Rating: 
Summary: Three and a half star collection
Review: "Charmed Destinies" is an interesting, but flawed, experiment. The three authors in question, Mercedes Lackey, Rachel Lee, and Catherine Asaro, do a workmanlike job exploring various aspects of the romantic fantasy genre.The "lesser light" of the group, Rachel Lee, was the most interesting author. Her story, "Drusilla's Dream," was the best of the three by a wide margin. This was an unusual take on an urban fantasy, and I liked it very much. It was funny, interesting, and moving. There were a few very minor plotholes; for example, if Miles, her hero, had his eyes on Drusilla the whole time, the first time he sees her outside the shared daydream/computer storyline should be explained differently. Which is why this story doesn't get five stars; instead, it gets four. But a very strong four. And I'll be looking for more stuff from Ms. Lee. I'm already a regular reader of Ms. Lackey, and I enjoyed her story, "Counting Crows." This was a period romance based in the medieval era of our Earth, and was nicely executed, even though in some respects, this was more a story about a brother and sister avoiding disaster than a romance; the romantic element was definitely secondary. But I liked Sir Atremus, and I enjoyed Gwynhwyfar's attraction to him. And the "spin," where it took a long time for the two of them to hook up, was an interesting one. Three and a half stars for this story. I liked Ms. Asaro's premise for "Moonglow." This was an altogether new fantasy world, and the idea was very good. I liked the shape-magic. However, the execution of this story left a lot to be desired. The dialect used for Iris was not consistently applied, and I thought the story's ending a bit rushed. In addition, the fact that major mages could be out in the open where no one could pick up how powerful they are doesn't make any sense; the other, lesser mages should be able to pick up the power, even if it's never used. That was a major plothole. In addition, Ms. Asaro has some very unusual and offputting word choices. For example, she uses the word "coronate" in the following fashion: "We cannot coronate him tomorrow." Considering the rest is more or less in American idiomatic English, this threw me right out of the reader's trance. So, despite the very strong and engaging plot premise, the story fell flat because the characters didn't engage me very much, and the execution of the writing was flawed. Two stars at best for this story, only because I liked the character of the foster father, Stone. Overall: three and a half stars. Not bad at all, worth the money, and if the new Harlequin Luna line is much like this stuff, it should sell quite nicely. Barb Caffrey
Rating: 
Summary: three great romantic fantasy novellas
Review: "Counting Crows" by Mercedes Lackey. Lady Gwynhefar has to wed the King's choice abusive Lord Bretagne or her odious neighbor Baron Arghus though both are abominations. She marries Bretagne in a glove ceremony, but he is more brutal than she imagined as he rapes and beats her. Only her childhood hero Sir Atremus and her "maid" Robin give her solace. When Bretagne accepts a seditious deal and Atremus is dying, Gwyn acts to save the kingdom and her beloved with a spell, but what will it cost the witch? "Drusilla's Dream" by Rachel Lee. Drusilla dreams of painting full time, but to eat she works in data entry at GalaxyCom. To get through the inane repetitive tasks Drusilla dreams the night away with thoughts of head programmer Miles fighting evil by her side. When daylight arrives can Drusilla and Miles take a shared dream and turn it into a loving reality? "Moonglow" by Catherine Asaro. In Aronsdale, the most powerful magic practitioners wed the royals. Iris knows she will marry Prince Jarid. Though a spell cast to save his life left him blind, deaf, and unable to speak, Jarid and Iris communicate through the heart. She risks all to perform a spell for her beloved to gain the senses he lost, but the price is that those who killed his mother will murder him and his beloved. These three great romantic fantasy novellas make their respective realms and key cast members seem authentic. The story lines hook the audience whether they prefer romance or fantasy. Readers will marvel at the talent whom provide a tremendous taste of what to expect from Silhouette's new imprint Luna. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Three and a half star collection
