This is a very old (well, it’s been out since 2006) anthology but for Ms. Cole’s part, is the prequel to the Immortals After Dark series that is extremely popular. I have held out and have not read any of the series waiting to get this book which I was able to get from my library after an extremely long wait. It was worth it. The story, “The Warlord Wants Forever” was so freaken good, I just cannot wait to read the next in the series. I am running to my shelf to start the next book (I had already purchased it quite some time ago). I love the world Ms. Cole created and the characters and for the first time in a long time, one of the erotic scenes in the book made my blood burn! Very hot stuff. For some reason, and maybe this is just me, but for some reason, this book sort of reminded me of a sexy Vampire Academy.

The middle story Hunter’s Oath by Jaid Black was interesting as well. I will definitely be checking out other books by Ms. Black too! The story was rather unusual in that a world was set with underground Viking mega hot dudes that kidnap women from the above ground but the kidnapped women love it etc. Our heroine was kidnapped after her brother dies and she goes to Alaska. It’s a good story. I enjoyed it tremendously.

Then finally, the first story, Turn up the Heat by Sherrilyn Kenyon was um, well, really bad. I hate saying that too because Sherrilyn is one of my favorite authors. This story is a B.A.D. novella and frankly, I seriously doubt I’ll be reading any of the others. It was a contemporary romance and the romance part was um, BAD.

So the star of this anthology is Kresley Cole’s book which thankfully is SO good, you won’t mind the bad Sherrilyn Kenyon that has top billing. Ms. Black’s story is a lovely little tidbit as well so all in all, it’s an anthology that you should read if for nothing else, but to get the beginning of the Immortals After Dark series.

What I liked: I loved, loved, loved the world that was in The Warlord Wants Forever. It was so exciting and dark and sexy. It’s such a great start to a series and as bait to get new readers, it’s perfect.

What I disliked: I just have to point to Ms. Kenyon’s story. It was just baaaaaaaadddd.

Pure porn, and I can't try to coat it in anything else. But it's reasonably well-written and edited, so at least it's higher quality than this often is!

Okay, so...I have to say that I have begrudgingly read most of (if not all of) SK's BAD books. I usually read them when I feel like I've run out of options for good things to read and I know she'll deliver a story that I can stomach, even if it is about government law enforcement guys (who give me the willies, since I work with so many of them). As I started this short story, I had major deja-vu, I thought for sure I had read it before...but it turns out that not only had I not read it, but it is, in fact, the pre-cursor to a story that I did read AND it answered a TON of questions from the BAD series in general. It was like there were multiple keys to long standing mysteries strewn throughout the story. I was sort of in awe. And happy that I took the few lazy afternoon hours it took to read it, even if, in general, I'm not that big a fan of short stories, even SK's. I'd give this story 4 stars just on how much information is packed in for fans to find - worth the read if you are invested in the series. If you are reading it as a stand-alone...yawn.

THEN, the reason that I got the book was to read the first story in the IAD series by Kresley Cole. I have to tell you, it was not my favorite. Too much world building for a short story. I am a little weary of new worlds and new spins on old tales. It wasn't great. It wasn't terrible. It was just "meh". I will move on (eventually) to the first full length novel of the IAD series, mostly because several books in the series hit the list of best virgin heros and I am nothing if not a sucker for scarred guy virgins. Shoot me (of course, the reason they are virgins...well, that explanation is less than exciting). Anyway, I'd give this story 2 stars as a stand-alone.

And I left the Jaid Black story unread...just seemed like one more world to build and I was too tired to participate.

So I only got this book to read the first Immortals After Dark story and that is the only one I read. I briefly flicked over the other two and decided I wasn't really interested. I might be missing something good, oh well.

So The Warlord Wants Forever was pretty good. I have read A Hunger Like No Other and the second full novel in that series (can't remember what is called) before I read this one. Myst was a massive bitch to Wroth then later Wroth was a massive dick to Myst but neither of them were as bad to each other as they could have been. I think overall Myst was more in the wrong because if you are going to go around attempting to blood vampires you don't have many grounds to complain when they get obsessed with you.

