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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4+stars - Hot stuff, even with an odd mix of genres, August 3, 2010
This review is from: Burning Up (Berkley Sensation) (Paperback)
Burning Up offers a great line-up of popular paranormal authors, but there are a few surprises in store. While authors Nalini Singh and Virginia Kantra come through with stories connected to their established series, Angela Knight leaves her Mageverse behind - but not her vamps and witches - and instead gives us a medieval fantasy offering and MelJean Brook introduces a new universe with her steam punk prequel to her new Iron Seas series.
"Whisper of Sin" - Nalini Singh's Psy-changeling contribution brings in a more than quickie romance as a new mob moves into the city and tries to collect protection money little realizing that the town is DarkRiver territory and the humans there are under the clan's protection - and shape shifting Sentinel Emmet decides that protecting human Ria from the thugs should be done up close and personal - I just love it when a shifter says "mine". The petite yet strong Ria is a wonderful heroine, and her formidable family is great too.(4.5 stars)
"Blood and Roses" Angela Knight - A vampire knight held captive offers hope to a witch whose sister is destined for a ritual which will open a gate to allow an undefeatable enemy into their world - this one was okay, there was a good setup but the story really needed to be longer to capitalize on it. (3 stars)
"Shifting Sea" Virginia Kantra takes a step back in time with her Children of the Sea - I really liked this story, the lovely woman whose people are just a myth and the wounded former soldier, who is now a gentleman land owner, are both appealing characters. I am not a huge fan of historical settings but this one worked for me, paradoxically due to the era in which the story was set - since the independent passionate woman who didn't conform to the strictures of the period is what attracted the honorable hero.(4 stars)
"Here There Be Monsters" - Meljean Brook - I am a huge fan of Brook's Guardians but this story was something completely different - a prequel to Brook's upcoming Steampunk series. I am not really drawn to the steampunk genre but I liked this story, even with the odd world-out-of-time flavor given to the tale by the mixture of Victorian trappings and technology - Brook describes this as "historical sci fi". The action and the inventions were fun but I especially loved how smitten the hero was with the heroine and how patient he was in his courtship - boy, she made him suffer. I will definitely be checking out the rest of the series. (4.5 stars)
So for me Burning Up was a hit, I enjoyed the odd mix of genres and the anthology is good for fans looking for a favorite author fix and all in all most the stories are long enough for new comers looking for a new favorite author too.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wow! An anthology can't get much more diverse than this., August 8, 2010
This review is from: Burning Up (Berkley Sensation) (Paperback)
SYNOPSIS: This anthology contains four short stories from top authors in the fantasy and paranormal genres. These four stories couldn't be more different if they tried. Quite an interesting lineup.
NALINI SINGH -- WHISPER OF SIN
This story is from the Psy/Changeling series of novels and shows fans of those books how Emmet and Ria met. Emmet is a leopard changeling working with the Dark River pack to protect San Francisco from a vicious gang that is trying to muscle in and frighten the residents, mainly in Chinatown, into paying for protection. Ria is the victim of an attack foiled by Emmet and Dorian.
This was really a good story and helped more fully fill in the information regarding how these two came together. There are not that many human/changeling couples in the series so it was very nice to see how leopard and human came to an understanding. The latest released book in this series is Bonds of Justice (Psy/Changeling) and another novel, Play of Passion (Psy/Changeling), will be released in November of 2010. It is really wonderfull to have this many Psy/Changeling stories in such a short period of time. On a sensuality scale from 1 to 5, I would put this at a three. (For me the scale is: a 1 would be, "what sensuality?", and a 5 would be "too, too much".)
ANGELA KNIGHT -- BLOOD AND ROSES
Raniero is a vampire warrior sent by his King to see if the border wizard Lord Korban is being completely faithful to him or if he may have begun plotting with their enemy, the Varil, to break the boundary which keeps them apart. Amaris, a Blood Rose, is being blackmailed by Korban who is holding her three year old sister captive. He will kill the child and use her magical power to help fuel his magic to breach the boundry unless Amaris agrees to seduce the vampire to give him time to complete his spell.
