Customer Reviews

Mysteria Lane (Berkley Sensation)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I waffled between three and four stars for this anthology of four stories by four pretty big-name paranormal romance authors. "Mysteria Lane" is a sequel to "Mysteria", a 2006 book by the same four authors about a town filled with magic and paranormal beings snuggled in the mountains of Colorado. Because it's an anthology, it's one that's hard to rate as I enjoyed some stories more than others and overall I think this book is not as good as the first one.

"Disdaining Trouble" by MaryJanice Davidson is about one of a set of troublesome and trouble-making witchy triplets. When the oldest triplet is accidentally knocked into the magic wishing well by the latest victim of the triplet's magic, her mother's wish for her to 'grow up' ends up transporting her to a very different and very dangerous world. When she magically returns, only a few minutes have passed in Mysteria while she herself has spent twelve years fighting for her life. Now the new, grown up triplet isn't sure where she belongs, but wherever it is she hopes the handsome Thad will be with her. ***My least liked of the four which bummed me out as I'm a big MJ Davidson fan. I just found the heroine irksome and the plot silly.

"The Nanny from Hell" by Susan Grant about a demon sent by Satan to take revenge on a hero and heroine from the first book. When a car accident dumps her in the wishing well, Shay's wish to be human is granted. Unfortunately, Satan hasn't forgotten about her...or her task. Good thing her new best buddy is a wickedly handsome demon hunter. ***Pretty hot story that made me wish for a demon hunter of my own.

"A Tawdry Affair" by Gena Showalter regarding what happens when low self-esteem meets witchcraft. Glory is a love witch who's had the hots for Falon for what seems like forever. When he rejects her advance, she's sure it's because she's a bit pudgy since he'll apparently 'do' just about any other girl. Her resentment and hurt grow until a magic pen enables her to take revenge on Falon. But the difference between what Glory 'thinks' and the real reason for Falon's refusal may just make her revenge rebound. ***If I'd liked Glory better, this would have been my favorite. If it wasn't for the hot sex, I'd have thought this was a young adult story because of Glory's pettiness.

"It's In His Kiss" by PC Cast. A woman tries to control her very strange 'opposite magic' by living in perpetual control over everything in her life. What happens when she discovers what she thought she wanted isn't what's right for her? ***My favorite of the three, yet probably lowest on the heat meter. Very excellent short story with engaging characters and a well-hidden life lesson.

I'd certainly buy another anthology set in Mysteria, but I wouldn't put it on my 'must buy' list.

I had thought about reading the original Mysteria anthology but never got around to picking it up. I'm very glad I decided not to wait to read this new book! These authors worked together incredible well to produce 4 very entertaining, interconnected tales.

"Disdaining Troubles" by Mary Janice Davidson
Kicking off this book we have the birth and subsequent mischief of the Desdaine Triplets, Mysteria's three most scarily mischievious little girls...until a lazy afternoon of tormenting the mailman has accidental consequences when one of the triplets falls into the local wishing well only to pop out a minute later in her twenties. All grown up and used to a different, more demonic world Withering suddenly finds herself with two much younger siblings, no clothes that fit, and a pizza shop owner who finds the grown up Desdaine triplet very interesting. An interesting premise but this one was probably the weakest of the bunch for me.

"The Nanny From Hell" by Susan Grant
Shay has been seducung mortals and living on the wild side for millenia as an important demon for Satan. But now the boss has discovered her secret, that she yearns to be human and she fears death. Threatening to end her entire existance he sends her into Mysteria to kill the child of Damon another former demon. But a crash into the towns wishing well has her turning mortal and gaining complicated things like a soul and morals as well as the hots for the towns demon hunter!

"A Tawdry Affair" by Gena Showalter
My Favorite! This story was fantastic! Apparently the three sister witches of Mysteria are no strangers to love, having had a story in the first book. Now Glory is calling in the favor her Revenge witch sister owes her. She wants revenge against Falon, the local barkeep, whom she offered herself naked to...and the jerk laughed at her! Given a pen that makes anything she writes come true Glory, who happens to be a love witch, decides to have a little fun with Falon both sexually and mischieviously. Falon, who thought he was protecting himself from another sadistic witch instead finds himself battling for her heart. This was both beautiful and hot!

"It's In His Kiss" by P.C. Cast
Very good tale of a new Mystetia high school teacher who after years of pining away for a handsome if insipid local fairy finds herself unexpectedly falling for a vampire while on a fieldtrip. With unpredictable magic powers she accidentally ends up in a painting of Romeo and Juliet with the exciting vampire and one kiss from him rocks her world and her future.

The stories in this series set in Mysteria are, as always, deliciously disturbing. Romantic and luscious - but with the odd edge that makes them part of the Mysteria world.

Mysteria is a town where everything paranormal becomes the norm - and romance becomes an oddity that we enjoy reading about. We are not shocked by wishing wells that change time or give demons souls - instead we are surprised into cheering on the love that springs from such changes and the characters' reactions to them.

The stories in this book are masterful and amusing. Not for the sceptic to dissect, but rather for the hopeful to rejoice in.

Another great collection of entertaining and memorable stories.

