About Other Magical Creatures

Written by Mychael Black, Dianne Fox and Sommer Marsden
171 pages / 68000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-677-3, 1-60370-677-1
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, paperback

Witches and demons, shifters and ex-gods; Other Magical Creatures has it all. These stories explore the magical and human, all in hot m/m/f style. Crossroads by Sommer Marsden follows Wesley Moore, who bargains with a demon to find success. The price seems cheap when he's alone and his family has a history of early deaths. What he doesn't count on is falling in love with two different people just before his deal comes due. Can Wesley come away with his life and both the boy and the girl?

In A Family Most Unconventional by Mychael Black, werewolf Ric Deveraux leaves home after a personal tragedy. With his father on his death bed, Ric is returns to his family, where complications like his deceased wife's brother and an unexpected discovery keep him on his toes. Will he be able to forgive himself for his wife's death and focus on the good things in his life?

Finally, in Dianne Fox's God of Wine, succubus Maggie is a bartender for ex-god of wine Dean. He understands her needs, and lets her come and go as she pleases. When ex-boyfriend Tor blows back into town, he and Maggie get back together. Only this time, they've both got their eyes on Dean, too. Can Maggie find happiness with two very different men?

Review

C.C. Bridges, author of Leashed Tails, writes: The best thing about BBA stories is wondering how the author will get the threesome together. Add in the bonus of the urban fantasy-like theme of "Other Magical Creatures" and you have a combination that's hard to beat. Each of the three stories in this anthology has its own twist and takes the reader on a very different journey.

In "Crossroads" by Summer Marsden, Wesley Moore is coming up on the last year of his life after making a deal with a demon for his soul in exchange for becoming a prominent artist. Circumstances leading up to his gallery showing having him meeting up with baker Sabrina, who also happens to be a witch, and security mogul Ty, who has a little shape shifting problem. Wesley struggles with the consequences of his deal while falling in love. This story delivers some hot were-tiger scenes, and the ultimate in love saving the day.

Mychael Black's "A Family Most Unconventional" follows werewolf Ric Devereux as he is forced to confront the ghosts of his past, returning to his home to be at the deathbed of his father and take over leadership of the pack. At first he fights his attraction to Quinn, the brother of his deceased wife, but when a mysterious stranger shows up with secrets of her own, Ric learns what family truly means. This story takes the theme of pack as family and runs with it, though as the title states, even though what they have found is unconventional, it is still truly a family.

In "God of Wine" by Dianne Fox the reader is taken on an erotic ride as we encounter a succubus named Maggie who happens to work as a bartender for the former god of wine himself. When an old flame bursts into town, Maggie finds herself giving in to Tor's advances, expecting him to leave as always. Instead, Tor brings Dean, the aforementioned ex-god into their bed. Maggie may be all about sex, but can she risk her heart as well? This lovely piece of writing had me intrigued right from the start with excellent plot, intriguing world building, oh, and scorching hot sex.

Sample

God of Wine
by Dianne Fox

"Maggie!" Dean's voice carried easily over the noise of the bar. It was a Wednesday night, so the crowd wasn't too bad.

Maggie, not Magdalene. Nobody named their daughters Magdalene anymore, and no one around here went by their real names these days. Names had power, and nobody passed that around freely. Not here, anyway.

"You need something?" Dean was on the other side of the broad, teak bar, waiting tables tonight. Usually, he was behind the bar with me. After all, he owned the place. The God of Wine.

The God of Wine was the local hang-out for supernatural types. Some cities had cafes or bookstores. We had a bar. It was a damn good bar, too. I was the bartender, had been for going on three years now.

"I need a Southern Belle and two Vodka Martinis."

I rolled my eyes. If it wasn't gin and vermouth, it wasn't a martini, in my opinion. I made the drinks anyway and put them on the tray he set down on the bar. The tray, like the rest of the bar, was sticky with spilled liquor. Once we'd kicked out the stragglers at the end of the night, we'd be here another hour, at least, cleaning up the mess. That wasn't for a few hours yet, though.

"That it?"

Dean grinned. Damn, he was pretty. Not handsome, but pretty: dark hair that fell in sleek waves around his face, bright brown eyes, and sun-dark skin that hinted at his Greek heritage. He was slim, too, with long legs that looked just as good in a skirt as in a pair of pants, as he'd proven several times over the years I'd worked with him.

I had a rule against dating people I worked with, though, and another rule against dating former gods. That ruled Dean out on both counts, even if he was gorgeous.

"It's pretty quiet tonight. I get back, you can head on upstairs, get some rest." He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. "Maybe keep on going straight up to my place."

"If I'm up there, you've got to be down here," I said, matching his grin. "You want me to stay in that big old bed of yours all by my lonesome?"

Dean just laughed. He knew my rules.