Tapestry

Rating:
Summary: entertaining romance anthology
Review: "To Kiss in the Shadows" by Lynn Kurland. The women fear the arrival of Jason of Artane. However, one Lianna of Grasleigh hides in the shadows of her tapestry yet somehow Jason finds his heart's quest if he can make her see what he sees.

"An Interrupted Tapestry" by Madeline Hunter. Desperate to make remittance on her brother's debt, Gisele tries to sell her best tapestry to old friend Hanseatic League trader Andreas. However, though not good for trade, Andreas and Gisele fall in lieben.

"Dragonswan" by Sherrilyn Kenyon. In Richmond, scholar Dr. Channon "Shannon with a C" MacRae ponders the olde English words on the dragon tapestry when Sebastian Kattalakis disturbs her by muttering something about dragons, crunching and ketchup. He must persuade his beloved that not only does she belong to him, but also he will open the history of the world to her.

"Into the Dreaming" by Karen Marie Moning. In Indiana, Jane Sillee dreams of the Highlander and now owns a medieval tapestry that she has no idea who or why it was sent to her. She looks deeply at it when suddenly she is transported back to 928 Scotland where she meets her Highlander, Aedon MacKinnon. She has to break the evil spell that engulfs the man she has loved since she first dreamed of him.

Though each tale is different except for the theme of a tapestry involved in the plot, fans will enjoy these stories due to wonderful lead characters. The contributors have done great jobs entertaining the romance reading troops.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: One of the better anthology collections out there.
Review: 'Tapestry' is four novellas with a common 'thread' (get it, thread?) between them all -- a tapestry of some sort shows up in every story. I thought it was an interesting thought, and I'm glad I picked it up. This is one of the more entertaining anthologies I've read lately.

Lynn Kurland's 'To Kiss in the Shadows' headlines this new anthology book, and rightfully so! I was completely blown away by this very simple, very sweet story. No time travel, no fairy godmothers, and only a pinch of magic (Jason is rumored to be a warlock). It sure wasn't what I expected from Lynn Kurland, time travel queen extraordinaire! Yet this poignant story blows the other ones out of the water. It's the tale of Lianna, the wealthiest maid at court--and the most miserable. She's horribly disfigured by the pox as a young woman, and despairs of ever finding anyone to love her....and then she meets Jason de Piaget. I just loved this story to pieces! Ten stars!

I skipped the Madeline Hunter story, so I cannot comment on it, and moved right on to Sherrilyn Kenyon's 'Dragonswan'. Now, my opinion of Kenyon is very mixed. Sometimes she writes a very smart story, and sometimes she [doesn't]. But 'Dragonswan' is actually a very cute, entertaining story. It's a curious blend of magic and myth, as a dragon-man from the past, Sebastian, meets up with Channon, our modern heroine. They're both obsessed with a particular tapestry, and the story spins off from there involving time-travel, magic, shape-shifting, a good dose of fantasy, and just about everything but the kitchen sink. It's not my normal taste, but it's still entertaining and fun to read.

Karen Marie Moning's 'Into the Dreaming' is the fourth installment in this book, and I liked it the least. I'm just not a Moning fan, though I know she has a devoted fan-base. The heroine is Jane Sillee (which nearly lost me right there--I loathe cutesy), who is obsessed with a man that she dreams about constantly. She knows he is her perfect mate. Only when she meets Aedon, the 'Vengeance' of the Unseelie King, he's her dream man...but nothing like she thought he would be. This story was fast paced and while I'm not a big fan of Moning, it was entertaining to read.

Buy it for Kurland's story, and read the rest while you're at it.

Rating:
Summary: a keeper
Review: All four of the stories were beautifully told and well done. But I have to say my absolute favorite of them all was Dragonswan by Sherrilyn Kenyon. It captured my imagination in a way most books don't any more. I love the world she has created and can't believe how much passion, poignancy and story she packed in such a short tale. Buy it for this one alone.

My next favorite was Karen Marie Moning whose books I have loved fom the beginning. Her look at the fairie realm was fun and endearing. I think I would love to see an anthology with just these two. They are stellar talents.

