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
Hot Blooded
by
Angela Knight, Christine Feehan, Emma Holly, Maggie Shayne
It is part of the Dark #11.5, Mageverse #0.5, series and is a erotic romance, paranormal romance in a paperback edition that was published by Penguin on September 6, 2005 and has 357 pages.
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Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Master of Smoke, Beyond the Dark, Bite, Master of Shadows, Master of Wolves, Hot for the Holidays, Master of the Night, Master of the Moon, Dark Predator, Savage Nature, Spirit Bound, Darkest at Dawn, Samurai Game, Dark Storm, Leopard's Prey, Air Bound, Viper Game, Power Game, Earth Bound, Spider Game, "Dark Crime", Covert Game, Judgment Road, Toxic Game, Vengeance Road, Fire Bound, Bound Together, Shadow Warrior, Leopard's Wrath, Wild Cat, Cat's Lair, Vendetta Road, Lethal Game, Desolation Road, Leopard's Rage, Reckless Road, Dark Whisper, In the Flesh, Devil at Midnight, Heat of the Night, Three to Tango, Hidden Talents, Hidden Crimes, Winter's Tale, Beck & Call, Night's Edge, Twilight Begins , Man of My Dreams, Weddings From Hell, An Enchanted Season, Wild Thing, Infinity
An anthology of four short, hot blooded, and erotic stories.
In 2004, it received the Hughey Award for Best Anthology as well as the P.E.A.R.L. for Best Anthology.
The Stories
Christine Feehan‘s “Dark Hunger” finds Riordan De La Cruz the captive of a master vampire and his minions, subject to their experimentations with a paralyzing injection in a South American laboratory.
This short story is a dip into a Carpathian life and brings together the Carpathians with the jaguar shifters, notably Juliette Sangria, her sister Jasmine, and her cousin Solange.
Maggie Shayne‘s “Awaiting Moonrise” is a nice bit of rather forward romance. A complete story with a full range of emotions from betrayal to fear to the joy of discovery to the hot blood of an erotic romance. It was interesting to read about the herbs used in the magic recipes and how their scientific properties contribute to the magic.
Emma Holly‘s “Night Owl” is quite yummy with Holly’s descriptions of Mariann’s baked goods, her own breakfasts (!), and the Luce “brothers” next door who are fixing up the Night Owl Inn. It’s also funny in how accepting a town can be of eccentricity when it comes with money. Its sweetness comes from Mariann’s cooking, but also from Bastien’s shyness. He’s so in love and so timid about pursuing it.
I do find Holly’s Midnight series to be rather frustrating for my OCD self, as it tends to be a loose collection of stories about different upyr groups from a range of historical periods. The primary connection is that they’re all upyr, vampires. They also seem to connect back, eventually, to another character, but don’t plan on any future readings about a character you have enjoyed in the past.
Angela Knight‘s “Seduction’s Gift” is a prelude to Knight’s Mageverse series that provides a twist on King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. Quite an erotic twist *she says as she fans her hot-blooded cheeks*. Knight does a good job of introducing the whole concept of her Magi and Maja and their purpose in this short story. It also provides the background for their version of our universe.
I do love that Grace blows Lancelot off at the start, lol. She may love the boy, but there ain’t gonna be no insta-love here, *more laughter*, not after what Grace has experienced. And Morgana has a scary threat which Lance slowly reveals to us in all its nasty detail. Creates a good conflict. Very nicely done.
The Cover and Title
The cover is abstract until you can focus in on the sweep of a woman’s blood-red varnished nails as she sweeps the dark fall of hair away, baring her neck for some Hot Blooded antics.
