Gwen’s review of First Blood by Susan Sizemore, Erin McCarthy, Chris Marie Green, and Meljean Brook
Contemporary paranormal romance anthology released by Berkley 5 Aug 08

This anthology was very entertaining and the stories were a great way to pass some quick time.  Each story had a vampire in it – some used the character type more successfully than others, but all were entertaining at some level.  All four stories had some nice romance, a little bit of action, and a couple even made me go “awwww!” and mist up a bit.  Read on to see which had me reaching for a hanky and which had me scratching my head… 

Cave Canem by Susan Sizemore
(60-pages)

She’s a young werewolf and an “enforcer” of sorts for hellhounds who spiral out of control.  At least I think she is – that’s never quite clear to me, but that may be because I don’t follow the Laws of the Blood series. He’s an ancient vamp who raises hellhounds and is beguiled by her courage and beauty.  There’s magic, spells, demons, and assorted other creatures in this world.  It was all very interesting but a little confusing to me.  It’s a rather complex world for such a short story – I think about few more pages would have served it well for background and more character development.  As it was, the story ends abruptly and I never did understand if there was a romance between Dan and Tess or even if Dan and Tess were the story’s hero and heroine (there were quite a few characters to wade thru).

Grade:  C-

Summary:

Susan Sizemore returns to the universe of her Laws of the Blood novels with a sizzling story of the relationship between a vampire enforcer and a werewolf.

No excerpt available.

Russian Roulette by Erin McCarthy
(72 pages)

She’s a new vampire turned against her will and recently sold by her best friend to an enemy.  He’s a 400-year old vamp who has “been there and done that” a few times.  He is now content to live his life simply, with as few “attachments” as possible, including personal belongings and women.  This was a good story with engrossing characters.  However, I never did understand the purpose of them being vampires – the paranormal didn’t really add much to the story and seemed to only muck it up a couple of times.  It almost would have been better if there hadn’t been any paranormal elements.  The ending was a bit confusing – I didn’t understand why Cassandra (the enemy and ex-wife of the hero) suddenly felt Sasha “wasn’t worth it”.  It ruined the story for me.

Grade: C

Summary:

Erin McCarthy’s Sasha Checkikov flees the bright lights and dangerous slayers of Vegas for New Orleans, where she is saved by a vampire haunted by his past-and hungry for passion.

No excerpt available.

Double the Bite by Chris Marie Green
(72 pages)

She’s an identical twin, “turned” in the 1950’s with her sister.  He’s a human who arrives in the late 1970’s New York City (Studio 54, cocaine, assorted excesses), looking for his brother’s killer.  We’re sent on this journey where she betrays her sister, he discovers some truths about his “paragon” of a brother, and they fall in love.  This was a very gothic story, and very traditionally vampiric (crucifixes, sunlight, etc.). The ending was unexpected, yet touching. This is a new-to-me author and, while I’m not a big gothic fan, this was a unique romance.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Set in the Vampire Babylon world, Chris Marie Green’s story puts the bond between twin female vampires to the test when one of them falls for her prey.

Read an excerpt.

Thicker Than Blood by Meljean Brook
(105 pages)

She’s a relatively “new” vampire enforcer who is still getting used to the concept and her hungers.  He’s a human who grieved for her for six years and cannot believe she’s back in his life.  They come together in a stressful situation and are startled into living their lives once again.  This was just a terrific story.  The paranormal elements are integral to the story and being a vampire is key to character motivation.  I loved the hero and his steadfast love for the heroine – Meljean’s heroes are so drool-worthy.  Jack made me very misty on several occasions with his tender humor.  The suspense elements are fun, and the other characters help move the story along.  This was romantic vampire love story with a terrific ending.  I want to read more with these two characters and wish they had more than the 100-odd pages they got in this anth.

Grade: A

Summary:

Annie Gallagher is the only survivor of a demon attack that exterminated every other vampire in her city. But she can’t leave before she finds Cricket, a young human girl whose vampire guardians have been killed. Annie needs help, but the rules of her kind demand that she operate in secrecy.

And when help comes, it’s from the one man she never expected…

Meljean Brook’s vampire Annie Gallagher needs help to save a young human girl, but she doesn’t expect the help to come from the FBI agent she loved-and had to give up- when she was transformed.

Read an excerpt.

While I didn’t necessarily care for all of the stories, I was impressed with the quality of the writing. Perhaps if I were more familiar with the world of a couple of them I’d have enjoyed the stories more. I think that’s a risk with a paranormal anthology – authors may get some new readers, but they also risk confusing folks if the world is complex.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for some quick vampire love stories or readers of any of these authors.  And if you’ve never read Meljean Brook’s Guardians series, I recommend testing the water with this story.  Just terrific.

Overall Grade: B

Summary:

Four all-new stories of forbidden passion and dark desire.

You never forget your first blood…