Reviews

Night Shift by Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Lisa Shearin

bookminx's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

Night Shift is one of the best anthologies I've read in a while with contributions from three powerhouse writers in their respective genres.

It says something when the "worst" story in a collection is from Nalini Singh. Secrets at Midnight is her contribution and it's pretty boring. Leopard shifter, Bastien Smith, has scented his mate but quickly finds out that not all is well with her. Singh can write some compelling short stories, so I was surprised at how she seemed to have sleepwalked through this one. The conflict is non-existent and it's painfully obvious what is going on with his mate from the minute Bastien starts talking about her. If I had to rate this one on an individual basis it would be a 3/5.

Magic Steals by Ilona Andrews was the reason I had been so anxious to get my hands on the anthology. The story takes place in the Kate Daniels world and follows the characters Jim and Dali who were featured in Magic Dreams, which I had adored. This story completely lived up to my high expectations. Dali is approached to look into the case of a missing person and Jim tags along for the ride. It was great to see Dali take the lead and I loved getting a little more of these two working together. I'm still holding out hope that we'll eventually get a full-length novel featuring Jim and Dali, as they're just fantastic. 5/5

Lucky Charms by Lisa Shearin was the only author in the collection who was new to me. Makenna Frazier is a seer who gets pulled into a high profile case involving leprechauns on her very first day of work. I'm guessing this is a prequel to Shearin's Urban Fantasy series starring Makenna because the story works to set-up a much more involved plot. All in all, this was a good contribution and I was intrigued enough by the characters to potentially read the first book in the series. 4/5

The Beast of Blackmoor by Milla Vane (aka Meljean Brook) was my second favorite contribution in the anthology. Mala is on a quest for her goddess to tame the beast of Blackmoor in a corrupt kingdom dominated by a tyrant. I really loved how different interpretations of words and personal perceptions influenced this short story. I'm not a huge fan of medieval settings but this one worked for me. I'll be looking forward to the first full length book set in the world. 4.5/5

All in all a great anthology that is well worth the money.

natasha_reading's review

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3.0

Review for Secrets at midnight by Nalini Singh only

fishgirl182's review

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4.0

I am not usually a big fan of novellas and short stories unless I know the author well and know that they can write a good novella. This collection includes stories by Nalini Singh and Ilona Andrews, two of my favorite urban fantasy and paranormal romance authors. Having already read some novellas by both of them before, I knew that they could deliver the goods in a shorter format. I did not know much about the remaining two authors before this but, after reading their stories, consider myself fans of both.

Secrets at Midnight by Nalini Singh – 4 stars
Secrets at Midnight is a novella set in Singh’s Psy-Changeling world. She gave a small teaser of it in her most recent Guild Hunter novel, Archangel’s Shadows. I don’t usually read excerpts because, if they are good, then I just want to devour the book right away and it sucks if it’s not out yet. But I read it because I could not help myself and was hooked.

Midnight is the story of Bastien, a cat changeling from the Dark River clan. If you’ve read the series you will remember him as one of Mercy’s adorable but infuriating brothers. I have a soft spot for the entire Smith clan and was really excited to hear that Bastien was getting his own story. This is the story about how he finds his mate, a woman who is now what she seems. I had a lot of fun reading this one. Bastien is charming and sweet and oh so sexy. Kirby was a nice match for him. She’s not from the changeling world and has to learn to adjust to life around the cats. I don’t want to give it all away but Kirby has had some rough times in her past, and I admired her for her strength and resilience. She does not let Bastien or the other cats push her around. One of my favorite scenes is the one in which Mercy tests her mettle. Needless to say, Kirby can hold her own.

This is a really fun story and I loved seeing the Dark River clan again. I am hoping this means that the rest of Mercy’s brothers will get their own HEAs as well.