I have not followed the series written by this author so I am not familiar with whether this story is part of any series. It seemed likely to be a stand alone. This one was a four on the sensuality scale for me.
VIRGINIA KANTRA -- SHIFTING SEA
Major John Harris has suffered serious wounds in the war with Napoleon so when he learns he has inherited property in Scotland he goes there to live on the estate and try to bring it back to productivity. While out riding over the property he meets a beautiful woman, Morwenna, by a tiny cottage all alone by the sea. He knows she is different from any woman he has ever met, but he has no idea just how different she really is.
I've read several other short stories by Virginia Kantra and absolutely loved them all. This was no exception. This is the story in the collection which is slower, softer, more gentle. I definitely enjoyed the respite! I think that this story is tied to the Children of the Sea series, with a new novel Immortal Sea (Children of the Sea) due out in September, 2010. On the sensuality scale this would be a very sweet three.
MELJEAN BROOK -- HERE THERE BE MONSTERS
Ivy Blacksmith (named that because of her trade) must escape London immediately. That is the only reason she would even think about asking for passage with Captain Machen on his ship leaving port tomorrow morning. But there is a reason this man is called Mad Machen. When Ivy finally manages to ask him for passage she is sure he is going to turn her down. With no money to pay him, and with his vessel already having a blacksmith on board, she offers him the only thing she has which she thinks will be a temptation to this horrible man, her virginity.
Now, this was very, very different for me. I am not familiar with this author and this book just dropped me in the middle of a world I was not familiar with and left me to sink or swim. Luckily I'm a stubborn soul and decided to learn how to swim. This is a steam punk story - a first for me - and after I caught on to what was happening I enjoyed it very much. According to the excerpt in the back of this book, The Iron Duke will be released in October 2010. This story is definitely connected with that book which will probably become a series. I will be heading on over to the book page to get on the pre-release list for that one. On the old sensuality scale this one has to be a good four.
RECOMMENDATION: All four of these stories was a very pleasurable reading experience. They were all very different in both "world" and style of writing. There are sensual scenes in all four of the stories, some more intense than others so you need to be aware of your tolerance for that aspect in your choice. If I had to describe this book as a whole I would say that these are love stories. One feels very modern, one feels old fashioned, one feels paranormal and one feels almost futuristic, but all are really interesting examples of the writing craft of each author.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Mostly not my cup of tea..., February 23, 2011
This review is from: Burning Up (Berkley Sensation) (Paperback)
This is one of those cases where I wished I had know what I was getting myself into before I started. I thought this would be more romance, but it's actually more "steamy" than romance. Wait, I take that back. The two books in the middle are steamy. The first and the last ones (ironically, the two I liked most) were more PNR.
The first story, Whisper of Sin, is by Nalini Singh, who I have grown to love. It's a short story, so things moved a little faster than I thought. I liked both Emmett and Ria. Ria's family was crazy, I liked them a lot. I love the cats, they're so hardcore.
I didn't like the second one, Blood and Roses. I couldn't get into it. It wasn't my cup of tea. I don't know. Maybe I'd feel different if I was in a life or death situation but as a reader... I just don't like to read things like that. I couldn't get into the new world.
In the beginning, I did not like the third story, Shifting Seas. Again, this just wasn't my cup of tea. It was like Hi, Nice to meet you, let's get it on, and that's that. No. I did like the end though. I thought the ending was sweet but I liked how it wrapped up.
The last story, Here There be Monsters, I really liked. I could have kept reading it, no problem. I have the Iron Duke here but never read. I have heard great things about it but kept putting it aside. It has definitely moved up on my list. I just loved being in the world that the author created! I loved how complex Mad was and how much he did for Ivy. I liked Ivy because she was independent and an excellent smithy. I just wanted to say smithy.
So all in all, I'm not mad that I read this one, but I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it. Scratch that. Read it and just stick to the first and last stories and you'll love it.
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