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This is part of the In Death series, #29 or thereabouts. A young woman is killed by exsanguination (I love that word!), and Eve Dallas is on the case. I was irritated by Roarke's credulity about vampires--I could buy him believing in witches and magic in Ceremony, but not vampires. Peabody's belief, on the other hand, seemed more on the order of someone who likes scary movies--that is, not as serious.

My other problem was that Eve "just knew" who the killer was. I realize that might be partly because it's a novella and length is a problem, but in the past, Eve has gone out of her way to confirm or disprove what her instincts tell her, so I don't buy that she'd go strictly on instinct in this case.

Regardless, though, it was a strong story, and I particularly appreciated the depiction of the bartender's character.

Amy is on vacation in England and when touring an earl's historical home, she's given a magic coin. Bartender Simon, brother of the current earl, recognizes it and demands an explanation.

Amy and Simon are whisked to the past where she's the earl's sister's companion and he's the earl, and they have to return the coin and figure out how to get back to their own time.

The premise was a little convoluted, as you can tell from my messy attempt at a synopsis, and all the activity didn't really give Amy and Simon enough time to convincingly fall in love, but I did enjoy the dual time travel, with both of them working together, and I thought their reactions to the different time period were believable. What was most fun was that Amy was better prepared for the time period because she'd read historical romances.

Laurel is touring a Scottish castle when she lifts a tapestry and finds herself in the past... and everyone believes she's the laird's wife who's been missing for some time.

This one was really hard to swallow. Laurel never comes up with an explanation for why she's dressed oddly or why she doesn't remember anyone including her own child. Worse yet, she's barely taken aback by the time travel. She never tried to convince anyone she's not the laird's wife, never tried to explain who she is. And then she spent way too much time angsting over her attraction to the laird because she's not his real wife, and it would be wrong.

Topping it off, it has my very least favorite time travel romance ending.

Bonnie's husband Joe has separated from her because she's "too distant." She's miserable, but she's waiting for him to take the first step toward reconciliation. Then her grandmother is injured and insists that Bonnie find the carpet in her attic.

It's a magic carpet, and it takes Bonnie on a voyage of what might-have-been.

I absolutely loved the magic carpet stuff. Once that showed up, the story became interesting. Too bad it took so long to show up though, because I heartily disliked the characters by the time it did.

I find it hard to believe a man asking for a separation because his wife is distant. Having an affair because of that, yes. Separating, no. It's probably sexist of me, but that seems more like a female action.

Then the ending with the grandmother contradicted what we'd been told about the magic carpet's rules. And I was not remotely happy that it turns out the whole thing came about because Joe was being paternalistic. Gah.

Read just the middle of this story--it's fabulous.

Viking Ivar is attacking Lady Elen's castle. Her father's been killed, and all seems lost, until she takes charge and repels the invaders. So Ivar vows revenge on the woman who dares to defy him, and when he does conquer the castle, he takes Lady Elen, planning on making her his bed slave.

Pretty standard stuff, but then about halfway through, it's a different story, and Ivar's only claiming Lady Elen because her father had promised him her hand and Lady Elen refused the match. WTF? No, it's not a paranormal parallel world story--it's just that Ivar's motivation abruptly changes in the middle of the story. Because a novella is so long it needs more than one plot?

Failed actress Diane has come up with a way to give herself and her child a new start: a week as a nude waitress/whatever on a cruise ship. Just one week, and she'll earn enough money to get them settled back in her home town, and nobody will ever need to know about it.

Except that her high school nemesis, Garek Ennis, now a football star, is on board. (cue dramatic music)

An injury has curtailed Garek's football career, and even womanizing is getting boring--all those naked women leave him cold, except for Diane, who he's always had a thing for, but who snubbed him back in high school.

Lots of contrived (by the characters) situations for them to get intimate, lots of misunderstandings and hurt feelings on both sides.

Cute story, as far as it went, but I had trouble believing the characters and I couldn't really buy the premise. Plus, the cruise ship is in Germany for no good reason, and the hero complains about weak German beer. The American hero. Complained about weak German beer. Uh-huh. **headdesk**

This one was just fun. You really have to suspend disbelief for it, though.

Nancy dresses as Xena for a Halloween party, and a witch ends up whisking her into another dimension. She ends up in a nest that's perched reeeeaaaallly high up on a skinny pedestal (no way to get down).

Vorik F'al Vader is a shapeshifter (sort of gargoyle-shaped and human-shaped), and apparently, screaming "help me!" sounds exactly like the cry of a hungry yenni, a not-very-bright creature whose food is the shapershifters' ejaculate. And coincidentally, they look quite a lot like human women, except they have metallic tails (hence the Xena costume, with its sword that in the dim light, he mistakes for a tail--don't quibble, just go with it).

Unsurprisingly, there's quite a lot of oral sex in this one, but it goes on from there. It's a very nice blend of hot sex scenes and laugh-aloud humor. Vorik's confusion and concern for the poor yenni who was so hungry she couldn't eat cracked me up. The romance part worked itself out quite satisfactorily, too, despite the couple's inauspicious beginning.

Victoria Brittain has a secret admirer. She receives a gift of lingerie with no name, just the instruction to wear it to the company party that evening. She complies, enjoying the anticipation, and wondering who it is.

It's good news and bad news. The good news is it's William Hunter, whom she's lusted after for the past year. The bad news is, he's a client. He takes charge of an incredible sexual encounter in her office during the party, then invites her to his home for the weekend (the 2 days, 3 nights of the title).

This was my favorite of the stories. It's pointed out that Hunt had known from Victoria's ex-fiance that she enjoyed "kinky sex," so you know his approach didn't just come out of the blue. The romance is sweet, with both of them being surprised by the strength of their feelings for each other, and the emotions are realistic. The sex scenes are hot, clear, and plentiful, while still leaving enough space for a believable story.

Workaholic Anne Logan hasn't had a date in far too long, and because she's responsible for every little detail at work, what she wants most is for a man who'll take charge of everything. So when her best friend Sarah attends a bachelor auction and bachelor Garrett describes taking care of a woman's every need, she knows exactly what to get Anne for her birthday.

According to the rules of the auction, there's no sex allowed on the date, not even a good-night kiss, but between Garrett being completely in charge (he'd even asked Sarah about Anne's food preferences so he could order for her), and the "accidental" touches and friendly flirtatious conversation, Anne's more than willing to have a second, more private date beginning immediately after the official date is over.

This story gets props for having the most fun and unusual description of an orgasm I think I've ever read: "You mean, does playing the game while you make love always feel like someone's opened the top of your head and filled your brain with Pop Rocks?" But that also brings me to my main objection. Despite that great description, the characters remain matter-of-fact, nonchalant, casual. They might as well be discussing the weather or a grocery list. The actions are steamy, but their thoughts and dialogue are tepid. And calling their D/s play "the Game" started bugging me after a while. I appreciate the point that it's a game rather than a lifestyle for them, but it started feeling like I was being bashed over the head with it.

The ending, though, was clever, happy, believable, and fair to both of them--and unusual, at least to me, and I read enough to be thrilled by an unusual ending.

Annie's master Mark and Tom's mistress Claudine give Annie the gift of Tom for her birthday. Sub Annie had planned to dominate Tom, but he dominates her instead.

This story is all about the sex. Which is hot, but there wasn't enough emotional context for me to really enjoy it. There's a brief bit confirming Annie's devotion to Mark and Tom's to Claudine, but as Mark and Claudine are perfectly fine with the arrangement, there's no conflict there, and no conflicted emotions from Annie or Tom.

Maybe I'm jaded, but I need more story with my sex scenes.