Review: Blood Red Kiss by Kresley Cole, Larissa Ione, Gena Showalter

Book Description

Good things always come in threes--and this paranormal romance anthology featuring steamy stories from New York Times bestselling authors Kresley Cole, Larissa Ione, and Gena Showalter is no exception!

Get ready for a collection chock full of vamps, demons, aliens, and plenty of sizzle!

In Kresley Cole's remastered story "The Warlord Wants Forever," the first in her scorching Immortals After Dark series, vampire warlord Nikolai Wroth will stop at nothing to claim his Bride, the one woman who can make his heart beat again. But can beautiful Myst the Coveted accept an enemy vampire as her own?

Tehya has spent the last twelve years as an accidental wolf, but is truly a vampire at heart. When she gets injured, Lobo sneaks her inside MoonBound's headquarters and nurses her back to health...with potentially deadly consequences. Desire collides with danger in "Forsaken by Night," a MoonBound Clan novella from Larissa Ione!

In Gena Showalter's Otherworld Assassins novella, Dark Swan, Lilica Swan isn't quite human or otherworlder; she is the best--and worst--of both. She is willing to do whatever proves necessary to save her sister from the seductive and deadly Alien Investigation and Removal agent, Dallas Gutierrez, even bond her life to his...effectively wedding him. But without consummation, the bond will fade. Can Dallas resist his insatiable desire for the powerful beauty? Or will she lead to his ultimate downfall?

My Review

My brother and sister in law got this book for me last month as part of a birthday present. It has 3 of my favorite authors all in the same book and that's always a great thing. 

The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole- This is the first book in the Immortals After Dark series and since I hadn't read this series yet I was glad to read the first book. Myst is a Valkyrie and has been captured and is found by Nikolai Wroth as she's being held in a dungeon. He has no idea what she is but when his heart starts beating and blood rushes to places that haven't had blood in them for many years, he knows he's found his bride. He's a vampire, his kind know they have found their mate when they are 'blooded' and their blood starts pumping again. The only problem is that Myst is much, much older than he is and she isn't looking to settle down anytime soon, especially to a vampire. So she arouses him and leaves. Leaving him to stay that way until he can find her and they mate. They finally do meet back up and the sparks fly, seriously. This was a great story and the misunderstandings just make this more fun to read. 

Forsaken By Night by Larissa Ione- Lobo was pretty much enslaved by a clan of vampires when he was a kid. They never trusted him, in fact were scared of him because he's a skinwalker and can take on the look of anyone he wants. He is exiled from his clan, the only family he's ever know when he's accused of breaking clan law. But then he finds a wolf that is in really bad shape. He helps nurse her back to health and for years they live together, helping each other live again. What Lobo doesn't know is Tehya has been stuck in her wolf form for years and it's only when she is hurt and he risks everything to save her that she reverts back to her human/vampire form. Things get very interesting after that and some secrets even come out and get a resolution. 

Dark Swan by Gena Showalter- Lilica, Jade and Tiffany are sisters who were created in a lab. Their DNA is part human and part alien. They grew up being experimented on, tortured and degraded until one day they escape. But not before one sister becomes infected with a disease that she passes along to others and that makes her hunted and feared. Lilica has powers but she doesn't know how to control all of them. She's never been shown love by anyone but what little bit her sisters were able to show her. So when one sister is in trouble she tries whatever she has to in order to keep her safe even if that means being captured again. This time though things are going to be different she just doesn't realize how different things will be. Dallas Guttierez is hunting the sister who is infecting people with a horrible disease and wants to kill her. So when he meets Lilica, he thinks he has a way to bring the diseased sister out in the open but things don't always work out the way we want them to and he finds that out quickly. This was a lot of fun to read and if I had to pick a favorite of the three stories it would be this one. 

I loved this entire book. All three stories ere great. Each one was written well, had a great story and ended in a way that didn't feel rushed. Often times in anthologies the stories will feel rushed or unfinished but all three of these stories felt like solid stories. The book was 545 pages long, which isn't a quick read but well worth time time it takes to read especially if you like these authors which I do. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.