Review: "Charmed Destinies" is an interesting, but flawed, experiment. The three authors in question, Mercedes Lackey, Rachel Lee, and Catherine Asaro, do a workmanlike job exploring various aspects of the romantic fantasy genre. The "lesser light" of the group, Rachel Lee, was the most interesting author. Her story, "Drusilla's Dream," was the best of the three by a wide margin. This was an unusual take on an urban fantasy, and I liked it very much. It was funny, interesting, and moving. There were a few very minor plotholes; for example, if Miles, her hero, had his eyes on Drusilla the whole time, the first time he sees her outside the shared daydream/computer storyline should be explained differently. Which is why this story doesn't get five stars; instead, it gets four. But a very strong four. And I'll be looking for more stuff from Ms. Lee. I'm already a regular reader of Ms. Lackey, and I enjoyed her story, "Counting Crows." This was a period romance based in the medieval era of our Earth, and was nicely executed, even though in some respects, this was more a story about a brother and sister avoiding disaster than a romance; the romantic element was definitely secondary. But I liked Sir Atremus, and I enjoyed Gwynhwyfar's attraction to him. And the "spin," where it took a long time for the two of them to hook up, was an interesting one. Three and a half stars for this story. I liked Ms. Asaro's premise for "Moonglow." This was an altogether new fantasy world, and the idea was very good. I liked the shape-magic. However, the execution of this story left a lot to be desired. The dialect used for Iris was not consistently applied, and I thought the story's ending a bit rushed. In addition, the fact that major mages could be out in the open where no one could pick up how powerful they are doesn't make any sense; the other, lesser mages should be able to pick up the power, even if it's never used. That was a major plothole. In addition, Ms. Asaro has some very unusual and offputting word choices. For example, she uses the word "coronate" in the following fashion: "We cannot coronate him tomorrow." Considering the rest is more or less in American idiomatic English, this threw me right out of the reader's trance. So, despite the very strong and engaging plot premise, the story fell flat because the characters didn't engage me very much, and the execution of the writing was flawed. Two stars at best for this story, only because I liked the character of the foster father, Stone. Overall: three and a half stars. Not bad at all, worth the money, and if the new Harlequin Luna line is much like this stuff, it should sell quite nicely. Barb Caffrey
Rating:
Summary: Three and a half star collection
Review: "Charmed Destinies" is an interesting, but flawed, experiment. The three authors in question, Mercedes Lackey, Rachel Lee, and Catherine Asaro, do a workmanlike job exploring various aspects of the romantic fantasy genre. The "lesser light" of the group, Rachel Lee, was the most interesting author. Her story, "Drusilla's Dream," was the best of the three by a wide margin. This was an unusual take on an urban fantasy, and I liked it very much. It was funny, interesting, and moving. There were a few very minor plotholes; for example, if Miles, her hero, had his eyes on Drusilla the whole time, the first time he sees her outside the shared daydream/computer storyline should be explained differently. Which is why this story doesn't get five stars; instead, it gets four. But a very strong four. And I'll be looking for more stuff from Ms. Lee. I'm already a regular reader of Ms. Lackey, and I enjoyed her story, "Counting Crows." This was a period romance based in the medieval era of our Earth, and was nicely executed, even though in some respects, this was more a story about a brother and sister avoiding disaster than a romance; the romantic element was definitely secondary. But I liked Sir Atremus, and I enjoyed Gwynhwyfar's attraction to him. And the "spin," where it took a long time for the two of them to hook up, was an interesting one. Three and a half stars for this story. I liked Ms. Asaro's premise for "Moonglow." This was an altogether new fantasy world, and the idea was very good. I liked the shape-magic. However, the execution of this story left a lot to be desired. The dialect used for Iris was not consistently applied, and I thought the story's ending a bit rushed. In addition, the fact that major mages could be out in the open where no one could pick up how powerful they are doesn't make any sense; the other, lesser mages should be able to pick up the power, even if it's never used. That was a major plothole. In addition, Ms. Asaro has some very unusual and offputting word choices. For example, she uses the word "coronate" in the following fashion: "We cannot coronate him tomorrow." Considering the rest is more or less in American idiomatic English, this threw me right out of the reader's trance. So, despite the very strong and engaging plot premise, the story fell flat because the characters didn't engage me very much, and the execution of the writing was flawed. Two stars at best for this story, only because I liked the character of the foster father, Stone. Overall: three and a half stars. Not bad at all, worth the money, and if the new Harlequin Luna line is much like this stuff, it should sell quite nicely. Barb Caffrey
Rating: 
Summary: The good, the better, and the terrible
Review: As a Mercedes Lackey fan (who's never read any of her series works), I picked up this book with the hope of finding some new author to read.
