Eternal: More Love Stories with Bite

Eternal: More Love Stories with Bite is the follow up to yesterday's review of Immortal: Love Stories With Bite.  P C Cast has gathered another group of talented authors in a collection of vampire-related stories.  Claudia Gray, Rachel Caine and Nancy Holder also contributed to the first anthology, with Lili St. Crow, Heather Brewer and Jeri Smith-Ready rounding out the group. 

The anthology opens with "Bloodshed--A Story of Evernight" by Claudia Gray.  I've stated previously that I had not read the Evernight series, but this second short story from the series has me curious.  Patrice, from the short story in Immortal: Love Stories With Bite, is in love with a human who is being shipped overseas during WWII.  She finds out that he has been captured and is being held prisoner by the Nazis.  She goes to Europe to rescue him, but ends up with a lot more than she bargained for. 

The next story "Say Yes" by Lili St. Crow is a fascinating tale of a girl whose image of herself as being in the background of life leads her to take action that she seriously regrets later.  She truly can't believe that she is special enough to have been chosen over her popular friends and betrays someone who could have been important to her.  I'd love to see what happens to her after this story, but couldn't find any hint of a connection to this story in any of the books on Lili St. Crow's website.  Although, I do think I'll be looking into adding some of her work to my to-be-read list.

"Letters to Romeo" by Nancy Holder is an interesting twist to Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers.  Romeo hasn't died, he is a vampire who has waited  for 700 years for his Juliet to return to him.  He believes he has found her in a 15 year old girl from Florida, whom he plans to turn in order to spend eternity with her.  But, the tragedy of his tale still clings to him...

Heather Brewer's "The Other Side" tells the story of Tarrah & Cody, lovers who are kidnapped and held together in a small room while awaiting their captors.  The twist at the end was one I didn't see coming though, and the 'myths' mentioned in her story are really interesting.

Two of my favorite authors round out the book:  Rachel Caine and Jeri Smith-Ready.  Rachel Caine provides another story of the Morganville vampires with "Drama Queen's Last Dance" or, as I like to think of it, All About Eve.  Eve is what brought me to the Morganville vampires series, having read
"The First Day of the Rest of Your Life" in Many Bloody Returns.  This time a new vampire in town has her sites on Michael, and Eve, despite being told by everyone that it's lost cause, is determined to break Gloriana's spell.  Eve is an awesome character, strong and self-confident, but still showing some of the normal insecurities of being young.  This story is a great showcase for her character.

"Thief" by Jeri Smith-Ready has me chomping at the bit for the next WVMP book!  The story introduces us to Cassie & Liam, who are "Irish Travelers" and I believe Cassie is a relative of Ciara from the WVMP series.  However, as highly as I recommend the WVMP series, you don't have to have read it to enjoy Cassie's story.  Cassie and Liam are engaged and inseparable.  Unlike most Traveler girls, Cassie is in love with her betrothed.  Her father wanted her to be happy and promised her to Liam, despite his disabilities.  Unfortunately, her father is dead and her step-father is threatening to tear Cassie and Liam apart by promising her to another.  Cassie is determined to be with Liam no matter what, even if it means being dead to her own family.  "Thief" is listed as a tie-in story to the WVMP series on Jeri Smith-Ready's website and I can't wait to see how she and Liam fit into Lust for Life, due out in fall 2012. 

I've mentioned before how much I love anthologies:  I get introduced to new authors that write about a subject I'm already interested in reading and I get little tidbits to tide me over until the next offering in a series I enjoy.  Eternal: More Love Stories with Bite provides all of this in some really cool vampire stories :) 

Immortal: Love Stories with Bite

I love anthologies!  Especially when one of my favorite authors includes a short story related to the series I'm reading. So, how Immortal: Love Stories With Bite got past me, I do not know.  I love Rachel Caine and am a huge fan of the Morganville Vampire series, so why this anthology that includes a short story about Shane didn't hit my radar, I don't know.  Anyway, I'm glad I finally came across it because it has some excellent stories in it. 

First up is "Haunted Love" by Cynthia Leitich Smith, which features a very new vampire, a ghost and a not-so-innocent girl who is connected to both.  What I found interesting is the manner in which the new vampire is made--a modern twist.  The story is very interesting and the character of Cody is someone I would read about again.  Next is "Amber Smoke" by Kristin Cast.  This story features a vampire of mythological origin intervening with Fate to save a very special girl.  I enjoyed the mythological aspect of this story, it brought a different aspect into the story.

"Dead Man Stalking" by Rachel Caine is part of the Morganville Vampire series and features Shane, my favorite character from the series.  Anyone unfamiliar with the series may not enjoy the story as much because you really need to understand the history to appreciate the story.  However, if you are not familiar with the series, find a copy of  Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires, Book 1) and get to reading!  In this story, Shane is 'contacted' by someone from his past & he has to choose between his past & what he believes is right.  It's a great story about Shane and shows a bit of maturity in his character.

"Table Manners" by Tanith Lee is a new kind of vampire story--at least, new to my reading experience.  I was introduced to Lelystra Draculian, only a distant relation, and some notions that the widely behold beliefs about vampires' powers and weaknesses are largely a self-fulfilling prophecy.  This story is followed by "Blue Moon" by Richelle Mead.  I haven't read any of her books, although I understand her Vampire Academy Collection is very popular.  This story isn't related to the series, it introduces an interesting character in Lucy Wade, a vampire born with the power to fulfill an ancient prophecy that will change the world--for real.  I liked this character and would read more about her if Richelle Mead developed this story into a full blown novel.

"Changed" by Nancy Holder takes place in a different New York--one devastated by vampires.  On Jilly's 16th birthday, vampires take over and destroy New York City.  What's interesting about this story is really that the vampires could have been anything--terrorists, aliens, whatever you prefer for your outside source of devastation.  The truth of the story takes place in Jilly's journey to maturity and adulthood, the vampires providing the catalyst for her growth.  Following "Changed" is "Binge" by Rachel Vincent.  I am a fan of Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series, as well as her Shifters series.  Although neither refer to vampires, there is enough overlap in the supernatural world to consider that either series would be referenced in this story.  But, this story was completely independent of either series and it was very, very good.  I don't even want to mention the story for fear of providing spoilers, but let me say that it is a very good story that does not develop in the direction I expected it to.  I loved it and would read more about Mallory anytime.  The final story in the anthology is "Free-A Story of Evernight" by Claudia Gray.  I have not read the Evernight series but the story is very interesting on its own.  It tells the story of Patrice, a young quadroon in New Orleans.  Patrice is an intelligent, independent young woman who is about to be introduced into 'society' for a wealthy white man to 'court' her to become his mistress.  However, even as Patrice seems to get in over her head, she uses her intelligence to not only escape the immediate situation, but to embark on a completely new life.  I may have to add Evernight (Evernight, Book 1) to my to-be-read shelf.

Overall, I enjoyed Immortal: Love Stories With Bite.  I also enjoyed P C Cast's introduction, waxing poetic about the attraction of vampires.  I was able to read offerings from authors I currently enjoy and found some new authors to look for in the future.