Dead after dark anthology

Title: Dead after dark
Author(s): Sherrilyn Kenyon, J. R. Ward, Susan Squires, and Dianna Love
Published: December 2008 by St. Martin's Press
Genre: Paranormal romance
Includes:
      * Sherrilyn Kenyon's "Shadow of the moon"
      * J. R. Ward's "The story of Son"
      * Susan Squires' "Beyond the night"
      * Dianna Love's "Midnight kiss goodnight"

Since it included Sherrilyn Kenyon's latest addition to the Dark-Hunter universe, this anthology was a must-buy (actually it was a Christmas present that I only now - cough, cough - got around to reading!), but I loved 3 out of the 4 stories contained within it's pages. I'm not, for the most part, a fan of short stories - since I prefer, for the most part, character over plot (though the plot has to be there as well - I'm not an easy girl to please ;-), there's not enough character development within the span of a short story (for obvious reasons).

      * Kenyon's "Shadow of the moon" is Fury's story - the latest addition to the were-hunter sub-series. It was a good little snippet, a teaser with old characters reappearing (Z, but no Bob - pout!), a new plotline that will probably be carried over, and all the while whetting our appetite for Fang and Aimee's story due out in the summer.

      * Ward's "The story of Son" was unexpected - I had borrowed her first book in the "Black Dagger Brotherhood" series, but I never got around to reading it and she was pushed back to the end of my authors-to-read list. After breezing through this story, I've already ordered the first two books in her series! It starts out with a female lawyer who has no interest in the domestic sphere, or anything to do with men - until she is held captive for a rather unusual man. Nice mix of sex, sensuality, action, and plot.

      * I have never read anything previously of Susan Squires, but after flipping through her "Beyond the night," I probably won't. A female vampire masquerading as a ghost, the hero on the lam, and a dead-former-love - with a weird vampiric backstory. Too much eroticism, not enough plot.

      * What wasn't there to "love" about Love's "Midnight kiss goodnight"? It had strong characters, a driven and up-beat plot, backstory...shades of Kenyon's 'Dark-hunter' and 'BAD' series combined, but a girl can't be picky, can she? ;-)

      Ta!