Love Spell by Bridget Essex

Love Spell: Tales of Love and Desire by Bridget Essex

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a collection of previously released short stories, most of which (all but one) had been released separately on their own previous to this publication (and some had appeared in other single author anthologies . . . I think).

I've read two of the stories previously, 'Moon Dance', and 'Falling for Summer'.

Moon Dance
Outdoors, shifters, wilderness, Halloween

A woman visits a cabin in the woods where she had . . um . . I don't really remember now. Just that two women had been a couple, one poofed, turns up again (view spoiler)[as a werewolf (hide spoiler)].

I originally rated this story a rating of 3.6 back when I read it in the anthology Wicked.

At the time, my review for the story was:

Camping, Werewolf, Shifter

Essex sure is obsessed with wolves.

So, a couple are perfect for each other - they've been together for awhile. One night, around Halloween, one of the pair darts off on a run through the woods (they had been camping). When she finally gets back, she's flustered, and immediately packs up. Forces a return trip home, packs up there was well, severs all contacts, and disappears.

It's a year later, and the other member of that coupling (former coupling), is at that same park again. For more camping (by the way - I'm fairly certain the word 'camping' was used several times - yet the campers apparently 'camp' inside of cabins. Confusing). I guess 'cabining' isn't a thing. Or, I mean, a word.

The woman, naturally, is sad. Stuff happens (including graphic sex - between two women). The end.

Not the best wolf story I've read by Essex.

The Halloween Party
Halloween, Possible Vampire, age-32

A woman has spent a good deal of time being dateless, sexless (well, I mean, without sexual relations), and busy working at her internet advertising firm she owns and runs. She's both not had luck with dating (prior ex hooked back up with the ex-girlfriends ex; one before turned out to 'actually be straight'; one before that said something along the lines of 'it's not you, it's me' (I might have the order wrong); and not have time to date. So, it's been a year.

Her friend, Genevieve, is super into Halloween, to the point she has year-round decorations up (reminding me of another Essex character who had year-round Christmas decorations up) - but it is actually Halloween now and she's throwing a massive party and wants Sam, the main character, to come to the party. Sam's super reluctant but finally gives in. One of her excuses involved not having a costume, which is how she ended up 'borrowing' Gen's vampire countess costume (which has a super short skirt, horrifying to Sam but . . . she wears it anyway).

Three seconds after arrival, Sam has torn her skirt - so she pops into the bathroom looking for some way to pin up the skirt. A few seconds before the skirt accident Sam had been eyeballing another woman 'from across the room' (that old cliché). Before you can say 'squirrel', the bathroom door opens, that other woman makes some kind of 'oops' noise, then continues in and closes the door. She indicates she has some pins that she can lend Sam. Seconds after the door closes (actually, now that I think about it, she might have closed the door before realizing someone else was in there), it is determined that the door is now stuck - that they are now stuck in the bathroom.

They, Madison (that other woman), and Sam have a passionate graphic sexual encounter in said bathroom. Repeatedly Sam makes a comment, in her brain not outloud, about how cold Madison's skin is. And how sharp her teeth are. And how non-reflective her body is in mirrors (as in, not appearing in mirrors). Oh, and Madison is also wearing a vampire costume.

Fun times.

4.25

The New Year's Party
Boston, Holidays, New Years, Writer

A writer whose relationship with a woman named Shane broke apart 10 months ago is dreading going to her sister's New Year's Party because her sister invited Shane to the party. She, the writer, has decided not to go to the party . . . wait - when I say 'writer' I don't mean that this is the person narrating the story to us "I walked outside" . . . no, I mean that Juliane is, by profession, a writer, and I couldn't remember how to spell her name so was trying to use something else to identify her by. Right, sorry. Juliane had decided not to go the party, but decides to get some hard liquor. Runs into someone who will be at the party, gets talked into going to the party. It's snowing hard in Boston. Stuff happens. The end.

Point of confusion 1) It's probably my reading, but I initially read it as Shane and Juliane had been together for 10 years, then later learned it was just three months they were in constant arguing fights, sorry, relationship. When I'd misread things and thought that it had been a 10 year relationship, I thought the sister was stepping over the line in inviting Shane, but ... there are ways to see that being vaguely . . . acceptable - but inviting Shane to your party, making your own sister uncomfortable, because of a 3 month relationship that had occurred 10 months ago? Really? Fuck her (the sister). 2) if the author had intended for the reader's emotions to be impacted by this story, good job. Waves of rage and anger probably weren't the emotions intended though, but whatever.

I did not like this story.

Rating: 0.5 stars

November 25 2017

The Valentine's Day Party
Boston, sub-teacher, second-chances, rainy/muddy, dog, sexually explicit, 20s, Valentine's Day

Two people knew each other at college. They hooked up for a week - then one realized 'oops, my parents are right, I'm straight'. They meet up again 7 years later when both are called in to sub teach the same class (an accidental double booking). They teach, it's valentine's day, one says 'for real' way too much, other is a condescending bitch. They have sex. The end.

