Anthology – Kicking It

An anthology of stories edited by Faith Hunter and Kalayna Price, published December 3, 2013.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: awesome boots



Featuring stories by SHANNON K. BUTCHER * RACHEL CAINE * LUCIENNE DIVER * CHRIS MARIE GREEN * CHRISTINA HENRY * FAITH HUNTER * CHLOE NEILL * KALAYNA PRICE * ROB THURMAN

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine has modern-day potions witches Holly and Andrew facing off against a firebrand politician who wears literally killer boots in a Texas-sized rodeo of trouble.
Boot-loving Cadogan vampire Lindsey must team up with off-again, on-again vampire partner Luc when a woman from her past is targeted by supernaturals in New York Times bestselling author Chloe Neill's all-new adventure.
And New York Times bestselling author Rob Thurman features Trixa Iktomi from her Trickster series dealing with magical vengeance and magical footwear.

Taking kick-ass urban fantasy literally, USA Today bestselling authors Kalayna Price and Faith Hunter bring together the best of the genre to once again prove when you're fighting supernatural forces, it helps to keep your feet on the ground.


It is a really good anthology, and I finally read some stories by authors I have been meaning to read for years now, and whose books are gathering dust on my shelves somewhere. Getting this taste for their writing style has made me determined to pick up their books soon.
All the books feature boots, often really, really gorgeous boots. If I could wear boots, I would totally buy boots like those. So if you do love boots, and you love totally kick ass characters, this is the anthology for you.

Rachel Caine – Forked Tongs

This is a Holly and Andrew story, and though I have read a few of Rachel Caine’s books, this does not ring a bell at all.

It is a story about a witch who can temporarily bring murder victims back from the dead, so they can tell who their murderer is. Her boyfriend is an old West gunslinger, and their love keeps him in the here and now. To me, this story was completely unique with a demon trying to get rid of all the witches in the city so he can rise in politics.

I liked it, and I want to read more in this series.

Shannon K. Butcher – Stolen Goods

Another series I am not familiar with, but now want to read. A man who works with leather can enchant it too, to do the most amazing things. He has to team up with the woman who stole a pair of his boots, in order to fight a bunch of aliens who use people’s life energy to power up some devices, leaving the people like a bunch of zombies and totally under their control.
I loved the interaction between this unlikely pair, and am now very curious to this world. I want to know what will happen next.

Chris Marie Green – The girl with no name

A young woman wakes up in a hotel room in New Orleans, without knowing who she is, or how she got there. And with some really strange boots on her feet she can’t get off. Boots that give her strange powers apparently. Someone is hunting her, and a strange shop owner / psychic tells her about a woman in the swamp who can probably help her. She is the one who has made the boots she is wearing, and she does not normally sell her goods.
A bit confusing story, and the girl is not really a girl I think. Her family is looking for her, and she does not want to be found. The witch is helping her, but she looses her memory every night.

Strange story, I did like it, not love it, and I want to know more. So I will probably read the first book in the series. I am really not a fan of memory loss stories.

Faith Hunter – The devil’s left boot

This is the story I wanted to read the most, as it takes place in the Jane Yellowrock series. Liz and Cia Everheart, sisters of Jane’s best friend Molly, feature in this short story. It takes place after Jane killed their evil sister on national television.

An old enemy from high school desperately needs their help as her mother has gone missing, and the police won’t do anything about it. But she knows her mother did not run off with a man, or anything like that. For a high price, the sisters agree to try to help Layla. What they find is more than they bargained for however, and they need Jane to help them fix the problem when they stumble upon an insane vampire with a passion for shoes and boots.

I really loved this story. It goes without saying that I will read whatever there is written in this series.

Chloe Neill – High Stakes

I haven’t read anything yet about the Chicago Vampires series by Chloe Neill. And I am not really sure I want to, even though I do have the books. This is a story about Luc and Lindsey. There is a small part with Merit, the heroine in the series.
But it is the communication that bothers me, it sounds totally childish to me. I did get that Merit is a young woman, and a young vampire, but Lindsey is not.

It is basically a love story, with Lindsey afraid to commit and Luc determined not to let her get away. Lindsey tries to save her grand niece from some horrors of her own pasts and blindly walks into danger on her own. To be saved by Luc in the nick of time. I would have liked her better if she had saved herself of course.

Lucienne Diver - The Parlor

This story really did intrigue me, it had the ancient Greek gods like Apollo, and the heroine is the descendant of another one. She is a gorgon, and goes against some spiderlike woman, which sounded really creepy. I want to know more about this world.

Has anyone read this series/author? Is it good?

Christine Henry – Red isn’t really my color

And yet another series I have on my shelves and haven’t started yet. The heroine is Lucifer’s grand daughter, a couple times removed of course, with the name of Madeline Black. The fun thing is she has a pet gargoyle named Beezle, who fits in her pocket. He loves to eat junk food and watch bad t.v., is a genius with google and sleeps a lot.
Lucifer wants Madeline to find the famous Red Shoes, which makes the wearer dance until she dies and longer. But she will have to go up against the courtiers of a certain Fae Queen she made really angry recently, and she does not look forward to it. Madeline is only just learning to control her powers, but mostly she just reigns down mayhem and destruction around her, and now she is to visit the most swanky hotel in town to find the shoes ...

I really liked this story, so I will probably read the first book soon. Madeline is my kind of heroine, trying to do the right thing and getting in more and more trouble. She is also an Agent of Death, and I want to know more about that.

Rob Thurman - Snakeskin

This is a 10 year prequel to the Trickster series, and it sure makes me want to read more in this world. Trixta Iktomi is the “heroine” in this story, and I so want to know more about her. I get the impression she is not only Coyote, the Trickster God, but has also been lots of other gods during the times and in all kinds of cultures. I loved this story, it was original and new to me, and very surprising. I am sorry about those boots though ...

Kalayna Price – Ruby Red

I love the Alex Craft series, and I have been looking forward to the new book for a very long time now. This story is set in that world, but with new characters. Two agents of the Magical Crimes Investigation Agency are trying to solve a difficult case, with shadow monsters who leave people in a coma. Somehow, a diner waitress is involved.

I liked it, and I did like the last few sentences even more ... they will meet up with Alex Craft ...


Conclusions: lots of good stories in this book, and only one or two I did not like as much. Lots of new series for me to discover. Thank you again Melliane, for gifting me this book. I enjoyed it very much indeed.

9 stars.

© 2014 Reviews by Aurian