Friday, January 09, 2009

Review: _On the Prowl_

Paranormal Romance or what I call Romantic Fantasy is growing popular among fans. Authors mix fantasy elements with romance to create new types of stories. Readers looking for some shorter Fantasy with romantic elements will find it in On the Prowl. This book consists of four stories from various authors that blend Urban Fantasy and Romance.

First is “Alpha and Omega” by Patricia Briggs, expanding her Urban Fantasy stories set in the same world as her Mercy Thompson books. Anna Latham is an abused, submissive werewolf. Something terrible is going on in her Chicago pack. Things change for her when she meets Charles, a werewolf sent by his father to investigate what is happening with her pack. Charles is a dominant aloof man until he meets Anna. She has a special magic that is rare in werewolves. Ms. Briggs provides an entertaining story to her Urban Fantasy with two new interesting characters.

Kia is a Gifted woman living in a small Texas town. She faces prejudice and danger in “Inhuman” by Eileen Wilks. Magic has entered the modern world. The Gifted are people with magical talents of various kinds. They face hatred from humans who have no magic. Kia is a telepath who sees people’s thoughts in color. Nathan is her friend. He is a police officer and has a secret that Kia keeps. When a murderer begins killing Gifted people, Kian and Nathan must work together to stop the killer. The author writes an enjoyable story with likable characters and an interesting plot.

In “Buying Trouble” by Karen Chance, Claire becomes an unwilling part of an auction. Different people want to buy her because of her magic power to nullify magic. She finds herself on the run with a Fey lord in an action action chase through Faery. Claire discovers her heritage and destiny in the land of Faery. Ms. Chance gives readers an entertaining story full of action.

The final story is “Mona Lisa Betwinning” by Sunny. This story is part of an ongoing series about the Monere, a group of shapechangers who get power from moon. Lisa is the current queen of the Monere, who must deal with picking a mate to ensure her people’s future. Dontaine is one of her body guards that loves her, but she chooses to ignore. An added complication to Lisa’s problems is the involvement of demons in Monere business. The author provides readers with an intriguing story that is sexually explicit.

On the Prowl is a good book to sample the subgenre of Romance Fantasy. The four stories in this book by different authors offer a variety of entertaining stories to experience a growing subgenre. Al the stories are by popular authors with good imaginations. Readers might want to seek out the other books that continue the further adventures of the characters in the stories from this book.

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