Weddings from Hell

The most recent offering in the "... From Hell" series of paranormal romance anthologies reminds me a lot of P.N. Elrod's "My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding", only in this case, the offerings are four novellas. I'm a sucker for anthologies, since it's like getting a mini-library in one volume, though they often tend to be mixed bags of good and okay stories. The book starts off on a bang, with Maggie Shayne's "Till Death", in which the heroine of Scottish descent must find a way to break a curse cast on the brides of her clan and save both herself and the man she loves from being the next victims. Wonderfully evocative writing and the heroine is a strong but considerate young lady who values family and seeks its healing for the sake of her kin above all. The second selection, Jeaniene Frost's "Happily Never After" is my favorite of the lot: on the eve of her unwelcome wedding to a wannabe Mob boss, the unwilling bride finds help from a vampire friend of her plucky Italian grandma. The story deliberately sends up the tropes of Mob literature; it made me giggle out loud in not a few places! Terri Garey's "Ghouls Night Out" brings us a heroine I'd love to see more of: Nicki Styx (great name!) gets roped into filling in for a missing bridesmaid at her cousin's wedding, but when she gets fitted for the gown that needs a gal in it, she finds herself face to face with the desperate ghost of the former wearer. The story reads a little like a "Ghost Whisperer" fanfiction with the serial numbers carefully filed off, but I'm a big fan of "Ghost Whisperer" and of fanfiction. The last offering, Kathryn Smith's "The Wedding Knight" features a Victorian vampiric Templar Knight who steps in to prevent the marriage of his ladylove to a craven Knight of a rival order. Of the four stories, this one is the weakest: the dialogue was too modern for its setting (even a headstrong Victorian woman wouldn't have used the term "knocking boots") and the story could have been tightened if one of the love scenes had been edited out. All in all, this is a fun, airy collection of tales: and isn't the perfect wedding supposed to be delightful and decorous?

Got the book, read it--I so wish Maggie had tied her story to the Witch series--the fact that it had a witch in it was misleading! Loved Kathryn Smith's "Blood Grail Vampire Payne---her story was fantastic. A new author to me--one I plan to check out soon is Jeannie Frost---the story was very good--I liked it as much as Kathryn's Smith's story And another author, Terri Garey, who I never heard of before really entertained me with her wit..... [Till Death by Maggie Shayne] 3.5 stars My disappointment came in I think because I was wanting this to be another leg to her Witch series--BUT IT WAS NOT--and I almost wish it had been Vampire---It was good, however! [Happily Never After by Jeaniene Frost] 5 stars [Ghouls Night Out by Terri Garey] 3.5 stars [The Wedding Knight by Kathryn Smith] 5 stars Overall this was a really enjoyable anthology. I gain interest in a two new authors. I love it that Kathryn Smith's tied in whith her Blood Grail Vampires. Maggie Shayne's story is 9has to be) stand alone--nothing connected with her witch series--and truly far from her Vampire series--no mystery or suspense either. Just a romance-- done in Maggie style.

Four new short stories all revolving loosely around a 'wedding' theme from some hot paranormal authors: some old (long established) some new - now all we need is something borrowed and something blue and we're set to go. Maggie Shayne's story centers around an ancient Scottish family curse - their spouses' infidelity is deadly for the MacLellan brides. Shayne's a long time favorite of mine (love her vamps) but while the premise and the chemistry between the leads was good, the lightspeed dating was just a bit too fast to be satisfying. There were hints of reincarnation or soul mates but not tied together well enough to make the story really work for me. (3 stars) Jeaniene Frost's contribution is set in the world of her Night Huntress series and has several brief pop-ins by that series' hero Bones. But the hero vampire Chance is an almost as luscious. As a favor to his sire (Bones), Chance steps in to save the lovely Isabella from a coerced marriage to a would-be B-movie type mafia boss and Chance finds himself attracted to her with an intensity he's never felt before in his very long life. Isabella and Chance are every bit as good as Bones and Cat, Frost does great heroes and competent intelligent heroines well. This was fun but trying to pull Bones in felt forced and a bit hokey to me. (3.5 stars) Kathryn Smith's entry gives us a vampire romance which is spin off from her regency era Templar series, Brotherhood of the Blood. Smith did a good job with her commitment phobic immortal and the forthright young woman who is deterimined to convince him that living in fear of love is really not living at all. Smith fit alot of steamy stuff into her short space, but this one lost some points for me for a crude word or two. I hate the 'P'word - my problem I know, but it really pulled me out of the scene and since this was a short story there wasn't really time to get back into it. (3.5 stars) My favorite of the four, terri Garey gives us a little vignette with her series' heroine ghostwhisperer Nicki Styx. Here Nicki's a last minute fill-in for her cousin's wedding - someone has to wear the bridesmaids' dress from hell and Nicki's 'it'. If the banana yellow Carmen Miranda dress isn't bad enough, Nicki ends up having to deal with the ghost of the dead bridesmaid. This one wasn't a romance, even though Nicki's boyfriend is on hand to provide some sweet talking and moral support. Garey's first Nicki Styx book is sitting in my TBR pile, but this story was a well done standalone so that I still enjoyed it even with no knowledge of the series. For you fans, I am sure that it would be even more fun. (4.5 stars) If you enjoyed these shorts, you'll definitely want to check out the authors' full length novels -- which are even better. Here's a few to get you started. Jeaniene Frost Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 1) One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 2) Kathryn Smith (Brotherhood of the Blood - Templar vampires) Be Mine Tonight (The

