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When Darkness Falls: Kiss of the Wolf \ Shadow Kissing \ The Devil She Knew
Kiss of the Wolf by Susan Krinard
Surgeon Dana SaintCyr trusted her instincts, even when they urged her toward an irresistible Louisiana man with a wicked reputation. But would she discredit the whispers of his supernatural powers and murderous intent before falling prey to his passion?
Shadow Kissing by Tanith Lee
Artist Vivien Gray's new mysterious lover promised soulstealing ecstasy that haunted her dreams and set her spine tingling. Now their happiness was at stake—from the ominous evil their very love had unleashed.
The Devil She Knew by Evelyn Vaughn
When Marcy Bridges discovered a portal to hell in her closet, she needed help from the last person she wanted to call—her gorgeous landlord. Could she trust her life—and her heart—to the care of a dark, dangerous stranger?
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2003
4 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Susan Krinard
76 books330 followersTrained as an artist with a BFA in Illustration from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Susan Krinard became a writer in 1992 when a friend read a short story she'd written and suggested she try writing a romance novel. A long-time fan of science fiction and fantasy, Susan began reading romance -- and realized what she wanted to do was combine the two genres. Prince of Wolves, her first romance novel and one of the earliest to feature a werewolf hero, was the result. Within a year Susan had sold the manuscript to Bantam as part of a three-book contract, and the novel went on to make several bestseller lists.
Since then, she's written and published over fourteen paranormal and fantasy novels, and written stories for a number of anthologies, both fantasy and romance. Both the anthology Out of This World (which included Susan's "Kinsman") and the novel Lord of the Beasts appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Susan makes her home in New Mexico, the "Land of Enchantment", with her husband Serge, their dogs Freya, Nahla and Cagney, and their cat Jefferson. In addition to writing, Susan's interests include music of almost every kind, old movies, reading, nature, baking, and collecting unique handmade jewelry and decorative crafts.
Since then, she's written and published over fourteen paranormal and fantasy novels, and written stories for a number of anthologies, both fantasy and romance. Both the anthology Out of This World (which included Susan's "Kinsman") and the novel Lord of the Beasts appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Susan makes her home in New Mexico, the "Land of Enchantment", with her husband Serge, their dogs Freya, Nahla and Cagney, and their cat Jefferson. In addition to writing, Susan's interests include music of almost every kind, old movies, reading, nature, baking, and collecting unique handmade jewelry and decorative crafts.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 25, 2009
Three novellas of mystery, the supernatural, romance. A tale of murder in a Louisiana bayou. A ghostly love story in a London flat. A portal to hell in a Chicago apartment closet.
November 20, 2020
Really liked all three stories.
"Kiss of the Wolf" -- Susan Krinard
I don't like love stories, but . . . ! Dana St. Cyr, a plastic surgeon, goes to Grand Marais in the Louisiana bayous to investigate the death of Sally Daigle. She meets the obligatory five people. Poor Tris(tan)Arceneaux, is a little simple, but forgetful and possibly innocent. Chad LaCoste is creeping around in the bayous, and is after Dana because she looked like Sally. Detective Landry is hovering, putting pressure on her, but takes a phone call which gets rid of him for the moment. And Remy Arceneaux, brother to Tris, well THERE was a man / werewolf! I had no problem suspending disbelief with this one, even the bits of French were tolerable. "And he kissed her until the cypress trees spin overhead." Very satisfying!
