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bunnerz's review
I had originally picked up the anthology because I'm a sucker for shifter and animal sidekick stories. None of the authors were familiar to me.
---
Preface: I've listed all the stories in this anthology but will be leaving more detailed summaries and reviews as I slowly go through all of them.
Sherlock Hound and the Holme of the Baskervilles by J.A. Clement
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: animal-sidekicks, retelling, detectives
This short story was told from the POV of Watson the Labrador as he watched his packmates Sherlock Hound and Mycroft assist their owner Emma solve the mystery of a missing person. It was an okay read due to the unique dog POV, but not a very good mystery as everything was solved by luck or spoon-fed.
---
Welcome to Team Hellhound by E.G. Bateman
29 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: demons, hunters, magic
This short story described how the demon Ethan came to escape Hell and possess the boring human Neville. All the action and character development was rather surface level, and there was some unappealing gratuitous violence. The Hellhounds mentioned in the story were not actual shifters, but just a team of demon hunters. Not my cup of tea, and not interested in reading the full series (if there is one).
---
Escape from New York City by Stephanie Mylchreest
26 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: post-apocalyptic, animal-sidekicks
This short story followed the MC Jason with his female dog Bobby as they tried to navigate their new post-apocalpytic world in New York City and reunited with his best friend's ex Lisa (and crush).
While his ex-best friend Kenny was shown to be an asshole, Jason was also quite the unlikeable character as well with his selfish behavior and attitude towards his unrequited love. This jealousy ultimately ended in. I also thought that him leaving the apartment knowing there were looters outside was pretty dumb, and then running to Lisa's apartment to escape and making her have to run as well extra stupid. There was just so much argh for me, and I am going to take the warnings about the story topics more seriously and actively avoid stories that don't include paranormals.
---
Ralphie Boy by Michael Raymond
12 pages
* skipped *
No interest in historical fiction.
---
Love at First Bark by Lily Alexander
26 pages
* skipped *
No interest in contemporary.
---
Dog Day's Night by Dakota Blake
24 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: ghosts, hellhounds, hunters, magic, demons
This story followed the ghost bounty hunter FMC Bella with her bodyguard Bradley as they visited an abandoned house to retrieve a magic box for a client. They soon ran into difficulties when they discovered a hellhound was guarding the property.
It was a quick fun quest, but the character descriptions were a bit ambiguous and it seemed like the backstory of the main characters was developed in other full-length novels. I got the impression that Bella and Bradley were dating as a couple, but I wasn't positive until closer to the end of the story.
---
The Resurrection of Rainbow Vincent by V.R. Tapscott
11 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: animal-sidekicks
This was a quick story that was told from the POV of a homeless kid named Pizza Kid (PK) who found a young kidnapped dog Rainbow Vincent that used for dog bait before being shot and left for dead. It was a little graphic and simple, but it ended with quite happily.
---
A Mutt-ually Assured Attachment by Lasairiona McMaster
25 pages
* skipped *
No interest in contemporary.
---
The Hackney Hellhounds by Jac Harmon
15 pages
* skipped *
No interest in historical fiction.
---
Hot as Hell, Sweet as Love by N.D. Roberts
27 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: animal-sidekicks, gods, angels, bookstores, demons, hellhounds, magic
This story followed FMC Mirabelle, a historical romance author, as she ran into a dog on the moor when out on a walk and returned him to Lucifer, a fallen angel masquerading as a bookstore owner among the humans. A quick romance soon followed between the two. There was a little more religion and historical romance than I prefer in my writing, but it was a fun read.
---
The Hellhounds of Argos Carinae 3 by T.R. Fruman
15 pages
Rating: ★★★★☆
Tags: sci-fi
This story followed the MC Top, whose team was hired for security services for a meeting between a mining colony and Zander Corporation, a larger entity that could sell the exotics metals that were mined. Chaos soon followed when Zander Corp attempted to assassinate the miners to gain access to the exotics without fair negotiation.
It was a glorious space battle, and I enjoyed the intrigue and characters.
---
Do Retired Hellhounds Dream of Slower Squirrels? by A.M. Scott
8 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: animal-sidekicks
This story was warned to be contemporary fiction, but it was told from the POV of the dog George AKA Hellhound, so I was still interested. :) George used to be owned by an Evil Man who ended up getting voluntarily arrested and was given to guard the man's niece's family instead. It was a bittersweet snippet about the new non-criminal life of an elderly retired dog.
