A review by ___tamara___
Magic & Mayhem: Fiction and Essays Celebrating LGBTQA Romance by Austin Chant, Tracy Timmons-Gray, Dev Bentham, Alex Powell, Karelia Stetz-Waters, Josh Lanyon, Ginn Hale, Amanda Jean, Samantha Derr, Megan Derr, E.J. Russell, Nicole Kimberling

4.0

There are two parts to this book - fiction and essays. The fiction I've rated bellow. The pairings are either mage and cyborg or soldier and tattoo artist. The essays are in a letter-to-self form, mostly about how writers felt about writing and reading romance. Slack Tide by Karelia Stetz-Waters - 3 stars Too short to be higher rating. The writing is flowery and not really my thing most of the time. Two girls - one is a tattoo artist, the other just finished a tour in the military. Sweet reunion :) Charmed by Chance by Alex Powell - 3 stars Cute, with some wtf moments. The MC whose POV we're in is kind of flaky, but at at least he warns people :D But his priorities are kind of out there - he ranks getting beaten up and mugged the same as missing a date and getting his favorite shirt ripped. So yeah. Broken Art by Dev Bentham - 4 stars Oooh, I loved this one! A soldier in the Navy goes to a tattoo artist to get his tramp-stamp "fixed". The author managed to give the characters depth despite the story being short. It's practically begging for a sequel. Caroline’s Heart by Austin Chant - 4 stars I really liked it. It was interesting and the writing flowed nicely. I liked the world building! Sun, Moon, and Stars by E.J. Russel - 3 stars This needs to be even longer to develop the world more. There's so much potential. I had a few niggles but I liked it. The Hollow History of Professor Perfectus by Ginn Hale - 4 stars The world building is very interesting - a steampunk/magical alternate universe set sometime at the turn of 2oth century USA. Magic is prosecuted and our MC is a wind mage. She and her girlfriend get pulled into solving a crime. Fade to Black by Josh Lanyon - 4 stars Similar setting as the first story in this anthology - a retired soldier reunites with a tattoo artist. The story is just as short but the writing is more articulate. Loved! Demonica by Megan Derr - 3 stars Classic Mean Derr - short and sweet, interesting world building. In all, I really enjoyed this anthology.