I should state the staras are more reflective of Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark (first story in the series). I originally bought the book for Sherrilyn Kenyon's story as I adored The Dark-Hunters series at the time. Fun vampire bad ass alpha males are to protect the world despite being hated ect. The entry here was actually a short story for her contemporary suspense thriller romance centered around a secret agent organization called. B.A.D. The series was okay. LIght and fluffly so I didn't mind reading the story here though I can't say it was memorable or enough to make the book a keeper.

I read the next story by Jaid Black (who was new to me). I wasn't too sure of the concept of contemporary time and somehow Vikings from olden times suriving and coming out occasionally to kipnap a female to breed with (and occasionally fall in love with I assume). I was a little bit interested in the world building, but overall, found it okay. The romance was a bit rushed and convienent. A bit of sex. Nothing to make me keep the book either though I did decide to check out Ms. Black's other word as her world buiding was different enough to make me want to try some of her other books.

The nice surprise was Cole's work. It gives a very unique twist with valkries and vampires. Yes, a romance combination that was very different. Never would have thought of the valkries being that fun or dangerous. The valkries were the part I liked best out of the story and stood out the most. The vampires were pretty much typical of most romance vampires, but mixing them with the valkries made it interesting as the valkries were kick butt, had their own agenda, humorous and snarky. The story was interesting enough that I decided to keep the book on my keeper shelve for this story alone. It isn't perfect, but a very fun read in the paranormal romance/urban fantasy genre.

Since this was an anthology I can't really review one book entirely. But What I do remember from reading all of them, is that they all hooked me into each of these series and though I haven't started Vikings Underground yet, the story captivated me, it was an intriguing new style of a story, With Time Travel, Dominant men, strong women, and in the end love and compassion. B.A.D. I love Sherrilyn Kenyon before I ever read this book so I knew I would probably like it and though it's not really in the norm of what I read I enjoyed and have since read another book in this series and enjoyed it and it will be reviewed on another page. Warlord wants forever had me so captivated that I instantly when out and bought "A Hunger like no other" and today I'm pretty far into the series.

IAD is the perfect mix of supernatural and romance fiction. I can't put them down! I've read every book in the series.

-- The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole --
-- Completed 12/13/2013 --
Before I begin, if you're looking for the cover shown on Kresley Cole's website (you know, the one with the grayed out hunk and the shiny green title?), know that if you're getting this story in paperback, it WON'T have that cover. It took me a lot of researching to discover that A Warlord Wants Forever is a novella, NOT a full blown novel. So unless you have an E-Reader and you're getting the electronic version of this story, the cover will not look the same.

That aside...

The reason I got this whole book in the first place was to read this story. I wasn't disappointed.

Although the other stories before it were "meh", with lengths that--combined--took up half the book, The Warlord Wants Forever was about the other half of the entire thing. I purchased this book namely so I can read the pilot for the entire series. Even though they say A Hunger Like No Other is book 1, technically they are wrong.

Like all of Kresley's other stories (well, the few that I've read thus far) this one was written just shortly before the declared "book 1" was taking place. Anyone who's read her Immortals After Dark series knows that each book pretty much leads into the next, though generally the next book has already begun halfway through the one you're currently on. That's how this story is; by the end of the novella, A Hunger Like No Other is already halfway complete. I guess when Kresley put this story out, again as the pilot, she gave the reader a hint as to what the follow-up will be about but not through a cliffhanger. I've noticed a trend: Kresley Cole does not write cliffhanger endings to lead into another story; she writes little hints into each one. It's a much better way of planting the seed of interest into the reader's head to get them to read the next one in the series, because if the reader is satisfied with the story already, they may NOT want to care about the cliffhanger regarding completely new people. They read a book for the hero/heroine; why should they care about the next book's hero/heroine? Kresly doesn't write like that, and I applaud her genius.

Like all of Kresley Cole's books, the sex in this story was amazing. She doesn't just write minimal detailed scenes, which actually is better for the reader's mind as it leaves room for the reader's imagination--which in turn gets the reader involved and aroused. She doesn't just write cut and dry comments for it either (namely, skipping over the actual events to just say "by next morning...", and making the reader take a moment to imagine a night of hot, passionate love). The way Kresley writes her sex is through her words. Sometimes she relies on dialogue, and sometimes she relies on her nondescript action scenes. She knows the right time to insert which plan of attack she'd use, and she doesn't bog the reader down with extra endless wording. There are no flowery descriptions, but at the same time, no dry statements. She talks dirty, but not trashy. She gets your mind flowing, making your imagination fill in the blanks.

