"devilishly delightful tales"

Anne Stuart proves time and again she can do more with 120 pages than any writer I know. She proves this time and again. Why she is not THE top writer in Romance today is hard to fathom. Frankly, I attribute it to shortsightedness of her publisher, since some of her powerhouse backlist titles like Moonrise, Nightfall, Ritual Sins, To Love a Dark Lord and about a dozen others are not kept in constant reprint. That hurts a writer and it's just plain bad judgment from the publisher. She is the Resident Genius of dark and deadly bad boys you cannot resist. And she does it again in the anthology, with a lighter more romantic touch in her short story "Blind Date From Hell". Don't we all think blind dates are from there? Well, Stuart takes the premise and has fun with it. Gideon Hyde has existed in Hell for so long he cannot recall why he was sent there in the first place. He is relatively sure it was likely a jealous husband who removed him from his earthly existence, but he cannot recall who, what or where and frankly, he doesn't care. He is tired and bored with the endless existence, but Ralph "one of Satan's devils" is determined to shake Gideon out of his boredom. He is sent back to earth to seduce one Sam "Samantha actually" a gorgeous, legged professional model that stubborn has held on to her virginity. It's a fun tale that reaches into your heart and won't let you go. Gideon is another of Stuart's male who will haunt you long after you put the book down.

Proving she is now powder puff girl, Cherry Adair gives you a red-hot sexy tale with "Dance With the Devil". This time, its spy vs. spy romance. Mia Rossi loved her spy partner Jack Ryan, but the International Playboy was not willing to commit. So, she quits her job, leaves Jack and says she is going to be married by Summer. Her mother has been setting her up with blind dates in the effort. All have proved "dates from Hell". Mia believes her mother is trying to make her see Jack is the only man for her. So when her mother arranges one with a man named Davis Sloan, she is determined to use Sloan to wipe Jack from her mind. But who should turn out to be her blind date? Jack's back! It's a sassy, sizzling tale that is true Adair. It has Mia giving Jack what for and they have to steal a disk with information vital to their country. This is a tale you won't want to miss.

Muriel Jensen holds her own with these two heavy hitters in "Hal and Damnation". Kat is frustrated in her efforts to get her father to turn over the family restaurant to her, even though she has proved she is a super manager. She is more frustrated with the super new waiter Hal, who refuses to snap to when she barks and order. This one stretches the premise just a bit, because Hal is not from Hell and he is not really a date. He is assigned to lure her away from the restaurant for two days while the cops handled a bank robbery attempt. The bad guys plan on coming through the restaurant's wall to the bank. Things go array when the plane Hal is flying has to make an emergency landing. It's not as strong as the other two stories - but sheesh, few writers are at the peak form of Stuart and Adair. So it's to Jensen's credit her tale is not over shown too much by the two powerhouse writers.

This is one GREAT anthology.

Reviewed by DeborahAnne MacGillivray
Posted August 14, 2004

Summary

There's the date from hell—the guy in a bad suit and toupee—and the hot date from hell.These men are waaay too tempting. One wicked, sexy grin and, well—who can resist!

Certainly not these three women...

A spy should know better, but this spy gets stuck on a blind-date assignment with the ex-partner who broke her heart.A lot of making up can get done between scaling rooftops and dodging bullets.

A hostess discovers what it's like to really crash and burn on her first date with the undercover cop who's been casing her restaurant....

And if that isn't hot enough, what about a date from hell...literally.

Satan at his seductive best!

It's getting hot in here....