Magic Steals by Ilona Andrews – 4 stars
Yes – Jim and Dali’s story finally! Jim and Dali have always seemed like a bit of an odd couple. Jim is the cat alpha and is Curran’s chief of security. Dali is a vegetarian were-tiger with terrible eyesight. On the surface they don’t seem to have much in common. In Magic Steals though, we get to see why they are so good together. In Magic Steals, Dali is pulled in to help a family friend whose grandmother has disappeared. Jim comes along to assist and what she and Jim find is much more than just a case of a missing person.

I loved this story, which isn’t surprising since I love this writing team. It was really great though to see a story that doesn’t involve Kate or Curran at all. This was all Jim and Dali and it’s fantastic. It was really cool to see how Dali’s powers work. I don’t know how much actual true Indonesian lore is incorporated into the mythology that they use here, but it’s fascinating nonetheless. This story was also really funny and we get to see a different side of Jim. He’s usually extremely serious but, in this, he lets a bit of his humor show. He also lets a bit of his softer side show (as soft as Jim can get) and I found their relationship to be unexpectedly sweet. Fans of the Kate Daniels series will not be disappointed in this one.

Lucky Charms by Lisa Shearin – 3 stars
Shearin is a new to me author. I had heard of Shearin’s Grendel Affair but knew nothing about the world. Lucky Charms is a prequel novella set in the Supernatural Protection & Investigations (SPI) series. SPI is an organization whose goal is to hide the supernatural world from humans. It’s Makenna Frazier’s first day on the job as SPI’s newest seer. As a person who can see through any glamour, Makenna will help SPI in its investigations in what she thinks will be a safe desk job. However, on her first case tracking down a group of wayward leprechauns, she finds that the job is going to be much more dangerous than anticipated. It also seems like someone may be targeting her in particular. Throw in a badass but taciturn and hot partner, and you have a formula for fun.

This novella was my least favorite of the bunch, but that’s not to say that I didn’t like it. Since this was my first taste of the SPI world, I wasn’t as invested in it as I might have been. There was also a lot of information being thrown at me, which was a little hard to keep track of at times. That said, I did enjoy it, and am looking forward to reading The Grendel Affair now. Makenna is a really likable character, though she is a little too proper for my taste. I am sure that’ll change though once she sees more of the world through her work with SPI. Ian Byrne (hot partner) piqued my interest as well. We don’t learn much about him in this novella but there’s enough there to make me want to know more about him. Overall I liked this one and will be picking up the series soon.

The Beast of Blackmoor by Milla Vane – 4 stars
The Beast of Blackmoor was a surprise for me. When I started it I wasn’t sure if I would like it. I was expecting something in the UF realm but this is definitely more high fantasy. Story centers around Kavik, a young man who goes out to build an army in order to defeat an evil ruler in him homeland. Young and foolish, he angers a goddess who tells him of a warrior princess who will come to him and bring the end. Years go by and Kavik has become The Beast of Blackmoor, a fierce warrior who roams the land, trying to help those he can escape his dying kingdom. Finally the day comes when his warrior princess arrives. She is on a quest and must tame The Beast of Blackmoor in order to help save her own people. She doesn’t realize that The Beast is a man until after she meets Kavik and then must figure out a way to complete her quest without destroying Kavik, whom she admires and comes to care for.

It took me a little while to get into this one. It’s a really complex world and I had a bit of a hard time getting everything straight in my head at first. However, after reading for a bit, I found myself really immersed in it. The world is really unique, with its own demons, goddesses, creatures and language. But at the heart of it all were Kavik and Mala. The connection between the two is strong from the start and I could feel the pull that they felt towards each other. I loved how badass and fierce Mala was. She has so much poise and grace but can also cut you in two. Kavik is a tortured soul and my heart went out to him. He’s lost everything and thinks that the woman he loves is going to be his end. The chemistry between Kavik and Mala is very primal and raw and their love scenes are as well. I never thought I’d find loincloths and beards sexy but Vane manages to make it so.

