Legendary Loves Volume 2; Nell Iris, Kassandra Lea, Addison Albright

Told from Hunter's POV, we get an excellent sense of who he is, his loneliness, his motivations, and what life means both with and without Vinge.  We don't get as much as I'd like from Vinge, but his heart and devotion practically leapt off the page.  Through Hunter's eyes we get a surprisingly unbiased view of who Vinge is and it makes their relationship all the more tender because they're both such fantastic men.

The slow-build of their relationship and the light steam was fantastic.  It fit the MC's, but also felt organic to their relationship because we had a lot to learn about the depth and breadth of their connection, as did they.  The steam and their relationship didn't rely solely on the idea of their instant and cryptic connection, but gave us a story of their own in this moment of their lives that was believable.

This was such a sweet story and the reason I signed up to review the short anthology.  It was my first Pegasus story and with such beautiful descriptions and a wonderful story to accompany them I'll need to find more, pronto.  But to find more that are just as beautifully written with characters as compelling as the shifter type will be no small feat.  There was very little I didn't like about this story and right on par with the quality I've come to love and expect from this author.  4.5 stars.

With such incredible elements to work with, I was extremely disappointed in the finished product.  There was very little, if any, real connection between the characters and their chemistry was non-existent.  Keston was annoying with his panic, dramatics, and reactionary behavior and Ness wasn't any better with his sparse explanations and non-information.  We know where he's from and what he is, but beyond that there's nothing about him that we learn or that I want to discover.  There is a lot of mystery with unsatisfactory resolution and no answers.  The dialogue was confusing and underwhelming and the overall voice was confused with words used that came from various times and regions.  I found quite a lot of the exclamations to be cliche and both overly dramatic and entirely too simplistic.  One moment that was baffling to me was the "monster" status in relation to celebrating human notions of holidays...what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?  It was an attempt at humor that fell flat...much like the rest of the story.  2 stars.

This was a good story with characters I enjoyed and an actual plot that worked with the length and theme.  Surrounding the supernatural existence versus the sensationalist take on Bigfoot we have Winston and his unconventional morals as a tabloid writer.  The way he conducts himself as the story progresses gives us a great glimpse into who he really is and why we should like him so much.  Romantically there could have been a lot more.  The connection was there and the chemistry worked well, but we were missing a lot of the evolution.  Their initial connection was good in that it was believable and the end showed promise, but what was missing were confessions that were more than just Winston's attempt to see what Oliver's affections might be, and a progression that could leave us feeling more of an HEA rather than an HFN.  Overall this was a really nice story, I just wanted more from the characters I was beginning to love.  3.5 stars.

*$5.99 on Amazon

Legendary Loves Volume 2 contains three paranormal shifter M/M romances just in time for Halloween! Contains the stories:

In My Arms Again by Nell Iris: Oxen is lonely, feeling like he's waiting for something, and can't focus. But when a very ill stranger collapses on his doorstep, everything changes. The stranger, Vinge, is a Pegasus unable to transform. Both men feel an instant connection that swiftly grows deeper. The questions surrounding Vinge are many. Why is he so familiar? What will it take for the depth of their connection be revealed?

The Murky Depths by Kassandra Lea: Tired of the daily grind of his job, Keston heads out for a weekend at his family's cabin in Kona Woods. Turns out he isn't alone, though, as there are others lurking in the shadows. When a near-death experience brings Ness waltzing into his life, everything Keston thought he knew is turned upside down. Will facing what scares him bring to Keston's life what it's missing most?

Weekend at Bigfoot's by Addison Albright: There's nothing about perky -- twinky? -- Oliver Hughes that would make Sensational News' (Never Fake! We Swear!) reporter Wilson Banks think Bigfoot actually exists. But while pursuing soundbites for a tabloid story about Bigfoot, Wilson witnesses something he wasn't meant to see. In Wilson's new reality, is there room for love with someone whose dreams are as big as his ... er ... feet?