Unfinished Business Authors: Carlo Angelo, Cassandra Pierce, Megan Derr, and Stephanie Rabig Title: Unfinished Business Series: An Anthology Genre: Paranormal Pairing: M/M, F/F, Bi Rating: Four Petals On the Publisher's Website: https://lessthanthreepress.com/books... Summary: REBORN by Carlo Angelo—Several days ago Ilya confessed his feelings to Ridley, and since then matters between the two men have been strained. With Ridley sick and their case about disappearing men still unsolved, Ilya is almost relieved to take on an easy case of dispelling a rogue at the Netherworld estate. But the more of the estate he sees, the more he realizes the easy case might just leave him dead. YOU MAY NOW KISS THE (CORPSE) BRIDE by Stephanie Rabig—Nora is at her wit's end. She died several months ago, and knows she should move on, but can't get thoughts of her husband out of her mind. Though ghosts technically aren't allowed to contact the living, she finds a Private Investigator, Sanaa, who's willing to bend the rules for her. Sanaa's willing to help, but she has shadows in her past, including a vengeful former client. Just because she's dead doesn't mean she won't need her .38. THE THRILL OF THE CASE by Cassandra Pierce—At first, Geordie thinks his case will be run-of-the-mill: an aging millionaire wants him to tail his sexy young boytoy to see if he's been cheating. Expecting to be bored even more than on most surveillance missions, Geordie follows his target to a private nightclub and manages to slip inside. What he finds turns his whole world upside down. But he's got a job to do, even if it's not nearly as routine as he'd anticipated, and being discovered as a detective will get him killed fast. The attraction to the club's owner isn't helping matters. GODFREY AND THE DETECTIVE by Megan Derr—Godfrey makes a point to live a quiet, unassuming life—'mostly because vampires are a lot less likely to get dead that way. Finding a dead body in his yard is very much the last thing he wanted, though he can't be entirely upset about the hot, scruffy detective assigned the case. The problem with humans, however, is that they don't know when to quit... Maggie's Review:
I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Overall I enjoyed reading this paranormal detective themed anthology. Each story was unique enough to hold its own amid a group of some very well written and interesting stories. I've given short reviews for each individual story and my overall rating for the anthology is the average of those reviews. Reborn by Carlo Angelo -- Three Petals This was a good start to the anthology. Ilya and Ridley are investigating a case of missing people and the case takes them from the human world where they battle vampires to the underworld where ghosts and other ghouls are causing an equal amount of problems. The plot was the best part of this story. It kept my interest from start to finish with interesting twists and dynamics. However, it felt like Angelo was trying too hard; the language was overly formal and sometimes came across as stiff. For example, Angelo kept using "whence" when "where" would more than suffice. It pulled me out of the story, which was unfortunate because the rest was well done. You May Now Kiss The (Corpse) Bride by Stephanie Rabig -- Four Petals Nora is dead and is starting her new "life" in the underworld. She's not sure how she fits in, but she remembers that she left her husband behind when she died. Desperate to know how he's doing, she enlists the help of Sanaa, a private detective who can help Nora find closure. The world building was amazing. The fact that Rabig was able to squeeze so many little tidbits into such a short story to provide the depth was definitely a strength. My only complaint was the plot itself was too compact. While there were twists and turns, each one felt rushed; there wasn't enough build up or impact to really convey what was happening. I wish the story was longer because with just a little more detail this could have been amazing. The Thrill of the Case by Cassandra Pierce -- Four Petals Geordie is a private detective hired to figure out if a millionaire's boy-toy is cheating, so Geordie follows the boy-toy to a strange club where only members can enter and Geordie is definitely not welcome. I thought this story was also a little fast-paced. The details of the vampires and their society are tossed in too quickly and the romance is basically insta-love. That said, the characterizations were very well done. Each person in the story was distinct and they brought an interesting and unique dynamic to the plot that really kept my interest. Godfrey and the Detective by Megan Derr -- Five Petals This was my favorite story in the anthology. When Godfrey finds a dead body in his bushes, he knows his evening isn't going to go as planned, still the very hot detective that takes the case makes up for that. Finding the murderer while keeping the detective at bay turns out to be the most interesting thing to happen to Godfrey in centuries. It was the fact that Godfrey was interested in the mystery that got me interested. I could relate to the characters and was therefore immediately pulled into Godfrey's world. The story was too short for the romance to have the depth it needed, so it did feel a little like insta-love, but it still worked because I believed in the characters. The story also read like it was a side-story to a larger work with references to other characters and plots that provided a lot of depth to the world building. I can't help hoping that the twins and Paisley's mysterious human do have a story of their own in the works. Maggie's Recommendation: I really enjoyed reading all the stories in this short, paranormal detective themed anthology. Each had a unique take on the theme and were very well written. I definitely recommend this anthology.
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Magnolia's Reviews
Maggie reviews paranormal and fantasy novels and novellas. She also interviews authors and hosts giveaways. Archives
April 2018
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