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Hell on Earth #2.5 (Hell of a Time)
Eternal Lover
Theirs is a world of ancient desires and forbidden pleasures. They are men of mystery and women of seduction, wild creatures with the power to entrance and enchant, tease and tantalize. Enter their secret world, if you dare. . .
The Yearning by Hannah Howell
Alpin has lived for centuries with a lust that can never be quenched with mere physical pleasure. And then he meets Sophie whose own search for lasting love binds them together in a cloak of shimmering sensuality. . .
A Hell of a Time by Jackie Kessler
Jesse's immortal life as a soul-stealing succubus is over. And now that she is human, she longs to tempt her lover with all her persuasive powers of total sexual seduction. . .
City of Demons by Richelle Mead
Seth cannot resist the intense sexual allure of his demon lover Georgina. Yet their love reaches beyond the physical, into a place of complete untamed surrender. . .
Bitten by Lynsay Sands
Keeran's existence as a vampire has taught him to accept a life without love. . .until he saves Emily from certain death. And suddenly he discovers the soul-searing passion he thought he'd lost forever. . .
The Yearning by Hannah Howell
Alpin has lived for centuries with a lust that can never be quenched with mere physical pleasure. And then he meets Sophie whose own search for lasting love binds them together in a cloak of shimmering sensuality. . .
A Hell of a Time by Jackie Kessler
Jesse's immortal life as a soul-stealing succubus is over. And now that she is human, she longs to tempt her lover with all her persuasive powers of total sexual seduction. . .
City of Demons by Richelle Mead
Seth cannot resist the intense sexual allure of his demon lover Georgina. Yet their love reaches beyond the physical, into a place of complete untamed surrender. . .
Bitten by Lynsay Sands
Keeran's existence as a vampire has taught him to accept a life without love. . .until he saves Emily from certain death. And suddenly he discovers the soul-searing passion he thought he'd lost forever. . .
400 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2008
74 people are currently reading
3920 people want to read
About the author
Hannah Howell
117 books2,649 followersHannah Dustin Howell is a best-selling American author of over 40 historical romance novels. Many of her novels are set in medieval Scotland. She also writes under the names Sarah Dustin, Sandra Dustin, and Anna Jennet (see below).
She has also used the following pseudonyms:
Anna Jennet, Sarah Dustin and Sandra Dustin
She has also used the following pseudonyms:
Anna Jennet, Sarah Dustin and Sandra Dustin
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews
May 7, 2017
Four stories about immortal lovers from the historical to the contemporary in this anthology.
Series
"A Hell of a Time" (Hell on Earth, 2.5)
"City of Demons" (Georgina Kincaid, 2.5)
The Stories
Hannah Howell's "The Yearning" was cute but took some work to get through the Scottish accent. It's a tale of a pregnant lover spurned when he prefers a woman with wealth and land. She curses his line, not caring that the curse will rebound on to her own family as well. It takes hundreds of years before one of her descendants figures out how to break the curse. Not much tension. Also in found in His Immortal Embrace .
Jackie Kessler's "A Hell of a Time" was different. An ex-succubus who has a difficult time letting go of her demon joys is whisked off by her honorable policeman lover, Paul Hamilton, to a remote cabin in the woods after she's attacked at a bakery. I got rather irritated about her keeping her plant troubles to herself — didn't she consider that maybe her lover might need to know about it to protect himself as well? That aside, it was rather funny how the plants kept attacking Jess, and then the hamadryad at the end when she was going after Paul…eek!
Richelle Mead's "City of Demons" was bittersweet. Georgina has been stuck on a jury trying the murder of a demon and, since she and Seth were supposed to spend time together, he goes along. But Seth is spending his time at a cafe with a very interested waitress, and Georgina decides to test Seth.
Matters are not helped when Georgina refuses to be bribed into a judicial decision, although it is pretty funny when Mead reminds us of how much Hell enjoys torturing with paperwork. Certainly an interesting insight into demon mentality. In some ways, not too far removed from human.
Lynsay Sands' "Bitten" is another historical piece in which a young woman is the only one left alive on a ship after a storm at sea. Rescued by the not-the-Laird, Emily tries to pay him back (and stay in his castle to avoid marrying the wicked earl) by cleaning the place. It's cute, although Sands glossed over a number of things from just how Keeran managed to get out to a doomed ship and back to Emily, coercing villagers up to work at the castle as well as her spending time on her hands and knees…cleaning. Also found in His Immortal Embrace .
The Cover and Title
The cover is teals and blues with a huge full moon and a bare silhouette of tree branches in front of the moon with a short-haired hottie glancing out at us with a question in his eye, his head and naked shoulders all that we can see.
The title refers to four Eternal Lovers in each of the four stories.
Series
"A Hell of a Time" (Hell on Earth, 2.5)
"City of Demons" (Georgina Kincaid, 2.5)
The Stories
Hannah Howell's "The Yearning" was cute but took some work to get through the Scottish accent. It's a tale of a pregnant lover spurned when he prefers a woman with wealth and land. She curses his line, not caring that the curse will rebound on to her own family as well. It takes hundreds of years before one of her descendants figures out how to break the curse. Not much tension. Also in found in His Immortal Embrace .
Jackie Kessler's "A Hell of a Time" was different. An ex-succubus who has a difficult time letting go of her demon joys is whisked off by her honorable policeman lover, Paul Hamilton, to a remote cabin in the woods after she's attacked at a bakery. I got rather irritated about her keeping her plant troubles to herself — didn't she consider that maybe her lover might need to know about it to protect himself as well? That aside, it was rather funny how the plants kept attacking Jess, and then the hamadryad at the end when she was going after Paul…eek!
