Forget the girl next door when you can have the sexy Celtic next door. Ciaran is the type of neighbor we all dream of; sexy, intelligent, and likes to walk around shirtless. I also enjoyed the link the tattoos played in Ciaran and the heroine’s journey through life. I appreciate symbolism because I have always felt it adds a touch of depth to a story. The author effectively illustrated that with the use of the tattoos.

::beams::

“Andrea Dale’s ‘From Bitter to Sweet’ is snappy, sexy, and a little sarcastic – and the best piece of breakup erotica I have ever read. A little angry and very hot, Dale’s smart narrator makes her way from a breakup to new love, and it’s an edible journey the entire time (and exactly what I needed as I deal with my own emotional upheaval).”

Edited by Liz Grzyb. Ticonderoga (www.ticonderogapublications.com), $15.99 trade paper (260p) ISBN 978-0-9807813-2-8

Talent shines in this beguiling collection of 17 paranormal romance stories from Down Under, many of which are more haunting and humorous than scary. Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice takes a turn as a barbaric demon slayer in Fraser Sherman’s “The Sword of Darcy,” while a sugar-crazed cherub does his best to reunite two lovers in Nicole R. Murphy’s “The Protector’s Last Mission.” A telepathic tentacle monster reluctantly wedded to a human woman finds a way toward happy-ever-after in Liz Coley’s “Marriage of Convenience.” On the creepier end, both Felicity Dowker’s “Berries and Incense” and Kirstyn McDermott’s “Frostbitten” will leave readers with chills. Martin Livings and Talie Helene close the anthology with “The Last Gig of Jimmy Rucker,” a brilliantly hypnotizing and heartwarming tale. Readers will be delighted by this introduction to some of Australia’s best paranormal romance writers. (May)

Also, my story “How the Little Mermaid Got Her Tail Back” (as Andrea Dale) is one of the stories name-checked in the review!

Congratulations to stupendous editor Kristina Wright (and thank you again for buying my story, Kristina)!

Exclamation points for everyone!

“‘Devouring Heart’ is the only lesbian tale in the book and Andrea Dale presents a heartbreaking tale of love and how far a lover will go to keep a partner. There is a good use of metaphor between the title and the relationship and this is one of the few tales that ends sadly, yet I have a tender place for this as one of my favorites for evoking that aching sense of love and love lost.”

And this about “If the Shoe Fits…” in The Trouble With Heroes:

“And Dayle A. Dermatis’s ‘If the Shoe Fits’ is a funny (and rather ingenious) semi-modern twist on Cinderella, in which we find out why that shoe was really so important to everyone.”

Thank you, kind reviewers. You’ve made my week!

::beam::

There’s a review here at the Erotica Readers Association. Of “Stranger,” the reviewer says,

“Marine biologist Maris’ head is swimming when she gets just what she desires when a life-changing meeting with a sick merman requires her expertise, and love finds a way to survive, no matter what the penalty. ‘Stranger to my Shores’ by Sophie Mouette makes a splash with this sweet and tender romance where two very different people yearn to be together, against all odds.”

“Marine biologist Maris’ head is swimming when she gets just what she desires when a life-changing meeting with a sick merman requires her expertise, and love finds a way to survive, no matter what the penalty. ‘Stranger to my Shores’ by Sophie Mouette makes a splash with this sweet and tender romance where two very different people yearn to be together, against all odds.”
– EroticaReaders.com

It’s up on their website, but I don’t have access to subscriber areas (never signed up, even though I get the magazine), so I don’t know what the review says, but four stars!

[cue mad dancing and flailing about the room]

(And in another major incident of the stars converging, Amazon.com’s “buy this book with this other one and get a discount” is pairing our book with…Chuck Panozzo’s biography. Holy crap.)

“The stories in He’s On Top run the gamut from sweet to ferocious. There’s ‘Confession,’ in which an unhappily married couple reinvent their marriage in the harsh language of dominance and submission, and ‘On the Twelfth Day…’ wherein a pair of lovers determines how deeply into the lifestyle they can bear to explore. Those stories read as gritty and hot, quickly giving me a girlie-wood with their excellently-written sex.” (JanesGuide.com)