Weddings from Hell (Night Huntress, #1.5; Brotherhood of Blood, #3.5; Nicki Styx, #2.5)

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Weddings from Hell (Night Huntress - Complete World #1.5)

by Maggie Shayne (Goodreads Author), Jeaniene Frost (Goodreads Author), Terri Garey (Goodreads Author), Kathryn Smith (Goodreads Author)

3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 · rating details · 1,737 ratings · 111 reviews

Mass Market Paperback, 375 pages

Published May 27th 2008 by Harper

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Must Love Hellhounds by Charlaine Harris

Best Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy Anthologies

29th out of 163 books — 203 voters

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13th out of 19 books — 57 voters

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Jun 25, 2010 Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of paranormal romance short story collections

Shelves: paranormal-romance, owned-copy, short-story-collection, slightly-more-challenging-june, bbw-heroine, part-of-a-series, favorite-or-autobuy-author, weddings, curse, vampire, scottish, witch-sorcereress-healer

My favorites in this collection were the Maggie Shayne and Kathryn Smith stories. The Jeaniene Frost story wasn't bad, and the Terri Garey story was decent.

"Till Death" by Maggie Shayne

I didn't expect to like this story with the family curse due to a female witch ancestor embittered because her husband had cheated on her. She killed him and the woman he betrayed her with, cursed all her female ancestors to die by their husbands' hands if the husbands are unfaithful, because it was better to die...more My favorites in this collection were the Maggie Shayne and Kathryn Smith stories. The Jeaniene Frost story wasn't bad, and the Terri Garey story was decent.

"Till Death" by Maggie Shayne

I didn't expect to like this story with the family curse due to a female witch ancestor embittered because her husband had cheated on her. She killed him and the woman he betrayed her with, cursed all her female ancestors to die by their husbands' hands if the husbands are unfaithful, because it was better to die than to know that their husbands had cheated on them. It just sounded...not to my taste. Well, it turned out to be a good story. I admit I really liked Ian (well he's a big, sexy Scot--so that's practically a given), and he was a sweetie. I liked Kira too. Although she was a bit skeptical at first, she showed real resourcefulness and bravery, confronting her ancestress to end the curse. I thought the accents were a little hokey. I'm thinking modern Scots don't talk like that. But, I guess that's a small thing. Four stars.

"Happily Never After" by Jeaniene Frost

This is my first story by Ms. Frost, and I'm not sure what I think about her. The humor was a bit on the cheesy and hokey side. Don't get me wrong, I like cheesy humor, but the tone of this story didn't always work for me. I thought Isabelle was a little hard for my tastes. She didn't trust, and didn't believe in much. I didn't really get to know her or come to like her. I hope that she learns to open up a little more in the future. I liked Chance, and I did get some good laughs. I mostly like Ms. Frost's concepts of vampires. I was offended at one comment about what modern women should have done regarding the lie that Isabelle told her unwanted fiance. It makes it seem as though a woman of a certain age who is chaste can't possibly be modern. It was a throwaway comment, but rather presumptuous. I guess I shouldn't take it personally, but I did. All in all, pretty decent. 3 stars.

"Ghouls Night Out" by Terri Garey

Overall, not a bad story. I liked the mystery and the unfolding of the dead bridesmaid haunting Nicki to solve her murder. I did not like the liberal throwing around of the offensive term 'redneck' and the low-brow offensive humor directed towards 'backwoods" people. Some of the jokes were funny, but some were mean spirited, making Nicki seem like a mean snob. Overall, she was likeable, but the judgmental attitude she had towards her country cousins made it hard to warm up to her at first. Her boyfriend, Joe, was scrumptious. It was an entertaining read, other than the offensive parts. Not enough to get me to read this series though. 3 stars.

"The Wedding Knight" by Kathryn Smith

This is part of the Brotherhood of the Blood series, about Payen, one of the knights who drinks from the Blood Grail chalice, becoming a vampire in the process. He seduced and left Violet five years later, but returns when he finds out she's marrying a member of The Silver Palm, a dastardly organization behind the betrayal and extermination of the Knights Templar, and worse. He refuses to let her marry such a dishonorable man, so he barges in on the engagement party, leading to Violet breaking the engagement. In truth, he never got over Violet, although he told himself he couldn't have her because she was human and he was a vampire. Violet realizes that she never stopped loving Payen, and is determined to make him realize their future belongs together. Ms. Smith managed to get three love scenes in this very short story. I liked that Violet was a larger-sized woman, and Payen liked her just fine that way. It was a passionate, well-written story for all its shortness. If a reader doesn't like her love stories earthy and sensual, she probably won't like it. I liked it a lot. Four stars.

