Women of the Dark Streets: Lesbian Paranormal by RadclyffeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Interesting how many authors in this collection I've already read/sampled before.
Things are not as they seem. About the fifth time I was about to write that for a story section, I realized I should just put that up here. I'm sure there's some story where this phrase doesn't work, but so many of the stories use it as bedrock - as foundation.
A ghost that doesn't realize they are a ghost. A mortal human not realizing she's talking to a ghost (different story from that first sentence). Werewolves, vampires, fairies, insane women, and the one story I can think of off the top of my head where people go into it knowing about 'the creatures of the night', the 'not as they seem' would be the human mortal human who is 'not as she seems' - human and mortal, yes, but she's also undercover trying to 'bust' the 'bad people'.
Several occasions we have people who suddenly realize they knew the other(s) from some past life (or lives). Mixed in with two travel related stories (well, the first two stories in this volume are travel related) - one involving a train accident and the search for terrorists; other involves the TSA and how, while it appears they are really really incompetent, there's a reason for that.
I suppose 'Full Moon Weekend' wouldn't fall into the 'not what they seem' - since it involves two women, a shifter and a human, but both know of and intimately know each other. And nothing 'surprising' pops up - other than just what one of the women can shift into. Which is neat in and of itself, but not really the type of 'surprising' indicated by 'not what they seem'.
Several historical fictions mixed with fantasy - like Faraday's 'The Trickster Codex' set in, I believe, the 1940s and having a noir vibe; and Buck's 'Forget Me Not' set in the 1890s - and one of those ghost stories.
Devils, vampires, wolves, cheetahs, dolphins, turtles, several horsies (one story has that woman who can shift into basically anything, so she shifts into a horse, another has two 'skin walkers' who can 'control from a distance' animal familars, like horses), succubus (succubi?), demons and a whole host of ghosts wandering in and out of these . . . what is it, 16? stories (23). Many of which touch on death and grief; many of which touch on immortal lives.
The Stories
Merry Shannon: Lucky Number Seven
FBI Agent; terrorism
Hard to say exactly what's going on in ths one without giving everything away immediately. Though it is fairly obvious from the beginning what's going on.
A bombing occurs on a train. An FBI agent and a rider from that train try to track down the terrorists. Then reports come in regarding another attack that will occur shortly.
Rating: 4.33
March 11 2017
Sam Cameron: Come to Me
TSA; Demons (angels?); lawyers
Apparently there's a reason the TSA seems so incompetent - it's on purpose, because they are actually screening for more than they said they were - for demons and the like. Main character works as an agent collecting the 'captured' creatures. Not everything is as it seems, though, perhaps - including that attractive woman who shows interest in main character.
Rating: 3.30
March 11 2017
Meghan O'Brien: Full Moon Weekend
Shifters; Fantasy; vacation; public nudity
Eve Thomas and Selene Rhodes from Wild are back for some more action.
Eve and Selene head into the woods for a weekend of, as it is put in the story, nakedness and fucking. Eve wishes to prove/show to Selene that she no longer needs to be locked down/restrained when the moon is full.
Interesting little story. Certain amount of graphicness to the story, but a certain bit less than expected considering author (and how erotic some of her stories can be) and expressed nature of the weekend (a fuck weekend).
Rating: 3.75
March 10 2017
Jane Fletcher: Tempora Mutantur
doctor; professor
A woman almost dies from swine flu. Ever since then, ever since that occasion when 'she should have died', she can't stop obsessing over the doctor. She keeps having this odd dreams, involving volcanoes, large ships, etc. And doing everything to catch glimpses of said doctor.
There's more than meets the eye.
Rating: 4.99
March 10 2017
Jess Faraday: The Trickster Codex
Private Investigator, Los Angeles, 1930s (or 1940s), Noir
Amelia 'Amy' or 'Mel' Archer - private investigator. Poor. Gives only food of day to dog spotted on street. Very skinny - more because can't afford food than for fashion reasons. Doesn't get much work because of 'that bastard Philip Marlowe hanging around' (apparently Marlowe had worked for her, then left and stole all her clients and contacts). Former WASP fighter pilot - shot down over enemy lines. Had been best in code class, but kicked out for lack of balls and dick.