Weddings From Hell is another paranormal anthology in the vein of Dates From Hell and Holidays Are Hell. Pick a theme and throw some popular paranormal romance or urban fantasy authors at it. And just in time for wedding season we've got this collection of tales sure to make your horrific bridesmaid dress woes and cold-feet fly right out the window. [Till Death by Maggie Shayne] is the first offering in the anthology. When a heartbroken witch of the McLellan clan lays a curse on the women of her family they are cursed to either die at the hands of their cheating husbands or never know love. When Aunt Iris passes away and Kira heads to Scotland for the will reading the last thing she expects is to encounter ghosts or start falling for handsome family friend Ian Stewart. Can she break the curse and find her happily-ever-after? I've never actually read anything by Shayne, though I have several of her books waiting to be read. This story was short, cute and felt only slightly rushed by the limited time frame. But what really impressed me was her well written dialog, her Scottish brogue was near flawless and read so well! Can't wait to get caught up enough with other books so I can start reading hers! [Happily Never After by Jeaniene Frost] is the second tale, when grandma Greta's grandson and grandaughter get into trouble with a local mob-wannabe she calls in a favor from her vampire buddy Bones. Happy to serve, Bones sends in Chance to look after Isabella and hopefully find her missing brother Frazier. Unfortunately Frazier is likely in the hands of Robert Bertini, who has strong armed Isa into marrying him. But Chance isn't about to let the strong and independant woman marry the murderous lout, especially not since he himself is falling for her. Will he be able to save her brother and prevent her from this forced marriage? Another author I've not read, but she's on my wishlist. This story was amusing with its intentional mobster cliches and the banter between Isa and Chance. If the writing here is any indication of Frost's writing for her series I doubt I'll be dissappointed when I get my hands on it. [Ghouls Night Out by Terri Garey] is the third story, introducing us to Nicki Styx (who has her own series--2nd book comes out later this month). When Nicki's cousin needs a bridesmaid who is she to deny the family, even if it means dressing up in a pineapple yellow dress meant for the bride's best friend Michelle who just so happens to be dead! Of course, no one knows about Michelle's death yet so when she appears to Nicki, she can't help but feel compelled to help find out what happened. Will Nicki find out what happened to Michelle before it's time to kiss the bride? This story ended up being my favorite in the anthology. I've never read Garey's first novel as it never hit my radar, but now I'm thinking I should hurry up and get it going! The redneck comments got a little judgemental at times but the stereotypes were nicely handled. Anyone wh

What a great anthology. Most anthologies have a few great stories and a few that just come up short; either important details are skipped or missing, the story line just falls flat, or it feels rushed. Maggie Shayne, Jeaniene Frost, Terri Garey, and Kathryn Smith actually deliver four very unique and incredible tales. I have never read anything by Maggie Shayne or Terri Garey, but after Weddings from Hell, I intend to! Jeaniene Frost and Kathryn Smith are two of my favorite series writers. They both do an excellent job by creating a new story line and characters never before seen in their series. And yes, for their die hard series fans, they even sneak a few of our favorite characters in for a scene or two. There is not a lot of focus on them but just enough to make you grin.