Richelle Mead's "City of Demons" was bittersweet. Georgina has been stuck on a jury trying the murder of a demon and, since she and Seth were supposed to spend time together, he goes along. But Seth is spending his time at a cafe with a very interested waitress, and Georgina decides to test Seth.
Matters are not helped when Georgina refuses to be bribed into a judicial decision, although it is pretty funny when Mead reminds us of how much Hell enjoys torturing with paperwork. Certainly an interesting insight into demon mentality. In some ways, not too far removed from human.
Lynsay Sands' "Bitten" is another historical piece in which a young woman is the only one left alive on a ship after a storm at sea. Rescued by the not-the-Laird, Emily tries to pay him back (and stay in his castle to avoid marrying the wicked earl) by cleaning the place. It's cute, although Sands glossed over a number of things from just how Keeran managed to get out to a doomed ship and back to Emily, coercing villagers up to work at the castle as well as her spending time on her hands and knees…cleaning. Also found in His Immortal Embrace .
The Cover and Title
The cover is teals and blues with a huge full moon and a bare silhouette of tree branches in front of the moon with a short-haired hottie glancing out at us with a question in his eye, his head and naked shoulders all that we can see.
The title refers to four Eternal Lovers in each of the four stories.
August 5, 2015
SPOILERS
6/1 - This book has two novellas in it that are part of series, one of which I'm in the middle of - Richelle Mead's Georgina Kincaid series - so I only read the novella which was of interest to me at this point in time. That's the only novella I'm reviewing right now, I'll come back later and review the rest of the stories once I've read them.
I enjoyed City of Demons to the tune of 3.5 stars. I thought it was a good addition to the series, plotwise, but not so much characterwise. I did not like the side of Georgina that we saw in this novella. She turned into a stupid, paranoid, jealous girlfriend, more like a mortal than she should be. I was really rooting for Seth to have worked out who 'Beth' really was, and for him to have simply been playing along with Georgina in some kind of couples 'game'. I was disappointed with the 'no resolution' resolution in regards to Georgina's little game of hide and seek, the story would definitely have ended better if Seth had known (or been told) about what was happening. To be continued when I read the rest of the stories...
6/1 - This book has two novellas in it that are part of series, one of which I'm in the middle of - Richelle Mead's Georgina Kincaid series - so I only read the novella which was of interest to me at this point in time. That's the only novella I'm reviewing right now, I'll come back later and review the rest of the stories once I've read them.
I enjoyed City of Demons to the tune of 3.5 stars. I thought it was a good addition to the series, plotwise, but not so much characterwise. I did not like the side of Georgina that we saw in this novella. She turned into a stupid, paranoid, jealous girlfriend, more like a mortal than she should be. I was really rooting for Seth to have worked out who 'Beth' really was, and for him to have simply been playing along with Georgina in some kind of couples 'game'. I was disappointed with the 'no resolution' resolution in regards to Georgina's little game of hide and seek, the story would definitely have ended better if Seth had known (or been told) about what was happening. To be continued when I read the rest of the stories...
July 10, 2015
3 Stars
*READ ONLY RICHELLE MEAD'S CITY OF DEMONs*
Only Richelle Mead can put so much angst into a few measly pages. I'm not going to say I was happy with the way things were. Both on Georgina and Seth's side. Both of them were a let down. I may have unrealistic expectations, but I really expect more from their relationship, I want more commitment to each other. Which sadly I didn't see.
*READ ONLY RICHELLE MEAD'S CITY OF DEMONs*
Only Richelle Mead can put so much angst into a few measly pages. I'm not going to say I was happy with the way things were. Both on Georgina and Seth's side. Both of them were a let down. I may have unrealistic expectations, but I really expect more from their relationship, I want more commitment to each other. Which sadly I didn't see.
July 20, 2019
This book was actually four different stories. While two of the boys old appeared to be stand alone tales, two of them appeared to be continuations of other books. I found that a bit strange and it didn’t makes sense to me.
November 10, 2011
5 stars on the Novella "City of Demons" Georgina Kincaid #2.5 by Richelle Mead.
I will review the other Novella when I read the series they are connected to.
In City of Demons, Georgina takes Jerome's place as a juror in a Demon murder trial. That however is not the focus of the story, Seth and Georgina's relationship is. I will not spoil the story. The trial was interesting to see how the Demons think. The strain between Georgina and Seth is refreshing to see. I was glad that I read this novella. During the series you don't get a true sense of the stain the relationship is under. Seth always appears so understanding while Georgina feels guilt and need. This novella elicited very strong emotions from me. Shockingly those emotions were directed at Georgina not Seth. For obvious reasons it it easier to relate to Seth (Human, writer, reader, mortal) I've had a hard time relating to Georgina, female or not, just couldn't feel her out. This novella finally put me inside her head and for that I am thankful.
Loved it! A must read for those who've read the series!
I will review the other Novella when I read the series they are connected to.
In City of Demons, Georgina takes Jerome's place as a juror in a Demon murder trial. That however is not the focus of the story, Seth and Georgina's relationship is. I will not spoil the story. The trial was interesting to see how the Demons think. The strain between Georgina and Seth is refreshing to see. I was glad that I read this novella. During the series you don't get a true sense of the stain the relationship is under. Seth always appears so understanding while Georgina feels guilt and need. This novella elicited very strong emotions from me. Shockingly those emotions were directed at Georgina not Seth. For obvious reasons it it easier to relate to Seth (Human, writer, reader, mortal) I've had a hard time relating to Georgina, female or not, just couldn't feel her out. This novella finally put me inside her head and for that I am thankful.
Loved it! A must read for those who've read the series!
January 14, 2009
Paranormal Romance Anthol.
The Yearning - Hannah Howell
1435 A.D. Scotland - Sophie dedicates herself to breaking an ancestor's 435 year old curse against the MacCordy family, which has also cursed her own family. My first HH read, and it was terrific!