"Shadow Kissing" -- Tanith Lee
Vivienne Gray, artist, agrees to care for Addie 's house while she goes to France. It is up for sale, the the contents sold to a movie company. There was an incredible statue of a MAN in the garden, which she just HAD to draw / paint. She gets visitors from the movie company, 'Scavengers,' including Connor Sinclair, who looks like the statue. Enter Lewis Blake, an ordinary guy, (who turns out to be a creep) but one of the Scavengers' crew. He tells Vivienne more about the statue; Jealous husband, Connor's great-great great grandfather, kills wife and self. Connor and Vivien move along, at a movie premier, etc. There is a roundhouse in the garden, between the taxicab drivers and Connor, with Vivienne and the statue involved. It's over real estate developers, out to make a buck. Kate Mortimer and Connor were lovers back when, and Kate killed herself with alcohol and sleeping pills, crazy jealous over Connor. However, he's long over it, the statue is destroyed, the weird goings on throughout the story were done by the cab drivers and the RE company flunkies. Not Ms. Lee's best story.
"The Devil She Knew" -- Evelyn Vaughn
Marcy Bridges' apartment closet is a portal to Hell / hades/ or SOMEthing otherworldly anyway. Thomas Martinez is celebrating Dio De Los Muertas. He sees the portal. Thank goodness his grandmother ('abuela') is a bruha. She (and her husband) suggest he visit the local church, which he does, and takes Father Gregory to the apartment where the closet eats him(!) and her cat, Snowball. It seems that Marcy has done a spell from 'Magic for Beginners', but that's not the problem; someone from Marcy's past has cursed her. Her sister Sharona and her parents take her to a birthday dinner, where she sees more to Thomas than before. They figure out it's Rick Everett from high school; the THING wants a virgin -- Marcy -- or ?????. But Marcy is SO good . . . Clever ending! Again, not as good as Ms. Krinard's story, but not bad.
"Kiss of the Wolf" -- Susan Krinard
I don't like love stories, but . . . ! Dana St. Cyr, a plastic surgeon, goes to Grand Marais in the Louisiana bayous to investigate the death of Sally Daigle. She meets the obligatory five people. Poor Tris(tan)Arceneaux, is a little simple, but forgetful and possibly innocent. Chad LaCoste is creeping around in the bayous, and is after Dana because she looked like Sally. Detective Landry is hovering, putting pressure on her, but takes a phone call which gets rid of him for the moment. And Remy Arceneaux, brother to Tris, well THERE was a man / werewolf! I had no problem suspending disbelief with this one, even the bits of French were tolerable. "And he kissed her until the cypress trees spin overhead." Very satisfying!
"Shadow Kissing" -- Tanith Lee
Vivienne Gray, artist, agrees to care for Addie 's house while she goes to France. It is up for sale, the the contents sold to a movie company. There was an incredible statue of a MAN in the garden, which she just HAD to draw / paint. She gets visitors from the movie company, 'Scavengers,' including Connor Sinclair, who looks like the statue. Enter Lewis Blake, an ordinary guy, (who turns out to be a creep) but one of the Scavengers' crew. He tells Vivienne more about the statue; Jealous husband, Connor's great-great great grandfather, kills wife and self. Connor and Vivien move along, at a movie premier, etc. There is a roundhouse in the garden, between the taxicab drivers and Connor, with Vivienne and the statue involved. It's over real estate developers, out to make a buck. Kate Mortimer and Connor were lovers back when, and Kate killed herself with alcohol and sleeping pills, crazy jealous over Connor. However, he's long over it, the statue is destroyed, the weird goings on throughout the story were done by the cab drivers and the RE company flunkies. Not Ms. Lee's best story.
"The Devil She Knew" -- Evelyn Vaughn
Marcy Bridges' apartment closet is a portal to Hell / hades/ or SOMEthing otherworldly anyway. Thomas Martinez is celebrating Dio De Los Muertas. He sees the portal. Thank goodness his grandmother ('abuela') is a bruha. She (and her husband) suggest he visit the local church, which he does, and takes Father Gregory to the apartment where the closet eats him(!) and her cat, Snowball. It seems that Marcy has done a spell from 'Magic for Beginners', but that's not the problem; someone from Marcy's past has cursed her. Her sister Sharona and her parents take her to a birthday dinner, where she sees more to Thomas than before. They figure out it's Rick Everett from high school; the THING wants a virgin -- Marcy -- or ?????. But Marcy is SO good . . . Clever ending! Again, not as good as Ms. Krinard's story, but not bad.