Gets a case from Lorena Claw ('five and a half feet of gorgeous, with shoulders like a general, black hair and eyes, and skin like red desert clay'), a 'civilian consultant currently overseeing a project involving a new kind of code' ('Dr. Lorena Claw, Adjunct Instructor of Navajo Language at USC.') Claw has some transmissions using the code, but can't determine what is being said so wants Archer's help. The Feds get involved.
And then . . . um, what?
Interesting, intriguing story. Didn't go anywhere then fizzled away like a cloud of cats.
Rating: 3.79
March 10 2017
Victoria Oldham: For all Eternity
Professor; Demons (view spoiler); Italy
An american professor teaches at a university in Italy while living on a houseboat. Nightly she dreams of a woman ravishing her. She wakes up covered in evidence of her dreams.
At the university, her class is about how women are treated and myths and the like - badly.
This story here doesn't exactly help in that specific situation.
Rating: 2.15
March 12 2017
Karis Walsh: Solstice
Shiters/Werewolves; Soldiers/Resistance; War
A young werewolf woman, an alpha, is tasked by her General to go to a specific location and kill Leo - the hated leader of the other side.
She seduces a young female guard to try to help her get inside. Though she finds more than she expected.
Rating: 4.25
March 12 2017
Valerie Bronwen: The Other Side of the Mirror
Death; Grief; Alternate Worlds
A woman finds herself in the unfortunate circumstance of having her life utterly shattered by a young college student who was driving while texting. Because of the accident she: lost her wife; lost her baby; gained hallucinations.
One of the hallucinations is associated with a hated mirror - but one that had also been beloved by her wife - so she can't get rid of it.
Rating: 4.89
March 12 2017
D. Jackson Leigh: Skin Walkers
Skinwalkers; Natives
A professor has gained certain fame as a myth-buster - best-selling book; grant money; etc. She has been hired to try to figure out what is going on with a 'gathering of wild horses' event conducted by the government.
Another 'more than meets the eye'; and another 'lives entertwinned through more than one moment alive'.
Rating: 3.89
March 12 2017
Rebecca S. Buck: Forget Me Not
Historical Fiction (1890), (view spoiler)
A woman wanders she knows where not, for she's distracted by 'needing to breath' and eventually drunk. She winds up hiding in a church graveyard when she hears a voice. Telling her 'you are like me'. She has a conversation with that woman that goes along with the voice.
There's this hypnotic pull to the story that I'm not sure I'd feel any other time, so my feelings for the story and my rating are probably slightly dislodged from the norm.
Rating: 4.69
March 12 2017
Nell Stark and Trinity Tam: The Others
Werecheetah, shifters, vampires, BDSM, undercover
A side story to the Stark & Tam series - as in it follows two side characters instead of the main characters in the series. Judging by copyright dates, and the actions in this here story, this is probably something like a 3.5 story. And instead of starring Valentine Darrow & Alexa Newland, it stars Olivia (human) and Abby (werecheeteh). Well, more stars Olivia.
Story shows Olivia going undercover to try to 'take down' a presidential candidate. Goes to that fight club that appears in the Everafter series. If any other characters from that series pops up, I didn't recognize them.
For what it is - interesting snippet that I want to see concluded, see more of. And I have a vague recollection that while 'something' turns up in book four that is vaguely connected, the story line itself - with Olivia 'doing stuff' didn't really go anywhere in book 4. But I can't really go by memory - right or wrong memory, but what's going on in this here story. And, for what it's worth, I'd give this somewhat incomplete story a rating of 3.78.
Rating: 3.78
March 13 2017
Ronica Black: Emily
Horror; Psychological; Psychologist
A messed up young woman does evil things so that she can 'see Emily' again. Unleashes bad stuff. Sees psychologist. May or may not rape herself, depending on how you interpret the story.