This story collection does indeed touch on weddings with a supernatural edge to their distaster quotient. Thankfully weddings do occur in two out of four (with a botched wedding scene in another), so it qualified for my challenge read! So to recap: I received a pleasant surprise with Ms. Shayne's story (although she has proven herself to be a good writer when I've read her). As for Frost, I will one day start the Night Huntress series, and I hope that the humorous tone is more to my liking in those. I'm not stricken with a burning desire to read Nicki Styx's series, since my tbr pile is already massively large and I don't tend to like the more chick-lit-oriented urban fantasy. Of course, I appreciated the Brotherhood of the Blood Offering and look forward to reading the rest in the series. So, I'd say two out of four isn't bad.(less)

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Jan 29, 2011 ♥ Sarah ♥ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthologies, vampires, romance, urban-fantasy

Till Death by Maggie Shayne: (4.5 stars)
This is my first Maggie Shayne story. I've never heard of her or any of her books, but this story made me curious to look into her writing more. She has a really great writing style that flows very easily and captures you from page one.

In this story Kira is brought to Scotland because she is told that she will be inheriting a wealth of money from an aunt she's never met. Curious as to why, she heads off to Scotland where she learns more about a deadly and...more

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May 20, 2010 Carolyn F. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthology-omnibus, paranormal-romance

The Maggie Shayne story was good although a lot rushed. But that's probably because it's a short story. Kira confronted Ian about a curse within minutes of meeting him and they fell in love in a day.

The Jeaniene Frost story was good. I loved grandmother Greta and the romance between Chance and Isa was done well. There's a couple of scenes with Bones too. Greta and Bones used to have a thing a long time before.

The Terri Garey story was different. She's able to see dead people after having a near...more

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May 23, 2008 Julie (jjmachshev) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008-reads

Cool anthology with stories from Maggie Shayne, Jeaniene Frost, Terri Garey, and Kathryn Smith. Each tale provides a quick glimpse at characters from the authors' series about paranormal creatures.

"Till Death" from Maggie Shayne tells the story of a curse and the brave woman who's willing to place her life in the hands of a near-stranger. HOT!

"Happily Never After" by Jeaniene Frost is a hilarious and sexy romp pitting a wannabe mobster against a woman with a delicious vamp on her side!!

"Ghouls...more

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May 20, 2012 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-owned, melissa-2012-challenge

I don't generally like reading short stories but I got this book for free when I bought some others so I thought I would give it a try. All of these stories felt like there could have been more to tell or a prequel or add on to other storys.

Till Death by Maggie Shayne. Can Kira and Ian break the curse that has been on kira's family? I enjoyed Maggie Shayne's characters in this story but I'm just not a fan of the love at first site story line, it rushes what could have been a really good story....more

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Mar 07, 2012 Jody rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, supernatural, vampire

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 20, 2011 Kathy Davie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal, romance

Actually, I'd give it a 3.5...

Series: Happily Never After (Vampire Huntress, 2.5)

Wedding Knight (Brotherhood of the Blood, 0.5)

Ghouls Night Out (Nicki Styx, 2.5)

Maggie Shayne's Til Death involves a long-running curse that sees dead the bride of any man who cheats on her. An early ancestress of Kira's caught her husband in bed with the maid, shot him, the maid, and then jumped out the window to her death but not before laying a curse on the women of her family that if their husband should cheat o...more

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Sep 11, 2009 Holly rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: jeaniene-frost, paranormal-romance

Til Death by Maggie Shayne. My first book by Maggie Shayne and I really liked it. It was sexy, very interesting and very well written. I forgot I was reading a 'short story'. Normally I hate scary stories and while this wasn't 'scary' it still gave me a few tingles and jingles up and down my spine. Loved it! 5 stars!

Happily Never After by Jeaniene Frost. I liked it. Maybe I was let down by it because of the three stories I read in the Weddings From Hell anthology, I thought J. Frost's was the we...more

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Jun 23, 2008 Marcy Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of Paranormal

Jeaniene's story was hands down the best, and that isn't just because of the cameo by Bones. (uh, how long do we have to wait for At Grave's End again? Crap. Too long.)

All the stories were entertaining, though, and I find myself wanting to hunt up some other works by TG.

Generally speaking, I prefer novels to short stories, since I really like to dig in deep with the characters, but these were well worth a read!

