A decent read. I liked Gena Showalter's the best, though my one complaint would be that it wasn't long enough. The ending felt rushed, but I find that true of most of Showalter's writings. I think what made this an effective story for an anthology (for the most part) is that it didn't get too ambitious. The heroine gets abducted by an angel but we know she is never in any real danger and so the focus remains almost solely on the ensuing romance. The idea of soulmates got the lovers together quickly but I would have liked Lysander's realization that he was in love and willing to sacrifice his dignity for Bianka, to be a little more fleshed out before they rode off into the proverbial sunset together. It just felt like too much of a 180 from where he is for most of the story to be flippantly decided in the space of a couple of pages. Honestly I really wish this story had been a full novel. Then it would have been perfect.

Maggie Shayne was my favorite romance writer once upon a time due to her fabulous witch and vampire series and her one shot Miranda's Viking. Her writing style is still more effective and better than most authors in the genre but though her storylines are strong, I now find her romance lacking. Such is the case with her contribution to this anthology, "Love Me To Death." It's an interesting story with a suspenseful, flowing plot and intriguing characters--at least for the first half. It all goes downhill once our hero and heroine meet. As their attraction relies heavily on the premise of reincarnation, they fall into love (and bed!) within hours of meeting each other. I believed their past love more than their current love and that is a problem. It doesn't help that the ending is unrealistically (and maybe haphazardly) thrown together after they get together and then it's all happily ever after from there. This would have been a stronger read if Shayne could have written another fifty pages to flesh out the romance and murder mystery some more.

"Lady of the Nile" by Susan Krinard was my least favorite. I didn't find anything redeemable about this story and I fell asleep twice while attempting to get through its mere 85 pages. I was really bummed about this as I am fascinated by ancient Egyptian mythology and history and I wanted this anthology particularly because it married romance with those elements. However, this story is a muddled mess and relies detrimentally on the reincarnation premise--even more so than Shayne--and it really needed to be either a longer story or given a tighter plot. As it is it reads more like caricatures of a bad penny novel. The bad guy doesn't have an oily mustache to twirl, but he's about as subtle as Snidley Whiplash. The heroine's cluelessness is obnoxious particularly because she is supposedly a daring and powerful eccentric in London society. And our main hero is stereotypical and bland.

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Gena Showalter's story was great. Lysander and Bianka fit together. Wish there was more of the Lords. The ending seemed a little rushed.

Maggie Shayne's was okay. I had a nice ending.

Susan Krinard's story was very hard to follow which made me loss interest. There were too many "people" in each of the characters, I could never really figure out what was present day and what was one of the previous lives.

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This is one of the better anthologies that I've read in some time. Gena's story is the longest (and in my opinion the best, but I'm a huge Showalter fan) of the three. It's a Lords of the Underworld story of Lysander the angel and Bianka the harpy. Two potential stories are touched on as well (I can't wait!). Maggie's and Susan's stories are also well done. An all-around 5-star book.

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I only ended up being able to finish Gena Showalter's story. I have a hard time with Shayne and Krinard's writing styles and eventually stopped reading their stories. It's a personal preference and it doesn't mean the authors suck or anything.

Showalter's story is deliciously fun. I love naughty Bianka, especially the naked oil wrestling scene with Paris and Lysander. I wish it was longer but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Summary:From the masters of paranormal romance, three brand-new tales of seduction....

The Darkest Angel by Gena Showalter
A Lords of the Underworld tale
An iron-willed demon assassin, the angel Lysander has never known lustâuntil he meets Bianka. Spawned from the bloodline of Lucifer, the beautiful but deadly Harpy is determined to lead the pure-hearted Lysander into temptationâ¦.

Love Me to Death by Maggie Shayne
Twenty-two years ago four teenage boys were convicted of a young girl's murder. Now, in the form of a beautiful woman, the "victim" is seeking vengeance. And only one man dares to dig into the past to uncover its secrets⦠and set her free.

Lady of the Nile by Susan Krinard
Lady Tameri believes herself to be the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian princess, and Leo Erskine has set out to prove her wrongâ¦never dreaming that the two of them are about to discover a prophecy that will bind them together forever.

The Darkest Angel
I have been feinding for a 'Lords' story for awhile now, and I definitely was not disappointed. Gena Showalter has a very specific writing style, I could recognize it even without knowing she wrote it, and that's an awesome thing, in my opinion. I loved this story, it was sweet, sizzling hot and just cute. I am glad Gena Showalter is expanding her characters as well...we now have sexy angels, and probably more demons to play with. Great story, loved the entire thing. â â â â â

Love Me To Death
This was the first time I had read anything by Maggi Shayne. I think I definitely found a new author to read, this story was great. It wasn't easily predictable and was incredibly sexy and drawing, I was in for the long haul from page one. The characters were well developed for such a short story and I can't wait to read the series that is related to it, when the author starts putting them out.
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Lady of the Nile
This was a short sweet and spicy historical/paranormal-ish romance story. I quite liked it, I really like Leo's character, even if he is a bit stubborn for his own good. I liked these two together as well. I will have to find more books by Susan Krinard. I like her writing style.
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Received from: Netgalley

For more information or for purchasing visit Gena Showalter, Maggie Shayne, or Susan Krinard on their webpages.

I give this book 5/5 stars. â â â â â

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I got the book for Gena Showalter's story, but all were fantastic!

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As anthologies go, this one was a decent read. I enjoyed both the Gena Showalter (The Darkest Angel) story as well as the Maggie Shayne (Love Me to Death) story. The first goes along with Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series, while the latter Shayne story seems to be a stand alone story. Both stories had good plots, characters, and kept me invested in the outcome. The last story by Susan Krinard (Lady of the Nile) was not so good. I stopped reading it by the 2nd or 3rd chapter - I just could not get into it. I didn't care about the characters or the writing. I would recommend this anthology for the first 2 stories.

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I got this book for the Lords of Underworld story and it did not disappoint. I tells of half-harpy Bianka and warrior angel Lysander. Overall a very enjoyable and steamy story. I would recommend reading the other Lords story prior to reading this one.

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