It wasn’t until after I read this story and tried to find more by Milla Vane that I learned that Milla Vane is actually a pen name for Meljean Brook. I am a huge fan of Brook’s Iron Seas series so I am not surprised then that I liked Blackmoor so much. The tone of Blackmoor is very different than the Iron Seas books but it has the same great world building and well written characters that I’ve come to expect from Brook. I could not find a lot of information on Blackmoor but I am pretty sure that it’s a prequel to a new series that Brook will be writing under the Vane pen name. I really can’t wait for a full novel to come out. If The Beast of Blackmoor is any indication, the new series is going to be fantastic.

Final thoughts:
If you are a fan of any of these authors or love urban fantasy and paranormal romance, then Night Shift is a must read. I bought this for the Nalini Singh and Ilona Andrews stories but really liked the other two as well. It’s definitely worth the price tag to get 4 great stories in one neat package.

mlcutter's review

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4.0

Have read a lot of Nalini Singh & Ilona Andrews. Found Lisa Shearin off of this book. Hilarious!

angels_gp17's review

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5.0

~ 5 Night Shift Stars ~

I picked up Night Shift to read Nalini Singh and Ilona Andrews stories. I love these two authors. Their writing, character and world-building are fantastic. I loved the first two novellas, Secrets At Midnight and Magic Steals. Lisa Shearin and Milla Vane are new to me authors. I was not sure what to expect from them. I liked their novellas, Lucky Charms and The Beast of Blackmoor.

Individual reviews below on each novella!


~ 5 Secrets At Midnight Stars ~

Loved It!

We are taken back into the Psy-Changeling world in Secrets At Midnight by [a:Nalini Singh|71688|Nalini Singh|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1423312512p2/71688.jpg]. I was pulled in from the moment it starts to the very end. I love this world and can never get enough. Bastien is a leopard changeling, so we get to see some of our old friends. He is intelligent, witty, and a little wicked. Loved him. Kirby is human or is she? She has not had a great life so far, but things are about to get interesting. The relationship development and growth is lovely and to see Kirby finally learn what love means, heartwarming.

You don’t have to have read any of the Psy-Changeling books to pick this up. Secrets At Midnight gives you a nice taste into the world of the Changelings and what it means to find a mate. I highly recommend picking up Nalini Singh’s books.


~ 5 Magic Steals Stars ~

Loved It!

We are taken back into the Kate Daniels world with Jim and Dali. This is Dali POV. If you have not read [b:Magic Dreams|13627865|Magic Dreams (Kate Daniels, #4.5)|Ilona Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397416627s/13627865.jpg|19233926] (Kate Daniels #4.5) you might be a little lost on the relationship between these two since they hook up in Magic Dreams.

We get to see Jim and Dali dating and Dali’s fears that she is not powerful, aggressive or sexy enough of a women shifter to be an equal to Jim. Jim shows Dali that she is everything he needs and that them becoming mates will not hinder him, but make him more.

I loved following these two around as Dali does her magic thing again. She is one special white tiger. Jim I love him. He see’s Dali as so much more then the skinny vegetarian who wears glasses. This was a fun read and I always love diving back into the Kate Daniels world. The writing team of [a:Ilona Andrews|21748|Ilona Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219436898p2/21748.jpg] are just Fabulous. If you have not picked up this series it’s a must!


~ 4 Lucky Charms Stars ~

Liked It!

So I’m not sure if this is part of a series. It felt like a prequel to one. I plan on checking out more of [a:Lisa Shearin|336058|Lisa Shearin|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1386014550p2/336058.jpg] and if this is a series I’ll be adding it to my TBR.

We get an interesting world and developments. I enjoyed the world building. We get a verity of supernatural creatures in all shapes, sizes, myths, and legends. A nice mix. The characters are enjoyable and we are set up with a nice cast. Makenna Fraser is our heroine, who works for the Supernatural Protection and Investigations, which they battle the bad guys of the supernatural world. She has a unique gift for being a human.

Lucky Charms, charmed me and I’m interested in reading more.


~ 3.5 The Beast Of Blackmoore Stars ~

Good read!