---
When We Had Hope by Jon Tobey
18 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: hellhounds, animal-sidekicks, sci-fi, gods, time-travel
This story followed the MC Horace, the Gatekeeper for the Purgatory realm, and his sidekick hellhound Goblin as they dealt with interlopers in the realm and met an innocent soul Rose that was on a quest to retrieve her brother. The sci-fi portals and time travel in combination with the fantastical world was an interesting combination. The plot was a little flat and straightforward and ended on an open-ended quest, and there was a little too many theological rants for me, but I enjoyed reading about Goblin and his powers mostly.
---
Coyote Terror(ier) by Audra Spicer
14 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: animal-sidekicks, telepaths
This was a short story told from the POV of Dougal (Doogie) the indoor Jack Russell. Doogie dreamed about a chance to chase a wild squirrel outdoors, and one day, he met a wild Coyote in his quest to chase a squirrel down on a potty break in the yard. Coyote tempted Doogie to run off with him the next day on a hunt for the Squirrel King, but Doogie soon learned that there had been an ulterior motive.
The TSTL behavior from the naive elderly protagonist was a bit much, even if they were all canids. It was also rather ambiguous if Coyote and Moji were actually supernatural beings with subtle mentions of speaking in the head and same-colored eyes. It was a pretty straightforward dog story - nothing that memorable.
---
The Golden Curse by Kasia Lasinska
20 pages
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ / DNF
Tags: animal-sidekicks, magic, demons, vampires, gods
DNF after getting an info dump of the Dark Realm and Cerr, Berr, and Gus's parentage.
This fantasy short story followed a Golden Retriever name Maui that went after his favored stuffed duck stolen by a boy and thrown into a fountain. Jumping into the fountain to retrieve his toy sent Maui through a portal to another realm, where a Cerberus creature met him. The writing was very child-like with a very straight forward quest introduced to get Maui back home to Earth, and I wasn't really interested in finishing a story with dry narration where everything was told, not shown.
---
The Beast of Welwyn by Jon & James Evans
18 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: sci-fi, animal-sidekicks
This short story followed a specialist soldier who was telling a story to a squad about a top secret Cerberus program that put human minds in genetically bred dogs and a dog that escaped. It was honestly a bit confusing to understand the metaphors between the current military operation and the story, and I wasn't up to trying understand the twists. It was an innovative world though with space battles and human clones for the military.
---
Kerberos by Efthalia
21 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: gods, shifters, hellhounds, sirens, magic, vampires
The short story was about Hades and the gods looking for a stolen artifact, and he sent two of three brothers that made up his guard beast Kerberos to look for the goddess of gossip for information. I had thought it was going to be a romance, but it ended on a cliffhanger with no resolution and left me very unsatisfied.
---
Welcome to St Mildred's by Penelope Cress
21 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: ghosts, hellhounds, animal-sidekicks
This story followed the FMC Tabitha as she sought to debunk a psychic with colleagues and ended up in her own horror story instead.
---
Hell Hounds: Felicity Philips Investigates by Steve Higgs
16 pages
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ / DNF
Tags: animal-sidekicks, telepaths
This story followed a couple of dogs and a cat as they attempted to look for a missing felon for their owner for a reward. The chaotic animal thoughts did not interest me.
---
Cut Loose by Stacey Broadbent
23 pages
* skipped *
No interest in contemporary.
---
Embracing Death by Kenzie Kelly
14 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: animal-sidekicks, reapers, ghosts, hellhounds
This story followed the reaper FMC Myka after she found a Grim, a ghost dog, at her door. It was a cozy story with a HEA for the dog and his boy.
---
Olivia of the Three Realms by Shanda Forish
18 pages
Rating: ★★★★☆
Tags: gods, hellhounds, animal-sidekicks, blindness
This story followed the god Hades as he tracked Cerberus to the human realm and observed him taking care of a blind girl. It was nice cozy HEA for the girl.
---
"Transcendent Boston" by Lawrence M. Schoen
29 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: ghosts
Even after finishing this story, I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but it followed the MC Zachary who lived in a taxidermied dog with a group of people that I assumed were ghosts? The ending mostly explained how the group was related to each other and was stuck in the dog as some kind of
---
Hellhound Inked by Kate Pickford
27 pages
---
There Once Was a Wicked Man by Jenn Mitchell
15 pages
---
A Wolf by Any Other Name by L.A. Nolan
13 pages
---
Irena by B. Wells
16 pages
---
Hellhounds: Blood in the Water by Grayson Walker
11 pages
---
Hound versus Cat by Katy Hollway
17 pages
---
Kaylee's Harvest by C.B. Miller
23 pages
---
The Good Boy by Ella J Smyth
15 pages
---
Belle's Revenge by S.M. Schaefer
18 pages
---
The House in the Woods by Simon Pert
14 pages
---
Never Underestimate a Scrap by Lesley Hawkins
26 pages
---
We'll Meet Again by Ginger Rinkenberger & Kate Pickford
23 pages
---
Preface: I've listed all the stories in this anthology but will be leaving more detailed summaries and reviews as I slowly go through all of them.
