Out Of The Light, Into The Shadows (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
I didn't read all four stories but here is my review for the first 3. Have Mercy by Lori Foster- This story is an act already in progress. Mercedes and Wyatt have been dating for some time. Mercy wants to take the relationship to the next level, unfortunately Wyatt isn't thinking the same thing she is. This story was very frustrating. Mercy was too secretive, she is too dependent on her brother and really all of the characters are a little too perfect and vanilla. Honestly I found the story to be quite forgettable. Deal or No Deal and Undead Man's Hand both by Erin McCarthy are Vegas Vampires novellas. The characters are already established and the scene is pretty much set. I liked them both. I am a fan of the series and found they added to the overall series story. They were both short and sweet. In This book you find four stories by two authors Erin McCarthy and Lori Foster aka L. L. Foster. I read “Have Mercy” by Lori Foster first; I appreciated the fact that Foster gave real length to the relationship of Wyatt and Mercedes. I enjoyed the love between them and felt the author did a great job in making you feel that you already knew about the previous six months of their relationship and the inner workings of who they were together. This was definitely the better of her two connected stories. I also loved the fact that she was so close to her brother, but I found her brother to be well repulsive in many ways. I hated the way he felt it his right to dig in Wyatt’s background and then to stick his nose in the way that he did it. But I held out hope for him and thought if something could make me like him it would be how he was with Cameo. This leads me to the other half of these two connected stories “Total Control” written as L. L. Foster. I don’t think I have ever hated a HERO of a story as much as I hate Braxton. I will start this by saying the positive I was able to find in story. I liked it ended happy, I like that Cameo was happy because I really liked Cameo. I liked that she slapped his face and wish she would have just beat the hell out of him. He and his Uncle both just kind of made me want to hurl. My problem with Braxton is that he bypassed being an Alpha and went straight into being a control freak creep. I know that Cameo loved him and let him be who he was and accepted him for who he was and what he was. I also know that on some point she was okay with how he treated her and even though I loved Cameo that made me a little ill. But I don’t like any character written the way he was. I almost put the book down because what he did to Cameo at the start of “Total Control” was totally appalling. I felt that he talked to her like a dog a creepy dog that was going to do bad things to her against her will and I thought his Uncle to be just as rude and disgusting in how he treated her and how Braxton let him treat her, but what really got me so totally disgusted by Braxton was that his need for Cameo was totally Sexual and yes I know that at in the end he said he loved her but I didn’t believe it. Every time he explained why he needed her or wanted her it was always about sex or needing her in a sexual way for his release. Ladies he actually told her he could make her like it as in I can make you want it even if you don’t and aren’t ready. EWWW… really what self respecting woman would ever want to be with a man who said he could make you like it knowing you were not really fully willing? I have just finished the 6th story “Deal or No Deal” and 7th story “Undead Man’s Hands” of the Vegas Vampire Series by Erin McCarthy. Of course “Deal or No Deal” was a very fast quick read, but sadly it didn’t match up in any way with the first 5 stories in this series and that disappointed me. I couldn’t like the characters; however I will say I thought it was funny how Rasputin died. There character fell flat and the love just well seemed stale but again it was 100years of love they supposedly brought back to like in one night. There was nothing in this story it felt like wasted words on wasted paper. So to conclude my review of this Anthology I reluctantly move on to “Undead Man’s Hands” It is defiantly safe to say this was second worse story in the book. But I want to start off by saying what I did like about. I liked the darkness of it, and think that had this been an actual book and had been more deeply explored it cold have been great, and what I mean by this is Peter. I have read a lot of McCarthy’s Vamp books but this is the first story where she has written about the depravity and danger that can come from a man being trapped in body that will never develop. But it ends there, and it wasn’t a full and it wasn’t explored. The only character at all that you connect with is a monster in a weak looking 13yr old body. The others had potential for depth just like in “Deal or No Deal” but fell flat ten-fold comparatively. All in this entire book was a disappointment aside from the first one “Have Mercy” and I may never read a L. L. Foster book again if she thinks that a character like Braxton is actually a good character. I can’t and will not recommend this Anthology to anyone.
What do You think about Out Of The Light, Into The Shadows (2009)?
Read Lori Foster and L.L. Foster's entries, skimmed McCarthy's.
—Hannah
the story i really liked was total control by L. L. foster
—chrystal1ruby
Read the Erin McCarthy stories - Vegas Vampires!
—Jessica
This was a fun book, a nice vacation read.
—swifty
