BLOOD RED KISS is an anthology with some of my favorite paranormal romance authors. THE WARLORD WANTS FOREVER is book one in Kresley Cole's "Immortals After Dark" series. FORSAKEN BY NIGHT is a novella and book 2.5 in Larissa Ione's "MoonBound Clan Vampires" series, and DARK SWAN is a novella in Gena Showalter's "Alien Huntress" series. Each story in this anthology has enemies who are forced to work together and explore a tentative trust. What I find especially fascinating about each story is how it soon becomes apparent that determining who the good guys and bad guys are in each erotic tale is very much subjective.

Even though I have enjoyed many of the books in Kresley Cole's "Immortals After Dark" series, I have never gotten around to reading the first in the series. It's interesting to see the first appearance of beloved characters like the brilliant, crazy, and always entertaining Nix, and infamous places like Val Hall. Kresley Cole effectively combines amusing and often snarky dialogue with epic battles and the delightfully ridiculous. Men and women are often warriors of similar skill and strength and a man who underestimates a woman does not live long. At the opening of WARLORD WANTS FOREVER, Myst the Coveted is vampire Nikolai Wroth's prisoner, but it is not long before he becomes a slave to his desire for her. Both Myst and Nikolai are flawed characters and drive each other equally crazy before they admit their true feelings for each other. At various times while reading WARLORD WANTS FOREVER I laughed, cringed, and cheered. I live for the moment when Kresley Cole comes out with Nix's book.

I was so happy to discover a new story in Larissa Ione's "MoonBound Clan" series, because it's a phenomenal vampire series. Out of all three stories in BLOOD RED KISS, the relationship between vampires Tehya and Lobo is perhaps my favorite. Unlike the other two stories in this anthology, Tehya and Lobo do not start out as enemies. On the contrary, stuck in her shifted wolf form, Tehya has lived with Lobo for years as his constant companion. Having enjoyed the previous books, it's a little disorienting at first, to see characters like Hunter in a less than flattering light when seen through the eyes of Lobo and Tehya. I like this alternative perspective on favorite familiar characters, and think it gives the story an extra kick. The spirituality, myth, magic, and sexiness in FORSAKEN BY NIGHT is what I've come to expect from the "MoonBound Clan Vampire" series, and I look forward to the next installment.

I've enjoyed Gena Showalter's "Lords of the Underworld" series for years, but have never tried her "Alien Huntress" series. I like paranormal romance, but don't really care for science fiction. Dallas Gutierrez is an Alien Investigation and Removal agent and there are tech gadgets galore, but DARK SWAN appeals to me because of the characters and connection that develops between them. Like in THE WARLORD WANTS FOREVER, Dallas and Lilica are natural enemies inexplicably drawn to each other. In spite of the predatory instincts they have toward each other, Lilica and Dallas are equally baffled by their mutual feelings of attraction and tenderness they elicit. As the bond they form enables them to hear each other's thoughts and experience memories, the reader is able to understand both characters a little better. Lilica and Dallas have both experienced personal tragedy and trauma at a young age that has shaped who they are today. Gena Showalter successfully combines aliens, zombies, an evil triplet bent on world domination along with an unconventional, but torrid, romance packed with sexual tension. I look forward to reading about Lilica's sister Jade in a future book.

The novellas in BLOOD RED KISS by Kresley Cole, Larissa Ione, and Gena Showalter are great additions to their respective series and I want to read more!