Love that book, a short summary what I thought about the stories collected in it:

Harris, Charlaine – Gift Wrap
Like with most of the authors collected here this was the first thing ever I read from her. From that story I think I can safely say that the Sookie Stackhouse novels will not enter into my reading fare. I read this story mostly with an raised eyebrow but in the conclusion it turned out to be a very charming, humorous story nonetheless.
A good opener to set the tone for the book.

Andrews, Donna – The Haire of the Beast
I loved that story, an incredible funny conclusion and wonderful realistic characters.
Loved, loved, loved the way those siblings interacted with each other.

Green, Simon R. – Lucy, at Christmastime
Aww, a heart breaking, bitter sweet story. You see the end coming, mostly due to the fact that this is a werewolf anthology, but that didn’t lessen the impact it had.

Cameron, Dana – The Night Things Changed
This one didn’t work as well as the others for me, somehow I couldn’t really get into the characters. I think it’s that the way she set up her world borders to close to fantasy for me.

Richardson, Kat – The Werewolf Before Christmas
Funny story, always on the verge of going over the top. Mostly witty, but I felt with all the names for Santa Claus she was going overboard, that was a bit of a mood killer for me.

Gordon, Alan – Fresh Meat
Liked that story, but was having a talking werewolf really necessary?
I always see badly dubbed animatronics before my eyes when animals talk to humans in a story. So, yeah, I would have wished for a better solution there.

Vaughn, Carrie – Il Est Né
I’m no fan of the Kitty novels (or at least of the first one), but the fact that she didn’t use a first person narrative (and worse: present tense for the wolf) this time around made me enjoy this one better than her novel.

Stabenow, Dana – The Perfect Gift
Didn’t really get into that. It felt to me like the author had to visibly restrain herself from adding in some gratuitous sex scenes.

Arthur, Keri – Christmas Past
I couldn’t bring myself to read that story, after two or three pages of listening to the main protagonist being obsessed with her partner I gave up on it.

Konrath, Joe A. – SA
One of the over the top comedy stories, there’s not even a pretension of seriousness to it. Loved it!

Briggs, Patricia – Star of David
Loved that story. And I’m not just saying that. :p
Out of the serious stories in this collection this one is the best executed one.

Pickard, Nancy – You'd Better Not Pyout
Another over the top comedy story, more careful executed though with a more solid base to it that not only plays the story for laughs. A story that I would love to see continued, I wonder if she'll write more about this particular pair of Vampires.

Chance, Karen – Rogue Elements
The one author that I actually felt disappointed with. It’s the fact that she set up a story that could have build up a wonderful noir feel, but she drowned it in unnecessary over exposition and ended it in a way that was a tad to sugar-coated. No, this just didn’t meet my expectations.

Thurman, Rob – Milk and Cookies
Didn’t read that one, don’t know why but after three pages he still couldn’t grab my attention.

Kelner, Toni L. P. – Keeping Watch Over His Flock
I really liked the story idea, but felt that the execution could have been better in some places.
And again that talking dog issue.
Loved the origin story! It’s unexpected, funny, and, to me at least, it made sense.


So what did others that read this anthology think about the stories?

Last edited by Daninsky (2009-03-21 11:33:48)