She knows how to write.

And like all reviews I state, the writing style itself is pretty powerful. I didn't find any typos that jarred me, be it words or spelling, and the way she wrote everything out paints a very clear picture--but not OVER paints it. Not a lot of writers have achieved this goal, in my opinion. Some writers put too much description, while some lack a few much needed additions. Kresley, to me, is up there right next to Karen Marie Moning. I know that by reading her stories, it doesn't just entice me to pick up my laptop and continue writing, but it helps recharge my writing capability. Writers know the phrase: read to write, write to read. It goes hand-in-hand with "read something similar to what you're writing".

Again, this novella was the pilot to her Immortals After Dark series, so it's not *required* that you ought to read it first, but I'd definitely recommend it. It fills in the blanks to a few things mentioned in future stories that Kresley either forgot to explain, or felt she didn't need to. After all, a loyal fan should have read ALL of her books, or at least all of the particular series, if they want to be considered a true fan.

In the end, this story alone is the reason I give this entire book 5 Stars.


-- Hunter's Oath by Jaid Black --
-- Completed 12/12/2013 --
Okay, so I was definitely NOT expecting this. If yours looking for a hot read, I certainly recommend this one. Now I haven't gotten to Kresley Cole and I know she promises hot reading, but this story threw me in for a surprise.

Technically, the date is 12/12/2013, but I'd prefer to think of it as midnight on 12/11/2013 because I started to read this before bed, planned on picking it back up to finish tomorrow, and got drawn in.

When I was talking about not getting drawn in for the first story, I definitely got drawn into this one within the first chapter's first POV. Not only has Jaid Black written in a manner that's so easy to read, but she's not afraid to use words that shows real LIFE. They are the dirty, street words "good" people believe they are too classy to say. And not only is the writing so realistic, the tidbits of reference to sexual comments are amazing--not too detailed, which leaves LOTS of room for your imagination to pick up.

And boy, does it pick up! And when you get to a real juicy scene, because of how realistic and easy Jaid wrote this, it makes the reader's libido awaken.

I think I saw a typo of some sort, or maybe my mind was focusing on something else at that time and I really didn't, but either way, this was an excellent story. I've never heard of Jaid Black before, but I'm hoping that if I were to go pick up her other books, her hot writing style would carry over.

In a nutshell, the suspense of being kidnapped in the beginning drew me in; then came the arousal of the dirty words, actions, and suggestive thoughts.

Yeah, it's true, some people would point out that it's unrealistic because she doesn't even try to escape to return to her career, her own clothes, or her very own freedom, and state that she doesn't try to return to the world of equality where women have rights, and instead chooses to stay in this alpha-male dominate world.

Something to keep in mind people: not everyone is as stupid as you. Some people know that when you're warned about the security of the place and just how strong that security is, that NO ONE has ever managed to escape in hundreds of years--thousands even--you tend to think the warnings are scaring you, but you also consider that they are being honest. Which is exactly what the heroine does.

Now you also have to keep in mind that she KNOW she has no family back in her world. She KNOWS her job isn't her career anymore because of how boring it is. She planned to change the job, just as she planned to find herself a guy. And women's rights? What fucked up world are YOU living in? Only in America are women really treated like equals. In other countries, women might have equal rights, but they don't try and rise up above the men. They know their place in this world, and have accepted it. It's only in America do you have the truly dumb females who think their independence is more important than tradition and genealogy survival. It's the man who runs the economy of the nation; women were the ones to run the domestic side.

Now biased opinions aside, this one's a definite read. Chose your OWN opinion on what you want to take away from this story, and don't let these other reviews/critics sway you at all. Not everyone believes that a woman should wield ultimate power over her man.

-- Turn up the Heat by Sherrilyn Kenyon --
-- Completed 12/11/2013 --
I've never read a Sherrilyn Kenyon book before (at least, not that I can recall), and I wasn't sure what I was getting into. I know she's been around for a while, and I know she's somewhat popular, but I never attempted her stories. Usually, I steer clear of popular things because what's popular is usually bad or horrible (which is badder than bad, and not in a good way). Heck, Twilight is proof enough of that.

Now the story wasn't what I was expecting. I didn't read the back for good reasons; the story wasn't long enough, so I wanted to see if it would draw me in without having to rely on a back cover blurb. In fact, I only purchased this book because it's Kresley's Cole's first Immortals After Dark book for her series, and I wanted to read them all in order.