May 20, 2019
3 short stories that will grab u from start to finish. Loved these 3 stories all different.
January 1, 2012
look for susan krinard after reading this one
Kiss of the Wolf - Susan Krinard
Dr. Dana St Cyr, successful plastic surgeon in California, returns to her roots in Louisiana - to a great-aunt she has never met... and meets two men - Remy Arceneaux and Chad Locoste, both of whom react to her face but don't say why - Remy is an obvious outdoorsman, jeans, tanned, good looking, where Chad is classy, well-dressed, good looking - and both warn her agains the other. Remy left the bayou for college & a stockbroker career, returned when his brother needed him, and is finding joy in the simplier life. Dana's light hearted, fun loving cousin looks ver mych like her - and her cousing went missing 5 years earlier... and somehow Dana decides she must find out what happened. She questions townspeople, and enlists Chad's help, going into the bayou where her cousin had gone to find a new bird, and never came out - but when they are lost, Chad takes off to look for help, and Remy, who has been following, takes her to his trailer/home - though via a wolf howl directed his brother, Tristan, to go elsewhere. Dana and Remy do well together - and then she meets Tristan, who calls her by her cousins name, but takes it okay when she introduces herself. If ends up that Tristan took Sayy, the cousin, into the bayou - and left her alone for a few minutes to try and capture the bird to carry it to her... he heard arguing, and found her bleeding & dying - he tried to help her (hence blood on his hands) and then Chad showed up and twisted things so that Tristan wasn't sure what was the truth. Chad burined the body tied to a log, and Remy found Tristan, who could not remember. and though thought it was Chad, he couldn't risk his brother going to jail, so he did not pursue it. Tristan runs off when he sees Dana & Remy kissing - Dana finds out tha Remy (and Tristan) are were wolves - Remy comes to her room after midnight when he dcan't find Tristan - they make love - he leaves - he runs into Chad - Chad hits him with his car when the Sheriff is nearby - Remy finds his way to Dana, who bandages him up - and as a wolf,he is healing fast... They find Tristan, who is with the body & Chad, who is convincing him that he killed her... Remy & Dana get a confession from chad just as the sheriff shows up - he comes from a werewolf father and now has the evidence to get connected Chad convicted... and Remy asks Dana to stay and be his lifemate - and Tristan is finally more settled, now that the truth is out.
Shadow Kissing Tanith Lee
This was a tangled story - 100 years ago, a sculptor, a sculpture of a very handsome man, and affair between the sculptor and the man's wife, murder of wife for infidelity & suicide for the man... the sculpture (entitled Jealousy with a quote from Othello) is inherited by Connor Sinclair, great, great, grandson - and he looks just like the sculpture... he has dreams & when he takes an acting job in another city, his jealous wife goes crazy, decides he is sleeping with the co-star, and when he comes home after opening night, she gives him sleeping pills, and when he falls asleep, she carves his chest with a knife - and then she kills herself. Connor - sells his lift - and 2 years later, when Vivien is staying at the flat for th owner while the owner is away, Connor shows up as he is taking the statue... vivien is attracted first to the statue,then to Connor... at night she hears noises... Connor is rude to her at first (she looks like his great, great grandmother) - but is guided by his attraction to make apologizes.. theygo out, they make love, he gets jealous if his assistant who made a pass at Vivien, she goes to sleep ad awakens hearing noises - Connor shows up to fight the bad guys - 3 against 1 - the statue falls from its base (Vivien thinks she sees it moving). and they make up, the curse of the statue broken (we think !)
