Falling for Anthony

Falling for Anthony is a novella by Meljean Brooks in the Hotspell anthology.

All I can really say is WOW!

I'm not a gusher. No really. Unless you're Anne Stuart I try not to gush. Uh, there have been other authors I have gushed over but, I try not to do it too much because I'm afraid of coming off as a rabid stalker fan.

Long story short, I stopped buying anthologies a few years ago because the stories were becoming so short that I didn't believe in the HEA that they depicted. (Should mention it is 10:30am and I haven't gone to bed yet so I hope I will be coherent) H/H would know each other 3 days and wham, love, marriage, HEA. I just couldn't buy into the fantasy anymore.

Why did I buy Hotspell?

Meljean's blog.

Okay, and maybe the cover. Oh, but the price alone would have made me back off the cover so it is definitely because of Meljean's blog. Hey, I'm nothing if not specific.

So there you go, blogs do work.

I'm not going to sum up Meljean's story because it really is complex for a short story. It's the first time in years I have finished a novella and felt like the H/H were going to make it! This was not a story that happened in a few short days. Brooks was able to create a realistic timeline not just by saying a few months had passed but by having the heroine and hero go through life changing moments during their time apart. Can you believe that I would start to get anxious because the characters were apart? It's a novella and I still got anxious! That's good story telling.

I have to mention the world building. (authors will correct me if I am wrong because maybe it isn't world building as much as an alternate reality .... can you tell I haven't slept?) There are demons, guardians, the middle guys nosferatu who are evil in the extreme and they can create vampires who aren't evil. Cool. Then there is Heaven and Hell. Yep. I got all that AND a love story. Sweet.

Okay, I have to sleep.

Edited: It's almost midnight now and the day from hell will soon be over. I created this post this morning after deciding to just stay up until the contractors got here instead of going to bed at 4am and getting roused from sleep at 9am. The guys were late. Really late. At that point I was into the over tired state and it took me a while to calm down. I'm figuring, 4 to 5 hours of sleep this afternoon. I'm about to climb into bed now but wanted to get this up before I drifted off.

I'm not sure if this has come across in this post but, this is the type of story I *used* to buy anthologies for. This was the way that I discovered Anne Stuart (what, did I mention her already?), Linda Howard, Justine Davis and Connie Brockway. Back then short stories were a vital part of finding new authors. Nowadays, it feels like if the publisher can throw a *hot* name on the cover then they don't care about the quality. Just write now, faster, c'mon we need to make more money! And that is probably a whole different post. Let's not even bring up the subject of so called erotic anthologies. Bad Boys? Please. Again, another post later.

So, bravo to Meljean! I enjoyed your story and the sex scenes you wrote were hot! (aside: that first sex scene, holy crap, you about killed me! And because it wasn't followed by a 'oh, it was perfect and I love you and we must always be together' moment it completely worked for me.) I will definitely be out scouting for you next book!

I would write more but I don't want to hit on any spoilers for those who haven't had the chance to read it. I am looking forward to the other entries in the Anthology and for those on the fence, I will be reading the rest over the week (a story a day if I am lucky) and will report on the overall quality of the book. With Emma Holly in there, I'm thinking there is at least one more really good read. I'm also excited to try Shiloh Walker's story.

Okay, I should head in.