Mysteria Lane is so much better than Mysteria! Out of the four stories in the First Mysteria collaboration I only like one BUT in this book I loved 3 out of the 4!
For future readers dont let Mysteria OR MaryJanice's story in Mysteria Lane put you off.
These stories are WILD!!
~~~~~

Authors Davidson, Grant, Showalter and Cast are back together again, Mysteria Lane (Berkley Sensation) takes us back to the town founded by a demon's random act of kindness and you'll recognise many of the town's oddball inhabitants from the previous two visits (Mysteria was the same town but with a different name in Bewitched, Bothered & BeVampyred, the hard to find anthology that gave birth to it all.) All four stories have character tie-ins for Mysteria (Berkley Sensation) and BB&B fans, but with the exception of Davidson's, the stories standalone pretty well, giving hints of the past stories but not relying on the reader having read them.

Davidson's "Disdaining Trouble" - Is a twofer. After an unfortunate run in with a wishing well, one of the terrible twelve year old Disdaine triplets disappears for 6 seconds and returns the grown-up warrior princess of pizza joint owner Thad's dreams. Also woven into the story is a follow on to `Alone Wolf', river nymph Jan has got it bad for ghost Handywoman Rae, he sees past the grumpiness to find a lonely, but fiesty, kindred spirit. - If you like Davidson's bizarre zany style, you'll probably like this one but with two pairings in this short a story there were both really `wham bam, thankyou mam' romances. (3 stars)

In Grant's `The Nanny from Hell' - Lucifer sends demon Shay to kill off Damon Jr, the son of former demon Damon and Reverend Harmony Faithful, but Shay too has a run in with the wishing well, and ends up with a soul, confusing the heck out of demon hunter Quel Laredo who sensed the presence of a demon right before her `ensoulment'. But how's Shay going to complete her mission with the sexy Quel keeping an eye on her and her pesky new soul getting in the way of her do-or-die mission. - I really liked Quel but in a story this short I didn't have time to get attached to the reformed Shay. (3 stars)

`A Tawdry Affair', at last, gives the final Tawdry Witch sister, Glory, a chance for revenge against gorgeous Falon who ground her heart into the dust. But will she use a magic pen to write his torturous comeuppance or will she compose a fantasy to get the `taste' of luscious Falon she's always longed for. - Showalter's was my favorite of the anthology and this was the best of the three sisters' stories, it was fun and does a good job of building the tension by holding off the steamy payoff `til near the end. (4.5 stars)


Finally P.C. Cast's "It's In his Kiss" - Summer has returned to Mysteria, and is ready to settle down with the Fairy of her dreams - she has a plan, now she only has to get Kenny to notice her. But when she meet dark vampire Colin, her mixed up magic gives a whole new meaning to `you are my sunshine' and it just may be time to dump `her plan' of marrying the frothy fairy boy and, gasp, trust in Colin and her magic instead. - This one was a bit long on set up - we got to know Summer pretty well - and it left me wishing that there had been room for more of Colin. (4 stars)

Mysteria Lane very much had the feel of this gangs' previous anthologies, though I didn't like it quite as well as Mysteria (Cast's story in that one was one of my favorite werewolf shorts). So if you liked Mysteria and BB&B you'll probably feel right at home on Mysteria Lane. If your favorite characters didn't make the cut in this anthology, the author quartet are taking requests for the next journey to Mysteria, so visit the their websites and cast your votes.

If you have already purchased Mysteria and/or Mysteria Nights, DO NOT buy Mysteria Lane. ALL of the stories in Mysteria Lane are copies of material from the first two books. While I enjoyed the stories and the authors, it is easier and much less expensive to reread them rather than to purchase a new book. I am very disappointed that Amazon.com and Kindle did not warn potential buyers.

Like Mysteria, Mysteria Lane is a great read --- all stories are great not a dud in the bunch

I did enjoy this steamy book. Right amount of lusty suspense and a quick, enjoyable read. May not be everyone's cup of tea but works well to pass a few hours. I always thrill at reading excerpts or extras of ongoing stories. It's like a preview and how I've found many of the authors I've come to love.

This was a fun book of short stories by four great paranormal authors.

MaryJanice Davidson wrote Disdaining Trouble. After reading it, I still have no idea what the triplets were. And the story was only okay for me. I just didn't fall in love with it. Maybe its because Ms. Davidson's Queen Betsy series is my favorite paranormal series so I had such high hopes for the short story, but it just wasn't all that great for me.

Susan Grant wrote The Nanny from Hell. I really liked this story. I loved how Shay was a demon who wanted to fall in love. It just sits right with the romantic in me :) And I loved the baby, Damon!

Gena Showalter wrote A Tawdry Affair. I think this was my favorite story in the book. Glory was a witch who didn't quite fit into the way she thought she should look (she thought she was on the slightly heavy side) but that didn't matter to Falon. When Glory uses a magic pen to write the story of her and Falon, magic ensues. All I can say is, where can I get a magic pen??

P.C. Cast wrote It's In His Kiss. This was another fun story where I didn't know what the main character, Summer was. But I could identify with the school teacher part of the story and I really like Colin's character!

Other reviews have given a good enough summary of the stories, so I won't repeat. I had not read 3 of the authors, but because they are an all star line up I thought this would be a good sample. The authors are all best sellers and also must really like each other because they tease each other and use pet names. Gena Showalter is the only author I read before, THE LORDS OF THE UNDERWORLD series. I was disappointed in the writing and the lack of originality in the plots. If it were not for the explicit sex scenes, the characters and stories were all on the level of junior or high school fiction. All four stories are cartoonish in the way that the main lovers are instantly and immediately turned on and hot for each other on first sight, scent or sigh. It may be the short story form requires that the author short cut the character or plot development so that an excuse for descriptions of the hot bodies or the hot sex could occur over and over again? I don't know. It could have been so much better, this town of Mysteria Lane could have been the place of really magical stories and these were just not magical.