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Apr 08, 2012 Lita Bouquard rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampire-were

Maggie Shayne's story of a woman's vengeance from the grave combines a modern American with a family curse that originated in Scotland. Kira, orphaned when her dad's car rolls and kills her mom, knows that her father cheated on her mother. In fulfillment of some ancestor's fury with her husband all the women who marry will die by the hand of their spouse if he is unfaithful. Although her mom never told her family history, Kira learns this when she is the recipient of her relative's will.
Jeanien...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Silver James rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of the authors, urban fantasy fans

Recommended to Silver by: found looking at Frost's back list

Shelves: 2013-books-read

Weddings From Hell offers up four novellas from four stalwarts of the urban fantasy/paranormal romance ranks. I read the anthology for the Jeaniene Frost contribution, "Happily Never After." Another glimpse into the world of Cat and Bones, this book was worth the price just for it. Yes, I'm a Cat and Bones fangirl. I'm not as familiar with the other three authors, Maggie Shayne, Terri Garey and Kathryn Smith but I enjoyed their entries and will look up backlists when my TBR isn't threatening an...more

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Apr 15, 2011 Sandra rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthologies, jeaniene-frost, own, pnr-uf, vampires

A mixed bag of paranormal wedding stories.

Maggie Shayne's Till Death, 2 stars
A story of a curse by a McLellan wife that affected all her female descendants, that if their husbands cheated, they would be killed by them, even accidently.

Jeaniene Frost's Happily Never After, 3.5 stars
Greta, one of Bones 'friends' from the old days asks a favour and he sends Chance the Vampire to assist her grandaughter Isabella get rid of a minor mob boss who is threatening not only her business but her person and...more

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Feb 07, 2009 Rhianna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Weddings From Hell is another paranormal anthology in the vein of Dates From Hell and Holidays Are Hell. Pick a theme and throw some popular paranormal romance or urban fantasy authors at it. And just in time for wedding season we've got this collection of tales sure to make your horrific bridesmaid dress woes and cold-feet fly right out the window.

[Till Death by Maggie Shayne:] is the first offering in the anthology. When a heartbroken witch of the McLellan clan lays a curse on the women of he...more Weddings From Hell is another paranormal anthology in the vein of Dates From Hell and Holidays Are Hell. Pick a theme and throw some popular paranormal romance or urban fantasy authors at it. And just in time for wedding season we've got this collection of tales sure to make your horrific bridesmaid dress woes and cold-feet fly right out the window.

[Till Death by Maggie Shayne:] is the first offering in the anthology. When a heartbroken witch of the McLellan clan lays a curse on the women of her family they are cursed to either die at the hands of their cheating husbands or never know love. When Aunt Iris passes away and Kira heads to Scotland for the will reading the last thing she expects is to encounter ghosts or start falling for handsome family friend Ian Stewart. Can she break the curse and find her happily-ever-after?

I've never actually read anything by Shayne, though I have several of her books waiting to be read. This story was short, cute and felt only slightly rushed by the limited time frame. But what really impressed me was her well written dialog, her Scottish brogue was near flawless and read so well! Can't wait to get caught up enough with other books so I can start reading hers!

[Happily Never After by Jeaniene Frost:] is the second tale, when grandma Greta's grandson and grandaughter get into trouble with a local mob-wannabe she calls in a favor from her vampire buddy Bones. Happy to serve, Bones sends in Chance to look after Isabella and hopefully find her missing brother Frazier. Unfortunately Frazier is likely in the hands of Robert Bertini, who has strong armed Isa into marrying him. But Chance isn't about to let the strong and independant woman marry the murderous lout, especially not since he himself is falling for her. Will he be able to save her brother and prevent her from this forced marriage?

Another author I've not read, but she's on my wishlist. This story was amusing with its intentional mobster cliches and the banter between Isa and Chance. If the writing here is any indication of Frost's writing for her series I doubt I'll be dissappointed when I get my hands on it.

[Ghouls Night Out by Terri Garey:] is the third story, introducing us to Nicki Styx (who has her own series--2nd book comes out later this month). When Nicki's cousin needs a bridesmaid who is she to deny the family, even if it means dressing up in a pineapple yellow dress meant for the bride's best friend Michelle who just so happens to be dead! Of course, no one knows about Michelle's death yet so when she appears to Nicki, she can't help but feel compelled to help find out what happened. Will Nicki find out what happened to Michelle before it's time to kiss the bride?

