Reckoning by Jeaniene Frost

Reckoning
(Originally appeared in the anthology Unbound)
by Jeaniene Frost

Genre: Supernatural Thriller | Short-Story (eBook only)

In New Orleans, a pair of undead serial killers are about to turn Mardi Gras into a horror show—unless the immortal hitman Bones can hunt them down first.
From Jeaniene Frost comes a thrilling prequel novella featuring characters from her New York Times bestselling Night Huntress series.

IN HONOR OF MARDI GRAS (Today, Feb 21st). . .

Bones is on the hunt for the famous Delphine & Louis LaLourie, who are actually ghouls and back in New Orleans during Mardi Gras to continue their deadly reign on innocent tourists. With the Majestic Voodoo Queen, Marie, out of town on business, Bones hopes this would be an easy mission, except there is also someone trying to murder him as well, with silver arrows nonetheless. As this twisted cat-and-mouse thriller quickly gets out of control, can Bones save the day (as well as his own neck) from becoming any more bloodier during carnival time?

I just had to tackle a Mardi Gras related story for today and what better character to read about than Bones, so win-win! Overall, I'll just start off by stating I'm not a fan of anthologies since the stories are way too short and always leave me wanting more, but this tale was enjoyable for the fact that it contained lots of Mardi Gras spirit - which I am totally in by the way (and, in real life, out in costume on St. Charles Avenue yelling for REX beads!) This suspenseful thriller shorty contains lots of Bone(s) action (no pun intended), so have fun with that, but also somewhat emotional when you find out the real reason behind Bones mission. Enjoy!

If you don't know about the LaLourie's . . . click here. Sometimes the truth can be creepier than fiction!

Likes: Interesting spin of truth and fiction . . . had me cracking up when I first started reading. The LaLourie's story is truly a famous New Orleans dark tale - so thanks for the spin-off Jeaniene!

Dislikes: As most short-stories in anthologies can be - the story was too choppy for me and somewhat silly (the whole musical Phantom of the Opera Mardi Gras float scene . . . I mean, seriously?)

Rating:

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Love Struck by Melissa Marr

Love Struck
by Melissa Marr

Genre: Short-Story | Young Adult | Paranormal Romance

Alana knows the legends of selchies, the sea-fey who leave their seal-like pelts behind when they walk on land, passing for humans. But she never imagined she would meet one—let alone two—on the night of an otherwise forgettable beach party.

The selchie Murrin, though, has long imagined actually meeting Alana, the girl he has chosen over the sea. He never expected that the meeting would be so complicated, or that an old rivalry would make winning Alana's trust—and love—so difficult.

Alana is a head-strong girl who knows what she wants in a relationship and she especially knows she doesn't wish to turn out like her mother. Thus she sets up stick rules when dating (ex. no 'eye-candy', six month limit, no visits to the bedroom, etc.) When she meets a selchie (selkie?) on the beach one night, she is enchanted into taking his pelt but has major remorse when he comes to find her shortly thereafter. Can a relationship truly bloom when there's so much against it?

This was an okay read. It's a quickie, but an enjoyable folkloric tale that mostly focuses on the beginnings of a relationship. Murrin comes off as quite sincere and very grounded in his beliefs that a bond (ie. marriage in his eyes) could really work between himself and Alana. On the flip side, Alana is freaking out. From the beginning she feels trapped by his affections and is constantly looking for a way to sever their union. It takes her awhile to become accustomed to their friendship, but when she does finally accept what is between them, trouble a brews, and their bond is emotionally shattered. The end is sweet though and poignant for them both.

Likes: Alana is stubborn but very realistic as well. She's a great lead due to her maturity and knows what her future has planned for her (more school before marriage) and that's a hard thing to find in many YA stories where the romance seems to overshadow everything else.

Dislikes: I'm not a fan of short stories or anthologies (too short!), but the subject matter caught my attention and I just had to check out this story. Plus, I would have liked to learn more about how Murrin came to the decision that Alana was the one for him before coming to shore.

Rating:

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