I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Out of the Light, and into the Shadows
by
Erin McCarthy, L.L. Foster, Lori Foster
It is part of the , , , series and is a anthology, short stories in Paperback edition that was published by Berkley on August 4, 2009 and has 352 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include High Stakes, My Immortal, Bit the Jackpot, An Enchanted Season, Fallen, The Taking, Bad Boys of Summer, Bled Dry, Flat-Out Sexy, Sucker Bet, Hard and Fast, Hot Finish, When Good Things Happen to Bad Boys, First Blood, Slow Ride, The Chase, The Night Before Christmas, Jacked Up, A Date with the Other Side, Heiress for Hire, Bad Boys in Black Tie, True, Seeing is Believing, Believe, Shatter, Sweet, Burn, Gone with the Ghost, Murder Drama with Your Llama, Man of My Dreams, Bare It All, Run the Risk, Getting Rowdy, Dash of Peril, No Limits, Fighting Dirty
Four short stories of romance. Foster’s stories appear to be setting us up for a new series while McCarthy’s are a complete set, but only a blip in the Vegas Vampires’ world.
Series:
“Have Mercy” (Jardine, 0.1) *
“Total Control” (Jardine, 0.2) *
“Deal or No Deal” (Vegas Vampires, 4.6)
“Undead Man’s Hand” (Vegas Vampires, 4.7)
The Stories
Lori Foster‘s “Have Mercy” finds Mercy Jardine in love with a very proud, marriage-avoiding Wyatt Reyes. It’s cute, but a bit of a bulldoze over Wyatt with Mercy ramrodding her own way over him. It does help that Wyatt is already in love with her. Strictly a romance.
L.L. Foster‘s “Total Control” moves onto Mercy’s brother’s romance with his assistant Cameo Smithson. It seems that Braxton Jardine has some heavy secrets and Cameo is just the woman to help him survive them. Incorporates psychic powers.
This was my favorite of the four. Primarily because Cameo was such a strong character who stood up for herself. I also enjoyed Foster’s premise. I do hope Foster expands this into a series.
Erin McCarthy‘s “Deal or No Deal” revolves around a gaudy bit of jewelry belonging to the Tsarina. When Maria/Katie Stolin puts it on, it triggers a response in a corresponding necklace worn by Rasputin. Rasputin will do whatever is necessary to retrieve that necklace, and, fortunately for Katie, Michael St. Markov has his own spy in place. A cute romance very poorly done that plays off the Ekaterinberg controversy.
Erin McCarthy‘s “Undead Man’s Hand” tidies up “Total Control” by providing Nick Stolin, the Russian guard who saved the Grand Duke and Duchess by turning them and now works as a bodyguard, with his own romance with Detective Jordan Waters. Ringo Columbia and Kelsey play their part. McCarthy did a much better job of writing this story.
The Cover and Title
An almost-black brown provides the background against which a woman’s nude back is highlighted with a swath of red satin draped around her hips.
While the cover reflects the title, the title itself doesn’t reflect the theme of this anthology of short stories as their characters do the reverse of “Out of the Light and into the Shadows”. It would have been more appropriate as “Out of the Shadows and into the Light”. Someone wasn’t paying attention…or I’m much too literal!