A Hell of A Time - Jackie Kessler
Quit reading early on. I've tried JK's Hell on Earth books - the writing style (similar to Mary Janice Davidson) is just not my cup of tea.
City of Demons - Richelle Mead
Succubus Georgina Kinkaid (of the awesome GK series!) and her boyfriend Seth travel to Las Vegas when Georgina is ordered to serve as a juror in a demon trial. I adore RM's Succubus series, and this was a nice treat :-)
Bitten - Lynsay Sands
Keeran (a vampire) has accepted life without love ... until he saves Emily from a storm at sea. Very nice, well written story. I've liked every one of LS's short anthol. stories - so far no time for her series books.
The Yearning - Hannah Howell
1435 A.D. Scotland - Sophie dedicates herself to breaking an ancestor's 435 year old curse against the MacCordy family, which has also cursed her own family. My first HH read, and it was terrific!
A Hell of A Time - Jackie Kessler
Quit reading early on. I've tried JK's Hell on Earth books - the writing style (similar to Mary Janice Davidson) is just not my cup of tea.
City of Demons - Richelle Mead
Succubus Georgina Kinkaid (of the awesome GK series!) and her boyfriend Seth travel to Las Vegas when Georgina is ordered to serve as a juror in a demon trial. I adore RM's Succubus series, and this was a nice treat :-)
Bitten - Lynsay Sands
Keeran (a vampire) has accepted life without love ... until he saves Emily from a storm at sea. Very nice, well written story. I've liked every one of LS's short anthol. stories - so far no time for her series books.
April 14, 2012
**ONLY READ RICHELLE MEAD STORY CITY OF DEMONS**
"People do stupid things for love" is the main thing in this story of Georgina and Seth. I really loved this story. I felt like I was playing CLUE with Georgina xD. I was EVEN MORE happy when the culprit was found out! I so knew it was that person for the very first moment.
I really loved to see a glimpse of how "Hell" works and see thet different demons (now I know not everyone is like Jerome). Another thing I really really liked was to see how Georgina appreciates Seth (I mean I know she's in love, but this thing she did was OMG!) I really laughed a lot and also loved Seth even more if it was possible.
"People do stupid things for love" is the main thing in this story of Georgina and Seth. I really loved this story. I felt like I was playing CLUE with Georgina xD. I was EVEN MORE happy when the culprit was found out! I so knew it was that person for the very first moment.
I really loved to see a glimpse of how "Hell" works and see thet different demons (now I know not everyone is like Jerome). Another thing I really really liked was to see how Georgina appreciates Seth (I mean I know she's in love, but this thing she did was OMG!) I really laughed a lot and also loved Seth even more if it was possible.
January 13, 2010
This book is a combination of four different authors’ short stories. I made it through the first story, which was okay. It was written like what a Scottish burr might have sounded like. The second on about an ex-Succubus was my undoing. I usually can limp through even horrible stories, but I couldn’t make it through that one and ended up putting the book completely down. The other stories didn’t even sound interesting to me, so I had to no desire to read any of the other stories, so this is going to be marked 1 star, but really was unread.
September 3, 2009
Multi-author anthology: Jackie Kessler, Richelle Mead, Hannah Howell, Lynsay Sands. It turned out that two were previously published and I had already read them which rather took the shine of this book for me.
September 20, 2009
I only read Richelle Mead's short story "City of Demons" about Georgina set between books 2 and 3. It was an interesting story, but as all Succubus books, filled with angst and heartache. Can't say anything about other 3 stories, I am not familiar with the authors.
April 29, 2010
I only read City of Demons by Richelle Mead
August 20, 2016
desesperada por el ultimo libro
August 29, 2011
Enjoyed the story but LEARN TO COMMUNICATE LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE PLEASE! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
September 3, 2013
I love you, Georgie!!!! ;) oh, how I miss these series!!!
August 1, 2011
Skimmed a bit. Mainly read it for extras about Georgie and Seth.
December 23, 2012
"The Yearning" by Hannah Howell
I think this is by far the most awful story in this anthology. It isn't really the plot, which, while tired and unoriginal, isn't totally awful, and it isn't really the characters, who aren't given a chance to really shine but who also aren't gratingly annoying. The problem is certain idiotic details and Howell's by-the-numbers hideous Scottish accents.
The story begins in Scotland, 1000 A.D., with a woman scorned who just happens to have magic powers. She puts a curse on the man who left her pregnant and alone, while he went off and married someone else for money. Unfortunately, the curse not only affects him and his line, but her and her line as well. The women in her line fall in love, only to lose that love, and tend to be rich but miserable. His line always marries for money, land, and/or power and suffers from a curse that slowly turns them into something that I think might be cross between a werewolf and a vampire. Fast forward to Scotland, 1435, and Sophie, from the witch's line, tries to break the curse by going to Alpin, from the man's line. Sophie has a maid with quirks, and Alpin has a man who's loyal and bland.
I won't go into any more detail, but you should already know it ends happily. There were many things about this story that bugged me, so here's a few examples. First, the horrible accents. It's like some sort of hideous word game: man = mon (except for one early bit where Howell messed up and used "man" instead), no = nay, you = ye, very = verra, know = ken, aren't = arenae, and so on. "Mon" grated on my nerves the most. Second, these characters are stupid. Although the curse ends in a way that should make it clear how it can be broken, every character who finds out or realizes how to break the curse acts like it's the most amazing epiphany. Finally, more stupidity. Alpin avoids having sex with Sophie because "she probably did not understand how to prevent a child from taking root" (p. 48) - even if she is a virgin, she's a HEALER, of course she knows the birth control techniques for her time.
