Search - Wild Thing: Animal Magnetism / Paradise / Hunter Kiss / Wild Hearts in Atlantis

A paranormal anthology by 4 romance authors. Trade paperback. I won a copy of this book and it was signed (!!) so no way I can repost it - sorry. The stories are:
1) Animal Magnetism by Maggie Shayne - a vet with a special talent for communicating with animals (Dr Macy McNamara) meets police officer Jay Harris when he comes into her examination room with a bleeding dog. The dog was shot while trying to protect her owner from a rapist and is the only witness who can identify him. Now Macy, who has spent most of her life hiding her talent and being cold towards people, must convince the detective that she is not crazy and the dog told her who the rapist is. A pleasant/comfort sort of read.
2) Paradise by Meljean Brook - part of her Guardian series, which I had never read before. I had no problems understanding this world though - some very interesting world-building details that I enjoyed, and backstory of the past/relationships with other characters is explained well. A demon is stalking vampires and the Guardian Selah teams up with Paradise, Oregon vampire leader Lucus Marsden to stop the killings. I really appreciated the details about the nature of vampires/Guardians that this author explained to the reader (eg. vampires can't taste food, only blood, Guardians abilities have to do with their past life).
3) Hunter Kiss by Marjorie M. Liu - an introduction to a new series about Maxine Kiss - a demon hunter whose living tattoos protect her from harm but are also her curse. Really interesting character and world. Told from a first person present tense viewpoint. I was really surprised by the quality of the writing in this one. Very different in a good way from the other book I've read by this author.
4) Wild Hearts in Atlantis by Alyssa Day - Atlantean warriors, centuries old battle vampires and shapeshifters to protect humanity. In a world where vampires are becoming increasingly powerful politically, the Atlanteans must ally with some shapeshifters who haven't sided with the vampires. Bastian is the ambassador sent for this task and his first contact is half-shapshifter Kat Fiero, who he carries a torch for. I had trouble with the dialog in this one. Seemed to switch from modern day slangish vernacular to a stilted formal speech..

stories by maggie shayne, Marjorie Liu, and Alyssa Day were very good. The one story by Meljean Brook was disjointed and confusing and bored me to tears.

Good short stories from some of my favorite authors. They give minor characters a chance to have their own story. They even alow major characters to develope more deeply. It is a good collection of what their other stories are about.

I got this book to read Bastien's story from Day's Warriors of Poseidon series. As expected, it was a good installment, although brief in short story form. I also enjoyed the other stories in the book. I have never read anything by Liu or Brook, but enjoyed their stories as well. Maggie Shayne is already one of my favorite authors. All in all, this is a very good read, with some hot sex thrown in.

Very much enjoyed this book. I knew I would like Liu and Shayne. They are two authors I enjoy and it was great reading short stories which filled out the story lines on their other books. I also like reading anthologies to see if I can find new authors that I would be interested in. I was not disappointed. The stories by Brook and Day were both entertaining and hooked me. I will be reading more of their books in the future.

I truly enjoyed this book. What an excellent way to meet new authors.