BEYOND MAGIC is a paranormal romance anthology featuring the authors Susan Kearney, Elaine Cunningham and Kassandra Sims, with stories ranging from an astral projection across the stars to psychics and witches.

Kearney's The Shimmering, the astral projection story, is fast moving and packed with sexual heat. I thought that the female lead was a little bit undecided in how to approach being sent across the stars to a new body—or more accurately her response to the man of her dreams (literally), but overall I found the story interesting. It didn't end how I thought it would, the story itself felt like it was setting up for a different kind of reveal than it did, but it was a satisfying ending with only one flaw. The 'murder' that Daveck punishes himself over is flimsy, and he admits that if things had gone as they should it wouldn't have happened. His logic is flawed; if he really was this brute of a man, why would his people look to him for leadership and protection?

Cunningham's Beyond Dreams, featuring a reluctant medium and former psychic spy, reads like an action-romance. Spies, psychics, and homicide make this an interesting little mystery to sort out. I liked both leads; despite a bitterness in their past relationship, the both of them met as mature adults who didn't let the past ruin the investigation they both were involved with. And they were both big enough to realize the fault wasn't entirely one or the other's. I only felt the ending left a lot of loose ends and I can only hope there is a sequel in the offing at some point in the future.

Sims' Hill and Sky is an entirely different story from the other two. The story itself is divided into two parts; part one describes the world, the inhabitants and basic precepts. Part two moves into the meat of the story, the tracking and investigating of whomever is killing the Fey creatures in Nashville. I enjoyed this story immensely, not just because it flowed in a such a way as to remind us that it's set in the South, but because scattered throughout, each character tells a story or several serve as allegories for themselves or others. The stories are as unique and different as the characters are from each other. The romance in the story is both fast and immediate, but slow and subtle enough to make the tension feel drawn out.

Overall the stories included seem to have little connection beyond the paranormal element. The stories also seem to be different facets and stages of a romance. The Shimmering is that immediate attraction you feel at first sight, Beyond Dreams is lovers reunited and Hill and Sky is about love that isn't simple or fast, but complex and slow. All in all a wonderful anthology to cozy up to and enjoy. ( )

Entertaining, fun reads. Might check out the series they are from. ( )