"A Hell of a Time" by Jackie Kessler
After Howell's story, this one was a relief. A former succubus (Jesse) is on a romantic getaway with her boyfriend (Paul), a sexy and lawful cop. Because she doesn't want to keep reminding him that she used to be a demon/succubus, she spends their time there desperately trying to keep him from finding out that the greenery at and near the cabin is trying to kill her.
I liked the relationship between Paul and Jesse enough that I think I'll try one of Kessler's books, since I'm assuming this story is based on characters from an actual novel. I'm also interested in the "former demon adjusting to being human for the sake of love" idea. Despite being a succubus, the sex, while graphic, wasn't as graphic as what you might find in, say, an Angela Knight novel. I appreciated that. It also seemed to me that Paul and Jesse were probably going to sit down in a future book/story and have a talk about sex not being the most important thing in their relationship - Jesse seems to have difficulty being around Paul without trying to have sex, and Paul, although he appreciates it, seems to be cluing in to the idea that Jesse might not be as secure in the aspects of their relationship that don't involve sex.
My only complaint about this story is that it begins with a demon of Gluttony that has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the story, even emotionally. It was interesting, and started off the story with some action, but it was also unimportant, unless Kessler was using this story as a way to set up the beginnings of a plot for a future book.
"City of Demons" by Richelle Mead
Although this story isn't as good as Kessler's, it didn't even approach the badness of Howell's story. However, since this story also involves a succubus, comparisons to Kessler's story are unavoidable. Plot-wise, I thought this story was, sometimes, more interesting than Kessler's (this one has some murder mystery aspects), but relationship-wise it wasn't that good.
In this story, a succubus (Georgie) is unwillingly roped into being a juror during a demonic murder tribunal. Luckily for her, although this is interrupting her romantic vacation with her boyfriend (Seth) - doesn't that sound familiar? - she gets to take him with her. Georgie's the only juror actually trying to figure out what really happened - everyone else plans on voting according to whichever one of the accused gives the best bribes. While she's dealing with that, she's also worried that Seth might be considering cheating on her with a waitress named Beth. Just a little background on this: Georgie can't have sex with Seth, since she'd suck out his life force if she did that, so instead she masturbates in front of him. She's also told him that it's fine with her if he goes and has sex with someone else, since her status as a succubus means she regularly has to have sex with other people. However, she doesn't really mean it and spends much of this story obsessing over Seth's behavior around Beth.
Although Georgie and Seth seemed like they might be nice enough characters, and the world Mead created sounds interesting, I'm not sure if I want to pick up a book by her. Seth and Georgie's relationship has some serious rockiness ahead, of the kind that stresses me out when I read it. I don't read romance to get stressed out. Anyway, it sounds like Mead's books (and maybe Kessler's) aren't so much romance as they are contemporary fantasy with graphic sex.
"Bitten" by Lynsay Sands
I think this story begins in Scotland in some indeterminate time in the past (it's not really very clear). Keeran's entire family is killed by a vampire, and he is turned into one. Years later (I was guessing it was the late 1800s, but I'm not the best one for figuring this kind of stuff out), he's living alone in a castle with two elderly servants when he saves a woman named Emily as her ship is going down. Emily was going off to marry a horrible earl so that he could have some of her money and her uncle could have some of his prestige. With her uncle dead after the shipwreck, Emily figures she's got a bit of time to consider what she's going to do about her future, so she sticks around, uses immense amounts of energy and stubbornness to get the castle cleaned, and gets to know Keeran better. For most of the story, she knows that people are afraid of him, but she doesn't know why.
It feels like the structure of this book was two succubus (or former succubus) stories that were heavier on the "paranormal" than on the "romance" (sorry, I don't think sex scenes automatically make something a romance), framed by two more traditional romantic stories featuring brooding, blood-drinking Scots. Of the two more traditional stories, I like this one better. Sands did a little of the accent thing, mostly with Mrs. MacBain, one of the servants, but it wasn't anywhere near as annoying as Howell's accents. Also, although I felt I'd read this particular story many times before (pretty, energetic, and innocent blond slowly thaws dark, brooding blood-drinker who doesn't feel he deserves her), I still enjoyed it. This story felt different from Sands' Argeneau series. That series focuses on a family of vampires, and in many of the books (maybe all, but I can't remember at the moment) wackiness ensues. Vampirism works a little differently in those books, too. In that series, vampires have little nanos in their bloodstreams that repair all damage to their cells, even damage caused by the sun, but the more the nanos have to work, the more blood they require to feed them.
I guess you could say I mostly liked this anthology. I read anthologies in order to get a taste of different authors and decide if I want to try getting through one of their novels. After reading this, I think I'll pick up something by Jackie Kessler and maybe Richelle Mead. I've already read a lot of Lynsay Sands' Argeneau series and have sort of gotten tired of it, but if she's starting something new I might pick it up to see if she's stopped doing some of the things in her writing that were getting on my nerves. I will not be picking up anything by Hannah Howell unless I'm desperate.
(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
I think this is by far the most awful story in this anthology. It isn't really the plot, which, while tired and unoriginal, isn't totally awful, and it isn't really the characters, who aren't given a chance to really shine but who also aren't gratingly annoying. The problem is certain idiotic details and Howell's by-the-numbers hideous Scottish accents.
The story begins in Scotland, 1000 A.D., with a woman scorned who just happens to have magic powers. She puts a curse on the man who left her pregnant and alone, while he went off and married someone else for money. Unfortunately, the curse not only affects him and his line, but her and her line as well. The women in her line fall in love, only to lose that love, and tend to be rich but miserable. His line always marries for money, land, and/or power and suffers from a curse that slowly turns them into something that I think might be cross between a werewolf and a vampire. Fast forward to Scotland, 1435, and Sophie, from the witch's line, tries to break the curse by going to Alpin, from the man's line. Sophie has a maid with quirks, and Alpin has a man who's loyal and bland.