I really liked the part when Wroth got hold of the chain, Myst had that coming and I think she deserved what she got. And that part was really hot, because weird fantasies. I can see why some people don't really go for this kind of story as their relationship wasn't what one would call healthy however I think readers of this kind of book are capable of differentiating how they want their real life partner to act and how they enjoy watching characters act (when the mood strikes).

Good stuff. I shall continue onto the next Immortals After Dark :)

This review is for just the section: Immortals After Dark, #0.5 by Kresley cole.

I had heard alot about this series, but the book cover kept turning me off for some reason lol.

When I started reading it, it was a little slow.. and I wondered how the relationship was going to work out as there was alot of ill feelings and confusion about who she was on his part.

Reading on it was actually a really good story with alot of tension between the two for various reasons. I had never read anything by this author before so I wasn't sure if this was one of those HEA at every book or more UF so that worked in my favor as I actually thought for a second in part of the book that this might not end happily. Which I don't mind sometimes in series as long as the story is good.

I liked the uniqueness of the blooding in the vampire race in her story. It's not often you find a new twist to the myth and it was pleasantly easy to accept within the story.

I was intrigued by the Valkyrie's and their background and am hoping to read more about them in the next books. Though I haven't researched them so I can just hope she doesn't end their story with this book as they were a joy to read about.

I enjoyed the dream scenes where Wroth learns about his Bride. I love how you are taking things, as the reader, out of context as he was when reading his dreams.. and then finding out he was mistaken and just how much compassion she actually has for the people she cares about.
This is what made the race interesting to me, as she is supposedly the nice one of the bunch.

You don't learn too much of Wroth's background, which I was a bit disappointed with, I would love to learn more about his brother and this Ivo character. Again I am hoping to read more about them all in the following books.

Overall the story was great and the characters were lovable.. and I really loved the *love/hate* thing going on with the two.

I only gave this book 4 stars because I wanted more information and backgrounds of the other characters but was left lacking. Of course I guess that's to be expected since her story had to be short enough to be shared in the book with two other authors.

I honestly don't understand how this book is getting such good reviews. I consider myself to have a high tolerance for cheese, but this book was so awful that I couldn't force myself to finish. I managed about half of each story before I had to give up and read something good.

The first story was BAD. Sherrilyn Kenyon's novella was more like a short story, and was definitely the weakest of the three. I'd give it one star. There was so little to the story that it's hard to write why I didn't like it. The heroine was unreal - WalMart cleaner becomes a dairymaid turns into a kickbutt gun-toting super agent style badass? PLEEEEEEEZE. Pass.

The second story by Jaid Black, about underground Vikings stealing brides, I'd give one star. Not a fan. I really don't like short story romances, and this one seemed to be more like a short story than a novella also. It was better than the first story but way too schmoopy (can't think of a better word). Also, the descriptions were slightly nausea-inducing. E.g. from page 125: 'Later, toward evening, the group of females returned for a final inspection of Sophia. She asked them for clothes; they told her all brides went to the block naked. Sophia paled, praying for death.' ...(or, later on the same page,)... 'Her turquoise gaze rounded. "I've never been this scared."' I really hate when authors refer to a group of women or men as "the females" or "the males." People aren't zoo animals. Say WOMEN and MEN. Geez. And I don't even know where to start about the fact that her "turquoise gaze rounded.". Turquoise? Please. And how does a GAZE ROUND? I was so annoyed by that particular phrase I almost skipped the rest of the story. Barf. And speaking of barf, the ending was absolutely awful. Schmoopy doesn't begin to cover it. I think my teeth are still aching from all the syrupy sweetness.

The third story, by Kresley Cole, is the reason I read this otherwise lacking anthology, and if I had only skipped the first two stories, I would have been in good shape. I read that the Warlord Wants Forever was the first in her Lore series, so i wanted to start with the first. It was fantastic. Great characterization, HOT sex, funny and realistic dialogue, an actual plot, good world building, especially considering it was a novella. I can see why so many people like Ms. Cole's books, and I'll be heading for number two soon. I would give Ms. Cole's story 5 stars.