Rating: 3.50
March 13 2017
Rebekah Weatherspoon: Study Break
Vampires, college students, dominance/submission, rape (at best I could call it 'dubious consent', though I'm not sure I could go so far as to call it 'consent while unable to actually be of sound mind to give consent' since consent wasn't given - more lack of any kind of safe word (if such a thing exists in their relationship, fuck, this is supposed to be my genre/tags section, not me writing shit section).
I've liked everything I've read by Weatherspoon, but know/knew that 90% of what she puts out were the kind of thing I didn't want to read. Like that vampire series. I assume that this short story here is somehow connected to that series (sorority, vampires, d/s), but no idea how connected. Nor do I care.
I knew I wouldn't want anything to do with that series, but because this short story was in a book I already owned, and because I've liked everything I have in fact read by Weatherspoon, I figured I'd go ahead and read this very short story.
And now I feel ill.
I do not like mixing dominance/submission games with paranormal creatures (which themselves have 'erotic' features associated with them - like here wherein being feed upon by a vampire causes instant and multiple orgasms).
I assume I would understand the story more if I had read at least the first vampire book. As is - it is confusing. The main character's father is the ultimate demon? Something like that? Yet she is human? And has been given by him to his 'most powerful' . . . something. Subordinate? Who happens to be a vampire. Who feeds on her. And one other (at least) - people who have been 'trained' to be feed upon. Apparently 'allowing a creature to bite you and suck on your blood while you experience multiple orgasms' is something that you need to be trained for.
Meanwhile the main character, a freshman, has apparently found a junior to be her 'mistress' who 'controls' Benny as 'Bunny', her pet bunny.
Benny is quite shy and doesn't want to have anyone there when she is feed upon, and doesn't want to be there when her mistress is feed upon. But she doesn't get a choice. Because. You know, Mistress and shit. Then, after being forced to watch, she's basically raped by the Mistress (the concept of consent flew out the window before this story evern began - really, the father gave her to a vampire? Fuck that. And fuck this series; then, by her own choice, she 'takes on' a Mistress, a human, who has her do things that blow far past her limits, then fucks her when her limits are blown and she is not of sound mind to consent or not consent, hence my 'rape' comment above - and my 'I don't like mixing dominance/submission with paranormal creatures' comment - too much fucking 'magical compulsion' floating around to keep anyone sane).
ETA: same sorority, I believe, different characters. Though 'Ginger' mentioned but not seen in the story here might be dating the vampire in this story - and Ginger is the main character in the first book. Ah - Cleo and Benny of this short story star in book two of the series, so this is something like 1.5 in that series.
Rating: 0.75
March 10 2017
Lesley Davis: Away with the Fairies
Vampires, Werewolves, Shifters, Fae, Tavern
This is the story wherein I decided to go back to the beginning of the review and add that 'things are not what they seem'. For here we have yet another 'things are not what they seem.' And it is also one of those where humans do not factor. Everyone in it is a vampire, werewolf, or fairy (as in the fae kind). There's a bit of misdirect, though, that allows that 'things' line to be stated yet again.
There's this tavern, see, which is on something like neutral ground. Three factions can and do meet there - though mostly the werewolves and the vampires visit. There's a reason the fae tend not to do so - and it is indirectly revealed in the story.
The werewolves and vampires are the more aggressive of the three, though it is currently mostly a time of peace. Though news of a possible invasion surfaces. So the fae visit the tavern.
Good interesting solid story.
Rating: 3.77
March 13 2017
M.J. Williamz: In the Bell Tower
New Orleans, Vampire, Erotica
A woman from Spokane visits New Orleans. And a vampire drops onto her. They hump. The end.
Rating: 3.63
March 13 2017
Sheri Lewis Wohl: Bloodstone
Magic; Parallel worlds; wizards
A woman finds out she wasn't actually born in New Haven CT, but on some other planet. And her parents guarded against the rising of an evil wizard like dude. And now she's in danger and has to fight evil wizard like dude.
A story with a strong feeling of being a full story - beginning middle end. Even prologue. With touches indicating it is connected to some wider universe/series. Still, 'only' a 3.83 or so story.
