A must for Rob Thurman fans! It's a short anthology, at only 4 stories, but I love it for the Griffin and Zeke story alone!

Milk and Cookies is from a previous anthology collection; a Christmas one I believe. It's not inspiring but typical Rob Thurman fun. First read for me. Not my favorite of hers but serviceable. It's all up hill from here, but that's not hard because, like I said, I'll read just about anything about my boys!

First Ball...Last Call is a short I've read before and man I love it. What happens when two wannabe cowboys go monster hunting? Oh, you know, stuff.

A Grain of Salt is a young Cal story. It makes me want to cuddle Cal and at the same time realize he would absolutely have shanked me for it and then quietly buried my body, preferably without telling Niko to avoid the whole disappointed look.

Talking Trash is a day in the life of Trixa's recovering angel and recovery demon lost boys. Such adorable little sociopathic behavior. Or is it psychopathic? Either way, glad I'm not Zeke's neighbor.

Like Cal? Like Trixa's silly boys (with Trixa and Leo stopping in of course)? Read it! ( )

Like so many, I’m a big fan of the Cal Leandros series. That said, I have enjoyed everything Thurman has written so far just as much. When I saw this collection of four short stories I didn’t hesitate. Though this paperback is “self-published,” three of the stories have appeared in other anthologies.

It’s rare for me to enjoy every story in a collection. The only time I can recall other than this is Brigg’s “Shifting Shadows.” All four stories here are not just enjoyable, but downright excellent. Thurman manages to put a true surprise into each story, which is no easy feat.

Milk & Cookies – a Christmas story unlike any other, when a brother who no longer believes in Santa helps his little sister believe just a little bit longer. Fun, with a funny but macabre twist at the end.

First Ball…Las Call – this apocalyptic story about the Fae turns a reader’s expectations on their head.

A Grain of Salt – I love when Thurman goes back to Cal’s childhood, before he became the badass we know. I love even more when she reminds us he was still badass even then!

Talking Trash – a fun little story from the Trickster series about our favorite ex-Demon/Ex-Angel couple. I’ve always loved that it’s the ex-Angel who has trouble fitting in with humanity.

Overall, everything in here is worth the read. While the paperback is very expensive for the amount of material included (not surprising given how it’s published), I decided it was worth the cost. However, there is a much more reasonably priced kindle version also available. Highly recommended. ( )