Dates from Hell
Kim Harrison, Lori Handeland, Lynsay Sands, Kelley ArmstrongBooks.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
She thought her date was out of this world.
Actually, he was not of this world . . .
We've all been on bad dates, nightmare dates, dreadful experiences that turned out to be uniquely memorable in the very worst way. But at least our partners for these detestable evenings were more or less . . . human!
Now Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Kelley Armstrong, and Lori Handeland — four of the very best writers currently exploring the dangerous seduction of the supernatural — offer up dating disasters (and unexpected delights) of a completely different sort: dark, wicked, paranormally sensual assignations with werewolves, demon lovers, and the romantically challenged undead. Sexy, witty, chilling, and altogether remarkable, here is proof positive that some love matches are made someplace other than heaven.
Synopsis
She thought her date was out of this world.
Actually, he was not of this world . . .
We've all been on bad dates, nightmare dates, dreadful experiences that turned out to be uniquely memorable in the very worst way. But at least our partners for these detestable evenings were more or less . . . human!
Now Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Kelley Armstrong, and Lori Handeland — four of the very best writers currently exploring the dangerous seduction of the supernatural — offer up dating disasters (and unexpected delights) of a completely different sort: dark, wicked, paranormally sensual assignations with werewolves, demon lovers, and the romantically challenged undead. Sexy, witty, chilling, and altogether remarkable, here is proof positive that some love matches are made someplace other than heaven.
Publishers Weekly
Failing to capitalize on what should be a sure-fire concept, this quartet of paranormal romance novellas falls prey to the usual suspects: lack of cohesion, formulaic characters and flimsy plots. Harrison kicks off the book with a prelude to her Hollows series, an exposition-heavy tale of confusing office/vampire politics, in which a vampiric homicide detective looks for a way to get ahead at the office apart from letting the boss into her jugular. Harrison's over-the-top atmospherics make for a jarring transition to the light touch of the second novella, Sands's farcical story of young researcher-cum-shapeshifter Claire, who attends her high school reunion as two different people: herself, accompanying schoolyard dreamboat Kyle, and hunky Hollywood actor Brad Cruise, a favor to her dateless best friend Jill. Nestled in between Sands's slapstick and Handeland's passable closer-about a tough-as-nails demon hunter out to save a virginal literary agent-is the collection's one gem: Armstrong's tale of a bold and sassy half-demon peacekeeper who finds herself falling for a werewolf thief. Unlike her compatriots, Armstrong works well with the space constraint, giving her story an open-ended, promising conclusion. (Mar.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewThe cheapskate. The loud talker. The egomaniac. We've all had dates we'd rather forget, but nothing compares to those found in Dates from Hell, an explosive anthology featuring stories from four of the biggest names in supernatural fantasy: Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Kelley Armstrong, and Lori Handeland.
Harrison, the author of the bestselling Rachel Morgan saga (Dead Witch Walking; The Good, the Bad, and the Undead; et al.) offers up a new story from the Hollows, a prequel of sorts that focuses on Morgan's vampiric friend, Ivy Tamwood, before the two met. In "Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil," Tamwood -- working as a homicide detective for Inderland Security -- must deal with an oversexed and undead boss who will do anything to taste her blood. In Armstrong's "Chaotic" (which takes place within her Otherworld universe), undercover operative and half demon Hope Adams is experiencing true hell, stuck with a boorish blind date at a museum charity gala. But when she catches a thief, who happens to be a werewolf, red-handed, the evening's festivities become unforgettable -- for all the wrong reasons.
Sexy, sharp-witted, and at times downright spooky, this quartet of novellas should appeal not only to the four authors' legions of dedicated fans but also to those who enjoy generous amounts of romance and eroticism mixed with their dark fantasy. Readers with a taste for genre-transcendent authors who blur the lines between fantasy, romance, and mystery -- like Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, and Madelyn Alt -- will find Dates from Hell absolutely heavenly. Paul Goat Allen