As I said, the story wasn't what I was expecting. Perhaps it's because I'm in the middle of writing a vampire romance that I was expecting it to be a vampire story. But it's not, and that's fine. It was good on its own without the paranormal encounters.

Though in saying that, I will say that it didn't draw me in. The writing was easy to follow, and rather fun to read. I didn't find any typos, and there wasn't too much detail, or too little. It just didn't draw me in. It was well scripted and painted the picture, but it didn't get my libido running on high octane. It felt just like a fluff story. There was good tension, but it didn't make my blood burn in my veins. It didn't make me wish I were the heroine getting the hero's hot body wrapping around mine.

But it's still a good read. Keep in mind that it's a short novella, so background stories are clipped and straight to what you NEED to know. It would have been nice to know a little more, but for the sake of wordcount, I'm not holding it above Sherrilyn's head.

*Note this rating/review is only for The Warlord Wants Forever at this point. I will update my review/rating accordingly if I read the other stories as well.

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The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole: (4 stars)
(Immortals After Dark, #1)
What a great start to a new series for me! I'm so excited to read the next ones.

This was a different kind of story for me because it was a short story (only about 120 pages) so everything kind of moved quickly.

Although that can be good in some cases, it's why I gave it a 4 instead of a 5. Because it would have been nice for it to be more detailed about their world, the creatures, the battle for their love, etc.

I thought that it moved at a pretty decent pace in the beginning. But the end, starting when she got taken hold of by the turned demon, seemed to rush right into the ending so that's where it got knocked down a star for me.

However, it was quite an exciting and sexy read though, so I can't wait to read the next in the series to learn more about the world and others in it.

เล่มนี้ประกอบด้วยสามเรื่อง จากผู้เขียนสามคน

เนื่องจากตามชุด Immortal after dark ได้มาเกือบ 10 เรื่องแล้ว เลยย้อนกลับมาอ่านเล่ม 1 ซึ่งเหมือนเป็นเรื่องสั้น แต่สนุก แซ่บ ซึ้ง พอควรเลยค่ะ

ซึ่งเรื่องที่เราเลือกอ่านคือ The warlord wants forever by Kresley Cole เป็นเรื่องของแวมไพร์หนุ่ม นิโคไล รอธ กับวัลคีรีสาว มิตส์ ซึ่งความจริงแล้วเผ่าพันธุ์ทั้งสองเป็นศัตรูกัน (ความจริงวัลคีรีจ้องจะฆ่าแวมไพร์ฝ่ายเดียวมากกว่า) แต่มิตส์กลับทำให้นิโคไลมีเลือดเนื้อขึ้นมา เนื่องจากหล่อนถูกกำหนดให้มาเป็นเจ้าสาวของเขานั่นเอง

แรกๆจะลำไยนางเอกหน่อย เล่นตัวอยู่ได้นะยะหล่อน สงสารพระเอก นิโคไลก็เฝ้าแต่ตามหาเจ้าสาวของเขา ทนทุกข์ทรมานมาตั้ง 5 ปี พอเจอก็ตกลงจะทดลองอยู่กัน 2 อาทิตย์ แต่เข้าใจผิดกันไปอีกทั้งที่รักกันแล้ว สุดท้ายจนใกล้จบเห็นความรัก เสียสละชีวิตที่พระเอกมอบให้ เราซึ้งน้ำตาคลอเลย

3/3.5

Turn Up The Heat by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Allison is a small town girl from Georgia who is encouraged by an old friend to enter a publisher's sweepstakes. In this sweepstakes, Allison will get to dress like and live out the fantasy of her favorite book heroine. Her friend works for the company and also works for 'Z' (Mr. Zimmerman) who owns the islands/company that fulfill these fantasies so Allison wins. 'Z' has also dropped off his brother-in-law Vince, on this secluded island. Vince worked for the mob and wants out but the mob family suspects he'll go to the feds so now he's enemy #1. For Vince's protection, 'Z' sets him up on the island as part actor, part security for the women who win the contests.

This story was more a romantic suspense story with plenty of steam and action, than an erotica tale. It's the first time I've read anything by Sherrilyn Kenyon and I suspect that some of these characters are featured or mentioned in her other books. I will be looking into it and reading more, for sure.

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3/3.5

Hunter's Oath by Jaid Black
Sofia is leaving Alaska after her brother Sam's funeral. She takes a taxi to the airport and falls asleep during the 2 hour ride. When she wakes she realizes it's been many hours and when she informs the driver that something must be wrong she realizes she's being kidnapped. She's taken to a cabin and examined by Vikings who plan to purchase her and sell her at an ancient, underground Viking bride sale.