The Lackey story is quite good - an Arthurian-type tale which has a stronger Gwen than most.
The Asaro story is also quite good, though I wished that it could be longer. The plot and characters needed more time to be fully developed.
The Lee story is wasted space. I had to brush my teeth after reading it; it was such tripe that it left a bad taste in my mouth. The story is completely implausible, even given my proclivity for alternative fiction. The characters are almost one-dimensional, though there is one twist that was unexpected. Mostly, it was a waste of my valuable reading time.
That story pulled down the collection, for me. But the other two are worth reading. From the library.
(*)>
Rating: 
Summary: Catherine Asaro is an author to watch
Review: Before this anthology, I'd never read any works by these authors. Catherine Asaro's Moonglow was my favorite of the three stories, with a hero and heroine I could truly root for, a gentle but sensual love story, and a world I enjoyed inhabiting for a short while. I look forward to reading more of Catherine Asaro's work, and will definitely be reading The Charmed Sphere when it is released by Luna.
Rating:
Summary: 2 Duds, one Gem in the rough
Review: Counting Crows-Mercedes Lackey's first foray into the official romance genre is not up to her previous works' standard. The plot drags, I had difficulty connecting to the characters, and the romance reminded me more of one of the old 'courtly love' tales, with less oomph. Not her best work by any stretch of the imagination. Drusilla's Dream-Rachel Lee's premise is a good one but the novella's length did not allow for enough plot and character development. It was choppy and very hard to follow. Not up to her usual standards. Moon Glow-This is my first contact with Catherine Asaro's work but I am very impressed. The plot twists delightfully, I can relate with the characters, and no one is perfect. I will definetly be on the look out for more of her work.
Rating:
Summary: Three good short stories
Review: Each of these three short stories were very good, and I had a hard time putting the book down! The first story in the book, "Counting Crows" by Mercedes Lackey, was the darkest of the three romances. Lady Gwynnhwyfar and her maid, Robin, travel to the borderlands to meet Gwynn's new husband - a man she has never met before in her life. Once Gwynn arrives, however, she discovers that Duke Bretagne is hardly the ideal husband - he is brutal, vicious, and disgusting. After cruelly raping her on their wedding night, Gwynn is determined to use her magical powers to better her situation. Meanwhile, her old childhood crush, Sir Atremus, lives in Clawcrag Keep as well, a knight who is now crippled thanks to Bretagne's blasé treatment of his knights. Lady Gwynn and Sir Atremus establish a quick friendship, but nothing can ever come of it - unless Gwynn's magical powers can truly change her life. I loved "Counting Crows," even though it was a rather dark romance, not of the light and fluffy variety. Bretagne's treatment of Lady Gwynn is disgraceful, and more than once I almost set the book aside because I could no longer bear to see the heroine treated in such a way, while her love is in the same castle with her, knowing what she is going through, yet pretty much powerless to do anything about it. Whoever typed the descriptions on the back of the book did a horrible job - not only did they butcher Gwynnhwyfar's name (it was spelled Gwynhefar), but Sir Artemus is called "Sir Elloran." There is no Sir Elloran in the book, and I kept wondering when Sir Elloran was going to make his appearance, meanwhile wondering why Sir Artemus was getting closer to Gwynn when she was supposed to fall in love with Elloran! It took me a while to figure this out, because I'm slow like that :) An excellent story, though, and probably quite true to life - I am sure there were a great many loveless marriages in medieval times. The next story is "Drusilla's Dream" by Rachel Lee. Every night Drusilla goes to the same boring job and secretly daydreams while she enters in boring data. This particular night, however, cute Miles Kennedy, her boss, keeps popping into her fantasy. Things aren't going the way Drusilla wants them to go in her fantasy, either - the hero in her story (Miles, of course!) never reacts quite in the way she would expect him to. What's really going on in Drusilla's dream? This story was a fun little story and definitely lightened the mood after reading the "Counting Crows" story. The characters were funny, realistic, and quite clever. This is a light, quirky romance, something that makes you feel good when you read it, but something you don't rememeber the details of once you've completed the story. The final story is "Moonglow" by Catherine Asaro. I loved this story as well! Iris Larkspur feels out of place learning how to use the magic her teacher believes