So, the first half was a little difficult to stomach because Ruby is TSTL and I honestly kept expecting her to die. She should have died. A lot.

Newly awakened dragon? Of course she can suddenly handle four demons intent on tearing her to shreds. Ignoring the fact that she doesn't even believe she's a dragon. Just attacked by invisible demons? Of course she should run home instead of following the experienced and knowledgeable dragon to a safe place. Uncle's dying words are Cyn's name so he must be the killer! Oh, but he didn't. But then she sees her grandpa in town, so he must be the killer! Oh, but he's not. I found Ruby's attitude and tendency to jump to conclusions, in addition to her overconfidence, absolutely deplorable. I actually continued reading just so I could write a ranty review about how much I hated her.

But then I got to the halfway mark (or so) and Ruby was much better. She still copped a bit of an attitude and made poor choices, but she was definitely more tolerable. So in the end, I kinda liked her a little bit. But only a little bit.

Cyn was scrumptious and I felt so bad for him, the way he struggled with his past and ennui. I really enjoyed watching him "awaken" with Ruby and his take charge attitude was deliciously alpha. I understood him much more than I understood Ruby.

The plot was interesting, though I'm still not sure what all the various dragon and magickal stuff means. The world building was a bit of an info dump towards the beginning and my hatred of Ruby is much more memorable than the various sects of magickal beings. I could have used a graph or chart, for sure. But with all the demon attacks and magickal warfare throughout the rest of the book, the climax fell a bit flat. I mean... I can't even describe a teensy bit of it without spoiling it, but it basically all boils down to popping a balloon slowly instead of quickly. *dumbfounded* That's it?! THAT'S IT?! Ugh, that's fucking it. Kinda disappointing, to be honest.

Definitely interested in seeing Kade's story, which is next in the series. I figured Grayson's story would be the third, as it's about an angel and Grayson is the angel we're introduced to in this story, but apparently it's about some other dude. Definitely going to track down 0.5 and 0.6 in this series.

This three story anthology is a nice little bite into the worlds these authors are known for. More novellas than short stories, these tales all have a type of love story at their base.

 

If you love paranormal romance and haven't read any of these three authors then pick it up. Well worth the price to introduce you to three talented writers.

 

My favorite in this book was the Kiss and Kill Me, Cupid story. It was a fun and different and better yet complete. The other two tales are not quite complete in my opinion. A page more of each would have made them amazing.

 

Over all these tales have me more interested into the worlds I have not read. While I know Lynsay Sands work but I had never read either Palmer or Rush.

Wanna a little bit of everything Paranormal to light your jack-o-lantern? Here are some really wonderful Paranormal Romance Anthologies. 

 

1. Everlasting Bad Boys by Noelle Mack, Shelly Laurenston and Cynthia Eden

2. Must Love Hellhounds by Nalini Singh, Charlaine Harris, Ilona Andrews and Meljean Brook

3. Lover Beware by Katherine Sutcliffe, Christine Feehan,Eileen Wilks and Fiona Brand

4. Bitten By Cupid  by Lynsay Sands, Jaime Rush and Pamela Palmer

5. Predatory by Alexandra Ivy, Nina Bangs, Hannah Jayne and Dianne Duvall

6. Angels of Darkness by Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook and Sharon Shinn

7. Supernatural by Larissa Ione, Jacquelyn Frank and Alexandra Ivy

8. Burning Up by Angela Knight, Nalini Singh, Virginia Kantra and Meljean Brook

9. Heart of Darkness by Gena Showalter, Maggie Shayne and Susan Krinard

10. My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding by P. N. Elrod,Sherrilyn Kenyon, Charlaine Harris and L. A. Banks

 

 

To vote for the best of the best, go to my Goodreads list: A Bag of Tricks: Best Paranormal Romance Anthology.

Opening Line: "This would go a lot easier if you'd stop screaming in pain," Zoe told the muscular man lying beneath her."

OUT OF THE DARKNESS is the second book in the Offspring series which centers on a group of twenty-something’s who are the children of psychic parents that participated in a government experiment. These “offspring” have for the most part hidden their abilities and are only now discovering that others of their kind exist. Our heroine Zoë is a great character; interesting, wild looking and a tattoo artist who just happens to be able to move objects with her mind. However because Zoë has no control over her powers she’s shut off her emotions to remain a ‘closeted’ telekinetic and not be looked at like some sort of freak.

The first part of this story is super exciting as Zoë’s search into her father’s past sees some scary, gun toting bad guys pursuing her as she takes off into the Florida Keys. Unfortunately as soon as Zoë is rescued by the sexy and mysterious motorcycle man (what happened to him?) and deposited at a modernized bomb shelter where she meets others of her kind, it fell apart for me and I struggled to finish the remainder of this book.

Inside the shelter Zoë is introduced to several other “offspring” in particular Rand who is able to see into the future and likes what he sees with Zoë. Together the group learns to trust each other as they try to locate more of their kind, improve their powers and determine why “Dark Matter” wants them all dead.

Unfortunately this book just didn’t do it for me although in fairness I did buy it on a whim without realizing that it was the second part of a series and I probably would have liked it a whole lot better had I first read A Perfect Darkness and been able to understand the back story and secondary characters better. As it was I was bored with too many bland characters, silly made up slang words (in an attempt at youth and coolness) unnecessary trips out of the shelter to visit grandparents and a romance that took forever to get going.

However all the other reviews I’ve seen have been positive so if you like your paranormal romance with a sci-fi edge, loads of action and some cool chase scenes then you may enjoy Jamie Rush’s unique world of offspring. Cheers!

3.5