Review: Starts out good, but gets increasingly worse from story to story...
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 02 1, 2013
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi*Beware of Spoilers*I have quickly fallen in love with Jocelynn Drake's Asylum Tales series so when I saw that she had a novella in this book, I had to check it out.  And, she didn't disappoint, but unfortunately the other stories got worse as this anthology went on.  I'll break it down by story complete with individual story ratings.Of Monsters and MenThe Asylum Tales, Book #1.5By Jocelynn DrakeAuthor's Website:  [...]Gage and Trixie have been dating for three months now and are looking forward to a quiet Samhain evening alone filled with pizza, movies, and sex!  But their plans come crashing down when the werewolf Alpha stops by asking for Gage's help; the Winter Court elves are planning to hunt the pack in their annual `Wild Hunt'.Gage reluctantly agrees to help, but when the elves get their hands on Trixie, he will move Heaven and Earth to save her, regardless of the consequences.I really did enjoy this story.  I loved the interactions between Trixie and Gage, especially in the beginning pages, letting us meager readers in on their relationship and basking in their love for one another.  And, I always enjoy Gage; he's just a lot of a fun and one that can't turn down somebody in need of his expertise; which may be his greatest fault in the end.The only thing that really kept this story from a higher rating would probably be its length.  You can only do so much in a short story and there just wasn't enough time to truly wow me, but it was definitely a good start; by far the best story in this anthology.The Ghoul Next DoorBy Terri GareyAuthor's Website:  [...]Young witch Cassie has been devastated ever since their family home changed hands and the new owner, James, refuses to sell it back to her.  She has decided he has left her with no choice and summons her grandmother's ghost on Halloween, when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest.  She is convinced that if the house is haunted James will relinquish it to her.But Cassie is thrown for a surprise of her own when she realizes that her grandmother's ghost has already been present at the house and she and James are friendly.  Furthermore, she isn't the only one with magical powers.But when evil comes knocking (literally) James and Cassie have to work together in order to survive.I thought this was an OK story.  It was sweet, but a bit predictable.  Once the girl showed up at James's door, I knew she was bad news and I was quickly proven right.  There really just weren't any exciting plot twists or anything that would have made me want to read more, if it had been an option.Trick of TreatthenBy Caris RoaneAuthor's Website:  [...]Master Vampire Treyne has been fighting his attraction for the beautiful human, Jenna.  She has been trying to acquire his help ever since her sister disappeared a year ago.  Treyne suspects another master vampire has the girl, but can't do anything to stop it due to ancient vampire traditions.  But will his growing attraction for Jenna change his mind?I can't even begin to describe my dislike for this story, but I will try.From the first paragraph this tale was filled with the typical vampire stereotypes.  Treyne was your predictable horny vampire outfitted in the overdone leather pants, complete with ties instead of a zipper, and the maroon silk shirt, he also had the long black hair you would expect.  He could fly and all that jazz too.  His character was boring as it's been done a million times at least!Jenna was the standard blonde bimbo that thought she could shoot a vampire with a little old gun, and even after Treyne proved how easy she was to unarm, she still tried the same thing with the vampire suspected of taking her sister.  How dumb can she really be?  Pretty stupid apparently.Also, I find the story completely unbelievable.  Jenna goes to Treyne on this mission to find her sister and they end up having sex.  Sex with the vampire that could help her if he wanted to, but does nothing because of vampire tradition?  So she looks past that for a few moments of pleasure.  I don't see how this is possible, I know I could never be with someone that refuses to help in such a desperate situation.I felt like I was reading an erotica short that had more sex than storyline, and the small amount of plot that was there was pretty weak.  I would just skip over this story completely and save yourself some time and frustration.Overall Thoughts:The Jocelynn Drake story was good and if you loved the Asylum Interviews (prequels to the series) you will definitely enjoy this story.  But the other two stories in this collection could easily be skipped, and I recommend that you do, especially the vampire story!This review and more at openbooksociety dot com