I LOVE THIS COLLECTION! Collections of short stories are my favorite ways to read new authors and get story updates from a favorite series. Heroic Hearts was such a fun and fast read. "Little Things" by Butcher, "Dating Terrors" by Briggs, and "The Return of the Mage" by Harris were my favorites, because of course they were, but I enjoyed every story I read. I've never read any of Briggs before, so this was a good short that really drew me in. I will be picking her books up soon. Much to my own folly, I read "Little Things" prior to finishing the Dresden Files most recent novel. DO NOT READ "Little Things" IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE SERIES. I say this because, while the spoiler is not super noticeable if you catch it the storyline will destroy you a bit. It did to me.

Awesome anthology, one that I know I will return to again and again!

Loved it! Especially Patricia Briggs Ansel storyline.. Great fun! All short stories, we fun peaks into various worlds, some new, some old.

A fun collection of short stories from a mix of well known and up and coming authors. The standouts include: Jim Butcher leads the way with an endearing slice of life from the Dresden Files, as we get to see Major General Toot-Toot Minimus at his finest, watching Harry's back while he's grieving Murphy. Kevin Hearne puts in some cute with his latest Australian adventure from his trusty pooch's point of view. Charlaine Harris delves into a new magical world with wizard mercenaries - I honestly found this one a little tough to get through, as at first I couldn't tell if it was part of Gunnie Rose's universe or something stand a lone (it's a stand a lone - I think) and the universe was rather poorly defined. R.R. Virdi, an author I hadn't known before this, introduces their world of spirit detective meats Quantum Leap. It shows quite a bit of promise, enough to make me want to track down the series and give it a try. Too much of the plot was just handed to the protagonist, making him more of a hitman than detective - I'm curious to see if that was just a shortcut for a short story, or how Virdi regularly writes. Patricia Briggs closes the anthology with one of her most tortured side characters, Asil the Moor, potentially finding new romance at first sight after centuries of grief-induced madness (content warning: tooth rotting romance).

A decent collection of Urban Fiction short stories. As with all of these anthologies, some were better than others; and too many depended on the reader being familiar with that particular authors series.

The stories were of varying quality, but all were readable. The best by far was Dating Terrors by Patricia Briggs.

As in any short story collection there is an element of uneveness, but there were no stories in this collection I disliked. My favorites included some of my favorite authors and characters I knew, but pleasingly they also included a couple I have never read before. Fans of Patricia Briggs will be thrilled to find another Asil Dating Adventure. Dresdin makes an appearance though as a supporting cast member in the story, which if anything makes it better. The stories The Vampires Karamazov by Nancy Holder and Troll Life by Kerrie L Hughes were the strongest among the authors I was not familar. I intend to look up both. Overall a very strong modern fantasy collection with a fair range of styles and settings.

This short story anthology edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie L. Hughes, is filled with authors whose works I head read before and others I encountered for the first time. Many of the stories have character/s from their longer works, and all main characters demonstrate their Heroic Hearts. There are stories by Jennifer Brozek, Kerrie L. Hughes, Kevin Hearns (Iron Druids), R. R.Virdi (Vincent Graves), Charlaine Harris, Ann Bishop (the Others), Kelly Armstrong (Darkest Powers), Patricia Briggs (werewolf Asil), Annie Bellet, Nancy Holder (“The Vampires Karamazov” - how can you resist?) and Chloe Neil.

I was particularly attracted, though, by the fact that a Jim Butcher story is included, yet I was disappointed because, contrary to many readers, I'm sure, I am not a fan of Major General Toot-Toot and the pizza-loving pixies. Not that he's a bad guy; I just prefer a focus on Dresden.

Nevertheless, I believe there is something for everyone who enjoys well-written urban fantasy: sentient trains, trolls, ghosts, witches, vampires, werewolves, and, of course, pixies. The stories' emotional tones range widely from serious and sad to light-hearted and comedic. I enjoyed sampling works by writers I was not familiar with. And I'm sure the quick narratives will provide enjoyment for everyone else, too.

An overall fun collection of short stories from popular and best selling paranormal series. By and large the stories come from well fleshed out and established worlds - the Dresden Files clocking in at 17 novels so far, so this collection may not be the best introduction to the different settings. However for those familiar with them this is a must read.

