My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon by Various Authors

What newly married couple doesn't dream of a romantic retreat where they can escape the world for a while—but what happens when supernatural forces intrude on their wedded bliss?

Nine of today’s hottest paranormal authors answer that question in this all-star collection of supernatural stories.  Can a vampire-hunter enjoy her honeymoon when she’s just learned that her new hubby is a werewolf?   How can newlyweds focus on their wedding night when their honeymoon suite is haunted by feuding ghosts?  And what’s a wizard to do when a gruesome monster kidnaps the bride on her way home from the wedding?

With so much otherworldly mayhem awaiting our newlyweds, will they ever get around to the honeymoon itself?  Find out in…My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon.

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Stalked by Kelley Armstrong stars werewolves Elena Michaels and Clayton Danvers which are characters from her Women of the Otherworld series.

I've never read that series or anything by Kelley Armstrong so I was going in blind. I didn't know that these stories were going to have characters from the author's other series. I was a little bit uneasy, just because I don't like to jump in the middle of things - I prefer to start from the very beginning and get to know the characters the way they were intended to be. But it is what it is at this point. At least it's a branch of the story and characters, and not part of the series.

Anyway, the story was very entertaining. The author alluded to some things that happen in the Women of the Otherworld series and it made me want to read them. I have to make sure to make a note somewhere to look these books up. As the title suggests, someone is being stalked, but by the end, the stalker becomes the stalked and it was a fun little read. Definitely gave me enough of the two characters to like them and make me want more.

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Heorot by Jim Butcher stars Harry Dresden from the Dresden Files. I had no fucking clue he was a wizard!!!  Obviously I've never read the books or seen the show. Honestly, I thought the show was about aliens.

This story isn't about Harry Dresden going on a honeymoon (lol) it's actually about a case that he decides to work on where a woman goes missing before going on her honeymoon. At first it looks like she just got cold feet or something, and there isn't anything out of the ordinary about her disappearance. That is, until Dresden finds her purse with her wallet and cell phone.

It was a good read. As I read it, I thought it was good, but not necessarily my cup of tea. But by the end of the story, I had completely changed my mind. I've officially put the Dresden Files on my TBR list.

For any Dresden readers reading this - What's up with Dresden and Gard?

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Roman Holiday, or SPO-arrrrr by Rachel Cain - I'll admit it was hard getting into this particular story in the beginning. Since I wasn't familiar with the characters, I was confused about the paparazzi and getting tailed by Oprah, and where the heck this ancient pirate come from. I felt like I started the story in the middle instead of the beginning. But when I got to the (almost) sex scene, I got into the story. What can I say, I loved the porn conversation! I am curious to know how Cecilia and Liam met; I gathered she somehow ended up stuck on his ship. Did enjoy Liam as a character. Not 100% sure if there's a series or a stand alone book for these characters. I tried searching for it, and I found a lot of other things by this author, but I couldn't find anything that mentioned Liam or Cecilia...I find it weird if this is the first thing she's written with them. If it is, it wasn't executed well.

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Her Mother's Daughter by P.N. Elrod - I've been obsessed with vampires my entire life, and I'm tired of reading about them. That being said, I was hooked the moment I started reading this story! Set in Chicago during the 1930's - can anyone say gangsters? - Jack Fleming is a vampire shamus. And yes, I had to look up that word to know what it meant. I was very intrigued by Jack the vampire who is a private investigator, but also owns clubs; is afraid of heights and afraid of the dark, and has apparently proposed to his girlfriend a shit ton of times and been rejected every single time. I'm totally digging him, and I will definitely have to check out The Vampire Files. (I can't believe I've never heard of it!)

I think this story was very well done. It was a great introduction into the series and the character and the story itself was just great! I love the twist towards the end - which I won't spoil for you guys.

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Newlydeads by Caitlin Kittredge - I wanted to like this story, I really did, but I was confused for most of it. The characters are from London and they have certain slang words that I knew, but some that I didn't. I'll admit, in the beginning of the story, I thought the two main characters were in Atlantic City - that wasn't the case. If the random slang didn't confuse me enough, I got put right in the middle of some Black world after something really big happened to the main characters in a previous story, and I had no idea where I was or what was going on. This might have been a good emotional story for fans of the series and the beginning of some really interesting things, but since this was my introduction into this particular world, it just didn't do it for me. Too confused to even think about trying to read the beginning of this series.

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Where The Heart Lives by Marjorie M. Liu - I was hooked almost instantly! This is a prequel to the Dirk and Steele series (which I've never read) and I am enamored with it. I think I read this particular story the fastest - I just devoured every single word. I wanted to know more about Lucy and what her particular gifts were and also about Miss Lindsay's gifts. I wanted to get to know Henry and Barnabus more. The whole gang, they were very interesting characters and they were different from one another but complimented each other so well. The story was also great, it kept me in suspense for the majority of it - not knowing what was going to happen. I'm definitely going to check out Dirk and Steele.

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Cat Got Your Tongue? by Katie MacAlister - I'm a big big fan of Katie MacAlister. Ironically, this story is part of her Dark Ones series which I have NOT read - yet. In my defense, the lady has a lot of books out! I've read like 8 or 9 of them.

This short story solidifies my love for the author and reinforces my desire to read this series - apparently there is a twist in one of the books which is mentioned in this short which I will not spoil for you guys, but I liked it, and I'm even more excited than before to read the Dark Ones series. Great as always Katie MacAlister. Great as always.

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Half Of Being Married by Lilith Saintcrow is a decent read. A pair of newlyweds discover on their honeymoon that the groom is a werewolf and the bride is a vampire hunter; that part of the story was cute. I think it had nice little twists in it. I wasn't too keen on the husband's thoughts. A lot of "gotta bite my tongue, that's what being a husband is all about/the wife is always right" jokes that were funny the first 2 times but got tiresome rather quickly.

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The final story in the anthology is A Wulf In Groom's Clothing by Rhonda Thompson. It was a great closer! It was funny, and sweet, and just all around nice! Couldn't have asked for a better ending to the whole book. :)

Overall I really enjoyed this anthology. Great stories, and characters. I even added a few series to my TBR list. So YAY!