All in all, a very good anthology. ( )

The first story took me four days to finish it, and it bored me until yawn. The second story drove me away as soon as I read the blurb.

The paranormal genre saturated me years ago; today, I read it very little, and that little bit sure is not about vampires, dragons, or demons, from which I run at top speed.

It's a clear case of personal tastes, and that's why I don't rate this book. I should have paid more attention to the dominant theme of the anthology, without letting myself be dazzled by authors' names, before buying it.

One story got me. The rest did not.

#1: Infernal Affairs, by Jordan L. Hawk: I give it three stars. Readable, but more telling me rather than showing me how the characters felt, and the demon's powers seemed inconsistent.

#2: Collared, by T.A. Moore: Wow. Visceral and grisly and very good. Five stars.

#3: Counterfeit Viscount, by Ginn Hale I didn't finish, didn't even get halfway through. Sadly, I was bored.

#4: 11:59, by C.S. Poe I didn't get very far into, either. Too disjointed.

#5: Wonderland City, by Rhys Ford ...No.

#6: Dark Favors, by Jordan Castillo Price ...No.

I think these last few just pushed too hard on my suspension of disbelief. Again: probably me more than the stories. My track record with anthologies is pretty rough. I do prefer novels. ( )

Read this book as part of the 2019 Members' Choice Awards Challenge.
Categories: Best audiobook narrator (Greg Tremblay)

Overall an awesome anthology, made that much better by the excellent narration of Greg Tremblay!

Infernal Affairs - Jordan L. Hawk ★★★★☆
Read on Jan 26, 2020
A really fluffy story about a crossroads demon who falls in love with the person who summoned him.

Collared - T.A. Moore ★★★★½
Read on Jan 28, 2020
Demons are creepy as hell (pun not intended), they are rotten and evil, incapable of love, and they're bringing hell to Earth one town at a time. The MC is in love with one.
Moore paints a very creepy picture, and does so very well - definitely must read more of her books!

Counterfeit Viscount - Ginn Hale ★★★★½
Read on Jan 29, 2020
Demons crawled out of hell to repent! And the world is now filled with their progeny (or the Prodigal), living side by side with humans, although definitely not on equal footing. After some of the Prodigal start disappearing, our two MC's get involved.
Hale's writing is awesome as always and I enjoyed the story immensely.

11:59 - C.S. Poe ★★★☆☆
Read on Jan 30
This was my least favorite so far. People's nightmares are coming to life and murdering/consuming them, and our MC is the only one who can fight them because of a deal with the devil. But there were a few wtf moments that jarred me out of the story.

Wonderland City - Rhys Ford ★★★★☆
Read on Jan 31
The MC made a deal with the devil and ended up in Wonderland, where everyone is slightly mad. He must save the whole realm of Wonderland from the worst thing that could happen to it - a little girl.
I think this is my favorite Rhys Ford story so far. I generally avoid her books - they're usually not my thing, but this story was surprisingly fun to listen to.

Dark Favors - Jordan Castillo Price ★★★★☆
Read on Jan 31
An interesting and original look at the deal with the devil trope. And as usual for JCP, scorching hot. ( )

I don't think I can give this a rating, it's all over the place tonally and has two stories that I hated. (CW: rape)

[a: Jordan L. Hawk|6519692|Jordan L. Hawk|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1521548404p2/6519692.jpg] - Infernal Affairs

It's nice to see enby representation, but I couldn't stand Chess. The world was interesting, but the story felt rushed and predictable. 3 stars.

[a: TA Moore|3103649|T.A. Moore|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1538260873p2/3103649.jpg] - Collared

Very dark and pessimistic, but in a well written and engaging way. 4 stars.

[a: Ginn Hale|756861|Ginn Hale|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1293647192p2/756861.jpg] - Counterfeit Viscount

The standout of this anthology. A sordid tale of revenge and romance set in the fictional city of Crowncross, which felt very like an alternate London with a mix of Victorian and post-WWI sensibilities. 4 stars, and the last worthwhile story in this anthology.

[a: C.S. Poe|13832392|C.S. Poe|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1537378902p2/13832392.jpg] - 11:59

Inconsistently applied premise, sketchy writing, ambivalent-to-nonexistent romance. 2 stars.

[a: Rhys Ford|4968409|Rhys Ford|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1308678470p2/4968409.jpg] - Wonderland City

Unengaging take on a grim and gritty Wonderland. DNF.

[a: Jordan Castillo Price|268722|Jordan Castillo Price|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1325364144p2/268722.jpg] - Dark Favors

I'd like to talk about the problems I had with the worldbuilding and the ending, but that would be giving this piece of trash more consideration than it deserves. While a couple of the other stories dipped into areas of dubious consent, that's somewhat expected when you're dealing with demonic pacts. Less expected is one romantic lead raping the other at gunpoint, and I really only finished the story to see if it was ever acknowledged. It wasn't. 0 stars.