Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
List Price:
Our Price: $6.25
You Save: $18.70 (75%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.46 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Editor: Charlaine HarrisEditor: Toni L. P. Kelner
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-10-07
ISBN: 0441016332
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Ace Hardcover
Book Reviews of Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
Book Review: 15 urban fantasy tales for Christmas
Summary: 3 Stars
Review Courtesy of AllThingsUrbanFantasy.blogspot.com
Review: "Gift Wrap" by Charlaine Harris occurs chronically after From Dead To Worse (book 8) in the Sookie Stackhouse Series and you might want to save this story for later if you plan on reading the Sookie series and aren't caught up as there are a number of spoilers (but of course my reviews are always spoiler free). Sookie is an odd character. I remember wondering if she was mentally challenged when I started the first Sookie book because she is very forthright and in a way childlike in how she interacts with the world around her. And Sookie brings that same guilelessness to Gift Wrap when she stumbles across a wounded werewolf in her woods and brings him home on Christmas Eve. I'll admit I found the idea of the gift Sookie recieves in this story, considering the source, to be a bit creepy. But Sookie fans will enjoy this much too brief holiday tale.
Sexual Content: None
Review: "The Haire of the Beast" by Donna Andrews, who is best known for her Meg Langslow Mystery Series, contributes probably the shortest story in this book. The first of the brother and sister pairings in this anthology has a witch agreeing to decipher a spell for her brother to make him a werewolf and get even with her ex in the process. Not a lot to say about this story considering its brevity.
Sexual Content: None
Review: "Lucy, at Christmastime" by Simon R. Green is a Nightshade short story and its bittersweet. A werewolf remembers his first love while sitting in a bar on Christmas. I enjoyed the somber tone here and even though the ending is predictable, the writing is very good. One of my favorites in this anthology.
Sexual Content: None
Review: "The Night Things Changed" by Dana Cameron
Gerry Steuben is an average guy, a PI living in Salem, Massachusetts. He's also one of the Fangborn, an ancient family of werewolves and vampires secretly dedicated to protecting humankind from evil. When a series of increasingly violent murders is committed, Gerry and his vampire sister Claudia must confront an unimaginable supernatural threat on Christmas Eve. -Dana Cameron
"The Night Things Changed," won the 2008 Agatha Award, the 2009 Macavity Award, and was nominated for the 2009 Anthony Award! "The Night Things Changed" by Dana Cameron offers the second brother and sister tale and one of the longer stories in this anthology. Don't let the innocuous title fool you, this is one of the best stories in this collection. The world building was very strong here and extremely compelling. Fangborn (werewolves and vampires) are the unsung heroes of this world seeking evil to cleanse it where possible, destroying it where not. There are some fun twists on vampire mythology here to. Vampires don't feed off of human blood, but rather bite bad people and suck evil out of them and then sun cleanses the evil from the vampire's systems. Sadly I couldn't find any evidence that this author plans to continue writing about the Fangborn.
Sexual Content: None
Review: "The Werewolf Before Christmas" by Kat Richardson is perhaps the most festive story in this anthology as it takes place at the north pole and Santa Clause is a main character, but its also arguably the most fractured tale as it describes what happens when a werewolf eats Rudolph and must then lead Santa's sleigh. Kat Richardson takes a break from her Greywalkers series to give us a whole new (and rather macabre) spin on the origin of Santa Clause and some of our most treasured Christmas traditions.
Sexual Content: None
Review: "Fresh Meat" by Alan Gordon is a quiet unassuming tale about a dog trainer who has an uncanny gift for communication with the animals (one guess why). But being a werewolf causes more problems then it solves when his furry secret costs him the only woman he's ever loved and, on Christmas Eve, threatens to take his life as well. The author claims to be working on a book based on this character. I liked this story, but it probably isn't the kind I'd read more of.
Sexual Content: None
Review: "Fresh Meat" by Alan Gordon is a quiet unassuming tale about a dog trainer who has an uncanny gift for communication with the animals (one guess why). But being a werewolf causes more problems then it solves when his furry secret costs him the only woman he's ever loved and, on Christmas Eve, threatens to take his life as well. The author claims to be working on a book based on this character. I liked this story, but it probably isn't the kind I'd read more of.
Sexual Content: None
Review: "II Est Né" by Carrie Vaughn has us spending a lonely Christmas Eve with werewolf DJ Kitty at a local Waffle House when in walks a new werewolf who may inadvertently be responsible for a series of murders. You don't really have to worry about spoilers if you're new to this series or haven't read up through Kitty Takes a Holiday (this story occurs chronically just prior to the events in that book). Warm, fuzzy feelings abound by the end.
Sexual Content: None
Review: "The Perfect Gift" by Dana Stabenow presents a confusing story that starts out with a group discussing the idea of 'thinning the herd' of predators, then jumps to a police investigation of a family of murderers. A couple people turn out to be/become werewolves. The correlation between the two scenes was not clear. Suffice it to say this one made very little sense and was my least favorite story in this anthology.
Sexual Content: None
Review: "Christmas Past" by Keri Arthur (best known for her Riley Jenson Guardian series(. Good characterizations here as Keri introduces us to a paranormal police partnership between a psychic and her ex boyfriend werewolf as they hunt down a vampire serial killer. This story definitely fits into the paranormal romance category as there is a scene of sensuality.
