The Mammoth Book of Hot Romance

Hell on Earth #4.6 (Hell's Fury)

by Sonia Florens (Editor/Contributor), Susan Sizemore (Contributor), Victoria Janssen (Contributor)

This title features twenty-five unashamedly modern short romances which don't shy away at the bedroom door from the creme de la creme of contemporary romance writers, including Lilith Saintcrow, Louisa Burton, Anna Windsor, Susan Sizemore, Michelle M. Pillow, Rebecca York, Charlotte Stein, Shiloh Walker, Victoria Janssen, Saskia Walker and Cathy Clamp. This is writing which is more direct, less euphemistic, and frankly accepting of sexuality - fiercely hot stories of flesh and blood and feelings which will entrance and beguile romance readers.

Genres: Romance, Anthologies, Short Stories, Erotica, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Contemporary

544 pages, Paperback

First published July 21, 2011

Reviews

[Mara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Short stories are difficult to write. They have to be logical, have meaningful characters and plot in a short, short space.

Unfortunately, I have yet to find more than a bunch of novel authors who are good at writing short stories too.

I could not finish at least a third of the stories, I remember even less than those. They either are part of series I do not know (and can't understand in a short story) or they are a prologue to a series (and you have a wtf moment at the end). But honestly I can't save as "good enough" more than a few on 22...

There is no common theme to the stories (except being some form of romance, and I use the term loosely). And I guess it doesn't help.

I had bought the anthology because of the Lilith Saintcrow' Selene. I expected it to be the story of Selene return to Saint City and how she comes back to Nikolai. Unfortunately, it tells half the story. (Or maybe it just seems too short ...).

I consider this a waste of my money.

[Stas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a mixed bag.
Lots of rubbish.
Several nice reads. Those authors I might even look up later.

Jackie Kessler "Hell's Fury" - nice.
Adrianne Brennan "Love Under Will" - enjoyable.
Selah March "Fly by Night" - pretty good.
Justin Elyot "Coming Home" - lovely, for some reason gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

[KStar · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I did find a bunch of authors I will be looking up to read later... I found a bunch of them super cheesy with a not so great premise for a short story, some of them would have been better if they were longer and just seemed rushed.

[Karenr · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Short story format forces too many flaws in the story development for most authors.

[minnemoo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only two gems stood out to me: "Shelter from the Storm" by Louisa Burton and "Fire and Ice" by Portia Da Costa.

Most of the stories were hot garbage, emphasis on "garbage." Lot of DNFs too.

[April Robertson-Ring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend! Excellent grouping of authors.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of ... well really cheesy or weird short stories that I only bought because it included the last chapter of Selene's and Nikolai's story (by Lilith Saintcrow). And even that story was kind of a disappointment... It was well written and fit the characters’ arc, but it was too short and didn't give any emotional closure. Altho, being a story by Lilith Saintcrow, what did I really expect?
Oh, well. The only other story that was any good was by Shiloh Walker. It was very much a teaser for one of her series but at least it made me want to read more of her stuff.

[Melindeeloo]

I needed a palate cleanser (short stories always seem to do this for me) and the price dropped enough to make it worth taking a chance

I am sort of scatter shotting my way through this one and happy to find that there are a few paranormals in the mix


I was surprised to find that the story by Saintcrow was a follow-on to her serial story Selene - it was interesting but no HEA for Selene yet, I was hoping for a bit more than a glimmer of a hope of one...

[Tasneem · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enthralling collection of stories. Some were really good and I really want to read the other stuff by the authors. Others were so so. Not bad as such, but not amazing and not tempting enough to make me go out and buy more by the same authors. However, it is an excellent way to read new writers, to get a sense of their vibe and to see how the genre of hot romance is progressing. Loved it. I enjoyed that I could dip in to the book at a lull in the daily grind.

[Kate Cardenas · Rating 4 out of 5]

These 25 unashamedly modern short romances don't shy away at the bedroom door, from the creme de la creme of contemporary romance writers, including Lilith Saintcrow, Louisa Burton, Susan Sizemore, and more.

[Keziah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the story i wanted. I wasn't very interested in the rest. the story i wanted wasn't the best either. oh well, you win some you lose some

[mad4rombks]

Read the stories I wanted to read, not interested in the others.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the many short stories! Particularly enjoyed catching up with Selene from Saintcrow's Saint City!

[Karen Desmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real mix of stories - some about the HEA romance and some more about the hot romance - well actually more about the hot than the romance in some cases.

[Hazel]

I know I read this because I recognise the cover. I suspect it was moderately racy, but I don't actually remember a thing about it (except it was hefty). So, probably not a five-star read. :-)

[FayAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really what I was expecting but OK. Liked 1 really well & 12 others were good out of 25 total stories.

[Sasha Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this one a 3, souly for the fact that it did not interest me. Hence it kicking around over a month before I was able to finish it.