Under a winter sky Anthology

Kindle Edition, 335

Published November 19th 2020 by Brightlynx Publishing

Series: Thorne Manor #1.5 (Ballgowns & Butterflies), Heirs of Magic #.5 (Long Night Crystalline Moon), Earthsinger Chronicles #3.5 (Echoes of Ash & Tears) 

Fantasy, UF, PNR

To review

Ballgowns & Butterflies by Kelley Armstrong

I always enjoy a time travel story. And even though this one takes place after what I assume is book one it works, they are together and happy now. I guess book 1 was about them finding love, but it does not matter. I'd still read book 1 and see the read these. Now instead we have a novella about a couple who lives in different times and they travel back and forth. She is worried about the timeline, but hey lady you are preggers, you already changed it.

Just a sweet novella at xmas time

The Long Night of the Crystalline Moon, a prequel novella to Heirs of Magic, by Jeffe Kennedy

Not sure about what I assume is everyone kids hooking up with each other. Find some new blood guys! Lol.

Set 2 decades after the events in her previous series. The kids are grown up, and two are circling each other. Will they find they way back. Oh they totally will, but then it ends with a maybe cliffie. Something is brewing and that will be the new series. And see now all I wonder what is brewing? And I do not think book one will be about Rhy and Lena. Sadness

Blood Martinis and Mistletoe by Melissa Marr

I am intrigued by this series. A woman who can see ghosts, and is part ghost? Well something, and witch. And is engaged to a faery prince, but wants and does not want it. Oh and people are trying to get to her.

I am intrigued by book 1 and what must have happened there. This was a really good novella teaser that made me want more.

Echoes of Ash & Tears, an Earthsinger Chronicles Novella, by L. Penelope

Alas, with this one I felt lost. I did not understand the world, the people or the magic. Here I really felt that one should have read the previous books.'

Some woman treated as crap in caves, has bad magic, her dad left her there. Meets a guy. I just felt lost. So meh

Final thoughts

Like with all anthologies, there was the one I did not take too. But novellas mid series can be tricky. And that last one felt like I had missed out. But the rest worked really well as jumping in points in different series, as I only have read the Kennedy one. Good insights into worlds.

Ballgowns & Butterflies by Kelley Armstrong

The North Yorkshire moors are always a magical place, but they’re particularly enchanting at the holidays…especially if one gets to travel back in time to a Victorian Christmas. For Bronwyn Dale, it is the stuff of dreams. Fancy-dress balls, quirky small-town traditions, even that classic one-horse open sleigh, complete with jingle bells. There’s just the tiny problem of the Butterfly Effect. How does a time-traveler make a difference without disrupting the future forever?

The Long Night of the Crystalline Moon, a prequel novella to Heirs of Magic, by Jeffe Kennedy

Shapeshifter Prince Rhyian doesn’t especially want to spend the Feast of Moranu at Castle Ordnung. First of all, it’s literally freezing there, an uncomfortable change from the tropical paradise of his home. Secondly, it’s a mossback castle which means thick walls and too many rules. Thirdly, his childhood playmate and current nemesis, Lena, will be there. Not exactly a cause for celebration.

Princess Salena Nakoa KauPo nearly wriggled out of traveling to Ordnung with her parents, but her mother put her foot down declaring that, since everyone who ever mattered to her was going to be there to celebrate the 25th year of High Queen Ursula’s reign, Lena can suffer through a feast and a ball for one night. Of course, “everyone” includes the sons and daughters of her parents’ friends, and it also means that Rhyian, insufferable Prince of the Tala, will attend.

But on this special anniversary year, Moranu’s sacred feast falls on the long night of the crystalline moon—and Rhy and Lena discover there’s more than a bit of magic in the air.

Blood Martinis and Mistletoe by Melissa Marr

Half-dead witch Geneviève Crowe makes her living beheading the dead--and spends her free time trying not to get too attached to her business partner, Eli Stonecroft, a faery in self-imposed exile in New Orleans. With a killer at her throat and a blood martini in her hand, Gen accepts what seems like a straight-forward faery bargain, but soon realizes that if she can't figure out a way out of this faery bargain, she'll be planning a wedding after the holidays.

Echoes of Ash & Tears, an Earthsinger Chronicles Novella, by L. Penelope

Brought to live among the Cavefolk as an infant, Mooriah has long sought to secure her place in the clan and lose her outsider status. She’s a powerful blood mage, and when the chieftain’s son asks for help securing the safety of the clan, she agrees. But though she’s long been drawn to the warrior, any relationship between the two is forbidden. The arrival of a mysterious stranger with a tempting offer tests her loyalties, and when betrayal looms, will Mooriah’s secrets and hidden power put the future she’s dreamed of—and her adopted home—in jeopardy.