Review: All good stories but two could really use some work
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 6, 2012
SERIES:Blushing Bounder, Tale of the Iron Seas, 0.4Kitten-Tiger and the Monk, Disillusionists Trilogy, 2.5Three paranormal romance stories by three different authors. That's as close as it gets to a theme.THE STORIESMeljean Brook's Blushing Bounder is a very short peek into the life of the former Manhattan City policeman Constable Newberry and his unhappy wife Temperance in London. Detective Inspector Wentworth meets Newberry for the first time as well as his wife when the missus witnesses a murder outside her window. It's the clean-up of the body that brings forth the truth about the bugs and its contrary to everything they had heard allowing Newberry the opportunity to finally save the woman he loved.It's a cute story but so convoluted. It took a while before I worked it out. I gave it a "4'.Jill Myles' Vixen is a wannabe erotic romp between two shifter bodyguards and the vixen shifter they were sent to guard when rumors of illegal fox-hunting spread through the community.I could wish Myles had spent more time on polishing this, hence the "3' I gave it. The story was cute and has a lot of potential.Carolyn Crane's Kitten-Tiger and the Monk was also disappointing. The story was interesting with Sophia Sidway realizing she's in need of help and that only the Monk can reboot her mind. I enjoyed the revelation of Sophia and Robert creating vivified art to improve urban landscapes and it was quite clever how Crane incorporated the Tangle as a monument to despair and hopelessness with Robert's depression. I just wish that she had also spent time on polishing it. The writing had such a juvenile quality to it that I really can't give it more than a "3'.The CoverThe cover is Wild & Steamy with his `n hers tattoos: his on his left bicep and hers as a tramp stamp. Both are wearing pants although as he drags her white tank top up her back, things are definitely getting steamy.I suspect the steamy is for Brook's steampunk entry while the wild is accounted for by Myles' foxy lady.