The Wrath of Jan had the most wonderful deadpan humor here and there. Vaish's stoic personality, which is usually awarded to the hero, gave her handful of jokes even more force. Steven's woman-loving, easy-going personality was the perfect contrast and a hero couldn't be more adorable (in a completely masculine manner). Their foibles on the planet they were stranded upon were a mix of amusing and dangerous-yet-not. Steven's refusal to take just about anything seriously made those tense situations something to snicker over. The addition of the ribbing AI, Fred, added to that humor. And I loved the fact that the book relied a lot on dialogue, giving it a VERY fast pace. The Wrath of Jan may have been the funniest story in this anthology, and alone, is worth buying the whole.

Earth Girls Aren't Easy by Jaide Fox
Darion Jarata first sees the rebel, Chyna Lin, from afar. Her spirit and beauty makes him utterly intent on having her for himself. The fact that she's one of the humans that settled on his peoples' land without permission matters only in that it gives him leverage. He even has plans to have sons with her, but doesn't quite count on Chyna's sheer tenacity in escaping him.

Earth Girls Aren't Easy features one of the best heroines. She was so pragmatic about Darion's approach to forcing her cooperation. While many heroines would defiantly insist they'd rather go to a dark, high-security prison than "suffer" through their enemy's touch, Chyna was quite certain that, besides not minding Darion in bed so much, being in the palace would offer greater chances for escape. To top off her list of pleasurable qualities, she was also ALMOST ditzy. Not stupid, but her flare for irreverence was adorable and had me snickering. I strangely identified with her throughout many of her actions. Earth Girls Aren't Easy not only had me laughing every few paragraphs, it also had some hot sex, as one would expect of Ms. Fox's sci-fi stories. Sparks flew from Chyna's defiance of Darion, AND from their attraction, making an overall great read.

Fully Functional by Ashley Ladd
Shannon has had a thing for her brother's best friend, Gregg, for years, even though he's never noticed her as anything more than a friend's sister. But that doesn't mean she isn't suspicious when he and her brother, Scotty, want her to test out their new inventions. First, there's the robotic dog that provides security...then the smart house...then Myrtle, Rafael, and Claudette. From almost the beginning, Shannon has reservations about living in Gregg's revamped house. Rafael is fully-function, literally, and seems to have all the personality of a bad romeo. Myrtle is up-tight, and Claudette is a cook. Shannon prefers to cook for herself, since that's basically how she creates recipes that bring her royalties. But, as usual, the inventors didn't think of that. It doesn't help that the robots give her a weird feeling.

Fully Functional had some completely nutty moments. I particularly liked the weird moments Shannon had with Rafael. The sense of humor Ms. Ladd gave Shannon was a mix of sarcastic, witty, and completely bizarre. I loved it! However, there were moments that felt very odd within in the story. Usually it had to do with Shannon's thoughts, almost like they came out of nowhere. Also, other events and characters' thoughts and actions seemed very random and jilted me a little out of the flow of the story. But I still enjoyed Fully Functional quite a bit. Shannon and Gregg were surprisingly forthcoming once they had an inkling of each others' feelings, rather than beating around the bush about it, which was definitely a good thing And, to be honest, Gregg was pretty sexy, despite supposedly being a nerd. And just like the previous stories, this story was chock full of humor that made me laugh.

Interplanetary Love by Shelley Munro
It seems like every time Carly goes on a date, she ends up with a jerk. All she wants is someone that can please her in bed and deal with her work as a cop. So, on the off-chance the e-mail ISN'T spam, she fills out the Interplanetary Love form and sends it.

Ekim Ramuk is sick of being Nidni's greatest lover. He gets no satisfaction out of it; in fact, more often than not, his tongue and jaw come away sore from an encounter with one of the many women who hound him. But his sister, Rala, couldn't care less about Ekim's plight. Until he marries, she can't be with her mate. So she fills out an Interplanetary Love form in his name, and hopes they'll send someone Ekim will fall in love with.

While I certainly enjoyed this story, especially because of the largely level-headed characters, I felt plunked down in the middle of a sci-fi/futuristic world I didn't quite understand. A little background on how Earth and Nidni became connected and why Ekim had female loves but his sister wasn't allowed to go about without a chaperone would've been greatly appreciated. Also, the sex scenes, which were very passionate, differed greatly sometimes in language, almost like two people were writing them. However, beyond those two fairly minor things, Interplanetary Love was pretty good. Carly and Ekim made a good couple, and I liked the fact that they didn't have the chance to immediately jump into bed. I also liked that, even though Rala orchestrated getting them together more than once, the two were comfortable enough with each other to avoid denial. And like all the other stories, Interplanetary Love was a lighthearted read with a very good flow to it that allowed me to read it to the finish beyond easily.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Explicit

Reviewer: Tara Black
August 30, 2005