I really enjoyed this book! 9/10 I would read again! I like how the story line was and how the author takes you to a different world.

Playing Easy to Get is an anthology containing three stories by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jaid Black and Kresley Cole.

Turn Up the Heat by Sherrilyn Kenyon is the first in the anthology. I've never read anything by her before and this short story certainly whetted my appetite for more of her works.

Considering it is a short story there is actually quite a lot packed into it. We are first introduced to our hero, Vince. His life is in peril due to severing ties with a New York crime family. Rescued by his extremely rich brother-in-law, Z, he is sent to hide at an idyllic island.

Meanwhile, the heroine of the piece, Allison, is working a minimum wage job in Georgia and wishes her life were more like the erotic adventure that she is reading. However, her life changes when Margaret Dale, her old school friend walks in to the store and after they spend time catching up, Maggie convinces Sharon to enter a competition that Maggie happens to fix so that Sharon wins. A competition with the prize of heading off to an idyllic island and living the life of a heroine.

The same island where Vince is attempting to keep a low profile.

Because it is such a short story, it's quite literally love and lust at first sight between the two, feelings reinforced when their lives are put in danger when the mob catches up with Vince.

I'd have liked to have seen more of the other characters such as Z and Maggie May but there was simply no room in this novella. However, this short certainly did its job in that it told its story in an enjoyably way and left me wanting more whilst introducing me to the works of an author I'd not encountered previously.

I'm in two minds over Hunter's Oath by Jaid Black. On the surface it concerns Sofia who is on her way back to the airport after attending her younger brother's funeral. Without him, she has no more family and wonders where to go next with her life. However, the decision is taken out of her hands as she is kidnapped by her taxi driver and taken to a remote cabin. It soon transpires that she is to be sold on the auction block as a bride to a Viking.

In the underground city of New Sweden, Johen has no intention of bidding in the auction for a bride and is only at the auction to maintain order. His best intentions go out the window when he sees the outsider standing there, naked on the auction stand and lets his heart rule.

Despite her best intentions and with the help of being unwittingly dosed with an aphrodisiac, it's all Sofie can do to wait until Johen gets her back to his home before she gives in to her passions.

Being treated as the most valuable thing any man can ever have, amazing hot sex and the realisation that she has nothing and no one to go back to in her old life all conspire to work against her desire to escape. And there we have a short, but intense and hot story of a woman who ends up exactly where she needs to be.

However, underneath the surface (not an intentional pun given the story's setting, believe me) it's is the story of a woman who grieving for the last of her family, promptly kidnapped and date raped. Can you say Stockholm syndrome? Or given the setting of this story, I suppose that would be New Stockholm syndrome. Sofia even acknowledges to herself that this is what she's feeling as her desire to escape wanes.

It was said somewhere (can't remember where) that if you love someone, you need to let them go. An offer to return Sofie to her world and at least give her the voluntary choice of accepting her new life instead would have made this story much more comfortable reading.

The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole first introduces us to the valkyrie. These are the daughters of women who faced certain death with enough courage to impress the Norse gods Freya and Woden. The valkyrie are immortal warriors who take energy from the earth for sustenance and give it back in the form of lightning when their emotions are high. Oh, and they are easily distracted by shinies. Not your traditional valkyrie escorted fallen warriors, then.

Myst is such a valkyrie and being the daughter of a Pictish woman has been one for a very long time now. Physiologically (and psychologically given her Xbox addiction), she is 25 years old but that doesn't stop her from being a killing machine when it comes to vampires. And her favourite method of killing them is to blood them and then dispatch them.

This method has worked multiple times until Myst meets Nikolai Wroth, a former human who died and was turned on the battlefield. To blood a vampire basically means to get them to feel once again. For their heart to beat and to breathe. The bad news is that a vampire can only be bloodied by their bride and until sated the vampire gains an overriding impulse to find and mate with their bride. Unfortunately for Nikolai, instead of being killed and ending his torment, Myst leaves with her sisters and leaves him in such a state for five years.

