paranormal elements used, and between tree spirits, vampires, werewolves, selkies and mermaids (among others) there’s something for everyone in this collection. I loved how some of the authors put twists to fairly usual paranormal creatures, while others stuck to more traditional ideas. It’s great to see a mermaid who isn’t described as the traditional “half woman, half fish” combination, but it’s also nice to get to read a fairly traditional vampire story like Jacqueline Rohrbach’s Vampire Hours.
All of the stories are great, and I can’t say that there was one that stuck out negatively to me. However I do have a few that stuck out as particular favourites.
The first one is Seaside Escape by A. Fae, a story about a water witch, who charms selkies to the shores as brides for local fishermen, and finds love in one of the selkies. I like selkie stories, and I loved how sweet this one was.
Sita Bethel’s Dressed in Wolf Skin is a great take on werewolves and finding love despite fearing that you’ll hurt them.
The Holy Company by Laura Bailo, I enjoyed for the friends-to-lovers story line and the absolutely beautiful writing and the way this story reminds me a lot of magical realism.
And last but not least there was Lighthouse Five by TS Porter, which drew me in by making its mermaid love interest not look like a traditional mermaid, and actually concerned itself with how that affects the relationship.
I could go on about the stories in this collection because they all have great qualities about them but I wouldn’t want to spoil anything. If you like paranormal romance stories, you should definitely pick up this collection.
Note: Please be advised that this collection includes sexually explicit content that may only be suitable for mature readers.
______________
Into The Mystic. Volume Two is a collection of ten lesbian and/or bisexual paranormal short stories published by NineStar Press.
I’d like to thank Laura Bailo, who has her story The Holy Company featured in this collection, for providing me with an eARC.
I really loved the range of stories in this collection. There is a great diversity in the topics and the paranormal elements used, and between tree spirits, vampires, werewolves, selkies and mermaids (among others) there’s something for everyone in this collection. I loved how some of the authors put twists to fairly usual paranormal creatures, while others stuck to more traditional ideas. It’s great to see a mermaid who isn’t described as the traditional “half woman, half fish” combination, but it’s also nice to get to read a fairly traditional vampire story like Jacqueline Rohrbach’s Vampire Hours.
All of the stories are great, and I can’t say that there was one that stuck out negatively to me. However I do have a few that stuck out as particular favourites.
The first one is Seaside Escape by A. Fae, a story about a water witch, who charms selkies to the shores as brides for local fishermen, and finds love in one of the selkies. I like selkie stories, and I loved how sweet this one was.
Sita Bethel’s Dressed in Wolf Skin is a great take on werewolves and finding love despite fearing that you’ll hurt them.
The Holy Company by Laura Bailo, I enjoyed for the friends-to-lovers story line and the absolutely beautiful writing and the way this story reminds me a lot of magical realism.
And last but not least there was Lighthouse Five by TS Porter, which drew me in by making its mermaid love interest not look like a traditional mermaid, and actually concerned itself with how that affects the relationship.
I could go on about the stories in this collection because they all have great qualities about them but I wouldn’t want to spoil anything. If you like paranormal romance stories, you should definitely pick up this collection.
Note: Please be advised that this collection includes sexually explicit content that may only be suitable for mature readers.