The problem I have with anthologies is that the quality of the stories varies greatly, as far as I’ve read. Thus, I am not a big fan. Indeed, the authors in this collection are varied: some of them you know well from various paranormal novels, while others are dipping into the supernatural for the first time (they’re primarily mystery writers, on the cosy side, I think). Instead of judging the collection as a whole, let’s look at the stories individually:

Review by Tez Miller

USA Today bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes the Otherworld/Sisters of the Moon Series for Berkley (Witchling, Changeling, Darkling, etc.). In the past, she wrote the paranormal Chintz ‘n China Mystery Series, the Bath & Beauty Mystery Series (the latter written as India Ink) and eight nonfiction metaphysical books. With Darkling, she hit the extended NYT bestseller’s list.

Yasmine has been in the Craft for over 28 years, is a shamanic witch, and describes her life as a blend of teacups and tattoos. She lives in Bellevue WA with her husband Samwise and their four cats.

In this interview, we sit down with Yasmine to talk about her success on bestseller list, how her nonfiction work has influenced her writing, and her involvement with an online auction, created by writer Brenda Novak, to raise funds to find a cure for diabetes.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck merc who has enough trouble paying the bills that the last thing she needs is taking on a charity case. But when her guardian, a member of a magical group of public defenders known as the Order, is murdered, she’s determined to see the last of her family given justice. In order to do so, she has to play nice with the Order, which she left years ago due to her problems accepting authority. When it turns out that both the People–necromancers who use vampires as spies and assassins when it’s good for business–and the shape-changing members of the Pack may be involved, things quickly move from complicated to delicate. And delicate isn’t a word that anyone would associate with Kate Daniels.

Review by Alana Abbott

A sorceress with attitude manages to get her hands on a powerful artifact, which suddenly makes her the most popular (read: most hunted) girl in town. It sound like a great set up, right? That’s how Raine Benares begins her adventures in Magic Lost, Trouble Found, narrating the entire adventure with wry commentary and snarky remarks. For fans of contemporary fantasy, the narration style is a familiar one. Throw it into a high fantasy setting where the narrator is an elven seeker–a sorceress who finds things–and it makes for an odd combination.

Review by Alana Abbott

Popping up on Newsarama and the DB Forums is a press release about a new novel to comics deal. Here’s a teaser:
The Dabel Brothers are already well-known for their comic book and graphic novel adaptations of great paranormal thriller novels such as 2007’s bestselling Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter in Guilty Pleasures and [...]

Erin McCarthy’s Bled Dry, falls into the vampire chick-litesque category of paranormal romance. It chronicles the relationship between Brittany Baldizzi, a dentist, and Corbin Jean Michel Atelier, a french vampire DNA scientist who was turned in the 19th century, and has spent the last century or so looking for a cure to his vampirism. The novel is set in Las Vegas, a good choice for those with a nocturnal lifestyle, but McCarthy could have taken more advantage of her setting.

Within the realm of post-apocalyptic novels and settings, there are books that inject religion into fire and brimstone and then there are those that fast-forward into a totalitarian, bleak, hungry future where hope is a luxury. In the realm of Seraphs, the main character, Thorn St. Croix, lives in a world that is somewhere in between. Angels, demons, neo-mages (advanced humans that lack souls), and biology are all at play in an ice age following a biblically-inspired apocalypse.

As the modern supernatural genre swells to the point of over-saturation, it is difficult to read any new author that comes along without comparing the writer to something else. In Witchling, it’s almost impossible to think “three sisters” without thinking of the television show “Charmed” which ran for eight seasons on the Warner Brothers network. Because of a few similarities, fans of the show may find themselves scrutinizing Galenorn’s work just a little bit more to see just how alike Witchling is to Charmed. Are the three women really sisters? Yes. Are the three women empowered, fashionable and sexy? Yes. Do they always seem to come out on top even when things go wrong? Yes.

“A Delightful Southern vampire detective series” is how this book was described. Outward appearances give it a sort of adult Harry Potter look to it, making it a very outwardly appearing book. This story is only part for the main character in a series, though you don’t need to read those in order to follow this book, everything is explained.

For what it’s worth, it was definitely a good read.

In this interview we talk to the author about Anita Blake, her Ravenloft novel and the upcoming Dabel Brothers comic book.

The author of the Women of the Otherworld series tells about her writing, tells us why she likes werewolves and hands out a little advice for other authors.