As you can imagine, when Nikolai finally catches up with Myst, he's a mite vexed with her and promptly abducts. During the past five years, however, strangely for Myst, she has also been yearning for the vampire that she bloodied and left in limbo.

The blooding isn't really explained whether it's an unconscious reaction on the part of the vampire or whether it's something a vampire's bride can invoke. From what I can gather, it seems to work on a 'love at first sight' principle although that's not really true either because it didn't happen for Nikolai until he'd spent time with Myst.

So whilst it is a kidnap and hold captive story it's pretty clear that it's a willing one. Myst is absolutely hilarious as a warrior with millennia experience under her belt but neither she nor her equally hilarious sisters act like it. Nikolai on the other hand seems to be typical of a man and warrior straight from the sixteenth century. This is apparent when he threatens to make Myst a more compliant bride in quite a heinous way and only an interruption prevents him. Other than that, this is a sterling introduction to a new (to me) series and is would be worth the cost of this anthology alone.

As a side note, Emmaline, a half valkyrie and half vampire is mentioned and her story is told in the first full novel of the series; A Hunger Like No Other. Which I shall certainly be reading!

"The Warlord Wants Forever" by Kresley Cole starts her Immortals After Dark Series and was my favorite in this book. Series order is:
1. This one
2. A Hunger Like No Other
3. No Rest for the Wicked
4. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
5. Dark Needs at Nights Edge (releases May 2008)
6. Dark Desires After Dusk (releases June 2008)

"Hunters Oath" by Jaid Black is her Warlords of the Viking Underground Series,#3 and was very...different. Series order is:
1. Beseiged in "The Hunted,"
2. Hunter's Right in "Tie Me Up Tie Me Down"
3. This one
4. "Deep Dark and Dangerous"
- A full book that was pretty good!

"Turn Up the Heat" by Sherrilyn Kenyon is #4 in her BAD (Bureau of American Defense) series and I did not care for it or this particular series. I'm not sure the order of her BAD series and her website is unclear.

This book excels because of The Warlord Wants Forever, the first Immortals After Dark story by Kresley Cole. I actually read this one second because I read A Hunger Like No Other first. I remember reading A Hunger and being like, "Who are Myst and Nikolai?" When I realized that there was a prequel short story, I was on the hunt to get it. Finally I found it at a Half Price Books in San Antonio. I bought it and read it when I was in Denver for training. I actually read it about 2 and 1/2 times. I love this story so much. It's short but it's very hot and sweet. So well written, with characters that jump off the page at you. I thought I loved Lachlain, until I met Nikolai. The man is so delicious to me, and like Myst, I can't resist his scars and his warrior essence. It has a captive theme, so that might not work for some. As the saying goes, I would not kick Nikolai out of bed for eating crackers. Yet honestly, Nikolai is not a gentle lover, but Myst doesn't exactly play fair either. In the IAD universe vampires are unable to have sex until they meet their Bride who 'bloods' them. And then, watch out. Well, Myst is Nikolai's bride, despite the fact that as a valkyrie she hates vampires and kills their kind. She actually exploits the fact that she can 'blood' vampires and has killed them by almost seducing them. Well she feels an attraction to Nikolai despite her hatred of vamps. When she 'bloods' him, she leaves him hanging, in desperate need that only she can assuage for five years. Talk about frustration. This story has excellent chemistry, and the skill of Cole's writing shines in this short story. She is so good at combining humor, action, and writing characters that burn for each other.

Although I do love Sherrilyn Kenyon, I have not been enthralled by her BAD stories. They are just too ordinary for me. I really like what she does with paranormal in contemporaries, and I miss it when it's not there.

The Jaid Black story was pretty unique with the modern vikings who steal women to take underground. This is one is also a captive/kidnapped story with a bit of forced seduction if that is not a person's cup of tea. It was good, and I enjoyed it. However, I would say read this collection for the Kresley Cole story!

Meh. Wasn't great, but wasn't bad. One of the stories was better than the other two.