Enthralled Paranormal Diversions (Anthology)

I myself love the idea of anthologies, as I view it as a sort of taster of what the author "has to offer", so to speak. I love reading an anthology, researching the authors in it, and ordering books by them. It is a great way of finding authors that you may never even have heard of.

Some authors use anthologies to do a sequel/prequel to their previous books. Kimberley Derting does just that, in her story "Skin Contact" and tells the story of how Rafe's (character from "The Body Finder" trilogy) girlfriend was killed; I myself, being an avid reader of Derting's worked was over-joyed to find an extra bit of writing taken from "The Body Finder" universe. Whilst other authors use it as a way to let their minds run wild and write tales that wouldn't perhaps be good (or indeed long) enough to turn into a full-book, but nonetheless need to be shared in someway. Mary E. Pearson does just that in her story "Gargouille", she gives us an incredible, heart-breaking take on love between two creatures perceived as monsters, but who are in fact "normal" people (just with wings). It ends on a cliff-hanger, and has the reader sitting on the edge of her/his seat throughout.

Although these are the only two stories that I am going to mention in this review (seeing as there are sixteen stories in total and to review them all in detail would be nigh on impossible) the other fourteen within this anthology are all of an extremely high-standard; it's just that, for me, these stories stood out more than the others for the compassion within the stories and the complex characters that you would not expect to find in short-stories.

Full list of Authors and their respective stories:

Claudia Gray - ("Giovanni's Farewell")
Carrie Ryan - ("Scenic Route")
Kami Garcia - ("Red Run")
Jackson Pearce - ("Things About Love")
Rachel Vincent - ("Niederwald")
Melissa Marr - ("Merely Mortal")
Kelley Armstrong - ("Facing Facts")
Sarah Rees Brennan - ("Let's Get This Undead Show on the Road")
Jeri Smith-Ready - ("Bridge")
Kimberley Derting - ("Skin Contact")
Ally Condie - ("Leaving")
Jessica Verday - ("At the Late Night, Double Feature, Picture Show")
Margaret Stohl - ("IV League")
Mary E. Pearson - ("Gargouille")
Jennifer Lynn Barnes - ("The Third Kind")
Rachel Caine - ("Automatic")

I would highly recommending checking this anthology out, as some (if not all) of these stories are incredibly well-written and are perfect for any reader that enjoys romantic-supernatural stories.

Rating: 4/5