This story ended up being my favorite in the anthology. I've never read Garey's first novel as it never hit my radar, but now I'm thinking I should hurry up and get it going! The redneck comments got a little judgemental at times but the stereotypes were nicely handled. Anyone who has some redneck relatives will likely find the entire wedding planning to be realistic and amusing, bachelorette party at a country bar complete with Shania Twain karaoke and round after round of beer anyone?

[The Wedding Knight by Kathryn Smith:] was the final story, rounding out the anthology with a historically set scene. When Payen Carr returns to London the last thing he anticipates is that he's arrived on the eve of Violet Wynston-Jones' wedding. When he realizes that her groom-to-be is a member of the Order of the Silver Palm--a group of former Templars seeking the Blood Grail and the destruction of the vampires who protect it--he can't let the wedding happen. But he has other reasons for wanting to stop the wedding as five years ago he and Violet shared one blissful night in which she proclaimed her love. If Payen stops the wedding will he be doing it to protect her from the Order or because of his own unspoken love for Violet?

Another author I haven't read, but have her series sitting on my shelves waiting--this short storty turned out to be my least favorite. I'm not sure if it was because of the historical setting or because I felt like I didn't get enough back story. Maybe a little of both. The dialog was a little dull and very little descriptive scene setting took place to frame out the world in my mind. I believe this story ties directly into her series though so fans of it might enjoy the side trip.

Overall this was a really enjoyable anthology. Three authors I was interested in and hadn't read gave me a good taste for what they write and an author I hadn't even noticed yet smacked me between the eyes and made me take notice. From what I do know of the authors and their series Frost's ties into hers as does Garey's and Smith's. I can't say about Shayne's but I get the impression this is just its own story but well worth reading to feel out her style.(less)

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Feb 01, 2011 marjorie rated it 5 of 5 stars

this was an awesome collaboration book. I truly enjoyed every story in it. As you know that is almost unheard of.
Maggie Shayne's Till Death 4 1/2 stars very in depth story for something so short.
Jeaniene Frost's Happily Ever After 5 stars I have never taken the time to read any of her stuff but you can bet your ass i will be adding some Frost to my reading list.
Terri Garey's Ghouls Night Out 4 1/2 stars story was also very into detail for being such a short story. I never had unanswered questio...more

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May 15, 2011 Pat rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, paranormal, series, urban-fantasy, mini-reads, romance

So far I've only read the NH entry and it was just ok.

As a short story it works, but doesn't really add anything to the overall arc to me. In this episode we meet Chance a master vampire and a friend from Bones' past, who Bones enlists to help a human protectee. He meets and helps Isa, a restauranteur who doesn't realize how helpful a paranormal assist can be.

Chance & Isa don't seem to have fire and were barely there on the page - possibly because it was a short story and not a lot of time...more

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Mar 07, 2010 Tara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010, paranormal-romance, anthology

Till Death by Maggie Shayne
3/7/10- Ok this is the 3rd Maggie Shayne story I've read. Her stories seem to deal with humans that are either psychics or witches. The H/H couple are pretty much strangers and then they have sex and no one even pauses to consider a condom. They aren't sexy but in this day & age, they are a reality unless you are having sex with a vampire or were wolf or something otherwise paranormal. Ok, that rant is over.
Kira MacLellan is a young girl when her she watches her m...more Till Death by Maggie Shayne
3/7/10- Ok this is the 3rd Maggie Shayne story I've read. Her stories seem to deal with humans that are either psychics or witches. The H/H couple are pretty much strangers and then they have sex and no one even pauses to consider a condom. They aren't sexy but in this day & age, they are a reality unless you are having sex with a vampire or were wolf or something otherwise paranormal. Ok, that rant is over.
Kira MacLellan is a young girl when her she watches her mother, a woman who fled Scotland to marry, die. Her dying words seem to accuse her father of doing something to cause it. She also speaks of a family curse. Her father kills himself shortly thereafter, without explaining the curse. Years later she gets a call from a Scottish lawyer, Ian Stewart, saying her aunt has died and that she needs to come to Scotland for the reading of the will. She meets her spinster aunts, and Ian Stewart. (Ok, I went to college with a guy named Ian Stewart and while he was a lovely person, he was the romance hero of my dreams, so it was difficult to read this story and try to picture the hottie the described and then read his name- but that was my own problem.) Turns out that an ancestor has cursed all the woman to die by their husbands hands if he cheats. And now it becomes Kira & Ian's problem to deal either break the curse or continue it.

Ok, the problem with this story is the premise was really weak. Add to that there seemed to imply that there was something more to the curse, but it didn't really turn out to be anything. And the ending was very anticlimactic not to mention, lame. 2 stars.