is deep inside of her, but Iris seems to be unable to harness. It doesn't help matters that Chime, her classmate, is just about perfect, from her golden hair to her feet. Iris, in an amazing moment, however, discovers her power - and also discovers that the prince of her land, long thought dead, is actually alive. Once Prince Jarid is found, he must return to assume power of the kingdom, but he is blind, deaf, and mute. And since Iris is now the most powerful mage in the land, she must marry the Prince - and at the same time, try to heal his broken spirit. I really liked Iris and Jarid - both of them were outsiders, and yet there was such a bond between them, almost instantly. "Moonglow" was an interesting story, and I'm really looking forward to the next book by Catherine Asaro. Altogether, I liked all three of the stories, just in a different way. Each story appealed to me on a different level, and it's rare to find that in a book. I'll definitely be reading this book again!
Rating:
Summary: Three good short stories
Review: Each of these three short stories were very good, and I had a hard time putting the book down! The first story in the book, "Counting Crows" by Mercedes Lackey, was the darkest of the three romances. Lady Gwynnhwyfar and her maid, Robin, travel to the borderlands to meet Gwynn's new husband - a man she has never met before in her life. Once Gwynn arrives, however, she discovers that Duke Bretagne is hardly the ideal husband - he is brutal, vicious, and disgusting. After cruelly raping her on their wedding night, Gwynn is determined to use her magical powers to better her situation. Meanwhile, her old childhood crush, Sir Atremus, lives in Clawcrag Keep as well, a knight who is now crippled thanks to Bretagne's blasé treatment of his knights. Lady Gwynn and Sir Atremus establish a quick friendship, but nothing can ever come of it - unless Gwynn's magical powers can truly change her life. I loved "Counting Crows," even though it was a rather dark romance, not of the light and fluffy variety. Bretagne's treatment of Lady Gwynn is disgraceful, and more than once I almost set the book aside because I could no longer bear to see the heroine treated in such a way, while her love is in the same castle with her, knowing what she is going through, yet pretty much powerless to do anything about it. Whoever typed the descriptions on the back of the book did a horrible job - not only did they butcher Gwynnhwyfar's name (it was spelled Gwynhefar), but Sir Artemus is called "Sir Elloran." There is no Sir Elloran in the book, and I kept wondering when Sir Elloran was going to make his appearance, meanwhile wondering why Sir Artemus was getting closer to Gwynn when she was supposed to fall in love with Elloran! It took me a while to figure this out, because I'm slow like that :) An excellent story, though, and probably quite true to life - I am sure there were a great many loveless marriages in medieval times. The next story is "Drusilla's Dream" by Rachel Lee. Every night Drusilla goes to the same boring job and secretly daydreams while she enters in boring data. This particular night, however, cute Miles Kennedy, her boss, keeps popping into her fantasy. Things aren't going the way Drusilla wants them to go in her fantasy, either - the hero in her story (Miles, of course!) never reacts quite in the way she would expect him to. What's really going on in Drusilla's dream? This story was a fun little story and definitely lightened the mood after reading the "Counting Crows" story. The characters were funny, realistic, and quite clever. This is a light, quirky romance, something that makes you feel good when you read it, but something you don't rememeber the details of once you've completed the story. The final story is "Moonglow" by Catherine Asaro. I loved this story as well! Iris Larkspur feels out of place learning how to use the magic her teacher believes is deep inside of her, but Iris seems to be unable to harness. It doesn't help matters that Chime, her classmate, is just about perfect, from her golden hair to her feet. Iris, in an amazing moment, however, discovers her power - and also discovers that the prince of her land, long thought dead, is actually alive. Once Prince Jarid is found, he must return to assume power of the kingdom, but he is blind, deaf, and mute. And since Iris is now the most powerful mage in the land, she must marry the Prince - and at the same time, try to heal his broken spirit. I really liked Iris and Jarid - both of them were outsiders, and yet there was such a bond between them, almost instantly. "Moonglow" was an interesting story, and I'm really looking forward to the next book by Catherine Asaro. Altogether, I liked all three of the stories, just in a different way. Each story appealed to me on a different level, and it's rare to find that in a book. I'll definitely be reading this book again!