I won't go into any more detail, but you should already know it ends happily. There were many things about this story that bugged me, so here's a few examples. First, the horrible accents. It's like some sort of hideous word game: man = mon (except for one early bit where Howell messed up and used "man" instead), no = nay, you = ye, very = verra, know = ken, aren't = arenae, and so on. "Mon" grated on my nerves the most. Second, these characters are stupid. Although the curse ends in a way that should make it clear how it can be broken, every character who finds out or realizes how to break the curse acts like it's the most amazing epiphany. Finally, more stupidity. Alpin avoids having sex with Sophie because "she probably did not understand how to prevent a child from taking root" (p. 48) - even if she is a virgin, she's a HEALER, of course she knows the birth control techniques for her time.
"A Hell of a Time" by Jackie Kessler
After Howell's story, this one was a relief. A former succubus (Jesse) is on a romantic getaway with her boyfriend (Paul), a sexy and lawful cop. Because she doesn't want to keep reminding him that she used to be a demon/succubus, she spends their time there desperately trying to keep him from finding out that the greenery at and near the cabin is trying to kill her.
I liked the relationship between Paul and Jesse enough that I think I'll try one of Kessler's books, since I'm assuming this story is based on characters from an actual novel. I'm also interested in the "former demon adjusting to being human for the sake of love" idea. Despite being a succubus, the sex, while graphic, wasn't as graphic as what you might find in, say, an Angela Knight novel. I appreciated that. It also seemed to me that Paul and Jesse were probably going to sit down in a future book/story and have a talk about sex not being the most important thing in their relationship - Jesse seems to have difficulty being around Paul without trying to have sex, and Paul, although he appreciates it, seems to be cluing in to the idea that Jesse might not be as secure in the aspects of their relationship that don't involve sex.
My only complaint about this story is that it begins with a demon of Gluttony that has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the story, even emotionally. It was interesting, and started off the story with some action, but it was also unimportant, unless Kessler was using this story as a way to set up the beginnings of a plot for a future book.
"City of Demons" by Richelle Mead
Although this story isn't as good as Kessler's, it didn't even approach the badness of Howell's story. However, since this story also involves a succubus, comparisons to Kessler's story are unavoidable. Plot-wise, I thought this story was, sometimes, more interesting than Kessler's (this one has some murder mystery aspects), but relationship-wise it wasn't that good.
In this story, a succubus (Georgie) is unwillingly roped into being a juror during a demonic murder tribunal. Luckily for her, although this is interrupting her romantic vacation with her boyfriend (Seth) - doesn't that sound familiar? - she gets to take him with her. Georgie's the only juror actually trying to figure out what really happened - everyone else plans on voting according to whichever one of the accused gives the best bribes. While she's dealing with that, she's also worried that Seth might be considering cheating on her with a waitress named Beth. Just a little background on this: Georgie can't have sex with Seth, since she'd suck out his life force if she did that, so instead she masturbates in front of him. She's also told him that it's fine with her if he goes and has sex with someone else, since her status as a succubus means she regularly has to have sex with other people. However, she doesn't really mean it and spends much of this story obsessing over Seth's behavior around Beth.
Although Georgie and Seth seemed like they might be nice enough characters, and the world Mead created sounds interesting, I'm not sure if I want to pick up a book by her. Seth and Georgie's relationship has some serious rockiness ahead, of the kind that stresses me out when I read it. I don't read romance to get stressed out. Anyway, it sounds like Mead's books (and maybe Kessler's) aren't so much romance as they are contemporary fantasy with graphic sex.
"Bitten" by Lynsay Sands
I think this story begins in Scotland in some indeterminate time in the past (it's not really very clear). Keeran's entire family is killed by a vampire, and he is turned into one. Years later (I was guessing it was the late 1800s, but I'm not the best one for figuring this kind of stuff out), he's living alone in a castle with two elderly servants when he saves a woman named Emily as her ship is going down. Emily was going off to marry a horrible earl so that he could have some of her money and her uncle could have some of his prestige. With her uncle dead after the shipwreck, Emily figures she's got a bit of time to consider what she's going to do about her future, so she sticks around, uses immense amounts of energy and stubbornness to get the castle cleaned, and gets to know Keeran better. For most of the story, she knows that people are afraid of him, but she doesn't know why.
It feels like the structure of this book was two succubus (or former succubus) stories that were heavier on the "paranormal" than on the "romance" (sorry, I don't think sex scenes automatically make something a romance), framed by two more traditional romantic stories featuring brooding, blood-drinking Scots. Of the two more traditional stories, I like this one better. Sands did a little of the accent thing, mostly with Mrs. MacBain, one of the servants, but it wasn't anywhere near as annoying as Howell's accents. Also, although I felt I'd read this particular story many times before (pretty, energetic, and innocent blond slowly thaws dark, brooding blood-drinker who doesn't feel he deserves her), I still enjoyed it. This story felt different from Sands' Argeneau series. That series focuses on a family of vampires, and in many of the books (maybe all, but I can't remember at the moment) wackiness ensues. Vampirism works a little differently in those books, too. In that series, vampires have little nanos in their bloodstreams that repair all damage to their cells, even damage caused by the sun, but the more the nanos have to work, the more blood they require to feed them.
I guess you could say I mostly liked this anthology. I read anthologies in order to get a taste of different authors and decide if I want to try getting through one of their novels. After reading this, I think I'll pick up something by Jackie Kessler and maybe Richelle Mead. I've already read a lot of Lynsay Sands' Argeneau series and have sort of gotten tired of it, but if she's starting something new I might pick it up to see if she's stopped doing some of the things in her writing that were getting on my nerves. I will not be picking up anything by Hannah Howell unless I'm desperate.
