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Overall, I liked the short stories in this book. Michael bought the book for me because the stories sounded interesting. I mean, come on, I'm planning a wedding right now. In fact, a waitress who knows me asked if it was appropriate reading material right now. lol
Anyway. . .the first story seemed to be modern gothic. There weren't any big surprises from "Till Death" but Maggie Shayne has some interesting characters. Kira McLellan could suffer from a family curse if she is not careful. An ancestor (who was a witch, natch) basically doomed her female descendants to die by her husband's hands if he ever cheated on her. The who, what, where, when, why, and how are all nicely laid out. And if you like stories of spirited Americans who get sucked into Scottish culture, this story is for you. I have yet to read any of Shayne's novels but I may try her at some point. If You like this, you will like: Katie MacAlister.
Jeaniene Frost's story, "Happily Never After", is a decent little vampire tale. Lots of "people aren't always what they seem" kind of thing going on. The heroine, Isabella, is about the only one who is exactly as she seems. She's a nice feisty Italian-American girl who refuses to be sucked into an antiquated tradition. This book is part of a larger world of the Night Huntress series. Those looked interesting when they came out so I may try them soon. This story only gives a glimpse of one of the main characters from the series but that's ok, it works as a good introduction to her mythology. From the brief glimpse I got here, she's done a good tweak to the mythos. If you like this, you will like: P.N. Elrod
My favorite of the four stories is Terri Garey's "Ghouls Night Out". Maybe I just have a thing for tongue in cheek titles but this is a very well written story. The main character, Nicki Styx, can see dead people. Yeah, I know, it's been done to death (pun intended) lately, right? Probably but I got sucked into her world nonetheless. I think what got me the most is how she handled the missing bridesmaid issue. I mean, if your best friend disappeared right before your wedding and you had to replace her, what would you do? I found the explanations fairly plausible and liked the characters enough to suspend my disbelief for them. I liked them enough to run with it so I think that's why I was drawn in. Or it could also be that the world is set in the south where I now live. Dunno. Like Frost, this story is part of a series. I enjoyed this short story so much that I went and bought the two books that go with it today (well, one I had to order). If you like this, you will like: Charlaine Harris
Last but not least is Kathryn Smith's "The Wedding Knight". It's set in London, 1879, so it's the only one not modern day. Interesting pairing with the other three but I guess the editor was going more with the wedding theme than anything else. This tale is similar to Frost's in that the lead male is a vampire. But that's about it for similarity because Smith sticks with some of the standard vampire mythos. I did like her attaching it to the Masonic Order though. It's been done with other secret organizations but I thought the glimpse of it with that was intriguing. Overall, though, this was a typical supernatural period piece. Not gothic, more like Jane Austen with fangs. I like the style but I don't know if I'll try any of the larger works. I guess it depends upon my mood and desire for something period (which can happen). If you like this, you'll like Teresa Medeiros
