Beyond The Dark

Four mistresses of romantic fiction come together in one fantastic anthology.

In the order I liked them;

~In a Wolf's Embrace by Lora Leigh~

A Breed male often recognizes his mate the moment he first sees her or scents her. Matthias Slaughter recognized Grace Anderson's importance to him the moment he first met her, but knew he couldn't act on his feelings until his mission was complete. Fate has a way of taking decisions out of your hands, however, and when Grace accidentally witnesses Matthias assassinating her boss, an evil Council Scientist, Matthias has no choice but to take her with him.

Sequestered in a secluded cabin together, Matthias sets out to woo his little mate, explaining why he'd been assigned to terminate her employer. He is determined to allow her to choose him instead of forcing the Mating Heat on her, but his own hormones become difficult to control.

Grace knows she should run far away from this dangerous man, but something about him pulls at her, preventing her from denying him. Soon, their close proximity will break their control, binding them forever in a way that will consume them both.

Really good.  I want more in this series.

~Dragon Dance by Angela Knight~

Random humans have developed inexplicable paranormal abilities. The change comes upon them without warning, and for many, they never recover from the madness that accompanies the transition period. Hostage negotiator Arial Dean is called in to talk down one such `Hyper', as they are called, in a standoff that threatens not only the man's wife and children, but every living being in the vicinity. It will take the combined efforts of Arial and the mysterious man known only as Tracker to subdue this dangerous new Hyper.

I'm hoping this will become a series.  It isn't yet.

~Queen of all She Surveys by Emma Holly~

Once again, Queen Tou has won the latest battle between herself and King Ravna. This time, she has taken his surviving warriors hostage, demanding he ransom them for his own son, the legendary Prince Memnon. It is said that King Ravna has been touched by the gods, and his son is rumored to have inherited his father's insatiable lust. Unlike his father, however, Prince Memnon indulges himself only once a month, when the need becomes too great to control.

Queen Tou has also been blessed by the gods with eternal youth, but has been left with a raging sexual need that requires a harem of men to sate her each night. Her new husband, Prince Memnon, is not a man willing to share, but can he satisfy her needs in full by himself? More importantly, can the son of her enemy truly be trusted in her bed and her heart?

No matter the genre she is writing in, Emma Holly never fails to spin a fascinating tale full of some very memorable love scenes. But no matter how wild the sex, she always manages to infuse the scene with a great deal of true caring. Consequently, the sex scenes never come across as gratuitous but instead an expression of love between the characters involved.

Despite her heightened sexual appetite, Queen Tou only chooses men for her harem that she truly cares for. As such, I would not consider her promiscuous, despite her numerous sexual encounters. Especially since everything changes when she meets the irresistible Prince Memnon. Once she touches him, she desires no other, and so begins their love story.

Prince Memnon is a man consumed by worry over his own appetites, having never met a woman who can handle his sex drive when fully unleashed. In Queen Tou, he is more than surprised to find a woman he can respect, love, and with whom he can completely let himself go.

Sex, sex and more sex.  I like sex...and reading about sex, but I like a story too.

~Caught by the Tides by Diane Whiteside~

It is 1803 and England remains on guard for threat from Napoleon Bonaparte. Both the French and the English employ the use of powerful mages with the ability to control the elements and more in their battles. Owen Bentham is just such a King's Mage, in service to England. As he carries an imperative message that can change the tide of the war, the enemy calls a storm that leaves him near dead.

When Emma finds the handsome man washed up on her beach, she recognizes him as a King's Mage by the ring he wears, and knows that her duty to help him goes beyond simple human kindness, but is a duty to her country. But in caring for Owen, she finds herself caught in the midst of the fight, an unexpected but significant pawn that the traitorous mage will do anything to control. In order to foil the traitor and help Owen succeed in his mission, she must give everything she is to Owen.

I couldn't be bothered finishing this one.  Didn't do it for me at all.