Back in March, I reviewed Many Bloody Returns, the first anthology edited by Harris and Kelner. It was a fun romp of stories combining vampires and birthdays. They returned, with a whole new set of authors, for Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, an anthology of stories combing werewolves and Christmas.
Just like with Many Bloody Returns, there were some stories that were fantastic and others that were only so so. I only knew a few of the authors before reading the anthology this time through (the main draw for me this time was Keri Arthur). My favorite story was Charlaine Harris' opener, "Gift Wrap". It's a Sookie Stackhouse short story (which reminds me that I really need to pick up this series at some point and read it!) in which Sookie finds an injured werewolf that isn't quite what he seems. I also really enjoyed "The Night Things Changed" by Dana Cameron. It was a neat little story about a brother and sister team (werewolf and vampire, respectively) tracking down a serial killer that's hit a little close to home."SA" by Joe Konrath was just funny. It takes place at a Shapeshifters Anonymous (the SA of the title) meeting and adds some nice little twists. They aren't by any stretch the only good stories in the novel, but they are the best three.
If you like your werewolves with a bit of humor, or a bit of darkness, or just a bit different, then I'd suggest you pick this up. Because it's an overall fun read. Not quite on par with Many Bloody Returns, but a solid outing none-the-less.