The Devil She Knew - Evelyn Vaughn
Marcy, lonely, virgin, seeking, has been studying witchcraft... and after her 10th school reunion (in which she finds out 3 people have died from her class), she returns to caste her first spell. and when she opens the closet door, a portal to hell is trying to pull her in, laughing at her... and she goes to Tomas Martinez, the building owner, manager, and caretaker - who has stayed out of her way as she does not invite friendliness - had a grandmother who was a bruja, so he was raised around a belief in magic... and he sees the portal... and the two of them work together to overcome it - figuring out is killed her fellow students, figure out the wimp who called it, go to him, and somehow get the portal to take him (the first virgin offered from the class)... and Tomas & Marcy now have each other. ahhhh
Kiss of the Wolf - Susan Krinard
Dr. Dana St Cyr, successful plastic surgeon in California, returns to her roots in Louisiana - to a great-aunt she has never met... and meets two men - Remy Arceneaux and Chad Locoste, both of whom react to her face but don't say why - Remy is an obvious outdoorsman, jeans, tanned, good looking, where Chad is classy, well-dressed, good looking - and both warn her agains the other. Remy left the bayou for college & a stockbroker career, returned when his brother needed him, and is finding joy in the simplier life. Dana's light hearted, fun loving cousin looks ver mych like her - and her cousing went missing 5 years earlier... and somehow Dana decides she must find out what happened. She questions townspeople, and enlists Chad's help, going into the bayou where her cousin had gone to find a new bird, and never came out - but when they are lost, Chad takes off to look for help, and Remy, who has been following, takes her to his trailer/home - though via a wolf howl directed his brother, Tristan, to go elsewhere. Dana and Remy do well together - and then she meets Tristan, who calls her by her cousins name, but takes it okay when she introduces herself. If ends up that Tristan took Sayy, the cousin, into the bayou - and left her alone for a few minutes to try and capture the bird to carry it to her... he heard arguing, and found her bleeding & dying - he tried to help her (hence blood on his hands) and then Chad showed up and twisted things so that Tristan wasn't sure what was the truth. Chad burined the body tied to a log, and Remy found Tristan, who could not remember. and though thought it was Chad, he couldn't risk his brother going to jail, so he did not pursue it. Tristan runs off when he sees Dana & Remy kissing - Dana finds out tha Remy (and Tristan) are were wolves - Remy comes to her room after midnight when he dcan't find Tristan - they make love - he leaves - he runs into Chad - Chad hits him with his car when the Sheriff is nearby - Remy finds his way to Dana, who bandages him up - and as a wolf,he is healing fast... They find Tristan, who is with the body & Chad, who is convincing him that he killed her... Remy & Dana get a confession from chad just as the sheriff shows up - he comes from a werewolf father and now has the evidence to get connected Chad convicted... and Remy asks Dana to stay and be his lifemate - and Tristan is finally more settled, now that the truth is out.
Shadow Kissing Tanith Lee
This was a tangled story - 100 years ago, a sculptor, a sculpture of a very handsome man, and affair between the sculptor and the man's wife, murder of wife for infidelity & suicide for the man... the sculpture (entitled Jealousy with a quote from Othello) is inherited by Connor Sinclair, great, great, grandson - and he looks just like the sculpture... he has dreams & when he takes an acting job in another city, his jealous wife goes crazy, decides he is sleeping with the co-star, and when he comes home after opening night, she gives him sleeping pills, and when he falls asleep, she carves his chest with a knife - and then she kills herself. Connor - sells his lift - and 2 years later, when Vivien is staying at the flat for th owner while the owner is away, Connor shows up as he is taking the statue... vivien is attracted first to the statue,then to Connor... at night she hears noises... Connor is rude to her at first (she looks like his great, great grandmother) - but is guided by his attraction to make apologizes.. theygo out, they make love, he gets jealous if his assistant who made a pass at Vivien, she goes to sleep ad awakens hearing noises - Connor shows up to fight the bad guys - 3 against 1 - the statue falls from its base (Vivien thinks she sees it moving). and they make up, the curse of the statue broken (we think !)
