Hotter Than Hell

This is a totally exceptional collection of stories. I found them to be captivating. However, these are not stories that should be read by either children or Prudes.

Castle MacKay is supposedly haunted and Dougal MacKay is surprised to see a beautiful woman inside. Not only is she inside the Castle walls, but it looks like she might be staying the night. Unsure of what to do, Dougal remains hidden from sight because he knows exactly what will happen should he be seen - screaming in terror comes to mind since he has been cursed.

Laura Tomescu is at Castle MacKay for a reason. Her family had something to do with the curse placed on Dougal MacKay's head and for the past several years she has been dreaming of a man/beast bringing her to fulfillment. She feels herself being watched but does not give in to her fear and falls asleep only to once again dream of a fiery man and iridescent scales.

Heidi Betts has penned a hauntingly beautiful novella with Curse of the Dragon's Tears. Dougal was cursed for being too self-centered and unwilling to do anything for anyone else. He was cursed until such a time as he is able to forget his selfishness and act without thinking for the good of someone else. For years he has tried to get rid of the curse but until Lara, love didn't enter the picture keeping him spellbound to his land and Castle Mackay.

I ached with Dougal regarding his curse and loved Dougal with Lara's emotions. Curse of the Dragon's Tears was intense and highly sensual and being used to Heidi Betts' Silhouette releases, I was pleasantly surprised and very pleased with the sexuality of Curse of the Dragon's Tears.

Curse of the Dragon's Tears is part of the anthology titled Hotter than Hell and releases in July. Don't miss it!

Talia
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

i COULDNOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN. I DIDN'T COOK, I DIDN'T CLEAN, I DIDN'T ANSWER THE PHONE, AND I DIDN'T SLEEP UNTIL IT WAS FINISHED. MORE, I WANT MORE PLEASE.

Everything was hot except for Kim Harrison story which nswered a question but also made me cry.

No matter the length, a good story should deliver an entertaining plot and engaging characters. Sadly, the vast majority of the stories in this anthology either left you feeling unsatisfied because the story and characters were underdeveloped, or happy you were finally through and on to (hopefully) a better story. If you're not a fan of stories in which characters who've known each other for just over 10 seconds before declaring their unending love for each other, this may not be the book for you.

The worst of the lot were delivered by popular authors Kerri Arthur, Lilith Saintcrow and Kim Harrison. Arthur's story might have better, given more pages to fully develop. As it is, the whole story, as well the chemistry between the main characters was rushed. Characters who have sex at inopportune times (in this case, they are supposed to be trying to stop a murder) are a pet peeve of mine. Lilith Saintcrow's Brother's Keeper read like an excerpt from the middle of a larger novel; it feels like at some point you may have to buy the real novel to find out how the story eventually ends. Unfortunately, I won't be doing that anytime soon since I didn't particularly care for the characters.

Whether it's a result of cramming a dozen stories into one book, or just poor writing, I'm sorry to say this book left me cold. The better stories (Sizemore and Little, Banks, McCray and Liu) were simply not enough to compensate for the others.