BEYOND THE DARK

Author: Angela Knight, Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, Diane Whiteside ISBN: 0425218767 12/2007 ANTHOLOGY Publisher: Berkley Sensation

What can you feel in the dark? How far are you willing to go beyond it? Angela Knight does it with Dragon Dance. . . in the psychic realm of a woman attuned to the touch of strangers—and the powerful ternptations of a seductive and mysterious protector. Emma Holly does it with Queen of All She Surveys... In the fantastic Demon World where a powerful Queen rules—until she commits the sin of falling in love with the handsome son of her worst enemy. Lora Leigh does it with In a Wolf's Embrace... in the domain of a strange Breed, part man, part wolf, on the hunt for the woman he craves—and needs—to fulfill a hunger clawing at him from within. Diane Whiteside does it with Caught by the Tides... in an alternate universe of Regency magic where two lovers are threatened by vicious mage and swept up in a turbulent war off the Cornish cliff.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

BEYOND THE DARK is a paranormal, borderline erotic anthology by these top selling authors: Angela Knight, Diane Whiteside, Emma Holly and Lora Leigh. I couldn't wait to settle in and read this book as I love all four authors. It really saddens me to admit that this anthology was not what I expected—instead of being mesmerized by the four novellas, I was more confused and bored.

Angela Knight's contribution to BEYOND THE DARK is called Dragon Dance. As much as I adore Knight's books, I just couldn't get into this story. I found it hard to follow and more than once re-read its passages.

Dian Whiteside's novella, Caught by the Tides, is next in line. While I did enjoy this story a bit more than the first novella, at times I found it confusing and it never really kept my attention.

Queen of All She Surveys is the name of Emma Holly's contribution to BEYOND THE DARK. Here again, I found myself not taken with the story and being confused with the intricate storyline. Holly's novella would have been more enjoyable as a full length book where she could have incorporated more background information about the characters.

I will say that Lora Leigh's contribution and final novella in BEYOND THE DARK was pretty darn good. A Wolf's Embrace was by far the best story in this book. Unfortunately, it was the last story, which meant I had to go through two hundred and fifty pages until her story began. Oh, if you're a fan of her Breeds series, than you are going to love this novella!

So, one out four short stories in the anthology BEYOND THE DARK was able to keep my attention and hold it until the end of the book. I'm quite sorry and very disappointed to have nothing shining to say about the other three novellas. But hey! No author can write a perfect story (short or full length) every time.

Julie Kornhausl