Rating:
Summary: A mixed-up tapestry...
Review: As with all anthologies, this is a mixed bunch. Lynn Kurland appears to be billed as the star of the collection, with her mediaeval tale about the ward of the king who is shunned by all the other ladies of the court because - at least, I assume this is the reason - she is scarred from the pox. During one particularly nasty scene, she's saved by the intervention of a mysterious gentleman, who turns out to be Kendrick of Artane, the knight everyone wants to meet and bed. The strange thing about this story is that it's not Kendrick who is the hero of Liana's story - it's his brother Jason. Now, what's the point of that? For a while, it almost looked as if Kurland was setting up a threesome! No, made no sense.

Madeline Hunter's story about old friends meeting again when she's poverty-stricken and he's wealthy and about to marry someone else is a very nice piece. Giselle pleads with Andreas to loan her some money, but he won't because her brother already owes him far more money than he could ever repay. But there is one thing Giselle owns which Andreas would pay large amounts for... her virtue.

Sherrilyn Kenyon's short story belongs with her Dark-Hunter series, and is her first were-creature story. Unlike the Katagaria in her books, Sebastian is part-human, part-dragon. He has travelled into the future to 'borrow' the tapestry which Channon is studying; in order to get it from her, he sweet-talks her and takes her to dinner. But he has reckoned without the Arcadian gods, who make her his mate for life... Now what can he do?

The weakest by far in this collection is Karen Marie Morning's Scottish story. Come on, publishers - romances with Scottish Highland characters are just *boring*, apart from having been done to death! This one is unconvincing, and the narrative rivals the heroine's novel for purple prose. Aeden has been kept prisoner by a faerie god (okay, start counting clichés here) for five hundred years. He's forgotten who he used to be. Jane Sillee (yes, the pun appears to be intentional by the author, but believe me, it fits!) has dreamed about having sex with him for most of her life. When she is transported back into the past, she has one month to make him remember himself and her. The dialogue here is wooden, and the narrative alternates between eye-rollingly over the top and plain boring. Zero stars for this one, two for the Kurland, three for the Hunter, but four for Kenyon.

wmr-uk

Rating:
Summary: Silky smooth in transition with a common thread of love
Review: Assemble four of the finest craftswomen of romance writing and the result is an intricate tapestry of boundless love, passion and exhilarating fantasy. The collection of stories in this romantic anthology is sprawling in its imagination, rollicking fun and hopelessly quixotic at times.

Lynn Kurland hailed as one of the best romantic writers today weaves an unconventional tale of pageantry when Lianna of Grasleigh rouses the jealousy of the palace maidens when the chivalrous knight Kendrick of Artane associates with her. The ward of King Henry despite her blemished beauty finds solace with Jason of Artane - Kendrick's brother who is a notorious sorceror of dark arts. He rescues her from a poisoned death schemed by the maidens - and when Lianna uncxpectedly becomes the prize in a contest of valor between Kendrick and his spiteful cousin, the path to love becomes a tad complicated...

Madeline Hunter's tale evokes unexpected shades of honor and passion with a rich Venice merchant Andreas claiming back his lost love Giselle when she tries to sell him her cherished tapestry to rescue her debt-ladened brother. Karen Marie Moning tells a silly but entertaining tale of a romantic novelist who receives a tapestry and is transported to ancient Scotland to resuscitate the man of her destiny from 500 years of solitary confinement.

While the stories mentioned above are equal parts poignant and fantasy, none can match the imaginative Sherrilyn Kenyon in her colourful patchwork of Greek myths like Moirae of the Fates, lycanthrope and exciting time-travel. Historian Channing McRae has no idea that the tapestry she is studying on will bring her to Sebastian, descendent and former sentinel of the Arcadian - a population with human instincts but animal traits. The tapestry made by his demised sister he failed to protect will provide him a chance to rescue his brother and string him to his mate...

Tapestry is silky-smooth in its transition and the quartet of romance mavericks weave a common thread of passion and adventure. Quite possibly the most consistent anthology, this tapestry is of vintage quality and as fine as gossamer threads.

Rating:
Summary: If only all anthologies were this good!
Review: Each and every story in this anthology was *great*, and the volume is definitely worth every cent of the price even just for the Sherrilyn Kenyon story, 'Dragonswan'. I'm sick of buying anthologies for only one tale, and being bored to tears by the rest. This one is well worth picking up!

Rating:
Summary: All Four Stories are a Pleasure to Read
Review: Each novella or short story in the anthology is an enjoyable read. The mix of authors is great; and though the eras in which the stories are written in are diverse, there is a common thread, beyond a tapestry, that ties them together.

