Magic in the Wind by Christine Feehan - I couldn't finish this one, but then I'm not a fan of Feehan.

Hot August Moon by Katherine Sutcliffe - Alright, but I find a cliff hanger ending in a short story to be very annoying.

After Midnight by Fiona Brand - Again, I couldn't even finish this one.

Only Human by Eileen Wilks - The reason I even read this book. This is a different version of how Lily and Rule meet, and I'm onto the 11th or 12th book in the series. Let's just say, you can never go back. ( )

Picked this up for the Wilks of it all, but decided to read everything.

My scientific rating breakdown follows:

Magic in the Wind
4 stars
This was my first Christine Feehan, and I really enjoyed it. I liked the Drake sisters and their seaside community a lot, and I’ll probably read the whole series. The sweet sentiment among the sisters and the found family theme made this one a winner for me.

Hot August Moon
1.5 stars
Nothing here really grabbed me—the writing or the characters. And the fact that it didn’t really end knocked its rating down further.

After Midnight
2 stars
Kind of a squicky premise, but at least I cared about the characters. I can’t get too fired up about a love/lust at first sight thing when both characters are married when they meet. I know that makes me a big fat hypocrite because I love the Outlander books, but time travel makes all the difference. Because it does.
Plus, this didn’t have a paranormal element like the other three, so I’m not sure why it was in this collection.

Only Human
4 stars
Yay, Eileen Wilks! I didn’t realize this was an older version of what was fleshed out in the first Lupi novel, but it was fun to read. I liked the changes Wilks made when she did a longer version, but after finally getting caught up on the series and not knowing when the last book will be out, it was nice to revisit Lily and Rule’s beginning.

( )

Truly enjoyed these stories and am on the hunt for the next Christine Feehan and Eileen Wilks. ( )

*Review Only For the Eileen Wilks Story*

Despite this short story being listed as a prequel to the World of the Lupi series, it isn't really true. In fact, I would recommend not reading this story before reading the first book in the series, as it would just make things confusing. This is essentially a condensed version of [b:Tempting Danger|81617|Tempting Danger (World of the Lupi, #1)|Eileen Wilks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1307217889s/81617.jpg|78812]. However, there's a lot of differences in the mythology and in how Lily and Rule interact with each other that sets this clear outside of the series. ( )

Magic in the Wind-Christine Feehan --- Cute story, love the idea of seven sisters with different magical powers but also having the power to work together to achieve greater results. This story felt more like a "romance" than other urban fantasy (paranormal romance, whatev) I read. Unsure if I will continue on to read the other 6 books that comprise the series, mostly because I feel these might get more "romance-like", focusing more on the relationships between each sister and her beau, instead of the relationships between the sisters.

Hot August Moon-Katherine Sutcliffe --- Good story, if a bit rushed at the end. Kind of feels like the author came up against the word limit for the novella submission long before she ran out of story to tell. My 2 criticisms 1-This is a very "realistic" story, the only powers being her psychic ability to see traumatic events that happen at a location, and I like my Urban Fantasy a little heavier on the fantasy. 2-It kind of felt like she had several interesting men that could have competed to be the love interest, but she shuts this down realll quick. I guess I've been sookie-fied in my need to have the tension of a love triangle (or square, or dodecahedron (or should that be a "ho"decahedron? Never mind, it isn't like we're talking about Anita Blake!)). I will be seeking the next installment of this series, Bad Moon Rising.

After Midnight-Fiona Brand --- Uhhh, did someone not get the memo this is Urban Fantasy? Yes, you can have all your Romance cliche's (wow, she's a strong, independent woman, who remained faithful to her spouse in spite of a deeper call of love? Those concepts never happen in Romance!), but you need a fantasy angle. Well, something more fantastic than convenient terminal illness for your husband when you're pining to boink the neighbor.

Only Human-Eileen Wilks --- Or, the reason I picked up this anthology. A nice introduction to someone the characters featured in the book (Night Season) I was lead to believe was the first book in the series. ( )