Rating: 3.83
March 13 2017
L.T. Marie: Plagued by Darkness
Blind; Vampire
Would have been close to 5 stars if it hadn't ended abruptly. Seemingly mid=story.
Rating: 4.29
March 13 2017
Joey Bass: Recyclables
Professor; Police; Vampires; Mystery
Would have been close to 5 stars if it hadn't ended abruptly. Seemingly mid=story.
Rating: 4.29
March 13 2017
Shelley Thrasher: The Orient Express
Travel; Vampires?; Europe
A woman takes a ride on the Orient Express some time while the Vietnam War was in progress.
She fantasies about all the people around her while she rides along.
Then an event occurs while she attempts to sleep that may or may not have happened. Though it left visible scars in the morning.
Rating: 3.99
March 13 2017
Winter Pennington: Eris
Vampire; Fae; BDSM
A vampire that feeds on lust and sex and the like beats up a woman who just wants to be touched. Then fucks a fairy.
This story is connected to that Kassandra PI series.
Rating: 3.00
March 13 2017
Yolanda Wallace: Blood Moon
Vampires, Vampire hunter, Savannah Georgia, Halloween
A vampire hunter, who immediately lets you know she's no Buffy (scrawny thing - Buffy), nor a Bella type. No, she's a cold blooded killing machine of vampires.
It's Halloween in Savannah and she goes hunting.
Rating: 3.63
March 10 2017
Mel Bossa: Contrition
Mental Illness
A mentally ill woman masturbates while reliving her time [with] (view spoiler) her (view spoiler) girlfriend.
I was being somewhat flippant because I didn't know why the story was in the book.
And, did you know there's a character limit to reviews? I ran out of characters. See below.
Rating: 0.01
March 13 2017
L.L. Raand: Deadly Glamour
Another story which appeared solid until ending abruptly and therefore losing major rating point.
A fairy princess, heir to the throne, has done a runner. A hunter is sent out to retrieve her.
Rating: 3.62
March 14 2017
Clara Nipper: Fresh Meat
Roller Derby, obsession, sex, nurse
A nurse patches up a woman who is badly bruised. The nurse assumes that the woman is an abuse victim and tries to help. Become bitchy when the woman refuses help. Turns out that woman wasn't abused - she got the injuries from roller derby.
Nurse develops this odd obsession for roller derby. Specifically the team that woman was from. Though she's not specifically interested in that woman.
A story that annoyed me - to a certain extent. That obsession with roller derby. The way that woman was acting - the way others in the story were acting. Then sex occurred and my brain imploded. So, whatever.
Rating: 4.78
March 10 2017
Overall
Merry Shannon: Lucky Number Seven: 4.34
Sam Cameron: Come to Me: 3.30
Meghan O'Brien: Full Moon Weekend: 3.75
Jane Fletcher: Tempora Mutantur: 4.99
Jess Faraday: The Trickster Codex: 3.79
Victoria Oldham: For all Eternity: 2.15
Karis Walsh: Solstice: 4.25
Valerie Bronwen: The Other Side of the Mirror: 4.79
D. Jackson Leigh: Skin Walkers: 3.89
Rebecca S. Buck: Forget Me Not: 4.69
Nell Stark and Trinity Tam: The Others: 3.78
Ronica Black: Emily: 3.50
Rebekah Weatherspoon: Study Break: 0.75
Lesley Davis: Away with the Fairies: 3.77
M.J. Williamz: In the Bell Tower: 3.63
Sheri Lewis Wohl: Bloodstone: 3.83
L.T. Marie: Plagued by Darkness: 4.29
Joey Bass: Recyclables: 4.29
Shelley Thrasher: The Orient Express: 3.99
Winter Pennington: Eris: 3.00
Yolanda Wallace: Blood Moon: 3.63
Mel Bossa: Contrition: 0.01
L.L. Raand: Deadly Glamour: 3.62
Clara Nipper: Fresh Meat: 4.78
Overall Rating: --------------- 3.77435
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