Customer Reviews

Nights Edge (MIRA)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This anthology fares better than most in that two of the three stories are worth reading. If I were able to do it all over again I'd skip the Hambly story but since I can't turn back time I've just got to suck it up.

Maggie Shayne used to be my favorite paranormal romance author way back when she was writing for Silhouette Shadows (very sadly defunct) but she lost me when she started writing books with Witchy heroines who annoyed the heck out of me. This time around she tackles a haunted house tale with a hot dog swilling heroine who works as a reporter and has a huge chip on her shoulder. Kiley spends her life debunking the local psychics, all of whom turn out to be crackpots swindling the public. All but Jack McCain, who just happens to be a hunky hunk, that is. Jack and Kiley have a love/hate relationship as he knows she's out to get him next. When Kiley suspects her new home may be haunted who do you think she runs to? None other than the man whose face she deliberately blew smoke in a few days earlier. Jack, being a man, succumbs to her charms (she's gorgeous, wouldn't you know it?) and helps her with her troubles despite his misgivings.

I enjoyed the story for the most part. I was irritated by the heroine many times but eventually she grew on me and loosened up on her stringent beliefs a bit. The haunted house aspects were just creepy enough to hold my attention and have me anxiously turning the pages but the romance was a bit of a flop for me. The pair went from complete dislike, to overwhelming lust, to deep forever love in a blink. I can't see them shacking up together for any longer than a month before boredom sets in, tempers begin to flare and Kylie storms out in a huff. Hmmm, this all sounds mighty negative but, truly, I did enjoy the story and was never bored enough to toss it aside.

The Barbara Hambly story "Someone Else's Shadow" was more problematic when it came to holding my attention. There was too much navel gazing going on and it took forever to get moving. The heroine, Maddie, had too much internal dialogue for my liking and over analyzed everything and everyone near to her. It was also excruciatingly gloomy.

One night Maddie goes out in search of her young roomie, Tessa, who spends long nights alone practicing ballet in a creepy studio. While searching for Tessa a smelly man lurking in the shadows whispers something along the lines of "little sl*ts are all alike" before disappearing. Maddie is justifiably creeped out and when Tessa introduces her to Phil, a nice enough guy who is temporarily homeless and living at the studio, she fears he was the one whispering those not-so-sweet-nothings in her ear. But she's confused because Phil isn't stinky and the erotic dreams she has about Phil after the fact have her hoping he isn't the potty-mouthed, foul-smelling psychopath hanging out in the shadows. Naturally, s he goes over and over (and over) this in her head, does a tarot reading filled with danger signs that add fuel to the fire, then worries about her roomie, her past, her mother and well you can see the pattern here.

The pace eventually picks up but for me it was too little of a pay-off that came far too late. The beginning was too unfocused and meandering and in the end it was only an okay ghost story and a so/so romance.

The Charlaine Harris story "Dancers In The Dark" was the best of the bunch. Rue is a dancer haunted by a tragic past that is only revealed in bits and pieces. She signs on with a company of dubious origins called "Blue Moon" where she is paired up with a sexily accented, very secretive, centuries old vampire named Sean. The pair hit it off as only two kindred and very damaged souls can but trouble surfaces when a nut from Rue's past comes back to haunt her. This story was tender and suspenseful and never made me think "awww, stop feeling sorry for yourselves and get over it already" as so many angsty vampire tales have a tendency to do. I liked both of these characters and their chemistry was a very powerful thing.

The lead story is almost mind-numbingly conventional.

It's not really *bad*, it's just that the only new element it brings to the classic tale of the fake psychic who discovers she isn't is a role-reversal making the guy the "psychic" and the girl the crusading reporter determined to debunk him.

Charlaine Harris's story is set in her "Southern Vampire" universe, though Sookie and Bill (or Eric) don't show up, and involves real human problems (a stalker of proven violent intent) with a supernatural resolution. For me the main character's occasional thoughts of her youth as a child beauty and talent show competitor with a classic stage mama pushing her brought to mind every picture of JonBenet Ramsey i have ever seen -- a beautiful child who would never have had a real childhood even if she had lived and whose eyes seemed to show that even at age six she had already realised it.

In any other company, the Harris would probably have been the standout.

But Barbara Hambley's piece, about the evil that lives on in a former sweatshop that was the site of a disastrous fire reminiscent of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, is the absolute standout for me, not only for its superior handling of the dark elements of the supernatural, but for personal resonances because i recognise some of her sources and was caught up in her resolution of them.