(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
November 13, 2018
So for th is I am only rating the story by Lynsay Sands. I'm a huge fan of her Argeneua series and had high hopes this was a sort of spinoff story... it was not. It's not a bad tale and is still technically paranormal but there is so much more I wish she had done with it. Like most romance, I felt it focused too much on the sex and relationships aspect leaving the plot to feel like an afterthought. I have felt that way with some of the Argeneau books too but on a whole they have more plot to them.
May 30, 2020
I like anything Richelle Mead, and specially Georgina Kincaid. The short story was intense, showing Georgina’s insecurities and doubts. Putting Seth to a test was a risk I’m not certain I would have taken, but with these higher stakes, I couldn’t put this story until I was done. I love the characters, so at the end, I will always excuse their behavior.
I also read the other short stories, which was my first experience with the three other authors. Sometimes the plots were either feeling rushed or taking too long. For me, they were an okay read, hence three stars.
I also read the other short stories, which was my first experience with the three other authors. Sometimes the plots were either feeling rushed or taking too long. For me, they were an okay read, hence three stars.
July 15, 2022
*NOTE: This review is ONLY for the stories by Hannah Howell & Lynsay Sands within this book... I had no desire to read the portions by Jackie Kessler or Richelle Mead!
---"The Yearning" by H.H. gains 4/5 stars from me! I'm always a fan of hers, and the storyline was good but also short and sweet.
---"Bitten" by L.S. also garners 4/5 stars for me. I feel like the heroine could have had more "character" about her, but the love story was beautiful!
---"The Yearning" by H.H. gains 4/5 stars from me! I'm always a fan of hers, and the storyline was good but also short and sweet.
---"Bitten" by L.S. also garners 4/5 stars for me. I feel like the heroine could have had more "character" about her, but the love story was beautiful!
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July 14, 2025I was really hoping for a prologue or prequel to the Argeneau series, but this was just a very generic vampire relationship. None of the traits of the Argeneau vampires are mentioned or dealt with. In fact, several things happen that could not happen in the original universe so it's a little bit confusing for anyone on an Argeneau plane of thought
January 21, 2025
Conto: Uma luz na escuridão - Gente eu lendo jurando que ia ter altas bruxarias e tal, a mulher é uma mosca morta, não fez um feitiço o livro todo, só fazia amuleto e se deitava com o vampiro/lobisomem. Mas pra algo traduzido em 2009 tava esperando demais kkk
January 29, 2018
Only wanted to read the novella from lynsay sands. As par for novellas, light and fluffy. A fun, fast read.
August 11, 2019
Four paranormal novellas that are entertaining. Fans of these authors will want to add this to their collection. The Lynsay Sands story was my favorite.
February 8, 2020
Only read Georgina Kincaid 2.5. Loved it!
May 8, 2022
I really enjoy Hannah Howell and Lynsey sands books however the other two stories in this book I just couldn’t get into. It will not keep me from reading these though!
October 14, 2022
I really enjoyed The Yearning and Bitten. I was not crazy about the other two, they were well written, just not my kind of story.
March 28, 2011
Eternal Lover is not what i expected but it was good, four different stories. The Yearning is about a curse being set on two families because of a witch feeling lonely and upset because of her lover. Generations later the curse is still being hold. Sophie wants to break the curse as she doesn’t want to die alone. She goes to the other family who have been cursed. Which is Aplin who is more beast than man, he can’t go out in the sunlight and he craves blood, but he’s willing to fight the curse. When he comes to a decision, which he alone has to make, whether to choose the bride who he has betrothed to for years, and finds Aplin terrifying or to choose Sophie who doesn’t find him threat, instead she loves him. It lies in Aplin hand. If chooses the bride to be the curse will carry on. Aplin doesn’t know that Sophie is the key to the curse. It’s a choice between wealth or love.
A hell of a time is a very strange story. I couldn’t get into straight away as i found the storyline weird. ‘A demon about to kill and ex demon over a doughnut’. Further into the book it becomes slightly interesting. An ex demon learning to be a human goes away with her boyfriend for the weekend. But jess keeps getting attacked by a plant because it thinks jess is evil. When jess and Paul take a stroll out into the woods, Paul runs off as he hears someone crying for help. Jess is left alone. A plant woman starts to attack jess, nearly killing her when Paul comes back. In the end Paul kills the plant woman and jess walks free.
City of demon is a good story, yet again interesting as wanting to know what happens in the end. Starts of as a nice weekend away when Georgina, who happens to be succubus, gets an unexpected visit from her boss who sends her to L.A to be a juror. Georgina is in court to find out who really killed Anthony, who’s a demon. Theirs three suspects, they all use bribes. When things start to get heated, as the jury use Seth, Georgina’s boyfriend, to get her to go along with the plan as blackmail. Georgina has no choice as Seth is human. When she finally figures out all three suspects are innocent and the person guilty is the one who wants an innocent to suffer. She has no choice but to tell the judge. Whilst the court activity plays ahead it also had been getting at Georgina emotionally. As she feels her boyfriend drifting away. They can’t have sex as Georgina is a succubus, if you sleep with her your life force gets sucked away. She starts to feel jealous when she finds out Seth has been flirting with a waitress. Georgina decides to be Beth, the waitress to see if Seth is really interested. When things start to get heated Seth realises what he’s doing and tells ‘Beth’ he can’t as he love Georgina.