"To Kiss in the Shadows" is a lovely story about how to misfits find one another. It is an emotional read and my favorite of the anthology. I must admit however that Lynn Kurland is one of my favorite genre writers.

"An Interrupted Tapestry" by Madeline Hunter is a story about two people who belong together, who seem to always be in different places in their lives when opportunity arises. I think that this was a weaker story than the others, only because I think that it deserved a full length book.

Karen Marie Moning creates a fantastic world in "Dragonswan" where dragons and men are one and they have only one chance to find love. This was a richly detailed story with a great fantasy background and I would love to return to the world in a full length novel.

Sherrilyn Kenyon takes us "Into the Dreaming" where the fey play games with human lives and only love can save the day.

All right all of these descriptions are highly subjective, but the stories are so short I don't want to give anything away. Buy the book, open your own piece of mind candy. :) The anthology gets a 4 and not a five because while all of the stories were great, I don't think I would read them a second time.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Four bestselling authors combine their talents to create a mixed anthology that will surely have something for everyone.

TO KISS THE SHADOWS is Lynn Kurland's entry into the collection. Lianna has spent her life in hiding, her lovely face still bears scars from when her family was killed, making her a ward of the king. She is made even more an outcast when her lovely spirit draws the attentions of two brothers, one the most eligible knight in the realm, the other, more handsome brother, a suspected warlock. Madeline Hunter tells a more conventional tale in AN INTERRUPTED TAPESTRY wherein a young woman attempts to pay off her brother's debts by selling a tapestry, not realizing that she is about to encounter true love. Sherilyn Kenyon takes a fantastic turn in DRAGONSWAN, a most unusual tale of a lycanthrope time traveler who finds his true mate in a woman of our time. The only problems are that he can not live in this time period, he is outcast from his people, and his enemies are hunting him, and now his true love, who is not happy to be stuck several centuries in the past, away from the comforts of home, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes. Finally, Karen Marie Monig ties up the collection with INTO THE DREAMING, a tale reminescent of the legend of Tam Lin. A young woman of this century is taken back in time to meet the man she was meant to love; however, he is under the spell of the Unseelie King, and only she can release him. However, she has only a month, or he will be lost forever.

***** Each story is unique and lives up to the rest of the author's work. It also gives fans who might buy the anthology for one favored writer to get a taste of how good the other three are. Though all entrires are stand alone, Ms. Kurland gives hope of a sequel to tell the other brother's story. *****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but I'm glad I didn't buy it
Review: I borrowed this book from the library because I've been burned before with anthologies. Some stories would be wonderful, then some were awful.

I'm glad I didn't buy it, although I did enjoy most of the stories. My favorite was To Kiss in the Shadows by Lynn Kurland. It was refreshing to read about a heroine that wasn't this perfect drop dead gorgeous creature. You really felt for Lianna and all the persecution she endured from the other jealous cats(women) at court. What really drew me was that not one, but two gorgeous hunks saw through her scarred skin to the beautiful spirit within. I don't think Kendrick was really serious about pursuing Lianna, he befriended her, yes, but after Jason appeared, I think Kendrick's motives were purely to aggravate a younger brother. Regardless, Lianna's spirit blossomed under both man's tenderness.

I also liked Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dragonswan. I was mainly interested in this one because it is a set up for a future series she is starting. Go to her web site to see what I mean. I too felt it could have easily been developed into a full length novel and would have been much more enjoyable.

I didn't care for Into the Dreaming at all. The ending spoiled the whole story for me, when you realized all the pain and anguish both characters went through was just for gratification of a cruel fairy/something king. I hate manipulation!

Madeline Hunter's offering was insipid at best. You just wanted to shake the heroine and make her face the facts about her dissolute brother! I also couldn't quite swallow the fact that the hero spent years building an empire and worked toward an advantageous marriage to a wealthy merchant's daughter, only to chuck it all after seeing his "one true love" for the first time in over 5 years!

All in all, these stories are entertaining, but not worth buying. Borrow it from your library. It's not worth your money.

Rating:
Summary: Great authors and GREAT stories!
Review: I bought this book for Kurland and Moning's stories and was not disappointed. The other authors were new to me -- but very good. This is one of the best compilations out there. I thought each story would have made a great novel in itself.