Sherlock Hound and the Holme of the Baskervilles by J.A. Clement
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: animal-sidekicks, retelling, detectives
This short story was told from the POV of Watson the Labrador as he watched his packmates Sherlock Hound and Mycroft assist their owner Emma solve the mystery of a missing person. It was an okay read due to the unique dog POV, but not a very good mystery as everything was solved by luck or spoon-fed.
---
Welcome to Team Hellhound by E.G. Bateman
29 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: demons, hunters, magic
This short story described how the demon Ethan came to escape Hell and possess the boring human Neville. All the action and character development was rather surface level, and there was some unappealing gratuitous violence. The Hellhounds mentioned in the story were not actual shifters, but just a team of demon hunters. Not my cup of tea, and not interested in reading the full series (if there is one).
---
Escape from New York City by Stephanie Mylchreest
26 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: post-apocalyptic, animal-sidekicks
This short story followed the MC Jason with his female dog Bobby as they tried to navigate their new post-apocalpytic world in New York City and reunited with his best friend's ex Lisa (and crush).
While his ex-best friend Kenny was shown to be an asshole, Jason was also quite the unlikeable character as well with his selfish behavior and attitude towards his unrequited love. This jealousy ultimately ended in
Spoiler
accidentally killing Kenny while fighting in a fit a jealousy in kayaks on the river---
Ralphie Boy by Michael Raymond
12 pages
* skipped *
No interest in historical fiction.
---
Love at First Bark by Lily Alexander
26 pages
* skipped *
No interest in contemporary.
---
Dog Day's Night by Dakota Blake
24 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: ghosts, hellhounds, hunters, magic, demons
This story followed the ghost bounty hunter FMC Bella with her bodyguard Bradley as they visited an abandoned house to retrieve a magic box for a client. They soon ran into difficulties when they discovered a hellhound was guarding the property.
It was a quick fun quest, but the character descriptions were a bit ambiguous and it seemed like the backstory of the main characters was developed in other full-length novels. I got the impression that Bella and Bradley were dating as a couple, but I wasn't positive until closer to the end of the story.
---
The Resurrection of Rainbow Vincent by V.R. Tapscott
11 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: animal-sidekicks
This was a quick story that was told from the POV of a homeless kid named Pizza Kid (PK) who found a young kidnapped dog Rainbow Vincent that used for dog bait before being shot and left for dead. It was a little graphic and simple, but it ended with quite happily.
---
A Mutt-ually Assured Attachment by Lasairiona McMaster
25 pages
* skipped *
No interest in contemporary.
---
The Hackney Hellhounds by Jac Harmon
15 pages
* skipped *
No interest in historical fiction.
---
Hot as Hell, Sweet as Love by N.D. Roberts
27 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: animal-sidekicks, gods, angels, bookstores, demons, hellhounds, magic
This story followed FMC Mirabelle, a historical romance author, as she ran into a dog on the moor when out on a walk and returned him to Lucifer, a fallen angel masquerading as a bookstore owner among the humans. A quick romance soon followed between the two. There was a little more religion and historical romance than I prefer in my writing, but it was a fun read.
---
The Hellhounds of Argos Carinae 3 by T.R. Fruman
15 pages
Rating: ★★★★☆
Tags: sci-fi
This story followed the MC Top, whose team was hired for security services for a meeting between a mining colony and Zander Corporation, a larger entity that could sell the exotics metals that were mined. Chaos soon followed when Zander Corp attempted to assassinate the miners to gain access to the exotics without fair negotiation.
It was a glorious space battle, and I enjoyed the intrigue and characters.
---
Do Retired Hellhounds Dream of Slower Squirrels? by A.M. Scott
8 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: animal-sidekicks
This story was warned to be contemporary fiction, but it was told from the POV of the dog George AKA Hellhound, so I was still interested. :) George used to be owned by an Evil Man who ended up getting voluntarily arrested and was given to guard the man's niece's family instead. It was a bittersweet snippet about the new non-criminal life of an elderly retired dog.
---
When We Had Hope by Jon Tobey
18 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: hellhounds, animal-sidekicks, sci-fi, gods, time-travel
This story followed the MC Horace, the Gatekeeper for the Purgatory realm, and his sidekick hellhound Goblin as they dealt with interlopers in the realm and met an innocent soul Rose that was on a quest to retrieve her brother. The sci-fi portals and time travel in combination with the fantastical world was an interesting combination. The plot was a little flat and straightforward and ended on an open-ended quest, and there was a little too many theological rants for me, but I enjoyed reading about Goblin and his powers mostly.