Bitten is an amazing book but a little disappointing. Its a sexy book, very passionate. Bitten reminded be of Devil of Highland in a way because of the similar situation. I found this book disappointing because it felt like it could be better as it felt like there was more to read. Emily on her way to be married when the journey turns into a nightmare, as a storm hits the sea. Keeran hears a woman’s screams when he’s out fending for himself. When he comes upon a woman in sea, he goes and safes her and bring her back to his home. When Emily awakes she feels the need to repay her rescuer, so she decides to clean. After couple of days Keeran can no longer take the changes to his home so he confronts Emily. They end up getting in a very heated and steamy situation. Emily starts to fall in love with Keeran and she doesn’t want to leave. She tells Keeran how she feels, even after hearing Keeran is a vampire she still wants to stay. When Emily tells Keeran that she wants to spend eternity with him and after a night of persuasion he accepts. The end. This is where i feel there could of been a story about the man who was suppose to marry her comes to get her and Keeran safes Emily.
A hell of a time is a very strange story. I couldn’t get into straight away as i found the storyline weird. ‘A demon about to kill and ex demon over a doughnut’. Further into the book it becomes slightly interesting. An ex demon learning to be a human goes away with her boyfriend for the weekend. But jess keeps getting attacked by a plant because it thinks jess is evil. When jess and Paul take a stroll out into the woods, Paul runs off as he hears someone crying for help. Jess is left alone. A plant woman starts to attack jess, nearly killing her when Paul comes back. In the end Paul kills the plant woman and jess walks free.
City of demon is a good story, yet again interesting as wanting to know what happens in the end. Starts of as a nice weekend away when Georgina, who happens to be succubus, gets an unexpected visit from her boss who sends her to L.A to be a juror. Georgina is in court to find out who really killed Anthony, who’s a demon. Theirs three suspects, they all use bribes. When things start to get heated, as the jury use Seth, Georgina’s boyfriend, to get her to go along with the plan as blackmail. Georgina has no choice as Seth is human. When she finally figures out all three suspects are innocent and the person guilty is the one who wants an innocent to suffer. She has no choice but to tell the judge. Whilst the court activity plays ahead it also had been getting at Georgina emotionally. As she feels her boyfriend drifting away. They can’t have sex as Georgina is a succubus, if you sleep with her your life force gets sucked away. She starts to feel jealous when she finds out Seth has been flirting with a waitress. Georgina decides to be Beth, the waitress to see if Seth is really interested. When things start to get heated Seth realises what he’s doing and tells ‘Beth’ he can’t as he love Georgina.
Bitten is an amazing book but a little disappointing. Its a sexy book, very passionate. Bitten reminded be of Devil of Highland in a way because of the similar situation. I found this book disappointing because it felt like it could be better as it felt like there was more to read. Emily on her way to be married when the journey turns into a nightmare, as a storm hits the sea. Keeran hears a woman’s screams when he’s out fending for himself. When he comes upon a woman in sea, he goes and safes her and bring her back to his home. When Emily awakes she feels the need to repay her rescuer, so she decides to clean. After couple of days Keeran can no longer take the changes to his home so he confronts Emily. They end up getting in a very heated and steamy situation. Emily starts to fall in love with Keeran and she doesn’t want to leave. She tells Keeran how she feels, even after hearing Keeran is a vampire she still wants to stay. When Emily tells Keeran that she wants to spend eternity with him and after a night of persuasion he accepts. The end. This is where i feel there could of been a story about the man who was suppose to marry her comes to get her and Keeran safes Emily.
July 4, 2013
Some of the time I was reading this I just wanted it to be over. One story was just awful for me. The others were decent.
❤❤½
The Yearning by Hannah Howell ❤❤❤
Scotland 1000 A.D. Morvyn Galt witnesses and records in blood her sister Rona's curse on all descendants of the Galt and MacCordys line after her lover, a MacCordy abandons the pregnant Rona and chooses a bride who offers him wealth and land.
Scotland 1435 Sophie Hay (Galt) knows that love has always eluding the women of her family and now that she's discovered Morvyn's writings she's determined to be the last Galt women to suffer at the hands of Rona's heartache. She's convinced that the curse requires a Galt woman to fix what a Galt women cursed and now she needs a MacCordy man.
Alpin MacCordy lives in the shadows who's known now love, no peace, no hope and all because of a ridiculous curse he doesn't even believe in. When the lovely Sophie shows up at his door he can't deny her the chance to try to break the curse.
This one was pretty good with a couple paranormal twists. I've only ever read Hannah Howell is short story form and if I'm being honest I think that's best for me. There is something appealing in say 100ish pages that I don't think would translate to a full length novel. But I plan to give her novels a chance sooner or later.
A Hell of a Time by Jackie Kessler ❤
I just wanted it to be over. It was 80something pages and it took me days to finish it. I almost quit reading it 3 different times.
City of Demons by Richelle Mead ❤❤❤
This story is the reason I got this book. I'm only two books into the Georgina Kincaid series and I enjoy it. One of the aspects I find most compelling is that fact that Georgina and Seth cannot have sex. I thought this was a good story and a good example of Mead's talent and wit. I wished for a tiny bit more from the story BUT I know this tale was meant to be just one weekend in a story that lasts a lot longer so in the end I was satisfied. I'm on to Succubus Dreams next. Yay!
Bitten by Lynsay Sands ❤❤❤
Ms. Sands and I have a love/hate relationship. I love and hate her. She doesn't care either way. My main and really only complaint with this story was that it took so very long for Keeran and Emily to be alone together then their relationship was told in fast forward. It's a Sands formula I've reconciled myself to after reading 6 of her books. I don't think her style is for everyone, sometimes it's not even for me as I think she tends to write the same formula over and over.
❤❤½
The Yearning by Hannah Howell ❤❤❤
Scotland 1000 A.D. Morvyn Galt witnesses and records in blood her sister Rona's curse on all descendants of the Galt and MacCordys line after her lover, a MacCordy abandons the pregnant Rona and chooses a bride who offers him wealth and land.