Excellent book overall

I'm with the reviewers below: I love these authors. They have proven time and again that they are top notch and worth every penny. Night's Edge seemed like a hurried effort. I admit, I'm not a big fan of anthologies. I find the stories to be too quick: quick on romance, quick on character development, and quick to tie up all the loose ends created in the plot. The writing in these stories is excellent, but all have the above three problems. I initially bought this book for the Charlaine Harris story. While the concept was excellent, the story seemed to crash and burn at the end. The only thing I can say is if this is the first time you're reading anything by these three authors, be assured that their full-length novels are the real draw and these stories are just to tide us over til the next one comes out.

"Someone Else's Shadow" by Barbara Hambly. In NYC, Maddie Loveau goes to the Glendower Building to meet her roommate Tessa who works there. Maddie senses evil resides inside the edifice. Worried about Tessa, her roommate introduces her to Phil Cooper, who has a studio inside the building. Though attracted to him, Maddie wonders if Phil is the malevolence that she feels is inside this structure.

"Her Best Enemy" by Maggie Shayne. Reporter Kelly Brigham of the Burnt Hills Gazette enjoys exposing fake psychics, which she does once a week. Her current target is Jack McCain, but he continually trumps her as if he knows the ploys she uses. She assumes he is just smarter than those she exposed. As she keeps looking for fraud, the medium and the medium hunter fall in love, but not even aligning the stars could predict a happy future for this pair suspicious of the other.

"Dancers in the Dark" by Charlaine Harris. Dancer Rue May answers an ad for job dancing with vampires at Blue Moon Entertainment and Black Moon Productions. Rue gets the job. Vampire Sean O'Rourke finds he is attracted to the mortal, but believes she is hiding something. As he tries to learn the truth about Rue, they fall in love, but her actions leave her in danger from an unknown person whom is part of the troupe.

These are three romantic paranormal tales with wonderful lead characters, supernatural elements that feels natural, and a touch of romance that add up into a fine anthology.

Harriet Klausner

Charlaine Harris's novella is the reason why I bought this anthology. According to Harris's web site, her novella is based on the Sookie Stackhouse series, only with different characters. I was disappointed with Dancers in the Dark. The vampires here are nothing like the ones in the Sookie novels. They are so benign they might as well be humans. Sean is a sexy enough vampire, but he is not dark and compelling like Eric and Bill. Actually, he's quite one-dimensional. (Also, Harris's description of Sean being a redhead Irish dancer reminded of Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance.) The story itself is good and quite compelling, but the ending confused me. Everyone who has read the Southern Vampire novels knows that drinking vampire blood cures fatal injuries and gives the person temporary super strength. I know this particular ending is the sort of thing that romance readers enjoy. I for one have enjoyed some endings like this in paranormal romanticas, but the ending results are not necessary if we go by what Sookie has been through. Harris should have written an original vampire romance novella, without the synthetic blood drinks and the history surrounding vampires taken from her popular series. The short story Harris wrote for the Powers of Detection anthology was far more enjoyable than this one.

Night's Edge is a romance anthology with paranormal as the subgenre. So, this book is basically tender, PG-13 rated romance with a side order of vampires, ghosts and other creatures that go bump in the night. I often steer clear from this sort of anthology. A friend of mine loaned me the Immortal Bad Boys anthology and returned it as soon as I realized that it was the usual bad boy nonsense, only with gorgeous, so-called bad boy vampires instead of humans. I like paranormal fiction to be dark, intriguing, suspenseful, erotic, romantic, and with a touch of creativity and sharp humor -- as it should be. Berkley releases paranormal anthologies not unlike this Harlequin one, but said anthologies have a slightly darker language and are very erotic. Anyway, as for the other two stories, Maggie Shayne's ghost story Her Best Enemy entertained me from beginning to end. The ending is quite abrupt though. And Barbara Hambly's Someone Else's Shadow is the best novella in this collection. This one has a bit of a dark edge and Phil is very hot. All in all, Night's Edge is a good anthology if you're in the bargain for romantic paranormal with some light suspense. However, these novellas were not compelling enough for me. I should have known this collection would be formulaic and mild at best. After all, it is a Harlequin offering...

OK, I'll admit...I'm a HUGE fan of the paranormal, so much so that 90% of what I read is about the "strange & unusual because I, myself, am strange & unusual" (couldn't resist borrowing a line from "Beetlejuice"!). Anyway, "Night's Edge" is a re-issue of short stories from reknown authors such as Charlaine Harris, Maggie Shayne, and Barbara Hambly. These stores were mediocre the first time around & time hasn't changed them any. I'm not begrudging any of these authors...because they've proven time & again that they're good at what they do. And, let's face it, all authors have an "off" story once in a while. My only "issue" is that this seems to be more & more the norm for paranormal romances.

The genre of paranormal romance has, imo, slid into mediocrity...rehashes of the same-old (tired) storylines, just with different names & scenarios. It's to the point where I'm truly amazed when I run across a paranormal romance that's fresh & fun. I'm now getting most of my "fixes" for the fanged & furry from the fabulous urban & dark fantasy genres. Maybe it's the ever-persistent need for a HEA in the romance world that stymies the genre? I don't know...personally, I'm just fine without a HEA if the story is good.