The Devil She Knew - Evelyn Vaughn
Marcy, lonely, virgin, seeking, has been studying witchcraft... and after her 10th school reunion (in which she finds out 3 people have died from her class), she returns to caste her first spell. and when she opens the closet door, a portal to hell is trying to pull her in, laughing at her... and she goes to Tomas Martinez, the building owner, manager, and caretaker - who has stayed out of her way as she does not invite friendliness - had a grandmother who was a bruja, so he was raised around a belief in magic... and he sees the portal... and the two of them work together to overcome it - figuring out is killed her fellow students, figure out the wimp who called it, go to him, and somehow get the portal to take him (the first virgin offered from the class)... and Tomas & Marcy now have each other. ahhhh
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2015
I actually have this collection on my very small keeper shelf, and I take out Evelyn Vaughan's story The Devil She Knew as a cure-all for crabbiness or depression. It's a wonderfully sly and silly spoof of, as another reviewer said, a cheesy horror flick. Honestly, it may be the funniest story I've ever read!
And, of course, you can't go wrong with Susan Krinard's magnificent stories. I especially love her werewolf tales, because she knows her wolves and incorporates the realities of wolf pack behaviors and drives into her stories.
Tanith Lee is not my cup of tea normally, but hers was a beautiful, haunting and unforgettable story.
And, of course, you can't go wrong with Susan Krinard's magnificent stories. I especially love her werewolf tales, because she knows her wolves and incorporates the realities of wolf pack behaviors and drives into her stories.
Tanith Lee is not my cup of tea normally, but hers was a beautiful, haunting and unforgettable story.
could-not-finish
February 23, 2016I thought the e-book I have had all 3 stories but it only had the Susan rinard story, so when I finish the book, I'll finish the review.
Kiss the Wolf by Susan Krinard. I swear I've read this story before. I knew what was going to happen next but I checked and I don't have the book. That's scary! Good story. Dana goes to visit the town where her mom and dad came from and gets embroiled in a mystery with a missing look-alike cousin. ***1/2 I have a few of this author's books and will move her up the TBR shelf.
Kiss the Wolf by Susan Krinard. I swear I've read this story before. I knew what was going to happen next but I checked and I don't have the book. That's scary! Good story. Dana goes to visit the town where her mom and dad came from and gets embroiled in a mystery with a missing look-alike cousin. ***1/2 I have a few of this author's books and will move her up the TBR shelf.
August 18, 2011
This is only the book called KISS OF THE WOLF by SUSAN KRINARD. It's a Harlequin romance, but it's a quick brain candy kinda thing. Dr. St.Cyr is a plastic Surgeon who is having a midlife crisis so she goes to visit her great Aunt deep in Louisiana and gets involved with a rich guy, a Loup Gareux or werewolf who are tied into a big mystery involving her missing cousin whom she resembles almost exactly though never met. It's a typical paranormal romance.
Currently reading
March 9, 2009 I think the writers are brilliant because they split the book in to three stories one about Dana, one about Abbie,and one about Marcy. The book shows you three life experiences during the night time. The way they write the action and details makes you really feel what is happening. This book is great.
November 14, 2011
These were very clever, unique ideas for stories. But they needed a LOT more refining -- all of them -- before they should ever have been published. And I think that being anthology shorts didn't help them, either.
June 25, 2015
Kiss of the wolf by Susan Krinard - 4 stars
Shadow Kissing by Tanith Lee - 3 stars
The Devil She Knew by Evelyn Vaughn - 3 stars
Shadow Kissing by Tanith Lee - 3 stars
The Devil She Knew by Evelyn Vaughn - 3 stars
January 27, 2013
Great trio of short stories, well written, interesting characters
April 6, 2013
Only read Kiss of the Wolf by Susan Krinard
November 25, 2023
Kiss of the Wolf (Susan Krinard): 2,5
Shadow Kissing (Tanith Lee): 3
The Devil She Knew (Evelyn Vaughn):
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 22, 2008
Nice collection
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews