Meljean Brook – Earth and Skye

The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance edited by Trisha Telep

The thing that I love most about this collection is that it completely runs the gambit of supernatural and paranormal creatures. There are a number of standalone stories and tales that are part of series. But mostly, there’s just stories which feature vampires and werewolves; djinn and selkies. Some of the paranormal beings that feature in this are not ones that I normally come across. Which of course just made it all that much more exciting. You didn’t know what sort of paranormal creature would be next!

In Sheep’s Clothing by Meljean Brook

I’m a big fan of werewolf stories. You can probably tell from how many are on my shelves and fill my bookcases. But, one thing that doesn’t tend to happen so often is that if there’s a female werewolf, the male normally is too. Something about not having a woman more powerful than a man or such nonsense I would suppose. But, that’s not the case in this story. The woman is a werewolf, the man she loves a normal human; and ultimately, it’s the woman that saves the day.

First Blood by Susan Sizemore, Erin McCarthy, Chris Marie Green & Meljean Brook

This is a fantastic blood sucking selection of vampire romance tales. They’re full of lust, love and passion. Along with a little bit of kicking ass, finding yourself and forgiving the past. Everything that you want in a good collection of novellas. A little bit of spice, and a whole lot of sweet…

Enthralled by Lora Leigh, Alyssa Day, Meljean Brook & Lucy Monroe

I knew I was probably going to love this collection before I even read it – I already love three out of the four authors. Plus, it was a paranormal romance collection featuring animal shapeshifters in one form or another… topics that I absolutely adore…

Thicker Than Blood by Meljean Brook

I found this story a little bit sad. Alright, there’s a happy ending… but the fact that a couple who so obviously loves one another is kept apart by a series of mistakes and misunderstandings… it was more than a little sad. I did like that the relationship was restored because of her constant need to be near him, and desire to find a little girl collide beautifully.

Salvage by Meljean Brook

Men are stupid. To be fair, so are women. But in this story… men are stupid. And seriously dude, stop being so damn ignorant and love thy wife. We do not want money, we want our man. That’s it, rant over. This was actually an amazing novella. But I still left it thinking that men are kind of stupid. And need a bit of a kick up the butt to restore their brain cells.

Hot Spell by Lora Leigh, Emma Holly, Shiloh Walker & Meljean Brook

Once upon a time I used to think that paranormal romance, romance and erotica stories were boring, smuttish and just not worth reading. I have changed my mind. In a big way. And it is collections like Hot Spell that really remind me of just why I did such a big turn around. These novellas and tales still include all of my favourite aspects of fantasy stories, but there is an extra layer of passion, lust and, dare I say it, cuteness to the stories that have me reaching for these stories again and again and again.

Novellas and Stories by Meljean Brook, Carolyn Crane & Jessica Sims

This was one of those great collections that had a really wide array of stories under the heading of paranormal romance. From incredibly erotic shapeshifter stories to tales of steampunk piracy across the worlds. Every moment of these six novellas are steamy, warm and full of passion. And of course, a little intrigue to make it impossible to put down.

Wrecked by Meljean Brook

I really loved the moral questions that this novella posed. What do you do when you have the power of cloning? And, to begin with that question is just asked in a purely conservational role. And then it takes a darker, twistier turn that was distinctly uncomfortable. But it also worked into a really sweet romance (in the end, when all the twisty bits were sorted).

Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City by Meljean Brook

One of the most frustrating things that I tend to find about paranormal romance stories are that you don’t really find out how they live their lives after they ride off into the sunset, happily ever after. It’s all well and good to have that amazing story about passion and fire and those first, loving moments together when everything finally fits. But that isn’t entirely realistic… there is another kind of love, when the fiery passions become a slow burn that continues over the years. So the fact that there is a novella about Mina and Rhys 8 months after they get married… I was much happier and more settled in their happiness.