Happily Never After by Jeaniene Frost
3/5/10- A Jeaniene Frost story is always welcomed. In this short story a former member of Bones' family calls to ask a favor and I believe he is trying to find Cat at the moment, so he sends in Chance. Chance is a vampire and was sired by Bones. Isabella is a restaurant owner in Philly. The local wanna be mob boss has decided that she will make the perfect Italian wife, so he kidnaps her brother so ensure her compliance. Enter Chance. He is there to help stop the wedding and find her brother. It's a cute story. The grandmother is feisty and the love scene is hot. 3 stars

Ghouls Night Out by Terri Garey
3/6/10- Here's the thing about Terri Garey. When all is said and done I like the story, I just always feel like her stories go on a little too long. And they always feel a little weird. I guess she's more UF than pnr, but they don't really feel uf either. It's like they are paranormal chick-lit mysteries. Is that a thing? ANYWAY, This is another story in the Nicki Styx universe. We see her hot doctor boyfriend and her bff Evan and even Evan's boyfriend Butch. But this time the story centers on Nicki's cousin. She's getting married and her best friend, Michelle, drops out of the wedding at the last minute and Nicki is called to replace her. Unfortunately Michelle is actually dead and no one knows it yet. And since only Nicki Styx can see dead people... well, you guessed it she has to help Michelle walk into the light. I think there was an odd sort of story line questioning her cousin's decision to marry her fiance, Dale, that was left dangling. I'm not sure if it was meant to make Dale a suspect or to cast questionable aspersions on Michelle character but it ended up feeling like the an abandoned plot-line. 2.5 stars

The Wedding Knight by Kathryn Smith
I've never read anything by Kathryn Smith before. The actual premise for the story was a little underused. It seemed like it was too big of a premise for a short story so when it got truncated the conflict seemed silly. But other than that it was an okay story and for an 86 page story, there was a lot of steamy sex in it. It also helped that the characters had a previous relationship. Violet Wynston-Jones fell in love with Payen Carr, a templar vampire chosen to protect the blood grail, when she was 16. When she was 19 she gave her body and heart to him which he accepted and then he left, so save his heart and his vows. Now it's 1879 and she is 24 and about to get married. Payen is passing through a nearby town and hears of her engagement and sees who she marrying and knows he has to stop her for her own safety. But by stopping the wedding it is revealed that Violet is "unpure", now she is a ruined woman. Not to mention her fiance has now figured out what Payen is, besides the man that stole his fiance. It's up to Payen to save Violets reputation, keep his vows to the templar and save his own heart.

Like I said there was a lot going on in such a short story. It seems that it was a rush to get all the information necessary out there and then there was a lot left unused. I wonder if there is a full length book about these folks. I may have to check it out. I know, me who doesn't like historical type books. I think that's why I liked this story though. Even though it was set in 1879, it feels very contemporary which might make her unpopular for historical purists, but it suits me just fine! 3.5 stars

PS- I just checked, this is the prequel to a series, and I'm absolutely going to check out the series!(less)

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Sep 06, 2012 Jean rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the short stories in this book!

"Till Death" --- Maggie Shayne: This was my second favorite short story in the book. It was my first time reading Maggie Shayne and I think she is wonderful! I will have to read more of her work!

"Happily Never After" --- Jeaniene Frost: This is my fave short story in the book! English vampires...sigh. I LOVE Jeaniene Frost!! If you have never read one of her books I say go now! I truly recommend ANYTHING by her!

"Ghouls Night Out" --- Terri Garey:...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Shannon Roland rated it 2 of 5 stars

I only got this collection because it had a story from Jeanine Frost. One of my favorites.

It's always a risk when you pick up any story collection in finding one that is mostly composed of stories you enjoy. This was a typical, average collection. Not bad, but not great either. Average. It's common theme was weddings with supernatural problems.

Since this only contains four tales, I'll look at each story.

The first tale is by Maggie Shayne. It's about a family curse. As I read this story, I th...more I only got this collection because it had a story from Jeanine Frost. One of my favorites.

It's always a risk when you pick up any story collection in finding one that is mostly composed of stories you enjoy. This was a typical, average collection. Not bad, but not great either. Average. It's common theme was weddings with supernatural problems.

Since this only contains four tales, I'll look at each story.

The first tale is by Maggie Shayne. It's about a family curse. As I read this story, I thought , ok, interesting, but as I found out the exact specifications of the curse, the movie Practical Magic came to mind. The curse was different but still connected to husbands, and cast by an ancestral witch. It could have been more inventive. Fell short.

