The Stroke of Midnight: A Supernatural New Year’s Anthology
By J.M. Gregoire, Amy Miles, Bella Roccaforte, Beth Dolgner,
Brandy Dorsch, Connie Suttle, Danielle Bannister, Lola Rayne, Faith McKay, K.L.
Brown, Kyra Dunst, F.F. McCulligan, Susan Illene and Michael Siemsen.
...So what’s this book about?
This
book is a collection of fourteen urban fantasy and paranormal short
stories/novellas with the common theme of the stories being set around “New
Year’s Eve/Day”. I downloaded this Kindle version for free from Amazon UK.
Chapter 1“A stray in
the night” by Lola Rayne
I enjoyed this short story. Strong but funny
handsome lead character, strong female love interest, fast paced story, bit of
mystery, hot lust/romance scenes left me wanting the story to go on...
Salem, evil witch, innocent girl sent to the stake -
a well written story that had my 21st century values/characteristics forgotten
& immersed in Mary Albright's world.
Chapter 3 "Suffering
- A Demon Legacy Short Story" by J.M. Gregoire. Cleverly setting up a background
story spanning hundreds of years without slowing the pace of this very short story
takes a skilled author - I am duly impressed & will hunt out more stories
about Vegas & Dez's saga...
I found this a bit of a struggle. The writing style
isn't as smooth as the other stories so far (although new authors often have to
find their feet as their experience grows) but I felt lost with the story too.
I'm assuming that the timeframe of this Novella is well into an established
series that has seen major storylines.
Chapter 5 “The
Lurkers” by Danielle Bannister
This is a very short ghost story that plunges you
right in the middle of the action; a team of U.S. Federal “Retrieval” Agents
undercover in a house to remove the rebel ghosts. I found it easy to read and
understand the concept behind the plot. Great story with an unexpected twist
that left me thinking and coming up with my own “what happened next” scenarios.
This short ghost story is set at a séance in an old
haunted house. The writing style was easy to read and I enjoyed the building tension
of waiting for the ghost to appear but I didn't feel engaged with the
characters enough to want to find out what happens in their lives next after
this story. I am happy & satisfied leaving this as a quick standalone ghost
story.
Chapter 7 – “GSW, or
How I Met My Mother” by Connie Suttle
Not what I was expecting, in a good way! I
completely fell in love with Conner Francis and think Shane Taylor is a great supporting
character. I loved the story and would definitely buy a paranormal series if
they were the main characters! It made me laugh and I actually shed a tear at
the end which I think is impressive for a short story!
Chapter 8 – “More
Glitter” by Faith McKay
This is a Teen/YA short story, relationship/life
angst is not my choice of reading even in a paranormal setting, however the
writing style is good and it was a nice change to read this very short story about
magical adolescents
Chapter 9 – “The
Smiths” by Michael Siemsen
I really loved this story. The writing style was
easy to read and the world building was believable. I felt a connection to the
main character, Kyle Smith and enjoyed being plunged feet first into his life.
Although this story is in the paranormal genre, the dynamics and complexities
of living as part of a huge family are brilliant captured and will resonate
with many readers and could have easily taken place in many a family home at
Christmas (or Thanksgiving). Lol! I loved the ending, it left me wanting find
other stories about Kyle Smith and his usually talented family ;-)
Chapter 10 – “’Til
Death Do Us Part” by K.L. Brown
I didn't get involved in this story. It left me
feeling "meh". The writing style didn't flow for me, the build-up
felt complicated & I couldn't connect to the characters. It’s a shame
really because the concept was good. I suppose sometimes as a reader you click
with a story and sometimes you don’t.
Absolutely brilliant!! I loved this story with a
passion. Very easy to read writing style, believable characters with depth
& great plot twists! The creative world building had me right there in
Mortimer & Heidi’s life, they quickly became characters that I cared about.
This story made me laugh and cry. Perfect!
Chapter 12 – “Fifteen
Minutes until Midnight – An Annwn Unveiled Short Story” by Kyra Dunst
Although, this tale is obviously a short story centred
on a supporting character from within a well established series, the character
building and “Annwn Unveiled” background story was interweaved beautifully
within this story. I found the writing style easy to read and quickly found
myself engaging with Teagan’s tale. I loved her rather unique quandary; I
haven’t read about a newly turned vampire who was vegan in human life before!
What a conundrum!
Chapter 13 – “Maltese
Cross My Heart” by F.F. McCulligan
I
feel that this short tale is more sci-fi or urban fantasy than paranormal but I
enjoyed reading it. I did find the story a bit confusing at the beginning; who
was this main character, what was he - is he a schizophrenic, is the story set
in a future time or a different planet? But once I stopped trying to work it
out and let it wash over me, I felt captivated by Glen’s journey of self discovery;
it became one of those stories that gets you thinking... wow – what if? I love
it when I’m still thinking about a short story days after reading it, don’t
you?!
Chapter 14 –
“Tempting the Moon” by Susan Illene
I loved this short story; the writing style was easy
to read, the pace was good, I engaged with the main character, Mel, and I loved
the complexities of her relationships with the supporting. I have since found
out that this tale is from a series called “The Sensor”, I haven’t read any of
the 6 books in the series and can say that you don’t need to to enjoy this
story; it works well as a stand-alone story, the character building is great and
we’re given all the background story we need to be able to follow what’s happening.
I loved this short story so much that I think I’ve found myself a new
paranormal series to read!
...So, basically what
I’m saying is...
I have
enjoyed having this book as an ongoing back-up, to be able to pick up and read when
I’ve had a bit of free time. I’ve enjoyed reading 11 out of the 14 tales; I
think it’s got a nice collection of different paranormal creatures, settings and
sub-genres under the paranormal umbrella to suit most tastes.
~ Happy Reading ~