Rating: 3.15

November 2 2017

Falling for Summer: A Novella
Romance/erotica/age difference/small town/sexually explicit

A woman, Amanda, returns to Lake George NY where her sister drowned when Amanda was 17. It's 20 years later.

There's stories that a masked serial killer has been terrorizing the area and campers. Seemingly targeting people in the middle of sex. Amanda gets 'busy' with her dead sister's best friend, suddenly . . .

Wait, no that's Jason and Friday the Thirteenth, not this story. There is a dead person, and Amanda does get 'busy' with the dead sister's best friend, but there are no serial killers in this story.

I read this story in 2015. I have not yet reread it. I probably won't. I originally gave this story some super high rating (close to 5 stars), then kept picking at the rating. At the moment I see that the story rests on my 4.25 shelf.

Original review:

I don't actually recall if the other main characters in the stories I've read by Essex are as unstable emotionally as they have been in the two stories I've read today, but I've a vague recollection that it is something of a theme (one was a lonely woman, waiting for her knight in shining armor, other was a woman in a bad relationship, tired of being taken for granted). Not so much unstable, just overly emotional. Maybe. Well, the one in Wolf Queen was. And the one in this one is. Though both have their reasons for their unstableness. I'm not sure unstableness is a word.

So, Amanda has returned to her home town after 20 years. To punish herself. It's been twenty years since her sister died. When the sister was ten, and Amanda was 17. For a while Amanda had monthly nightmares. Recently it's been weekly. She blames herself deeply for the issue. So, naturally, she's overly emotional.

So, this overally emotional woman arrives at Lake George to mourn her sister Tiffany, and punish herself. Arrives to find a woman slide out of the water and grin at her. Then realizes and or remembers that Summer, the name of the woman, was one of Tiffany's friends. So she's abrupt and rude to Summer. And bitchy.

hmms. I guess this is the sex one. Read two stories by Essex today. Both released this month. The other lacked graphic sexual activities. Unless I just missed them somehow. heh. This one isn't lacking said graphic activities.

hehe. Oops. Accidentally started laughing during the sex scene. Then continued, maybe, because I had started laughing. "Summer tastes of exactly that: summer. She tastes of green grasses . . ." and that's when I started laughing. She tastes like grass. Like . . . grass. hehehehehehe. How'd the rest of the sentence go? Don't know yet. Haven't been able to read it yet. hehehehe. Moooo. 'ooh, you taste . . taste like *licks, gobbles* ooh, like like grass, lovely grass . . ..' Bah. I be insane.

Bah. Another long drawn out story about how being gay in a small town was just not done and . . blah blah blah. mmphs. I just read that. I don't need to read it again. Even if it is true to life, I don't need to keep reading it over and over again.

Sugar Moon: A Novella
Wolves, Shifters

A group of travellers - wanderers who . . . um . . wander, are named the Maja. One of them, Elise, is heading towards the place where the Maja meet up with each other once every month.

Along the way she feels like she's being watched, flees, stops by a lake, strips naked and floats in cold lake water, is almost drowned by the ghost of her mother who whispers things about 'listen'; meets another woman who seems incapable of saying anything but 'listen' (okay, not really, but she also says it repeatedly) . . . and other stuff happen.

Also there are wolves and werewolves.

Rating: 3.88

November 22 2017

Ratings:
Moon Dance - n/a (if I use my first reading rating, this would be 3.6)
Halloween Party - 4.25
New Year's Party - 0.50
Valentine's Day Party - 3.15
Falling for Summer - n/a (if I use my first reading rating, this would be 3.75)
Sugar Moon - 3.88
Overall:
counting the prior read ratings: 3.188
not counting prior reads: 2.945

This book confuses me. I entered it expecting werewolves, or, at least, something relating to fantasy. Oh, and romance, of course. What did I get? Two out of six stories involve werewolves (first and last story). One story involves vampires. The rest? Just plain contemporary lesbian fiction romances. No fantasy elements in those other three stories.

Disappointing, especially as the book itself says 'Escape into the magical, passionate pages of LOVE SPELL." Oh, and no, there are no love spells in this book.

Story 1: Moon Dance - camping, one of the people involved is a werewolf.
Story 2: The Halloween Party - vampires. fantasy stuff.
Story 3: The New Year's Party - contemporary romance set at New Year's Eve time. No fantasy stuff.
Story 4: The Valentine's Day Party - contemporary romance set at Valentine's day time. No fantasy stuff.
Story 5: Falling for Summer - contemporary romance involving a woman and a much younger woman who was the best friend to the other woman's now dead sister. No fantasy stuff.
Story 6: Sugar Moon - mix of witch and werewolf in same story. Has fantasy stuff. (basically this one story fulfills that 'werewolves, witches, and more!' from the synopsis, though that kind of implied that all of the stories would be 'magical'.

November 25 2017



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