Dark Bites [Sherrilyn Kenyon]
Sorry if these are a little messy, I wrote them as I read each story. Beyond the Read More link is a short review of each story within this collection.
House of the Rising Son: Should I know any of these people? Twist at the end that I really should have expected. This one confused me some, since I didn't know any of them. It's a prequel of sorts to Sytxx but that's all I'm going to say. Apollo is an ass, but we already know that.
Phantom Lover: Read before, not much else to say about it. I thought the HEA was a little too easy, but I would have been upset if they hadn't gotten one. The authors just can't win with me :)
Winter Born: Also read before. I misremembered some of things that happened in this one, which confused me some. I'd forgotten how much I liked the Were Hunters that are also part of the Dark Hunter world. The time travel aspect was something I'd forgotten about.
A Dark Hunter Christmas: I don't think I've read this one before, but that doesn't mean that I have and just forgot about it. It's just a cute little Dark Hunter Christmas story. The POV is Gallenger, but Simi and Ash feature too.
Until Death: Esperetta is the daughter of Dracula and Velkan is her husband (who becomes a dark hunter). I didn't have that much sympathy for Velkan, since he told her that the poison would fake their deaths and then he didn't drink it. How did he expect her to react when she woke up in her grave? Maybe being that pissed off for 500 was a little much, but I can't blame her for leaving. I'm glad they worked it out (was there any doubt?) but they both kind of annoyed me.
A Hard Day's Night Searcher: Jeff really does have this TSTL (too stupid to live) thing going on. It was really funny that he really didn't know why Rafael was pissed about the story he'd gotten published. He might be right about hiding in plain sight, though.
Shadow of the Moon: Another were-hunter short. I liked Winter Born better, mostly because there's a lot of history between Fury and Lia. This one also has Lia in heat, but the wolves have a different reaction to her heat than the panthers had to Pandora's heat. Lia's issues with Katagarian shifters, since a pack of them killed her family (with reason, but tell that to a traumatized three year old) and Fury is Katagarian. They end up being mates (no surprise). Lia expects to die so they have sex and there's the mark.
Fear the Darkness: This shows Nick's mindset after his mother's death and hurricane Katrina - and he blames Ash for all of it. I guess he had to blame someone.
Where Angels Fear to Tread: This one is NOT a Dark Hunter short. I knew there were some in this collection, but a warning would have been nice. Interesting idea, but not much to say about it. Be careful what you wish for!
Love Bytes: I think this one is my favorite out of the whole collection (including the Dark Hunter shorts). Not really sure why, but I loved this one.
Santa Wears Spurs: This one confused me a little at first. I thought it was a modem day story until Rebecca said her father had set up her marriage. It was cute in the end, but I really don't think Catherine would have really forgiven him without knowing why she left. I did like that Pete lied to the Marshal about Micheal not being his brother.
Redemption: The Guardian bonus scene. Cute, but I felt a little lost. The Guardian was published in 2011, so that's likely when I read it. It's been a while, so I felt a little disconnected from Seth and Lydia.
