The paranormal romance has become so popular that it’s hard to find anything on the shelves that resembles unique. So imagine my surprise when I read Berkley’s latest paranormal anthology, Wild Thing. All four stories have a fresh spin, discarding banal, overused premises and themes in favor of originality.

The anthology starts with Maggie Shayne’s Animal Magnetism, a superb whodunit with a decided animal appeal. Macy McNamara is the best vet in the county for a reason. When handsome detective Jay Harris brings in a canine gunshot victim for treatment, Macy uses her special abilities to communicate with her patient and “sees” the attacker, a serial rapist. Sparks fly despite Macy’s initial cold demeanor toward Jay, and his skepticism of her gift. As their relationship turns steamy, the attacker picks his latest target–Macy. Will Jay be able to save her in time? The ending is a nice little shocker you won’t see coming.

Paradise by author Meljean Brook, is a refreshing spin on both the vampire and the angel mythos. Lucas Marsden isn’t your typical vampire. He’s relatively young–as vampires go, so he still has much to learn about his nature. And although there was no love lost when his queen and consort was slain, he was saddened by her murder. Selah is neither an angel nor human–at least not any more. Yet, she still manages to get her wings dirty investigating this murder, tracking down the killer–a demon who hunts vampires.

As Selah and Lucas work together to find and stop the demon responsible, they also find a deeper connection and a growing passion.

Marjorie M. Liu’s Hunter Kiss, is a gritty, yet delightfully skewed kaleidoscope of damnation, salvation, and the tattoos that bind them. Hunter is just what her name implies. And she’s damn good at her job, hunting the ephemeral demons that posses humans she dubs “zombies.” When she saves ex-priest Grant Cooperon from a gathering horde of the “zombies,” she discovers information with the potential to rip the demon worlds apart.

The final story of the anthology is Alyssa Day’s Wild Hearts In Atlantis. In a world primed for takeover by vampires and shape shifters, only the Atlanteans known as the Warriors of Poseidon have a chance of saving the human race from subjugation and death. When the warriors hear of a rogue band of Florida shifters unaligned, they send a delegation to barter their own alliance. Bastien is no diplomat, but he’s been chosen to head the negotiations with the alpha of the rebel shifters. His contact liaison is Kat, a beautiful shifter he’s met before, and secretly wanted. Kat also fights her attraction to the handsome Atlantean. Fortunately for readers and for Bastien, she gives in to her desire, and in turn, her growing love for the hero saves him from a fight he may not be able to win.

Perhaps one of the best paranormal romance anthologies I’ve read this year, the stories that make up Wild Thing are fast-paced page turners. Kudos to Berkley for their keen eye on author pairings. Both Day and Brooks pull their weight and more, with bestselling heavy-hitters Shayne and Liu on board to give a solid performance. The only thing that would have made this a perfect anthology was if the authors had worked together to integrate the overall theme into a more seamless package.

4 ½  Kisses

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