---
Coyote Terror(ier) by Audra Spicer
14 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: animal-sidekicks, telepaths
This was a short story told from the POV of Dougal (Doogie) the indoor Jack Russell. Doogie dreamed about a chance to chase a wild squirrel outdoors, and one day, he met a wild Coyote in his quest to chase a squirrel down on a potty break in the yard. Coyote tempted Doogie to run off with him the next day on a hunt for the Squirrel King, but Doogie soon learned that there had been an ulterior motive.
The TSTL behavior from the naive elderly protagonist was a bit much, even if they were all canids. It was also rather ambiguous if Coyote and Moji were actually supernatural beings with subtle mentions of speaking in the head and same-colored eyes. It was a pretty straightforward dog story - nothing that memorable.
---
The Golden Curse by Kasia Lasinska
20 pages
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ / DNF
Tags: animal-sidekicks, magic, demons, vampires, gods
DNF after getting an info dump of the Dark Realm and Cerr, Berr, and Gus's parentage.
This fantasy short story followed a Golden Retriever name Maui that went after his favored stuffed duck stolen by a boy and thrown into a fountain. Jumping into the fountain to retrieve his toy sent Maui through a portal to another realm, where a Cerberus creature met him. The writing was very child-like with a very straight forward quest introduced to get Maui back home to Earth, and I wasn't really interested in finishing a story with dry narration where everything was told, not shown.
---
The Beast of Welwyn by Jon & James Evans
18 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: sci-fi, animal-sidekicks
This short story followed a specialist soldier who was telling a story to a squad about a top secret Cerberus program that put human minds in genetically bred dogs and a dog that escaped. It was honestly a bit confusing to understand the metaphors between the current military operation and the story, and I wasn't up to trying understand the twists. It was an innovative world though with space battles and human clones for the military.
---
Kerberos by Efthalia
21 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: gods, shifters, hellhounds, sirens, magic, vampires
The short story was about Hades and the gods looking for a stolen artifact, and he sent two of three brothers that made up his guard beast Kerberos to look for the goddess of gossip for information. I had thought it was going to be a romance, but it ended on a cliffhanger with no resolution and left me very unsatisfied.
---
Welcome to St Mildred's by Penelope Cress
21 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: ghosts, hellhounds, animal-sidekicks
This story followed the FMC Tabitha as she sought to debunk a psychic with colleagues and ended up in her own horror story instead.
---
Hell Hounds: Felicity Philips Investigates by Steve Higgs
16 pages
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ / DNF
Tags: animal-sidekicks, telepaths
This story followed a couple of dogs and a cat as they attempted to look for a missing felon for their owner for a reward. The chaotic animal thoughts did not interest me.
---
Cut Loose by Stacey Broadbent
23 pages
* skipped *
No interest in contemporary.
---
Embracing Death by Kenzie Kelly
14 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: animal-sidekicks, reapers, ghosts, hellhounds
This story followed the reaper FMC Myka after she found a Grim, a ghost dog, at her door. It was a cozy story with a HEA for the dog and his boy.
---
Olivia of the Three Realms by Shanda Forish
18 pages
Rating: ★★★★☆
Tags: gods, hellhounds, animal-sidekicks, blindness
This story followed the god Hades as he tracked Cerberus to the human realm and observed him taking care of a blind girl. It was nice cozy HEA for the girl.
---
"Transcendent Boston" by Lawrence M. Schoen
29 pages
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: ghosts
Even after finishing this story, I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but it followed the MC Zachary who lived in a taxidermied dog with a group of people that I assumed were ghosts? The ending mostly explained how the group was related to each other and was stuck in the dog as some kind of
Spoiler
Purgatory.---
Hellhound Inked by Kate Pickford
27 pages
---
There Once Was a Wicked Man by Jenn Mitchell
15 pages
---
A Wolf by Any Other Name by L.A. Nolan
13 pages
---
Irena by B. Wells
16 pages
---
Hellhounds: Blood in the Water by Grayson Walker
11 pages
---
Hound versus Cat by Katy Hollway
17 pages
---
Kaylee's Harvest by C.B. Miller
23 pages
---
The Good Boy by Ella J Smyth
15 pages
---
Belle's Revenge by S.M. Schaefer
18 pages
---
The House in the Woods by Simon Pert
14 pages
---
Never Underestimate a Scrap by Lesley Hawkins
26 pages
---
We'll Meet Again by Ginger Rinkenberger & Kate Pickford
23 pages
More...