Rating:
Summary: Three good short stories
Review: Each of these three short stories were very good, and I had a hard time putting the book down! The first story in the book, "Counting Crows" by Mercedes Lackey, was the darkest of the three romances. Lady Gwynnhwyfar and her maid, Robin, travel to the borderlands to meet Gwynn's new husband - a man she has never met before in her life. Once Gwynn arrives, however, she discovers that Duke Bretagne is hardly the ideal husband - he is brutal, vicious, and disgusting. After cruelly raping her on their wedding night, Gwynn is determined to use her magical powers to better her situation. Meanwhile, her old childhood crush, Sir Atremus, lives in Clawcrag Keep as well, a knight who is now crippled thanks to Bretagne's blasé treatment of his knights. Lady Gwynn and Sir Atremus establish a quick friendship, but nothing can ever come of it - unless Gwynn's magical powers can truly change her life. I loved "Counting Crows," even though it was a rather dark romance, not of the light and fluffy variety. Bretagne's treatment of Lady Gwynn is disgraceful, and more than once I almost set the book aside because I could no longer bear to see the heroine treated in such a way, while her love is in the same castle with her, knowing what she is going through, yet pretty much powerless to do anything about it. Whoever typed the descriptions on the back of the book did a horrible job - not only did they butcher Gwynnhwyfar's name (it was spelled Gwynhefar), but Sir Artemus is called "Sir Elloran." There is no Sir Elloran in the book, and I kept wondering when Sir Elloran was going to make his appearance, meanwhile wondering why Sir Artemus was getting closer to Gwynn when she was supposed to fall in love with Elloran! It took me a while to figure this out, because I'm slow like that :) An excellent story, though, and probably quite true to life - I am sure there were a great many loveless marriages in medieval times. The next story is "Drusilla's Dream" by Rachel Lee. Every night Drusilla goes to the same boring job and secretly daydreams while she enters in boring data. This particular night, however, cute Miles Kennedy, her boss, keeps popping into her fantasy. Things aren't going the way Drusilla wants them to go in her fantasy, either - the hero in her story (Miles, of course!) never reacts quite in the way she would expect him to. What's really going on in Drusilla's dream? This story was a fun little story and definitely lightened the mood after reading the "Counting Crows" story. The characters were funny, realistic, and quite clever. This is a light, quirky romance, something that makes you feel good when you read it, but something you don't rememeber the details of once you've completed the story. The final story is "Moonglow" by Catherine Asaro. I loved this story as well! Iris Larkspur feels out of place learning how to use the magic her teacher believes is deep inside of her, but Iris seems to be unable to harness. It doesn't help matters that Chime, her classmate, is just about perfect, from her golden hair to her feet. Iris, in an amazing moment, however, discovers her power - and also discovers that the prince of her land, long thought dead, is actually alive. Once Prince Jarid is found, he must return to assume power of the kingdom, but he is blind, deaf, and mute. And since Iris is now the most powerful mage in the land, she must marry the Prince - and at the same time, try to heal his broken spirit. I really liked Iris and Jarid - both of them were outsiders, and yet there was such a bond between them, almost instantly. "Moonglow" was an interesting story, and I'm really looking forward to the next book by Catherine Asaro. Altogether, I liked all three of the stories, just in a different way. Each story appealed to me on a different level, and it's rare to find that in a book. I'll definitely be reading this book again!
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