Didn't really care for this short, transitions seemed choppy.

Redeeming the Wizard by Jennifer Lyon - 4
Magic born, magic sensitive and nulls. Gage finds Mira who helps him repair the damage he'd done to himself while they try to save her grandmother. There was a weird jump from finding the kidnapper that didn't seem to get resolved.
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The Howling by Erin McCarthy.

It’s been six months since Sebastian vanished from Liv’s life and took all of her money. Since then she has become engaged to his brother Scarborough and everything in her life appears to be perfect. The thing is that Liv keeps having these weird dreams that seem to be telling her something.

It’s been six months since Sebastian was betrayed by his brother and left for dead. Ever since then he has healed and become more powerful than ever. He’s determined to reclaim Liv and his place as head of the werewolf clan. He’ll do this anyway he can.

I’m going to go ahead and say this upfront that I do not tolerate rape of any kind. Sebastian basically rapes Liv in chapter three of this story. Sebastian sneaks into Liv’s bedroom in wolf form and then turns into his human form. He then crawls on her bed naked and basically positions himself on top of Liv in the sheets. Liv thinks the whole thing is a dream. She has no idea what Sebastian is really there. Thinking she is dreaming she consults to having sex. Sebastian of course accepts the invitation and then leaves. Liv wakes up thinking she had a nice dream. That is till she discovers the semen between her legs. She spends the whole day as a nervous wreck because she thinks she is going crazy. This screams that she was not a willing participant which equals rape. It doesn’t matter if Sebastian later fells bad because of what he did. He still raped her. I hated him after that. I wanted Liv to push him into the stream where he could float to Forks, Washington and be with the pedophile and abusive werewolves from “Twilight”.

The thing is that Liv does nothing of the sort. Sebastian tells her that he loves him and all is forgotten. I hated them both then. I would have left both Sebastian and Scarborough; newly made werewolf be dammed. Course Sebastian beats his brother, claims Liv as his mate, and takes his place at the head of the pack. The end.

Final rating: 1 star

Smoke on the Water by Bianca D’Arc.

CIA Agent John Petit has a few problems on his hand. The first being his newly appointed partner Donna Sullivan. The other being that someone is making Zombies. It’s up to John and Donna to stop these zombies and put an end to their creation. They are sent down to a fishing hot spot in Tennessee to do just that. Intelligence has put one of the zombie creators, Dr.Bemkey, as living near the lake. It’s their job to capture Dr. Bemkey and kill any zombie’s she has created. That’s if only John and Donna can stop lusting after each other.

I have no idea why this short story was called “Smoke on the Water”. It really should have been titled “Sex and Zombies”. The whole time I was reading it I thought I was reading a script for a porno. John and Donna killed zombies. Have Sex. Kill some more Zombies. Have sex again. Make out in front of the cleanup crew and have sex again for the fun of it. Infiltrate Dr. Bemkey’s lab. Have sex. Get ready to go on another mission, but not before making out. John even referred to Donna as “Babe” most of the story. I’m left with a blank stare after reading this. I don’t even know what to say. It really and honestly felt like I was reading a porno. I don’t do porn or erotic stories. I felt uncomfortable reading it. Therefore if you like erotic stories with a touch of zombie killing this is a story for you.

Rating: 1 star

Redeeming the Wizard by Jennifer Lyon.

Mira Tate is in a major jam. Her grandmother has just been kidnapped by a wizard and all of her magic using relatives are too busy to help look for her. Seeing as she has no magical ability herself, Mira has no choice but to go seek help from “him”. Gage Remington is the last person Mira has ever wanted to ask for help from. This is because he let her parents get killed by demon. Now she has to go ask for his help to prevent the death of the only remaining relative she cares about. Little does she know what’s she is in store for.

Gage Remington has been having a terrible sixteen years. It all started when his former apprentice summoned a demon and it killed two innocent bystanders. After killing her for doing this, Gage’s magic went completely in the fritz and it hasn’t gotten better. Now this gorgeous woman has blackmailed him into helping him find her lost grandmother. She could just be another nail on the coffin or the very cure he’s been looking for.

This story was the better of the three, but that’s not saying much. I say this because if the last two have been a porno and a rape story this one was about the saving grace of sex. Now I’m a big fan of maho shugo or magical girls. Most of these girls have catchy themes and use the power of love and friendship to save their loved ones. Mira has the power of the… vagina…. Yep you read that right. It was Mira’s vagina that saved the day. Gage got all of his powers back when he had sex with Mira. Mira also got some of his power from their various sexual encounters as well. Together they have sex and save Mira’s grandmother. Wonder Woman and Sailor Moon are weeping. Harry Potter is turning his head from side to side. And Gandalf just had a stroke from the stupidity of it. I have no further comment.

Rating: 2 stars ( )

I enjoyed The Beast Within.

Redeeming the Wizard by Jennifer Lyon is my favorite of the three stories. I feel in love with Mira and Gage. I love their relationship. I even liked the bad guy and hope he gets his own story.

The Howling by Erin McCarthy left me wondering if I had missed an earlier book about Liv and Sebastian. I felt that most of their romance had already taken place. I would have enjoyed seeing them fall in love. But still a good story.

I liked Smoke on the Water as well. Which surprised me because I don't like zombies. I even found myself routing for one of them just a little bit!) The relationship between John and Donna could have come out of real life. I would read more zombies books by Bianca D'Arc ( )