Read: Hex on the Beach (#03-2022)

Hex on the Beach by Kelley Armstrong, Jeaniene Frost, Melissa Marr

(anthology of short stories - all supernatural-themed)

Goddess of Summer Love - Kelley Armstrong

Daiquiris and Daggers - Melissa Marr

A Grave Girls Getaway - Jeaniene Frost

Obviously, I picked this up because of the Kelley Armstrong story.  This particular piece fits between the two novels in the Cursed Luck series, so I read that before I read the second novel. It's a cute story, and I love seeing the random small moments that don't make for a whole book but do add to the flavour of the complete works. 

Unfortunately, the Melissa Marr story has multiple copy-editing issues that should have been easily avoided which for a spelling/grammar freak like me took me out of the story. My copy now has editing notes in it. I've read other works by Melissa Marr because she's done collaborations with Kelley Armstrong, so this isn't a fault of the author - it was probably just a timing issue on putting out this particular anthology. The story is interesting even if it does contain some unnecessarily descriptive details for a story this short. 

The third story, while enjoyable, has too much going on for a short story. There's a lot of backstory, a lot of detail, and just a lot. And I understand that it's likely part of a larger universe of work, I'm not familiar with it, and to just read this story, I feel like I almost need to be. The details help, but they also make me more aware of what I'm missing. It doesn't actually make me want to read more, unfortunately. This really isn't a story that can stand on its own. 

(#03-2022)