This is a new to me author and The Beast Of Blackmoore was an ok read. We have a warrior princess on a quest and a man with no hope who has been forsaken by the Gods. The warrior princess has faith in her goddess, but that does not make the quest easier. The Beast is an horrible man who fighting for his people even when he has lost everything. I had a ruff start getting into the world, but the more I read the better and more interesting things became. The ended was well done.

angelsgp-seethisreview-blure

ameretet's review

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i read a book!! Its a miracle! I had time to read for pleasure!

It was totally worth it!

claire_loves_books's review

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3.0

I mostly enjoyed this anthology- 3 of the 4 stories were great but one was horrendous.
Secrets at Midnight by Nalini Singh ★★★
Magic Steals by Ilona Andrews ★★★★
Lucky Charms by Lisa Shearin ★★★★★
Beast of Blackmoor by Milla Vane ★

Secrets at Midnight by Nalini Singh ★★★
I wasn't particularly bothered either way by Bastien, Mercy's brothers have always seemed like wall dressing to Mercy rather than characters in their own right (Mercy is also one of my least favourite characters in the series), but in Secrets at Midnight Bastien is pretty much the standard changeling male so I enjoyed it (In personality Kirby is such a standard PNR heroine- the 24 year old innocent virgin), it wasn't particularly original (It really could have been pretty much any short from the series) but it was a fun short story.

Magic Steals by Ilona Andrews ★★★★
I really enjoyed this- I've always found Dali and Jim a bit dull but in Magic Steals they made a great pair (Dali is just so full of insecurities and angst and she really annoys me, but with Jim's help she's starting to tackle some of those insecurities here). It was funny, sweet and action packed. Ilona Andrews short stories are always great and this one was no exception.

Lucky Charms by Lisa Shearin ★★★★★
This was hilarious! It was a no-stop tour of Shearin's SPI Files New York city through the eyes of SPI's newest employee- she really couldn't have packed anything else into this. Included are naked Leprechauns, hot Goblins, Russian werewolves, elves high on clover, a dragon boss , vampire lawyers, strip clubs, sex clubs, fights and high speed van chases (bakery van vs gargoyles). It was brilliant.

Beast of Blackmoor by Milla Vane ★
Milla Vane is an alternate name to Meljean Brook and part of me wonders if she decided she didn't want to associate it with the rest of her work.
I found this story seriously out of place in the book- it wasn't fun, it wasn't sweet and it was very dark. (It was also high fantasy rather than urban fantasy or paranormal). It seemed almost determinedly crude and cruel- this story includes rape, murder, torture, slavery and abuse all treated with casual acceptance- the author's mindset seems to be "it's a fantasy world so all of that shit is fine", no it's not fine! Vane tried to sketch out a fantasy world but there really wasn't enough to the story to understand it.
The Sex scenes were horrifically cringe worthy and about as unsexy as possible. Also the virgin meets the warrior has been done so many times before (and a lot better).

eastofthesunwestofthemoon's review

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3.0

I didn't care for the 4th story.

desiree_mcl's review

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4.0

I got this anthology for Ilona Andrews and Nalini Singh's contributions but I also decided to read the other 2 short stories in this collection. I read the 2 I got the collection for and I unfortunately DNF'd the last two but the last story I'm willing to try again w/, I just wasn't in the right mood to try and read it.

In general anthologies aren't my thing. I only get them when an author I love is included and I rarely love the story, I'll usually like it but end up feeling a bit ambivalent toward the story in the general. Loving them or hating them are rare for me, usually short stories like these fall into 'ok' territory.

Secrets at Midnight (Psy-Changeling #12.5): 4 stars.

I read this one a while ago I never wrote a review, bad Desiree', but here's what I remember. Bastien, one of Mercy's brother's, had scented his mate a few weeks back but had yet to find her. Until he's driving Vera (an elderly woman from the pack) some place and he finally finds his elusive mate.

I do remember enjoying this one but it not reaching love status. Which I wish wasn't the case because I was looking forward to Bastien's story. I still liked it but I wanted more out of it.

Magic Steals (Kate Daniels #6.5) 5 stars. I know, from reading other reviews, that this one wasn't everyone's cup of tea, which is completely fine, but I loved it. Yes, there were some things that did irk me but it didn't lower my star rating at all. I loved diving back into the world and I loved Jim and Dali so much.