The second tale is by Jeanine Frost. I read her Night Huntress series. The first is Halfway to the Grave. This tale is about a vampire who has been asked to find a missing Grandson and stop a wedding. This story could have been better if it was set in an earlier time. Its a little far fetched that in this day and age, that some one could get away with forcing someone into marriage, by holding a family member hostage, without providing proof. A few changes to the story, and it would have been better.

The third tale is by Terri Garey. Girl dies, comes back as a ghost whisperer. Throw in a hillbilly cousin's wedding, and a ghost, then you have a decent tale of finding justice and putting a spirit to rest.

The fourth tale is by Kathryn Smith : Vampire meets girl, leaves girl after she declares her love for him. Comes back and stops her from getting married to someone with a past connection to him. Not a bad tale. I thought slut was a more modern word, and if your going to use the word arse don't add hole to it. It's weird and doesn't look right.This story needed a bit more to it, expand a little with the big confrontation, ending felt to predictable, could have been done differently, creatively. Otherwise like the others, not bad.

(less)

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Nov 23, 2009 MK (Consultant, Corporal Therapist) added it Recommends it for: fans of PNR

Shelves: romance-paranormal

I read part Maggie Shayne's Till Death [about a witch's curse:] and Jeaniene Frost's Happily Never After.

Again, I won't rate the entire book because I only read a couple of the stories. I liked the writing style of Maggie Shayne and I am considering reading a full novel to get a better idea of her world creation and characters. I did not care for the secondary characters and they played a big part in this novella.

Jeaniene Frost's story was more to my liking. Wasn't quite as captivating as Cat a...more

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May 22, 2009 Ruth Violet rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fa-v, fav-vampire-werewolf-series, fav-writers, favorite-anthology, repeated-readings, witches

Til death-maggie shayne. tis a very good story. it takes place in scotland. which is really cool. a witch cursed all the women in the mcllen family. excellent beginning, middle and end. i loved it all. drew me into the story from page one. and the ending was like awwww. i have read stories from her before and liked them.
happily never after-jeaniene frost. it is an story from the cat and bones world.they really arent in it too much,only bones is and only at the end,really. but an excellent story....more

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Nov 29, 2008 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars

Some marriages are made in heaven . . . Some are not.

What happens when "the happiest day of your life" turns into a nightmare? Forget the drunken best man or the bridesmaid dresses from the '80s . . . none of these wedding day disasters can compare to a cursed bride determined to make it down the aisle, or a vampire who is about to disrupt your wedding.

Join New York Times bestselling authors Maggie Shayne and Jeaniene Frost, USA Today bestseller Kathryn Smith, as well as Terri Garey in four un...more Some marriages are made in heaven . . . Some are not.

What happens when "the happiest day of your life" turns into a nightmare? Forget the drunken best man or the bridesmaid dresses from the '80s . . . none of these wedding day disasters can compare to a cursed bride determined to make it down the aisle, or a vampire who is about to disrupt your wedding.

Join New York Times bestselling authors Maggie Shayne and Jeaniene Frost, USA Today bestseller Kathryn Smith, as well as Terri Garey in four unforgettable tales of unholy matrimony . . . where the grooms are dark, dangerous, and mostly dead, and to love and cherish till death takes on a whole new meaning.

[Till Death by Maggie Shayne:] is the first offering in the anthology. When a heartbroken witch of the McLellan clan lays a curse on the women of her family they are cursed to either die at the hands of their cheating husbands or never know love. When Aunt Iris passes away and Kira heads to Scotland for the will reading the last thing she expects is to encounter ghosts or start falling for handsome family friend Ian Stewart. Can she break the curse and find her happily-ever-after?

[Happily Never After by Jeaniene Frost:] is the second tale, when grandma Greta's grandson and grandaughter get into trouble with a local mob-wannabe she calls in a favor from her vampire buddy Bones. Happy to serve, Bones sends in Chance to look after Isabella and hopefully find her missing brother Frazier. Unfortunately Frazier is likely in the hands of Robert Bertini, who has strong armed Isa into marrying him. But Chance isn't about to let the strong and independant woman marry the murderous lout, especially not since he himself is falling for her. Will he be able to save her brother and prevent her from this forced marriage?

[Ghouls Night Out by Terri Garey:] is the third story, introducing us to Nicki Styx (who has her own series--2nd book comes out later this month). When Nicki's cousin needs a bridesmaid who is she to deny the family, even if it means dressing up in a pineapple yellow dress meant for the bride's best friend Michelle who just so happens to be dead! Of course, no one knows about Michelle's death yet so when she appears to Nicki, she can't help but feel compelled to help find out what happened. Will Nicki find out what happened to Michelle before it's time to kiss the bride?