The stories that spoke to me the most, with the exception of Patricia Brigg's “Dating Terrors" that combines werewolves and online dating which I loved, were the stories of the companions and pets. Toot the pixie in Dresden Files, Oberon from the Iron Druid Chronicles, etc. I was less drawn in by the stories of the more standard people and narrators of these worlds. Still, overall enjoyable.

Collection of heroic tales from some of the best paranormal writers today. Includes Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong and more. ARC from NetGalley.

I'm a big fan of Butchers, so any chance to read his work is one I jump at. And his story is delightful and fun.

The only other author I'd read in the collection was Hearn, and while I've only read one of his, it was from the same world, so I had some background to go on. It was well crafted and a good.

Of the other stories, all but the one by C Harris were good, interesting, and maybe even enough to get me to pick up their stand alone books. The Harris one felt like it was sloppy and poorly written, a surprise given how prolific an author she is.

Overall, a great collection to introduce you to some voices you may not have heard or to give you a little tidbit from your favorites.

This collection features new short stories by two of my favorite UF authors/series, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid. Both were interesting additions to those series. I also enjoyed Charlaine Harris's Britlingen mercenaries and will look to see if there are more featuring them. A nice collection to pick up for when you want to read but don't want the longer time investment of a full length novel.

Heroic Hearts, edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie Hughes is a compilation of short stories by various scify/fantasy authors. For someone like myself, who has not read a lot in this genre, it is a wonderful introduction to some very good authors. I enjoyed all of the stories and will seek out more writing by many of those showcased in this collection.

This anthology contains urban fantasy stories by some of my favorite authors. .Each story, by such notables as Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Anne Bishop, Kelley Armstrong, and Patricia Briggs, share the theme of a hero, and the heroes include trolls, werewolves, and a variety of others. My absolute favorite in the collection was the story by Patricia Briggs. I've read all of her books, and I hope maybe she will start a new series with the characters presented in her story. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

With anthologies, the joy for me is reading a short story by an author I love and the sad part is that I’m unlikely to have that same enthusiasm for every other story.

The editors of HEROIC HEARTS found a great balance of humor and grief, serious and lighthearted which I appreciated. I was familiar with most but not all of the authors so now I have more books to add to my TBR so I can explore more of their worlds.

The theme for the anthology is courage so most of the stories have some sort of Big Bad to be dealt with.

I loved Patricia Briggs’ story - Asil dating?! And Anne Bishop’s story about The Others - if you love the novels, this short story feels exactly like that in the best way. It was nice to see Oberon and his poodle and sausage talk in the Kevin Hearne Iron Druid story.

If you’re an urban fantasy fan, this is a great way to visit with some favorite characters and possibly discover new series to love.

Compilations of short stories are not usually my jam. The collections can be uneven, and only partially interesting. Heroic Hearts does not suffer in any way from these. The short stories within are well written, compelling, clever, and involving enough that my engagement did not flag at all through the entire book. Authors that I am familiar with performed well and those that were unfamiliar impressed me enough to seek out their other work. Truly, this is the job of a good compilation!

I’ve been a fan of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series since the beginning, so that was my primary motivation to read this anthology, even though I’m not generally a fan of anthologies.

Reading a story about Toot Toot defending the literal castle (with an assist from Mister and Bob) was a nice change of pace from the more gloomy tone the series is on.

I’m not as familiar with the other authors. A couple were have series I’ve heard of, but haven’t read, so this was a way to sample them. I do wish they’d had introductions for each story, mentioning the series name, as I spent a bit of time looking those up. There is a bit of this at the end, but I didn’t realize that until, well, the end.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars—Uneven collection, closer to 3 stars than 4, but that fabulous story about Asil can’t be in a collection I give a 3 to. Here’s the rundown:

Little Things—Butcher 3.5 stars
Fun to get a story from Toot Toot’s POV, and Mister and Bob were in it too, so yay! I think it’s the shortest story in the collection, and the length works fine, but I would have liked to hang out with these characters a little longer.

