Deep into Darkness

Five sci fi stories that feature aliens and alpha males and it's an unusual anthology. Why unusual? Well firstly it appears to be aimed at the romance market from the cover and title and although all these stories have relationships within I'm not sure that all will appeal to those who are primarily just looking for a saucy read. Pandora is a story set on a prison salvage ship in space and from the outset it's clear that the captain is a sadistic zealot with no feeling for his crew or prisoners. When they find an abondined vessel drifting a small group are sent to investigate but what they find brings horror to their mission. Expect a feeling reminiscent of such as Solaris or Event Horizon as the author brings a dark side to the story and although she does throw in two strong likeable characters in Riff and Zed the interaction seemed a little forced.
Now I do tend to associate Annie Nicholas with paranormal stories so her blue alien was a lovely surprise. Interesting mixture of technology with the heroine Sadie being more than the average human but unfortunately her past is about to smack her fight in the face! Protecting the Ambasador Nuel should be simple but that annoying male has secrets that he just refuses to share! Lively interaction but the love came just two quick for me.
Ok Forsaken Planet really steps up with the scientific element as it's a story that sets the two main characters on a mining planet. This could have been pretty nasty as the hero Sakir has quite unusual tentacles which could well muddy the romance but luckily for him Luci is turned on! Luci is caught in a difficult position with family issues looming over her head but her courage shone through and even though I thought she was too much of a pushover when it came to Sakir it's a romance that had me intruiged about what could happen next.
Kim Knox came up with what I thought was the most unusual angle. Vampires have been done to death in romance but hers are really completely different! Yes there's blood involved but also metal that bonds to them . This is a very gory story but the most unusual part was just what the hero Andros can do with machinery. Add in a special woman that he can't resist and an adventure is born. I particularly liked the latter part of the story as explanations helped make sense of what was to me a shaky start.
Finally Freeker with it's bloodthirsty cast! Very unusual animalistic aliens that are the closest family ever! It's clearly part of a series and I already want to read more. Here we meet Chara a convicted murderer but she's on the run and hides out on Warrants ship. Not the worse thing she could do because Warrant really wants a taste of the tiny female but with hunters after her and Warrants family more than happy to throw her out a hatch just who can be trusted? So the first story which is the longest does almost feel like a horror story. Perhaps it would have been better placed further down the list as I'm a little concerned the tone might put some readers off. That being said I did finish all the stories within this book but if you are expecting naughty smut all the way than maybe not the anthology for you. Intimate scenes abound with Forsaken Planet perhaps having the most fore play ( constant interruptions anyone ?) and Ive discovered new authors so not a waste of my time. Difficult to rate though!
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review

a good set of stories. enjoyed the all.

Wonderfully entertaining book of got to love hero's even if you don't want to in short and sweet stories!!

I had not yet read a story from any of these authors previous to this, but now I have 4 more authors to add to my reading list. They also took me in a new direction as far as style goes but I did enjoy each story greatly. It took me a little bit to get use to the Sci fi aspect but was well worth it.

The books in this collection were all very well written. I'm always amazed at how detailed authors can make "alien worlds." There are new names of every-day things and the detail that goes into describing the aliens is down-right impressive. Labbe's M/M story was very sexy...and pretty violent. I don't object to either, but I did find myself lost in the massive amount of detail that was provided at times. I skimmed a bit of the middle to "get to the point."
I loved Glitch in Nicholas' story. The idea of a mini computer following the main character around and feeding her information was wonderfully done. And Saddie's loyalty was awesome to see. A very nice sexy story. I loved the "tentacles" in Logan's story. It was a nice way to make it _almost_ a M/F/M story. Full of action and sexy times, it was a quick read that kept me interested from the first page. Knox can write some sexy vampires....that's for sure! This was another fast-paced story that had me hooked from the first chapter...what was in the coffin...I like a little mystery to my romance and this had it in spades.
And last but not least was Drake's story...it started out hot and stayed that way. If you like alien stories this anthology is for you. You can read a book in a couple of hours and be ready to start again with a new alien in a new world. I recommend it.