Beyond the Dark

I picked up this anthology primarily because I like Evelyn Vaughn, but it also sounded like an interesting read for Halloween. It ended up being one of those anthologies where all of the stories would have been better if they'd been longer. Overall, Beyond the Dark was a 3.5 out of 5.

"Forever Mine" by Linda Winstead Jones is the first story in the book. I loved the idea behind this story. Miranda, the heroine, accidentally runs over and kills an ex-boyfriend who has been stalking her. Now he's a ghost, and he's still stalking her, saying that she is his forever. So Miranda calls a psychic to see if he can help her get rid of the ghost.

As I said, I loved the set up, but this story definitely needed to be longer. There's a lot to cover--the ghost, the hero and heroine's first meeting, the investigation, the flashback to previous lives (since this is stated on the back cover, it's not a spoiler). With so much going on, the romance seems a little rushed. Even 30 more pages would have helped. The resolution seemed a little anticlimactic as well. This story is 3 out of 5.

Evelyn Vaughn's story, "Haunt Me," is the second and best one of the anthology. It's also the longest, which might be one reason I liked it. One thing I like about Vaughn's books is that she's not afraid to try something different with her stories. "Haunt Me" has plenty of different going on. For one thing, the hero has been in a car accident and is lying comatose for most of the story. This scenario brought tears to my eyes several times. Second, one of the villains is a creature that feeds off the pain and anger of others.

Despite the obvious challenges of these scenarios, I liked the story. There is a nice balance of flashbacks and current action, and we do get to see the hero and heroine interact with each other despite the coma. I was hoping for more happiness at the end to offset the hero's coma for most of the story, but I still liked it: 4 out of 5.

The third novella is "Soul of the Wolf" by Karen Whiddon. It's the story of a woman who is investigating the death of an ex-boyfriend. The boyfriend's cousin, an FBI agent, joins the investigation and finds himself falling for the woman his cousin loved.

I liked this set up for the story, although I was taken aback by the fact that the heroine's breakup with the ex-boyfriend occurred only a month before. This made it seem a little too soon for her to become involved with someone else. The resolution to the suspense aspect of the story seems a little abrupt, as well. The couple falls in love quickly, which isn't surprising in a novella, but it's not entirely satisfying. As with the first story, this novella could have used another 30 pages. I may try one of her full-length books to see what I think.