1001 Dark Nights: Bundle One (1)

1,001 Dark Nights is a series of unrelated novellas written by a variety of wonderful authors. The series gives authors the opportunity to pen stories centered around some of their lesser and/or unknown characters from their more popular series. This book is the first bundled set coming from the series. It features four novellas with a common theme of weddings. I've not read any of these authors (series) before.Forever Wicked by Shayla Black (Wicked Lovers series)Billionaire Jason Denning grew up with absentee parents who felt money was almighty and that true love doesn’t exist. He keeps himself emotionally distant until he falls for down to earth, police officer Gia Angelotti. Their passion is powerful, but not enough, and she leaves him when family tragedy strikes. What will it take for the couple to realize how wonderful love truly can be?I was more than impressed with the depth of emotional impact and strength of the characters the author is able to establish in this novella. Forever Wicked conveys the couple’s history and problems without info dumping. Ms. Black creates three-dimensional characters that I was invested in. Jason and Gia’s romance is not a smooth journey, and the book has an emotion punch with a rewarding ending. Wonderful.My Rating: ACrimson Twilight by Heather Graham (Krewe of Hunters series)Jane Everett and Sloan Trent chose to celebrate their nuptials among close friends at an historic castle in New England. When the minister dies under peculiar circumstances, it is up to the Krewe of Hunters to solve the mystery before someone else dies.Overall, I enjoyed this novella, but I wish the author took a little more time to discuss what the Krewe of Hunters is. I was able to piece together the general gist, but knowing a little more about the world would have been nice. The story is entertaining and fun to read. The mystery itself was entertaining, and trying to figure out whodunit kept me invested in the story. While I figured out quickly the “who,” of the mystery, I found that the “why” was unnecessarily complex and a little confusing. However, watching Jane and Slone work together painted a wonderful love story, and I would certainly read more of this series in the future.My Rating: B+Captured in Surrender by Liliana Hart (MacKenzie Family)Bounty Hunter Naya Blade never wanted to go back Surrender, Montana because of Deputy Lane Greyson. However as soon as the pair sees one other, their passion re-ignites, taking them back to their unfilled romance from a year ago. Now Naya must decide if she can let go and let herself be loved.While I enjoyed this story and the pair has some wonderful chemistry, I found that the beginning of the book was contradictory and confusing. The author paints the picture that the couple has a deep and meaningful history, implying they have spent time together to develop this relationship. However, it is then made clear that they literally had less than one night together. I get “love at first sight” but the shifting undertones of the book were off-putting and left me frustrated.Once the author got passed the introductory part of the novella, the story moved to solely focus on the present and future, making for a better read. I liked the couple and enjoyed their chemistry. They worked well together both sexually and on the job.Captured in Surrender is a short and entertaining novella. It's both sexy and sweet at the same time. Giving the characters a history helped make their rapid journey to love seem rational, but the conflicting messages about their history was confusing and frustrating.My Rating: BSilent Bite: A Scanguards Wedding by Tina Folsom (Scanguards Vampire)Vampire Oliver Ralston and human Ursula Tseng are madly in love as they prepare to marry despite the odds. Her traditional Chinese parents know nothing of the secret paranormal world, and the pair must keep up the appearance of normalcy until after the ceremony is over. Meanwhile, a rogue vampire wants to steal Ursula away for himself.I have to say I was not really wow’d by this story. The mythology felt a bit corny to me, although I may have enjoyed it more had I previously read some of the Scanguard Vampire books. The tone of the book had a soap-operaish feel to it: campy and overly dramatic yet simple. I was also put off by the constant use of the term “blood whore.” The story was good enough that I read it all, but I did find myself skimming towards the end.My Rating: C-Although each novella may be purchase separately, I’m glad I purchased this bundle. It gave me the opportunity to enjoy some authors I’ve not read before. It’s a fun series and I plan to read more in of the 1,001 Dark Nights.Overall Rating for the Bundle: B

I've completed all four stories now, and only the Graham story brought the rating down. All four stories start after the couple have already met.Warning: each of these novellas is also available as a standalone title, review your past purchases carefully before buying this set.4/5 Forever Wicked: This is a standalone story, but it's the only one where I felt the lack of previous information lessened my enjoyment. This story contains elements of a D/s relationship but very light. Mostly it's talked about rather than acted upon. It was well written and I enjoyed the story but I found the premise was unrealistic. One year without contacting your spouse, no matter the reasons, is unacceptable. It would have worked better for me with a shorter time frame for the absence. That's the main reason why I didn't rate it higher. I liked it, but I didn't love it.2/5 Crimson Twilight: Even the name is cheesy. This story was not a romance, in any way. It was a short mystery that happened to involve two people whose wedding was interrupted. Even so, I would have given it 3/5 if it had been EDITED. There were a LOT of issues such as incorrect words, bad grammar, stilted dialog, continuity errors, etcetera. I probably spotted at least 20 errors while reading. For a short novella, that's pretty bad.5/5 Captured in Surrender: This was the shortest of the four but still well done. It was a nice mix of hot and spicy with humorous moments. Even though it was very short, it was enough to make me want to explore other titles by this author. If this story was expanded into a full length novel, I'd buy it.5/5 Silent Bite: This story did an excellent job of wrapping up the loose ends left by Oliver's Hunger. There is some discussion of how Oliver's problems resolved themselves and how the drugging effect of Ursula's blood is avoided. But more importantly, the HEA for Oliver and Ursula is given in detail. Many readers were disappointed by how things were left in Oliver's Hunger and this story fixes that, at least for me. I would not recommend this as a standalone story. I think the primary enjoyment comes from seeing the finale to O and U's story. I tried to look at it from the perspective of someone not familiar with the Scanguards family and I think it would be quite confusing if you didn't already know the history and personalities of many of the characters.

I agree w/ SECRET ROMANCE JUNKIE, 3 of these stories were great; but the 4th didn't belong. Here are my reviews:FOREVER WICKED: (A) great story but lacked the heated punch most of Black's other stories (basically those in the VIRGIN series) . A cop & a billionaire is a common story but the cop's family background was a nice touch. Would have liked more of Black's usual heat.CAPTURED IN SURRENDER: (A) Hot modern day cowboy story w/a bounty hunter tossed in. Heat plus a bit of suspenseSILENT BITE: (A+) my personal favorite, even w/a shorter story (about 118 pages) Folsom doesn't disappoint & giving us our necessary handsome vampires w/plenty of heat. W/out this story, I would have given the bundle 4 stars.CRIMSON TWILIGHT: (B+) decent story w/ghosts & some mystery.... but a misfit w/the other stories. This story was a definite PG. You don't group NANCY DREW w/FIFTY SHADES!For the price, this is a great deal, esp. if you're a fan of Black, Hart &/or Folsom. When I re-read it, I'll just skip over Graham's story.... too tame for my taste.This was my first foray into to the 1001 DARK NIGHT series. I'll buy the 2nd bundle if the price comes down a bit. It seemed to me Black & Hart toned down their usual heat; Folsom didn't seem to but it could be this story was shorter than her normal 300+ so it wasn't noticable.

Lots of good reads. I had a problem loving every story in the book, but I loved three out of four.

I enjoyed each novella. Each were different and unique. The writing was just incredible and it kept my attention. Starting the next bundle.

I have read several of the "1001 Dark Nights " books and have always enjoyed the stories in each book I have read. So do not be afraid to buy these books as the stories and the authors are great..........

Loved it these 1001 dark nights are good introduction to authors you may never have tried before,I found a few authors I now love through reading these 1001 dark nights.