Edited by Paula Guran, Best New Paranormal Romance

Best New Paranormal Romance

Edited by Paula Guran

Juno, January 2007, $12.95

ISBN: 0809556537

Wildside Press, 9710 Traville Gateway Dr #234, Rockville, MD 20850

"The Shadowed Heart" by Catherine Asaro. He is the last empathic starfighter, but his soul has been devastated with all he felt as his comrades died; she is the native who healed his body, but can she restore his heart?

"The Hard Stuff" by Paul Barnett. Disabled in combat, he takes out his feelings of inadequacy on his loving wife, until he learns how much she gave up out of love for him.

"Follow Me Light" by Elizabeth Bear. The public defender loved the crippled attorney, but she married someone else, as he was disinterested in a relationship until he realized how much he lost.

"Magic in a Certain Slant of Light" by Deborah Coates. The scientist lives her life to a precise cosmic order, until she loses her beloved Jeff and turns to magic.

"Calypso in Berlin" by Elizabeth Hand. Nymphs know men love and leave them, but she plans to be with her mortal forever.

"Fir Na Tine" by Sandra McDonald. They were college lovers who went different ways in life after graduation, but neither forgot how their love was hotter than the sun.

"A Maze of Trees" by Claudia O'Keefe. To know one will never go home while adjusting to totally alien environs seems too harsh, but for the bathrobe that provides memories and subsequently solace.

"A Treatise on Fewmets" by Sarah Prineas. The College of Magic professor arrives to rid the garden of the monsters, but neither she nor the owner's nephew yet understand a different form of magic is needed to send the pests packing.

"Single White Farmhouse" by Heather Shaw The rural cuddly farmhouse and the hunk San Franciscan building meet and fall in love over the Internet.

"Walpurgis Afternoon" by Delia Sherman. In the middle class urban neighborhood, a Victorian house is now owned by two resident witches who plan to bring the magic of love to the locals.

"A Knot of Toads" by Jane Yolen. Upon the death of her father the scholar returns home to learn what killed him, but finds no allies, as no one, even her former lover, is quite like her memories of them.

"A Hero's Welcome" by Rebecca York. They were the best of friends until the war made them the worst of enemies, but the hostilities are over, with each needing the other, yet distrusting one another.

These twelve short stories live up to the title, as each is an enchanting romantic fantasy. Fun to follow, though the format does not allow the paranormal elements to feel believable, readers will appreciate the acute yet quirky tales of mystical love.