I'm not saying there aren't great authors in the paranormal romance world...because there are. Gena Showalter, Deidre Knight, Kresley Cole, JR Ward, Marjorie Liu, Susan Grant, Eileen Wilks, Linnea Sinclair, Jeaneane Frost, Yasmine Galenorn, Jenna Black, Richelle Mead, Katie MacAlister, Lilith Saintcrow, Terri Garey, Kim Harrison, Karen Chance, P.C. Cast, Karen Marie Moning (for the Fae series), Keri Arthur, Meljean Brook, Nalini Singh, Lynn Viehl, Kelly Armstrong, Lara Adrian, Toni Andrews,...just to name a few great paranormal romance authors, but honestly, most of these authors (and their books) could definitely fit in urban/dark fantasy (if they aren't already).

I only picked it up for the Charlaine Harris (since I am hopelessly addicted), and didn't know the other two writers. I found both other stories actually frightening (since I am not a horror reader, just a reader of paranormal/urban fantasy/supernatural. . and more!), but I did enjoy it all.

Her Best Enemy by Maggie Shayne - About a tough psychic-busting journalist who acquires a house with a haunting, and needs to ask the one psychic she hasn't busted for help (and eventually, romance). I found it overwritten at times, and perhaps a bit cliched, but I still got into the story. (And yes, I nearly had to turn the lights on in my bedroom at the ghost bits!)

Someone Else's Shadow by Barbara Hambly - A story of NYC, dancing, music, romance, abuse. . . and an extremely disturbing haunting. Engaging with beautiful writing, though I found the romance a bit too abrupt (I'm sorry, WHEN did she fall in love with that guy?)

Dancers in the Dark by Charlaine Harris - This is exactly what I want in a story (while I patiently wait for the next Sookie book!). Layla, dancer and past childhood model & abuse victim (some beautiful tragedy there), joins a vampire/human dance squad. Her partner, the not-so-charming vampire, Sean, ends up being an important part of her life.

Three stories in one, all with the paranormal aspects that I love. Her Best Enemy by Maggie Shayne was the first, featuring Kiley Brigham. She refuses to acknowledge the ghost in her house, until she sees a bloody message on her bathroom mirror. She's forced to a local psychic, Jack McCain, because she's debunked all the others! But who's haunting her with bloody messages???

In Someone Else's Shadow by Barbara Hambly, Maddie Laveau worries when Tessa, her roommate, stays late in the old Glendower Building. When Tessa doesn't come home, Maddie searches the spooky building herself and finds the mysterious Phil Anderson living in his lab, and asks him to help. When they both start hearing voices, Maddie questions her partner's motives.

In Dancers in the Dark by Charlaine Harris, Layla Rue Le May is no ordinary dancer-her partner, Sean McClendon, is a three-hundred-year-old redheaded vampire. So when Layla Rue acquires a stalker, she's forced to face the music. . .and wonder if this will finally be her last dance. I bought this book because of Charlaine Harris' story, because she is one of my favorite authors, and enjoyed all three of them. I will definitely be checking out the other two authors now that I've read their short stories.

Her Best Enemy by Maggy Shayne is a delicious ghost story, Kiley Brigham is a columnist with a local paper who doesn't believe in the supernatural. She thinks it's a con, and spends her time debugging local psychics. Then she moves into her new house. Guess what? It's haunted.

Jack McCain is the only one she can't prove is a phony. Although she has not stopped trying for the last 2 years. So it's ironic he is the one she turns to when her house starts to try to get her attention. Her house not only changes her attitude about psychics it changes her attitude about Jack.

Someone else's Shadow by Barbara Hambly teaches us about things that go bump in the night. Maddie Laveau has to trust a suspicious man when her roommate disappears into the dark past of the Glendower Building where they take dancing lessons. A past evil has held sway over the top 2 floors that were destroyed in a fire 70 years ago. Now her roommate Tessa has disappeared.

Dancers in the Dark by Charlene Harris is set in the world of her Club Dead books, however, this is a serious tale.

Layla Rue LeMay is a dancer, she is also being stalked by the man who raped and tried to kill her when she was 17. He is now out of the mental hospital and set on seeing Layla dead.

Sean McClendon is a vampire and Layla's new dance partner. While falling in love with her he realizes she is terrified of something and makes it his business to find out what happened to her.

In the last few years Layla has avoided making friends but now she finds she has several friends, both vampire and human. And one man who loves her. She needs that love to overcome the evil.

Three great tales for this time of year.

Another collection of crappy supernatural stories, the only exception being the Charlaine Harris story. Save yourself some money and just read the Charlaine Harris short story at the bookstore!