[The Wedding Knight by Kathryn Smith:] was the final story, rounding out the anthology with a historically set scene. When Payen Carr returns to London the last thing he anticipates is that he's arrived on the eve of Violet Wynston-Jones' wedding. When he realizes that her groom-to-be is a member of the Order of the Silver Palm--a group of former Templars seeking the Blood Grail and the destruction of the vampires who protect it--he can't let the wedding happen. But he has other reasons for wanting to stop the wedding as five years ago he and Violet shared one blissful night in which she proclaimed her love. If Payen stops the wedding will he be doing it to protect her from the Order or because of his own unspoken love for Violet? (less)

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Mar 06, 2010 Gina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not usually much for anthologies, but i liked this one. The first story from Maggie Shayne was probably my least favorite. Not that it was bad, just not really my style. It was a little too cutsie for me, I think I need something with a bit of a darker edge. I was already a big fan of Jeaniene Frost; and now I'll probably look into the books by Kathryn Smith as well, since I really liked her story and writing style too. I also liked the sarcastic humor that Terri Garey used in her story, it made...more

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May 14, 2012 Sara rated it 1 of 5 stars

MY TAKE:
Honestly, I wasn’t too impressed with any of these stories. The only one that I remotely liked or was interested in was Ghoul’s Night Out, which is strange – I’ve read Terri Garey before, and didn’t think too much of her at the time. These are all romance novels, and don’t get me wrong – I do love a good romance novel, but these are just … inadequate. I have a plethora of other books on my list, and am really quite disappointed I spent time on this anthology.

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Jan 26, 2010 Melanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I only read the short story, "Happily Never After" by Jeaniene Frost. It is a good short story set in the Cat and Bones world. You do get a small part from Bones, but mostly it is about a vampire named Chance who is recruited by Bones to help a former mistress/blood donor's granddaughter out of some trouble. There are several scenes that made me laugh out loud.

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Apr 20, 2011 Daffodil rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, paranormal-romance

I started with the Jeaniene Frost story and enjoyed it. Brief cameos from Bones, the main character is a vampire from his line.

I also enjoyed Terri Garey's contribution. I've read Dead Girls Are Easy and this story made me want to get back into the series.

I've never read anything by Kathryn Smith, but her short was interesting.

Maggie Shayne's story was okay.

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Sep 12, 2008 Cara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008, fantasy, short-stories, ghosts, vampires

I really liked the Frost story, it was my favorite. Bones makes a cameo, but the rest of the story was about his friend Chance. Bones asks Chance to do him a favor involving a former lover's granddaughter. Love is in the air.
I also liked Smith's story, and I will be reading some of her other stuff soon. Centuries old vampires protecting a grail, betrayal, and romance. Yes, please.
The other two stories were good too.
Garey's story is one where a girl can see spirits after a near death experience....more

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Jun 20, 2011 Sandra "Jeanz" rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anthologies

Till Death by Maggie Shayne 5 stars
Happily never After by Jeaniene Frost 5 Stars
Ghouls Night Out by Terri Garey 5 Stars
The Wedding Knight by Kathryn Smith 5 Stars

All really great reads though the last one by Kathryn Smith is a bit racy so becareful of the age of person reading the book.After reading this anthology would definitely look for whole novels by these authors.

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Mar 03, 2009 Anita rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-romance, anthologies, did-not-finish

I didn't like this anthology much. The Maggie Shayne story was about a curse and set in modern day Ireland. It was ok. The Jeaniene Frost story was a spin-off of her series (cameo by Bones) about a lady who's harrassed by the mob and is helped by the vampire Chance. It was good enough for me, mostly because I like that series so much. Terri Garey's story is part of the Niki Styx series and is about Niki's cousin's wedding (a bridesmaid was murdered and is haunting the wedding.) It also plays up...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Stacia added it

Shelves: paranormal-romance, vampire

"Happily Never After" (Night Huntress #1.5) by Jeaniene Frost - 2 STARS

I only picked this book up to read the section by Jeaniene Frost. Generally speaking, I hardly ever read anthologies unless the author is a super fave and the reviews have been good. In this case, I just started reading the Night Huntress series and was impressed by Jeaniene Frost's writing! Even though the reviews were average, I was curious.