Scotland 1435 Sophie Hay (Galt) knows that love has always eluding the women of her family and now that she's discovered Morvyn's writings she's determined to be the last Galt women to suffer at the hands of Rona's heartache. She's convinced that the curse requires a Galt woman to fix what a Galt women cursed and now she needs a MacCordy man.
Alpin MacCordy lives in the shadows who's known now love, no peace, no hope and all because of a ridiculous curse he doesn't even believe in. When the lovely Sophie shows up at his door he can't deny her the chance to try to break the curse.
This one was pretty good with a couple paranormal twists. I've only ever read Hannah Howell is short story form and if I'm being honest I think that's best for me. There is something appealing in say 100ish pages that I don't think would translate to a full length novel. But I plan to give her novels a chance sooner or later.
A Hell of a Time by Jackie Kessler ❤
I just wanted it to be over. It was 80something pages and it took me days to finish it. I almost quit reading it 3 different times.
City of Demons by Richelle Mead ❤❤❤
This story is the reason I got this book. I'm only two books into the Georgina Kincaid series and I enjoy it. One of the aspects I find most compelling is that fact that Georgina and Seth cannot have sex. I thought this was a good story and a good example of Mead's talent and wit. I wished for a tiny bit more from the story BUT I know this tale was meant to be just one weekend in a story that lasts a lot longer so in the end I was satisfied. I'm on to Succubus Dreams next. Yay!
Bitten by Lynsay Sands ❤❤❤
Ms. Sands and I have a love/hate relationship. I love and hate her. She doesn't care either way. My main and really only complaint with this story was that it took so very long for Keeran and Emily to be alone together then their relationship was told in fast forward. It's a Sands formula I've reconciled myself to after reading 6 of her books. I don't think her style is for everyone, sometimes it's not even for me as I think she tends to write the same formula over and over.
October 23, 2014
Only read the Richelle Mead "Georgina Kincaid" contribution so far, but that's why I bought the anthology. I'm going to put this on my partially_read_anthology shelf for now. I'll move it to the read shelf if and when I read the other contributions.
*****
BTW: I'm writing this after reading the complete 6 book series. Consider that your spoiler warning.
Maybe a 4.5, but we'll round down this time.
This story takes place between books 2 and 3. In terms of Georgina and Seth, it comes during their early "honeymoon" period. When they're both still happily abstaining from sex. Before they realize immortal vs mortal will leave one or both of them hurt in the end.
Georgina and Seth are on a "getaway weekend" when Jerome interrupts things. Jerome has the equivalent of demon jury duty and he dumps it into Georgina's lap. So they're off to some hotel with banquet facilities in LA. While Georgina sits in on the case, Seth finds a local diner to sit and write.
On the case side of things, we meet Luis "early". If you've only read the full novels, we don't meet him till book 6. He's the arch demon in charge of Las Vegas. Here Luis is serving as judge for the case.
The case itself: a demon was killed and his arch demon(ness) wants to "convict" the one who committed the murder. There are three suspects, and the jury is to decide which is guilty. Only, there isn't any guarantee any of them are guilty.
What they want isn't a fair trial, it's a semblance of a trial leading to a scapegoat. All three suspects spend their off hours trying to bribe all the jury members. And that's just how things roll. Georgina and possibly Luis are the only ones looking for the truth.
On the romance side of things, Seth flirts a bit with a waitress named Beth. Georgina gets jealous and she decides to test Seth. Georgina shapeshifts into Beth and goes on a date with him. Then she goes on another date with the intention of sleeping with him, as Beth. (She's gotten a several hour window where she can conceivably sleep with Seth without draining him. I'll forgo explaining the details.) Anyway, Seth passes, but it's obvious it is hard for him. *g*
***
I think the series can stand alone without the short story. It doesn't really flesh out anything new, but it fits rather seamlessly into the series. In other words, think non-essential vignette.
*****
BTW: I'm writing this after reading the complete 6 book series. Consider that your spoiler warning.
Maybe a 4.5, but we'll round down this time.
This story takes place between books 2 and 3. In terms of Georgina and Seth, it comes during their early "honeymoon" period. When they're both still happily abstaining from sex. Before they realize immortal vs mortal will leave one or both of them hurt in the end.
Georgina and Seth are on a "getaway weekend" when Jerome interrupts things. Jerome has the equivalent of demon jury duty and he dumps it into Georgina's lap. So they're off to some hotel with banquet facilities in LA. While Georgina sits in on the case, Seth finds a local diner to sit and write.
On the case side of things, we meet Luis "early". If you've only read the full novels, we don't meet him till book 6. He's the arch demon in charge of Las Vegas. Here Luis is serving as judge for the case.
The case itself: a demon was killed and his arch demon(ness) wants to "convict" the one who committed the murder. There are three suspects, and the jury is to decide which is guilty. Only, there isn't any guarantee any of them are guilty.
What they want isn't a fair trial, it's a semblance of a trial leading to a scapegoat. All three suspects spend their off hours trying to bribe all the jury members. And that's just how things roll. Georgina and possibly Luis are the only ones looking for the truth.
On the romance side of things, Seth flirts a bit with a waitress named Beth. Georgina gets jealous and she decides to test Seth. Georgina shapeshifts into Beth and goes on a date with him. Then she goes on another date with the intention of sleeping with him, as Beth. (She's gotten a several hour window where she can conceivably sleep with Seth without draining him. I'll forgo explaining the details.) Anyway, Seth passes, but it's obvious it is hard for him. *g*
***
I think the series can stand alone without the short story. It doesn't really flesh out anything new, but it fits rather seamlessly into the series. In other words, think non-essential vignette.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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