Average rating: 3.5/5 stars 
Pages: 262
Series: Short Stories from Hell, Book 7
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Vampire, Anthology
This anthology is a collection of vampire romance based short stories. Published in 2010, it was released in the heyday of vampire YA literature. That being said, I didn’t know about the collection until just the other day when I was scrolling through my local library’s eBook collection and saw one of my favourite authors – Kelley Armstrong – was in an anthology I hadn’t really heard of before. Of course I had to pick the book up right away and devour it.
If you were ever a fan of the House of Night series, the Vampire Academy series, or the Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising trilogies, this anthology might be right up your alley. These are the series I’d read before picking up this anthology and loved the way the stories tied in to them. I’m sure if you’re a fan of vampire tales and haven’t read anything from these authors you’d still find something you’d like within this book’s pages.
*Spoilers ahead*
Sunshine:
3.75/5 stars
This short, by Richelle Mead, is the story of how Lissa’s parents met. I love that we get to see Eric be an idiot – aka a normal teenager when dealing with romance – and start off on the wrong foot with Rhea. We get to see them decide that their families don’t dictate their futures and that love really is important in a relationship.
Bring Me to Life:
4/5 stars
Alyson Noël begins each chapter with a different quote, and I thought they tied in beautifully to each chapter. In Bring Me to Life, Danika Kavanaugh discovers Bram and the life she had back in the 1800s, becoming a vampire to keep Sunderland Manor alive and spend the rest of her days with the person she loves.
Alone:
2.25/5 stars
In this short, Kristin Cast lays out the ways the Other live Above and Rheena’s people live Below. This is an interesting take on the idea of what a vampire is, though while I found the premise intriguing I disliked the writing style. If you can handle reading disjunctive sentences, you might have a better time reading this short than I did.
Hunting Kat:
4.5/5 stars
This short is a sequel to Kelley Armstrong’s short Kat, a companion short story from the Darkest Powers trilogy. In it, Kat gets kidnapped by bounty hunters aiming to take her to the Edison group. She wakes up in a room with Neil and Chad, and the escape attempt ensues.
Lilith:
3/5 stars
In this short, Francesca Lia Block describes vampires in a unique way. This story deals with Paul Michael meeting Lilith and his transformation into becoming something other and taking her place. While Paul Michael would love to belong to Lilith, that’s not what she has planned for him.
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