Things That Go <br>Bump In The Night<br> 2004

Blue Moon By Lorie O'Clare – This is the story of Sandy Parks, the widowed mother of Beth, queen bitch of the pack. Sandy has never been the kind of woman to sleep around, because she doesn’t want to get a bad reputation within the pack. But one Halloween, on the night of the Blue Moon, Ralph Hipp expresses his interest in her. Ralph is a man about her own age, who works as the security chief for Ethan, the pack Alpha. Now that her daughter is settled, is it finally Sandy’s turn for happiness? This is part of the Lunewulf series, but stands alone quite well.

Shadow Hunter By J. C. Wilder – A retired Shadow Hunter, were-cat Rik is in trouble with the Council of Elders because a werewolf, Weylyn, has declared a feud with him. He’s under orders to go meet with Weylyn, and “make nice” because this is not a good time to be at odds with the wolves. Charlene is a human woman who has dressed as a cat for Halloween, and meets Rik for the first time at The Chamber, a bar that caters both to humans and supernatural beings. They are immediately attracted to one another. But then Charlene is dragged into the middle of the werewolf/were-cat feud, and Rik must keep her from harm no matter what the Council says.

Twofold Desires By Ashleigh Raine – This story is loosely related to the Talisman Bay series, but stands on its own quite well. Jill Evans is the owner of a florist shop. Wanting to spice up her dull life, Jill attends a Singles Dance on Halloween night. There, she meets Arden, a darkly handsome graphics designer. Arden and his brother Leo need to find a woman who will accept them both within three days, or they will die. Is Jill the woman for them?

Usually, in an anthology, there is one story that stands out from all the others. It is rare to find an anthology like this one in which all of the stories are of an equally high quality. All three have two things in common. They take place at Halloween, when all the supernatural creatures come out to socialize with the standard humans, and they involve shape shifters.

Each story is well written, with an interesting plot and adept execution. I enjoy short stories, especially stories that demonstrate skill in using the shorter format. All three stories are well paced -- neither too slow to get everything in, nor coming to a climax too quickly (if you’ll pardon the expression!). Each story is about the love of a man and a woman under adverse conditions -- or, in the case of Twofold Desires, the love of two men and a woman. The sexual scenes are very explicit. In Blue Moon, the love is between an older man and woman, but they are very young at ... um ... heart! In Shadow Hunter, the sex is wild and uninhibited, and very lighthearted. Twofold Desires involves a ménage à trois, and is extremely hot and sexy! This anthology is a great way to celebrate Halloween – I recommend it highly!

Reviewed by: Jean