The Dark Ship—Bishop 4 stars
Interesting to revisit the Others after quitting the series so many years ago. This story had me second-guessing that decision.

Comfort Zone—Armstrong 3 stars
Darkest Powers isn’t a series I read, and the story was only OK to someone reading it as a newcomer. I can imagine fans of the series will be exited to see Chloe and Derek.

Train to Last Hope—Annie Bellet 3 stars
This one was more about relationships and healing grief than anything else. It was moving, but I think I was expecting more details about confronting what happened to their daughter. My lukewarm rating is maybe a case of my expectations not being in line with author’s focus.

Fire Hazard—Kevin Hearne 3 stars
Reading this reminded me of the roller coaster of emotions I felt reading the first Iron Druid book—enjoying the humor, cringing at the humor, enjoying Oberon, thinking the Oberon was too silly, etc.

Grave Gambles—R.R. Virdi 2 stars
I’ve read positive things about the novel series this story is set in, so maybe this type of plot didn’t work as a short story. The motive for the kidnappings came from nowhere, and the hero and villains actions didn’t make sense. Why play along? That’s my vague question since this isn’t out yet. I didn’t love it.

Silverspell—Chloe Neill 4 stars
I enjoyed this quick mystery. Neill worked well in the space she used to tell the story, and it renewed my interest in her vampire series.

Troll Life—Kerrie L. Hughes 3 stars
I liked main character Harzi, the subway setting, and the sentient trains, but there was no story or character development. Everything was just rather simply explained.

Return of the Mage—Charlaine Harris 3 stars
Pretty high learning curve for the amount of vocabulary and strange names to remember in a story that took 30 minutes to read. I am curious about Vandler’s fate, though, so it grabbed my interest that much. As far as I can tell, these characters and this setting aren’t a part of longer works.

The Vampires Karamazov—Nancy Holder 4 stars
I’m sure this would mean more to me if I’d ever read The Brothers Karamazov, but I still appreciated the writing. It was pretty grim, and I’m not sure I understand the ending.

The Necessity of Pragmatic Magic—Jennifer Brozek 3.5 stars
Short little ditty with two elderly witches combating a cursed object in a museum. I liked the setting and the protagonists. The resolution was rather speedy and underdeveloped.

Dating Terrors—Patricia Briggs 5 stars
I expected this to be my favorite of the collection, and it absolutely was! The editors saved the best for last, placing it at the end of the collection. The longest of the offerings, it had space for a little more development, and I loved seeing the wolves from the Emerald City pack. I can’t wait to see how this plot plays out in the Alpha and Omega series. Asil fans are going to lose their minds.

I needed to read this book as soon as I saw that Jim Butcher, Kevin Hearne, and Patricia Briggs had stories inside. I am also a sucker for theme anthologies as my bookshelves can attest, so that was another plus. I enjoy trying out authors via short stories to find out how their minds work and see if I find their worlds interesting. This anthology does not disappoint. The Jim Butcher story stars Major General Toot-Toot defending pizza among other things. The Kevin Hearne's story has Oberon and Starbuck saving Atticus in a preview to their guest appearance in Paper & Blood. The Patricia Briggs story stars Asil out on his 4th date (I need to find the stories of dates 2 & 3). In between these tales are stories of vampires, werewolves, trolls as train station attendants, strange sea gods, and witches. In all, a very, very satisfying read!

Who doesn't need heroes in this day and age and here are stories from some of the best writers of the genre. Heroic Hearts, edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie Hughes is another anthology of excellent stories that I had to read all the way through at one sitting.

Another strong anthology outing from Butcher and Hughes. I enjoyed this more than the previous anthology (Shadowed Souls) simply because more of the settings and characters were familiar to me. I appreciated that the heroes tended to be side or completely new characters, either giving backstory or fleshing out familiar worlds a little more.

All the stories are well-written, a nice mix of "oh, yes, I enjoy this author/world" and "this is new to me" Definitely worth picking up!

And a new "Asil Dates" story is the cherry on top!

#HeroicHearts #NetGalley

Got it for Jim Butcher, stayed for the rest. Anthologies are not my jam normally. Found two new authors (always a bonus) was disappointed in the Harris story, but overall, this was a winner!