Gwen’s review of Nature of the Beast by Hannah Howell, Adrienne Basso, and Eve Silver
Historical paranormal romance anthology released by Kensington 26 Aug 08

This is a collection of three historical paranormal stories all centered on vampires and their women.  All three have some nice action and all three have lovely romances.  Not all three are of equal quality, but it’s a good anthology.   One of the few Historical Paranormal Romances that I have liked.  Often when these sub-genres are blended, something suffers.  These stories handle it well.

Dark Hero by Hannah Howell

Normally, I really love Howell’s writing.  I can’t say I loved this story, however.  It was good, but not great and really nothing to write home about.  I can normally look right past colloquialisms, but I got really tired of them in this story.  Perhaps because every time any of the characters opened their mouth, all I read was “dinna” and “doona” and the like.  It got really old by the end – like listening to Janice from “Friends”.  Remember her?  Chandler’s nasal girlfriend?  Small doses were all I could take.  The romance was very nice if a little rushed, and the paranormal elements were there but were light.  This story borders on forgettable (and I can’t believe I just typed that – they’re going to take away my HH Fangirl Club card).
Grade: C+

Summary:

Unlike most of his clan, Berawald MacNachton chooses to live in comfortable seclusion, far from the enemies who hunt his kind-until Evanna Massey and her young brother intrude upon his solitude. Beautiful and mysterious, Evanna is unlike any Outsider Berawald has met, spurring a dark longing that echoes in his heart-and his blood.

Bride of the Beast by Adrienne Basso

This was a very cool little story.  Excellent emotional development and action.  Loved the “preamble” but the ending was so rushed it sucked the joy right out of me.   Nevertheless, the hero and heroine were really nicely done and I was really rooting for them.  Even if I felt like I was happily on the pony express for most of the story to suddenly be launched on the shuttle for the ending.  This and the next story make the book worth buying.

Grade: B-

Summary:

When Haydn of Gwynedd first met Bethan of Lampeter, she was a brave and fearless young girl, risking her life to save his. Now Bethan has grown into a striking, courageous woman who needs Haydn’s help to defeat her tyrannical stepfather. Haydn’s dark gift compels him to offer marriage in name only, but he cannot deny the passion that sears them both…or his fierce desire to make her his for all time…

Read an excerpt.

Kiss of the Vampire by Eve Silver

This is the first historical gothic of Silver’s I’ve read.  I am a total fan of her Shomi titles (published as Eve Kenin), so I’m not surprised that I loved this story.  It was wonderfully gothic without being melodramatic and has a very interesting love story that was believable, even with the brevity of the story.  The story’s imagery is very well drawn – well, “painted” may be a better verb.  Silver paints such a complete picture of the hospital, I could see it in my mind’s eye, smell it, and feel it.  The hero was wonderful and, while I liked the heroine, I really connected to the hero.  The ending felt rushed, but that may have been as much a product of it being a short story as anything else.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Devoted to her work at King’s College Hospital, Sarah Lowell is shocked to discover that someone-or something-is killing the weakest patients, draining them of their blood. Killian Thayne, an enigmatic surgeon, offers Sarah his protection, but his sensual, commanding presence presents another kind of danger, urging her to risk everything for the splendor of his eternal embrace…

Read an excerpt.  (no excerpt at the link at the time the review was written, but may be there by publish date.)

Overall grade: B-

Howell’s and Basso’s websites are is woefully out of date – I don’t think Howell’s books have been updated since 2006.  I can’t stress enough the importance for an author to have an up-to-date web presence in this digital age.  Most of their marketing is done via the web, thru blogs like this one, and other sites like amazon.com.  An author’s site does not have to be fancy or even deeper than a page or two, but it should have an author’s most recent releases, upcoming releases, etc.  No heavy lifting and there are some super easy tools out there for building sites – even a simple blog is better than nothing.  I’m tempted to reduce their story’s grades just because of this but I’ll restrain myself.

Overall summary:

In this captivating new collection from Hannah Howell, Adrienne Basso, and Eve Silver, three women meet the irresistible vampires who are their destiny-and discover a passion satisfied only by complete surrender…