Review: Eternal, More Love Stories with Bite - Edited by P.C. Cast - various authors

Immortal: Love Stories With Bite, edited by P.C. Cast (author of the #1 New York Times phenomenon House of Night series), collected dark, romantic short stories from seven of the hottest vampire writers in YA.
Now Eternal: More Love Stories With Bite presents all-new YA stories featuring vampires, the romantic heroes and heroines that still hold the reading public enraptured. A mix of writers from the first anthology and new contributors makes for a fresh new collection with all of the dark romance of its predecessor, and a book that’s sure to thrill vampire romance fans old and new.
The book includes an original introduction by Cast. (YA, Paranormal)

Review:

*Eternal: More Love Stories with Bite is an anthology with six short stories all featuring vampires, so I’ll tackle each story with a short review. All of the authors with the exception of Jeri Smith-Ready are new to me so I haven’t read any of the series that a few of these shorts were based on.

Bloodshed by Claudia Gray:
Bloodshed is based on Gray’s Evernight series featuring the character of Patrice. It takes place in wartime 1944. Patrice is a vampire longing for eternal love and thinks she finds it with Charlie, a soldier. When he is taken prisoner she and fellow vampire Ivan rush to save him. Patrice is faced with a decision that has her torn between humanity and love. Although I haven’t read the Evernight series it is clear that there is more to Patrice and Ivan’s story and I wonder if the events of Bloodshed carry over into the series. It sagged a little in the middle but was good overall. I think I will check out Evernight based on Bloodshed.
Rating: 3.5 out of 4

Say Yes by Lili St. Crow
This was my least favorite. I just couldn’t connect to these self-consciously hip teenagers. If they weren’t drinking, getting high or trying to have sex, they were complaining how “tragic” there life was. The dancing was tragic, someone looked tragic….you get the idea. There were also several unnecessary descriptions of several girls’ periods. There is a serial killer on the loose and girls are found dead including the main characters best friend, Chelsea. The main character doesn’t have a name that I could tell. She thinks she knows who the killer is and it gets a tad more interesting then but there is really no follow through because of the length of the story. I was intrigued by Jack, a vampire and his connection to the main character and where the events of Say Yes might lead to but this wasn’t that book.
Rating: 2 out of 4

Letters to Romeo by Nancy Holder
A twist on the classic Romeo and Juliet. They act on their suicide pact except in this version Romeo is a vampire and is told that although Juliet died she will be reincarnated and reunited with him again. Romeo waits 700 years for his Juliet and thinks he’s found her on Facebook in the form of 16 year old Claire. Which is kind of funny and also kind of creepy. He brings Claire to him and finds she’s not the Juliet he remembers. But is Juliet already close by, unnoticed by Romeo? Well it is Romeo and Juliet so you know there’s going to be a tragic end but it was a nice twist anyway and I enjoyed it.
Rating 3 out of 4

The Other Side by Heather Brewer
I really enjoyed this one! Tarrah and her boyfriend Corey wake up on a cold concrete floor chained to a pipe. There are monsters are experimenting on them. They struggle to survive and escape their captors. I can’t say too much more without spoiling it. Creepy with a good twist. I would love to read more about Tarrah and Corey.
Rating 3.5 out of 4

Drama Queen’s Last Dance by Rachel Caine
This is a Morganville Vampires short story so I did feel a little out of the loop but it wasn’t too hard to figure out the characters and relationships. Drama Queen's Last Dance features Eve and Michael. They are having a bit of relationship trouble in the form of the very seductive Gloriana. I’m guessing all of this is part of a bigger story and might be better for fans of the series but I did enjoy it and might give the series a go after reading it.
Rating: 3 out of 4

Thief by Jeri Smith-Ready
Jeri was the only author whose previous writings I was familiar with. Thief is loosely based on her adult Urban Fantasy - WVMP Vampire radio series. You do not need to have read that series to understand this short story. These are characters that will be making an appearance in Let it Bleed due out next year. Cass is the daughter of a band of gypsies called the Traveller’s and she has been betrothed to Gavin in an arranged marriage by her mother and step dad. Cass is in love with Liam and they go to great lengths to stay together after tragedy strikes. Jeri has once again exhibited her world building chops and introduced us to another great couple. The story ended too soon for me so I hope we get to read more of what happened in Let it Bleed.
Rating 3.5 out of 4

Source: I received this book for review from BenBella Books http://www.benbellabooks.com/
Buy the book! Eternal: More Love Stories with Bite