- Title: Belong to the Night
- Authors: Shelly Laurenston, Cynthia Eden, Sherrill Quinn
- Type: Urban fantasy romance anthology
- Genre: Shifters, witches, and vamps
- Sub-genre:
- My Grade: C+ (3.3*)
- Rating:
- Where Available: Everywhere books are sold
As always, this anthology has its ups and downs. The one short novel and two novellas by well known authors are three contemporary romances in various Southern settings, each with a darker urban fantasy edge. I’d love to say that Shelly Laurenston made it all worthwhile, but I just can’t. I assumed when I bought this book it was destined for my ‘keeper’ shelf. Not so I’m afraid. It isn’t often that Shelly Laurenston disappoints, but she did here. I’ve read the rave reviews by others and I find myself mystified – or maybe I just didn’t see the humor and appeal in this one. At any rate, my negative reaction seems to be unusual.
The Wolf, the Witch, and Her Lack of a Wardrobe by Laurenston takes up 160 pages, basically half the book. Despite it being a short novel, it rather surprisingly lacks humor, charm or truly likable characters. Ms Laurenston’s female lead characters might be considered atypical Aggressive, outspoken, independent, and usually focused on gaining independence, – but they are not amoral, they do have friends, and they void of emotional attachments. Even Annwyl the Bloody has obvious feelings. Unfortunately, Jamie Meacham comes off as profoundly amoral, impatient, and completely self adsorbed. Essentially a true sociopath. I simply never liked her and I liked Annwyl the Bloody! And Tully Smith, the pack alpha in Smithville, is so laid back and mellow he’s kind of dull. The supporting characters were too significant to be important to the story to be given such short shrift, but Laurenston barely sketches them in. (more…)
