Book Description:
Four tales of urban fantasy and paranormal romance explore body art that is more than it seems—in a world of magic and mayhem that always leaves it mark . . .
New York Times bestselling author Karen Chance's "Skin Deep" tells the tale of a war mage in Las Vegas who stumbles across an ominous magical ward that appears as a dragon on her skin--and has a mind of its own…
When New York Times bestselling author Marjorie M. Liu's demon slayer Maxine Kiss investigates a grisly murder at a high-class soirée, she finds herself involved in a conspiracy dating back to World War II--and a secret mission that her grandmother may have carried out for the US Government, one that involves the mysterious "Armor of Roses."
In USA Today bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn's "Etched in Silver," a supernatural agent is on the trail of a sadistic serial killer, when an unexpected ally comes to her aid, setting in motion a magical ritual that may end up binding them together, body and soul.
When the heavily tattooed body of a man is found in a Northern California town, FBI Agent Lily Yu is drawn into the case. Trouble is, the victim wasn't human--and the killer isn't finished in USA Today bestselling author Eileen Wilks's "Human Nature."
*Note* I will be reviewing each story in this anthology in separate posts.
Review:
Skin Deep by Karen Chance. Karen’s story once again features War Mage/were Lia (who is featured on the cover) and her werewolf love interest Cyrus. If you want to read all of the stories about these characters (and you should because they are fantastic) the reading order would be:
- Rogue Elements (included in the Wolfsbane and Mistletoe anthology)
- Vegas Odds (included in the Strange Brew anthology)
- Skin Deep (included in the Inked anthology).
Each of these stories can be read alone, but if you can, I recommend reading them all.
Set in the same world as her Cassandra Palmer’s series, in Skin Deep Karen Chance has created two of my favorite urban fantasy characters in Lia and Cyrus. This time out, Lia is recruited by Sebastian, one of the werewolf clan leaders, to track down his brother/her lover Cyrus who disappeared while hunting a killer who has been skinning werewolves alive. Like all the stories in this anthology, tattoos play a major role serving as magical runes with different magical abilities (Lia has owl tattoo that can enable her to see in the dark) that take the form of tattoos once invoked. And the golden dragon tattoo that Lia is wearing on the cover of Inked is more than just decoration…
I’ve been slightly critical in the past of Karen’s tendency to over plot some of her books, but in the short story format, she is always in fine form. Skin Deep is a great combination of stellar world building, fast-paced action, and that perfect dash of romance between a tough yet vulnerable heroine (with a deliciously dry wit and a rich history) and the ultimate alpha male. I loved every page and can’t wait for the next story (long or short) featuring these two.
Sexual Content: A brief, but graphic oral sex scene.
My Rating (out of 5): 
Click HERE to read an excerpt of Skin Deep
Product Details
Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (January 5, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0425231976
- ISBN-13: 978-0425231975
Disagree with my review? Email me your review for this or any other book I reviewed and I might use it for 2nd Opinion Review
I like the look of this one and I rather like the cover too.
ReplyDeleteI like the cover too!
ReplyDeleteLooks like I'm adding to my TBR list again :)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading the anthology inbetween other books, one short story at a time. I have got throu the first 2 stories. I enjoyed this first story. Thank you very much for listing where the other stories for her are at. I have Strange Brew here on the shelf as well. So I have another story with these characters in. I will just have to pick up one other book, which from what I hear is a wonderful anthology as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks!!!
Melissa-Strange Brew is another great one. Don't you just love anthologies for a quick fix?
ReplyDeleteAbigail, I really do love the anthologies. And more and more of them are coming out lately. I really like having them to read short stories inbetween the full books. I feel like I get somewhere faster. lol. I am going to have to get to Strange Brew here soon too. Then I will have to pick up Wolfsbane and Mistletoe. I've heard nothing but great things on that one as well. Thanks for sharing the books this short story characters are in, I was planning on looking into them when I got done with Inked.
ReplyDeleteThe name of the story is Skin DEEP. And you didn;t explain why you deducted a star.
ReplyDeletestl-Thank you for correcting the title. I've edited the post to read Skin Deep everywhere now.
ReplyDeleteAnd I reserve 5 bats for the best books I've ever read in my life. I may only give 5 bats a few times a year.