Forbidden Fantasies (Ellora's Cave Presents...) [Hardcover]

I am always hesitant to buy these combo books - but there also comes along a story that I want to complete a series I am reading. So I buy them anyway and them have a ton of mixed feelings. I bought this book due to the Jory Strong story. Maybe one day I will get a kindle so that I can just get one of these quickies without having to get a bunch of other stuff...
Story 1) Bossy and Clyde 32 pages = 1 star. Characters were OK - but come on 30+ pages??? Psychic meets Building Contractor.
Story 2) Legends Passion 72 pages = 3 stars. Werewolf bites human during a hookup in the park.
Story 3) Eternal Triangle 47 pages = 1 stars. Dom / 2 vamp submissives. Didn't really do anything for me.
Story 4) Lady Elizabeths Choice 65 pages = 1 star. I'm not crazy about Victorian pieces (set in London 1816).
Story 5) Selfless 59 pages = 3.5 stars. Liked this story, but wanted more background on our hero Dante. Part of the Sterling series.
Story 6) Wild Ride 57 pages 3 stars. Both good characters and some cops/bad guys throw in.
Story 7) Wicked 62 pages = 3 stars. Lunewulf and Cariboo Lunewulf.
Story 8) First Sharing 52 pages = 4 stars. Fallon series - story of first trio. I am glad to have this story, but hope you can get the book on sale or discounted... unless you love these mini stories.

Some of the stories are a little raunchy for my taste but the short stories are 5-8 chapters long and worth reading! This book is definitely rated XXX! Buy it if you can get a good deal on it!

Series:
Legend's Passion (Devlin Dynasty, 3.5 - listed as #4 in the series on GR)
Eternal Triangle (D'Argent, x.5)

An anthology of eight erotic romances ranging from fantasy to paranormal, historical to contemporary.

This was a wide range of ratings from several "2's to a "3' and some "4's which averaged down to "3' overall.

The Stories
Jaid Black's Bossy & Clyde is cute if a bit inane. Kandrea Kane is a psychic artist--she paints what she "sees". In this case, she doesn't want Damon Clyde to paint that wall that icky color and she practically stomps her foot through the floor in her anticipatory rage. Well, duh, just tell the poor guy that there will be a mix-up on the paint and to keep an eye out for it!

Jaci Burton's Legend's Passion is a definite oops for Chantal Devlin when she makes the rendezvous with the wrong partner in Golden Gate Park. Still, it does get the job done. An okay story.

Ann Jacobs' Eternal Triangle is an interesting look at a BDSM scene between vampires (Katie and Philippe d'Argent) and a human, Chad Lalanne, on the streets of New Orleans and its bayous.

Sahara Kelly's Lady Elizabeth's Choice is certainly a different historical romance. Lady Elizabeth and Sir Spencer Marchwood have a highly erotic encounter and then Spence is sent off on a mission. It's months before he gets back to England and, instead of waiting, the Lady Elizabeth is planning on marrying a non-entity. Well, it's obvious that only a kidnapping with a wild weekend is in order...

Cute in its audacity with some creative bits, but still only rates a "3'.

Sherri L. King's Selfless was certainly a different take on love when Dante becomes very interested in the not-quite-human Eva. A very creative story that incorporates the unique perspective of a woman only two weeks old and her interactions with a group of scientists without empathy. King did some nice work creating an entire world in a short story.

Cheyenne McCray's Wild Ride is both expected and unexpected when Tess Marshall goes home from a honky tonk with Diego Santiago for a night of wild passion...only to get interrupted. Again and again. Still, she's definitely a good partner for a guy like DEA Special Agent Santiago. She's a quick thinker and it takes quite a bit to keep this girl down.

Lorie O'Clare's Wicked had a nice idea but was so lame in its execution. Jaynie Rousseau's very attracted to the Cariboo lunewulf strength and physique of Perry Roth, but totally turned-off to the idea of being hemmed in and ordered about...hey, what smart thinking girl would want that!? My problem with the story was Jaynie's amazingly lame behavior. I almost wanted to chain her up myself!

The most wicked thing about this story? Making me read it...

Jory Strong's First Sharing was very creative with her menage a trois of two winged beings from a quite different culture who normally would have sought their own mates and never considered sharing. Laith d'Amato is taking a huge risk with his interpretation of his vision. And he could well be dooming his partner and best friend Rykken as well if this joining with Cyan Dupre doesn't go well.

Strong created an entire culture with particular issues in this short story and I'm curious if there's a series in this.

The Cover
The cover is a very close-up of fishnet-clad...I'm guessing legs. I'm sort of afraid to try and figure out what the pink fringe is covering. Or what the globular bits are that are stacked on top of each other on the right.

The title is a bit of a reach.