Dates From Hell by Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Kelley Armstrong, Lori Handeland

This paranormal anthology contains four different stories that show women surviving their own dates from hell.

In Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil, by Kim Harrison, Ivy Tamwood – a homicide cop that just happens to be a living vampire – finds herself caught between a family responsibility to work her way up the corporate ladder and a boss who’s holding up her promotion until she has sex with him.

In The Claire Switch Project, by Linsay Sands, Clair Beckett unwittingly becomes part of a science experiment that gives her the ability to change her shape. But is changing her shape enough to help her attract the attention of her longtime friend, Kyle Lockhart?

In Chaotic, by Kelley Armstrong, a young girl named Hope, attempts to prevent a robbery only to find that the robber isn’t what he appears to be. Can her demon heritage help save her from an encounter with a werewolf?

In Dead Man Dating, Lori Handeland, tells the tale of Mara Naomi Elizabeth, aka Kit who not only finds that her date is dead, he’s also inhabited by a demon who wants to love her to death – literally. Her only hope is a rogue demon hunter who’s asking a price higher than she’s willing to pay.

I enjoyed reading this collection of stories. I really enjoyed Linsay’s sense of humor in her story and the fact that her story stands by itself. This isn’t true of Kelley’s story because it’s set in the same world as many of her other stories. Fortunately, I’ve read a few other stories she’s written, which made the story really enjoyable. The remaining stories were pretty good as they explored some different paranormal ideas that I haven’t seen before. All in all, I think if you love paranormal stories, you’ll love this book.

Details: Avon, April 2006

Bottom line: A very good book