Unfortunately, this short did nothing for me...for the typical reasons. It was too s...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Deanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

These stories were alike but different in many ways. They were short and some would have had good sequels. But they were very frisky too. They definitely shouldn't be read by anyone lower than high-school age. They all had a mysterious touch to them. Which was cool. I liked most of them, some more-so than others.

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About Maggie Shayne

I live in the teeny, tiny town of Taylor, NY, (Alliteration Alert!) though my mailing address is Cincinnatus, my telephone exchange is Truxton and I pay taxes and vote in Cuyler. All of these are at least in the same rural county in the southern hills of New York State; Cortland County. There are more cattle than people here. The nearest “big” cities are Syracuse and Binghamton and they are an hou...more I live in the teeny, tiny town of Taylor, NY, (Alliteration Alert!) though my mailing address is Cincinnatus, my telephone exchange is Truxton and I pay taxes and vote in Cuyler. All of these are at least in the same rural county in the southern hills of New York State; Cortland County. There are more cattle than people here. The nearest “big” cities are Syracuse and Binghamton and they are an hour away, in different directions, and not really all that big by most standards, though they both seem humongous to me. I look out my window to see rolling, green, thickly forested hills, wildflower laden meadows and wide open blue, blue skies. My road is barely paved. The nearest neighboring place is a 700 acre dairy farm.

My house is a big, century old farmhouse. I moved in here after my divorce in 2006. Just a little over a year later, the house, which I had named, SERENITY, burned. It was 99% gutted, and I lost my two dogs, Sally, an 11-year-old great Dane, and Wrinkles, my 14-year-old, blind bulldog. This was the culmination of my Dark Night of the soul, which had seemed to hit me all at once in 2006. My mother died that year, after a 14 month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was only 60. The youngest of my five daughters had left home that same year, and while that’s not a tragedy at all, it felt like one to me. Then came the divorce. And finally there was the fire--it seemed my darkest night wasn’t quite finished with me after all. I had lost almost everything before that point, and as I poked through the wet ashes and soot the next day, I realized that I had now been stripped all the way to the bone.

No better time to start over. (And no, I didn’t come to that realization that day--there were a few days of wallowing in pity first, particularly the day after the fire, when I hit a deer and smashed up my car, which I was practically living in!)

That’s when I started to laugh. Just sat on the side of the road as the deer bounded, uninjured and carefree, out of sight, and laughed. It was just too ridiculous at that point, to do anything else!

And from there, I picked myself up, and brushed myself off, and said, okay, there’s only one way to go from here. Forward. And that’s what I did. There I was at the age of harrurmphemmph, living in my one, mostly undamaged remaining room, with a dorm-sized mini-fridge, a futon, a TV, my cat (nine lives!) and a laptop. And not much else. (Though thank goodness the room that survived the fire, was a room that had its own attached bathroom!)

Since then I have rebuilt my beloved home, which really has become my haven, my “Serenity.” I share it now with my partner, Lance, and we have accumulated quite the little family together. “Little” being a relative term. We have a pair of English Mastiffs, Dozer and Daisy, who weigh 190 pounds and 165 pounds respectively, and a little pudgy English Bulldog named Niblet, who is bigger than both of them, inside her mind. We also have the aforementioned cat, Glorificus (“Glory” for short,) who adores her canine pups and keeps them firmly in line.

She has a story of her own, my cat, having been with me before the Dark Times descended, she went through it all with me, moved with me, survived the fire, and remains with me still.

My partner is an artist, a mechanic, and an inventor, and the rumors are true, he is much younger than I am. But we’re true soulmates. We share a demanding hobby--a 90 gallon salt water “reef” aquarium where we’re growing gorgeous corals and a few fishes, too (clowns, damsels and a blenny, so far.) In addition to the dogs and the fish (and each other!) we enjoy kayaking, walking, riding our bikes, and being outdoors as much as possible. We’re building some beautiful dreams together. Co-creating, you might say.

I feel I’ve risen from the ashes of those hard times. There are still a few lingering residual after effects, but those are just some stale old vibrations in need of cleaning up, For the most part, my life no(less)

More about Maggie Shayne...

Books by Maggie Shayne

An Enchanted Season (Includes: Psy-Changeling, #0.5; Murphy Sisters, #1)

Wild Thing (Includes: Warriors of Poseidon, #1.5; Guardians, #1.5)

Prince Of Twilight (Wings in the Night, #12)

Edge Of Twilight (Wings in the Night, #10)

Twilight Hunger (Wings in the Night, #7)

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Weddings from Hell (Night Huntress - Complete World #1.5)

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