Lord Johen Steffsson is being pressured by his parents to marry but he keeps putting it off. And even when he does marry it will only be to a native, not an Outsider wench. He attends the bride auction and can't resist a naked Sofia so he pays an outrageous price to make her his. Johen realizes that by marrying an Outsider he's in for an uphill battle as Sofia will fight him at every turn and try to escape for months, if not years. But Sofia has been given a erotisk (an aphrodisiac) by a healer named Myria which makes her quite the biddable/beddable wife for days.

Johen is a nice guy who is and will be fully devoted to Sofia. I liked him a lot (a lot!) and think that in short story form the whole Viking underground/Bride auction works. I read Black's
Deep, Dark and Dangerous and found the work to be more campy than anything else. I didn't really enjoy it but it did have several naughty parts that were fun to read. This one was nearly as naughty with very little camp so overall I liked this one much more.

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3/3.5

The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole

Nikolai Wroth is human turned warrior vampire. Myst the Coveted is Valkyrie, a being most believe are simply myth. Myst 'bloods/bleeds' vampires and then kills them which I guess is akin to being their soul mate for about 2 minutes before murdering them. When she encounters Wroth she admits that she admired him from his 'human days'. Myst turns out to be Wrath's bride, which means she's the only women who can blood him/turn back on his human functions (like arousal and a heartbeat). The thing is Myst has 'bleed' vamps before and after she does she kills them. There is something different about Wrath so she doesn't kill him but she leaves him. That seems like a kindness but for the last five years, without his bride Myst, Wrath lives in an unending state of arousal and only Myst can cure him.

It's an interesting premise with a bold, confident, sometimes mean heroine. I liked it, like Wrath's domineering ways, and the whole provocative concept. I felt it was a bit too long but as I understand it, it's book #1 to a series so it's probably a great intro into this new world. I've never read Kresley Cole before but can't wait to start now.

I liked the first two but the third one was just ok for me.

With two of my favorite authors involved, I knew I would enjoy the anthology Playing Easy to Get.

The first of three novellas was Sherrilyn Kenyon's “Turn Up the Heat.” This offering is loosely tied in to her Bad Agency series, but only just-barely. The story focuses on Allison, an average woman from Georgia, who works in a dead end job and has no prospects for love. She spent several of the last several years caring for a dying mother. Just just broke up with her two timing boyfriend. And her favorite escape is found in her steamy romance novels.

An old friend helps Allison win a contest designed to let a romance reader live out her fantasy on an island for a week. It’s there she meets Vince. He’s on the run from the Mafia and hiding out there among the actors. Sparks fly between them and things heat up quickly. Of course, the bad guys are on Vince’s tail. But the island is also a training station for some members of the BAD Agency. So, in the end, familiar faces Joe & Tee help save the day.

The second story was “Hunter’s Oath” by Jaid Black. I did not enjoy it. Our leading lady, Sofia, has been kidnapped from Alaska and dragged to an underground Viking world to be auctioned off as a Viking’s bride. She is stripped nude, put on an auction block, and purchased. And in the end, she falls for her new husband and comes to accept their way of life. I’m sorry. I just can’t get past the premise.

The final novella was “The Warlord Wants Forever,” the story that kicks off Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series. The book is worth it for this story alone. It features Niklolai Wroth, a vampire warlord, who meets his fated Bride, Myst the Valkyrie. Myst is a prisoner in the castle Wroth has conquered. He hopes to use her to learn more about the creatures of the supernatural community, but he can’t resist his attraction to her. The feeling is mutual, but Myst’s Valkyrie sisters rescue her before they can consummate their relationship. So Wroth spends five painful years searching for his missing Bride. When he finally finds her, he finds out he can control her by wielding the chain he pulls from around her waist. Only, it’s not the power of the chain that makes Myst fall for her warlord. It happens all on its own. As with all IAD stories, this one is hot and super sexy. And we get to read the foundation for the main storylines in several books to come.

Alone, I’d give the Sherrilyn Kenyon story 4 stars, the Jaid Black story 2 stars, and the Kresley Cole story 5 stars. An anthology worth the time and the money.

5++ shining stars!!

This is a reading of Kresley Cole's The Warlord Wants Forever; even though it's been read before but still, just got the book and wanted to get another taste of it ;)

Love her work and I'm gonna be re-visiting it really soon!

Confess that I hunted it down for the IAD story. The Kenyon entry... I don't remember. I do remember that I wasn't impressed with the Viking Underground - gave me the creeps.

Again I found a good read in this book. I would not mind more stories in this series.