Jim and Dali! <3

It took me a long time to read this one. Jim is one of my favorite (top 3 for sure) secondary characters in the Kate Daniels world and I had fallen in love with Dali as well. I was so nervous that I wouldn't love this, they are just such beloved characters for me, that I didn't want to dive into a story I might not like.

Thankfully the Ilona Andrews writing team has never let me down. I should know that by now.

When Jim showed up for their date
Spoilerright after he'd been challenged and really hurt, all because he didn't want to disappoint Dali,
my heart melted.

So many moments that I loved in this short installment. I want more with these two so bad.

Hope to get to Magic Binds soon.

Lucky Charms (SPI Files #0.5): DNF'd. I was interested in this one because it sounded like a fun, silly, short read. I ended up only reading about 30 pages of this, in those 30 pages it didn't feel like anything was happening. I need a short story (unless it's with characters/in a world I already know and love) to be moving quickly and not spending 20-30 pages dealing with the first day of a new job. Yes, the job is quirky, interesting, there's a weird case going down but I didn't feel like it was moving along.

The Beast of Blackmoor (Barbarian #1): DNF'd but I will be trying again in the future. I read about 30 pages of this one. Within those 30 pgs there was a hero who is a warrior...new warrior, he's only 15 at the time, and he was cocky and did something...not good in the temple of a deity and was cursed/given a little insight into his future. Jump ahead many years and we have a heroine that is tasked with taming the "beast", there is a battle with some vicious creatures and she's fought them before. So it's a story line I would normally be interested in but other books were calling my name and it was feeling like a chore to read it.

leabookjoy's review

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5.0

The five stars are for the first three short-stories.
Secrets at Midnight by Nalini Singh
Finally, Nalini Singh offers us the story of Bastien aka Frenchie, the brother of Mercy, when he met his mate, Kirby, a young woman totally ordinary ... or at least in appearance.
I'm such a big fan of the Psy-Changeling series and I LOVE reading this story with a lot of passion and humour but also a touch of mystery. The story is not really refined but the style of Nalini is perfect as usual.

Magic Steals by Ilona Andrews
Ahhh I totally loved seeing Jim and Dali again !! They are part of my favorite secondary characters and I soo missed them.
Although they are officially together, Dali has not finished yet to worry about her beautiful Jim. However, her love life will have to wait because it seems that someone decided to totally eradicate the inhabitants of a small building by making them live their worst nightmare ...
I loved seeing Dali in action with all of her Indonesian magic but also her soooo cute relationship with Jim with passion, humor and tenderness. I am also a big fan of Dali's mother xD

The two first short-stories have been as good as I expected from two of my favorite authors =) The next one is a discovery =D

Lucky Charms by Lisa Shearin
This short-story was a really great surprise. This is a prequel of the SPI Files series that I eagerly read after that. Here we discover the first case of Mac as seer which earned her the little bared ass figurine of leprechaun but it's also her first meeting with Ian who was far from enthusiastic =) But then again who would be excited to find five horny leprechauns who escaped at a bachelor party. A story full of humor, magic and adventure with a touch of romance that predicts a lot of steamy times =) Big mention for the big bad and sexy goblin, who reminds me sooo much of Jareth (from Labyrinth). I hope we will see him again in future books =)

The Beast of Blackmoor by Milla Vane
To be honest, I have only read the first chapters of Milla Vane's short-story (aka Meljean Brook) I'm not a big fan of heroic fantasy stories and although I usually like Meljean Brook, the fact that I found myself in the middle of a fantastic medieval story after reading three urban fantasy short-stories ... Well I was a little lost. So maybe I would read this one another day but not now.
After devouring all Milla Vane books, I remembered this short story that I still hadn't read ... And I loved it ! The characters are dark, brave, broken and so endearing, the sex scenes are pfioulala and the story was perfect ! I love cruel but also tricky gods !

In short, an anthology which TOTALLY worth it !!