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First, the disclaimer: This is essentially a romance anthology, and I’m not a fan of romance novels. I’m also not that crazy for the short story format, although sometimes they make a nice change of pace in small doses. So why on Earth did I read this? I read it for the Robin Hobb story which is set in the series I’m currently reading. Since there are only five stories in the anthology, I’m just going to write a brief review for each of them.

The Marrying Maid by Jo Beverley
This one was� bizarre. For reasons explained (eventually) in the story, Rob must marry and have sex with a pre-determined woman before his 25th birthday or he and his entire family will die. At the beginning of the story, he finally finds the correct woman, Martha, when his time is almost out. Even if I was a fan of romance stories, I don’t think I would have enjoyed this one. The desperation of Rob and the reluctance of Martha made the story uncomfortable, and not at all romantic. 2 stars.

Blue Boots by Robin Hobb
This was the story that I read the anthology for. It’s set in the Six Duchies from her Elderlings series, but familiarity with the series isn’t needed to understand the story. Somebody unfamiliar with it probably wouldn’t even realize it was set in a larger series. It’s a fairly straight-forward romance, with some of what I would consider to be typical romance tropes. The romance took place between characters who barely knew each other, so I never really bought into it. It’s written well enough, so I might have enjoyed this more if I was a romance reader. I think Hobb is great at writing characters, and that showed in this story. However, it really didn’t add any new depth to the Six Duchies setting for me. 3 stars.

You, and You Alone by Jacqueline Carey
This was the story that made me sit and stare at my Kindle for a minute after I finished it. I think I liked it, but it was tragic. The reader knows it’s going to be tragic from the very beginning, so that wasn’t surprising, but I actually got a little invested in the relationship in this one. I think what really helped this one feel more real was that the story takes place over several years and we see their ups and downs. There’s also a little more to this story than just romance; there’s a tiny hint of political intrigue as well. I haven’t yet read Carey’s Kushiel series, but it’s been on my to-read list for a while so I enjoyed getting a taste of her writing. I’m pretty sure this was set in that series, because I recognized some proper names from the book titles. I occasionally had the feeling that this story had a lot more meaning and relevance to a bigger picture than what I was grasping due to being unfamiliar with the setting. I’ll have to re-read this once I do finally read the series. Oh, and my read of The Iliad earlier this year paid off because there were a few references to it. :) 3.5 stars.

Under/Above the Water by Tanith Lee
This story didn’t do anything for me at all. I’m not entirely sure why, but I didn’t buy into the story and I didn’t feel any connection to the characters. I can’t even think of more to say than that, which in itself probably speaks best for the lack of impression this made on me. 2 stars.

Demon Lover by Cecelia Holland
In the first paragraph of this story, a demon is essentially trying to rape the main character. So my initial reaction was, “Oooookay…� But actually, once it got started, the story captured my interest. The romance didn’t have a lot of substance nor did it have much appeal but, by this point in the anthology, I wasn’t really expecting it to. I think short stories are probably not the best vehicle for believable romances. Not for what I as a reader would consider believable, anyway. I might have been interested in a longer version of this story with more focus on the other aspects of the setting aside from the romance. 3 stars.

So those star ratings average out to 2.7, which mathematically-speaking should be rounded down to 2.5. However, I’m going to round it up to 3 based on two things: 1) the strength of the Carey story which I did debate giving 4 stars and 2) an acknowledgement that I really wasn’t the right audience for this anthology, and I knew that going in but chose to read it anyway.