Fiction Vixen Book Reviews

Heart Of Darkness Anthology
Gena Showalter, Maggie Shayne,
Susan Krinard
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: HQN Books (January 1, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0373774319

From the masters of paranormal romance, three brand-new tales of seduction…

The Darkest Angel by Gena Showalter

A Lords of the Underworld tale

An iron-willed demon assassin, the angel Lysander has never known lust—until he meets Bianka. Spawned from the bloodline of Lucifer, the beautiful but deadly Harpy is determined to lead the pure-hearted Lysander into temptation….

Love Me to Death by Maggie Shayne

Twenty-two years ago five teenage boys were convicted of a young girl's murder. Now, in the form of a beautiful woman, the "victim" is seeking vengeance. And only one man dares to dig into the past to uncover its secrets… and set her free.

Lady of the Nile by Susan Krinard

Lady Tameri believes herself to be the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian princess, and Leo Erskine has set out to prove her wrong…never dreaming that the two of them are about to discover a prophecy that will bind them together forever.

Love Me to Death by Maggie Shayne

Twenty-two years ago, in a small town in Maine, 5 teenage boys shared a drunken evening commiserating over the sad state of their love lives. David, was especially distraught because Sierra, the girl he had finally worked up enough nerve to ask out had recently gone missing.  Being a small town there were no shortage of rumors of where she was, but no one really knew for sure. 

A mix of alcohol, and teenage heartbreak leads the boys to inevitable trouble and they decide to burn down an old abandoned house outside of town.  What they didn’t know was someone was in the house.  They are eventually caught, and tried and convicted for murder.

Sixteen years later, Sara, an art teacher from New Hampshire, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl who was killed in the house fire, begins to have nightmares of being trapped in a burning house.  The nightmares haunt her and she begins to depict images from her dreams in her paintings.  Her concerned roommate who happens to be from a small town in Maine recognizes the house in Sara’s paintings as the house where a young girl died after being trapped in a fire.  Thinking this is more than coincidence Sara travels to Maine to investigate and hopefully put an end to her nightmares.

Meanwhile, the original friends who were convicted of murder are all back in the small town in Maine to see their friend who has been in a terrible accident.  The friend warns them that the ghost of the girl they killed is back and wants revenge.  Thinking this can’t be possible they dismiss it until they start seeing Sierra around town.  All are consumed with fear and guilt as they start to come undone.

David and Sara eventually meet and realize that they have been sharing the same dreams. They also realize there may be more that binds them than just  circumstances of what brought Sara to Maine in the first place. 

While the romantic connection between Sara and David seemed a bit rushed  and not totally convincing, I did enjoy their story a great deal.  I was left wishing that this was a full length novel so that they author would have had more time to develop these characters, and others more fully.  

Love Me To Death is a fantastic romantic suspense with a great paranormal twist that kept me guessing right up until the end.  Maggie Shayne is a “new to me” author and I will be looking for more from her in the very near future.

Pre-order Heart Of Darkness

ARC was provided by the publisher

Review of Lady of the Nile by Susan Krinard coming soon!