Sexual Content: A scene of sensuality
My entry is called Star of David, and centers on David Christiansen, who was briefly mentioned in Moon Called. It's a heartwarming story of how murder and deception can bring a family together. -Patricia Briggs
Review: "The Star of David" by Patricia Briggs. Another story set in the wonderful world of Mercy Thompson reunites a werewolf with his estranged daughter to help an orphan on Christmas. Leave it to Briggs to go above and beyond the werewolf requirement for her story and throw in vampires and mages too. I expected Patricia's contribution to be my favorite as I've never read anything by her that I didn't enjoy, and Star is no exception, but my favorite entry is yet to come.
Sexual Content: None
Review: "You'd Better Not Pyout" by Nancy Pickard poses the question: Is Santa Clause a vampire? The story begins with two Russian vampires discussing the possibility and then follows them to the North Pole when they decide they want in on the all you can drink Christmas buffet. Of course Vampire Santa isn't as Jolly as tradition portrays him and the two end up guarding Rudolph from a werewolf. If you're a Futurama fan this fractured Santa will bring a merry smile to your cheeks.
Sexual Content: None
Someone is kidnapping werewolves, and not just any wolves at that: every one is the daughter of an important clan leader. Desperate to find his daughter, Sebastian Arnou does the unthinkable: he goes to the Silver Circle of light magic users for aid. Their version of a police force is known as the War Mage Corps, and although they agree to help, few have much experience with Weres. The exception is disgraced, on-the-edge-of-being-canned war mage Lia de Croissets, whose mother happened to be a high ranking member of the important Were clan Lobizon. Someone with a werewolf mother isn't much trusted by the Corps, and a mage with a human father is equally suspect as far as the clans are concerned. But her knowledge of Were customs and her background in human magic make Lia unmistakably the best person for the job. Whether they will be enough to keep her alive is another matter.-Karen Chance
Review: "Rogue Elements" by Karen Chance (best known for her Cassandra Palmer series) invites us into a fully realized world of War Mages and werewolves. I'd already fallen in love with the characters of War Mage/were Lia and her on/off werewolf love Cyrus, but this is the first story featuring them as they struggle to find the kidnapped daughters of a bunch of high ranking werewolves. It's hard to believe this story only spans 40 pages or so because the characterizations and plotting are stronger than most full length novels. Of the fifteen stories in this anthology, this one delivers the biggest payoff for traditional urban fantasy lovers. Tied for my favorite.
Sexual Content: A meeting takes place in a sex club, but there is no description of anything.
Review: "Milk and Cookies" by Rob Thurman (best known for her Call Leandros series) feels almost like a Steven King story (and I don't mean horror). The voice of the adolescent boy is so strong and painfully/humorously real as he tries to fend off the increasingly homicidal attacks of a school bully and protect his little sister's Christmas in the process. I did not in anyway predict the ending of this one. While it doesn't feel exactly like urban fantasy, I loved this story. Tied for my favorite.
Sexual Content: None
Review: "Keeping Watch Over His Flock" by Toni L. P. Kelner (nominated for a Macavity for Best Short Story) nicely ends things with a jaded orphan werewolf spending his first Christmas with a family, learning the biblical origins of werewolves and their special role in the birth of Christ. When he disobeys his Alpha and runs off to shift during the full moon, he gets the chance to live up to his noble heritage.
Sexual Content: Discussions of pedophilia. A man intends to molest a child.
Horror Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Horror Books
Let the Right One In: A Novelby John Ajvide Lindqvist
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2008-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Textby Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 1982-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.00
Price in other shops:
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Oxford Bookworms S, Stage 4)by Robert Louis Stevenson
Oxford Univ Pr (Sd); Published: 1991-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops:
The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales (Oxford Books of Prose)Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2001-11-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $50.00
The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, Book 3)by Stephen King
Penguin Audio; Published: 2003-08-26; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $149.99
![Thinner [UNABRIDGED] Image](/images/Thinner-UNABRIDGED-0140862668-X.jpg){kind=small}
Thinner [UNABRIDGED]by Stephen King
Penguin Audio; Published: 1996-09-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
The Crow: Temple of Nightby S P. Somtow
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 1999-11-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Brains: A Zombie Memoirby Robin Becker
Eos; Published: 2010-05-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.23
Price in other shops:
The Strain LP: Book One of The Strain Trilogyby Guillermo Del Toro, Chuck Hogan
HarperLuxe; Published: 2009-06-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.45
Price in other shops:
Prince of Darknessby Barbara Michaels
HarperTorch; Published: 2005-04-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.58
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark SideBerkley Hardcover; Published: 2010-04-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.05
Price in other shops:
Biteby Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, MaryJanice Davidson, Angela Knight, Vickie Taylor
Jove Books; Published: 2004-12-28; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.90
Price in other shops:
The Sookie Stackhouse Companion (Sookie Stackhouse/ True Blood)Ace Hardcover; Published: 2011-08-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.24
Price in other shops:
Strange BrewSt. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2009-07-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.09
Price in other shops:
Many Bloody ReturnsAce Trade; Published: 2009-02-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.22
Price in other shops:
Home Improvement: Undead EditionAce Hardcover; Published: 2011-08-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.90
Price in other shops:
Many Bloody Returns (Sookie Stackhouse/ True Blood)Ace Hardcover; Published: 2007-09-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 12)by Charlaine Harris
Ace; Published: 2012-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.16
Price in other shops:
Death's Excellent VacationAce Hardcover; Published: 2010-08-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.31
Price in other shops:
A Touch of Dead (Sookie Stackhouse: The Complete Stories)by Charlaine Harris
Ace; Published: 2009-10-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.01
Price in other shops: