I like both authors in this anthology, so it's not a surprise that I liked the anthology too. It's a good example of hot wo pair two authors to make happy the reader with both of them.

Ignite by Bonnie Dee: Bonnie Dee is one of the few author I read also when she is writing het romance, but, as you can imagine, I prefer her when she writes M/M. Pete Santori is a firefighter and he should hate everything, or everyone causes a fire, but he seems unable to hate Alan. Alan is a firestarter, a man able to ignite fire through his emotions, but he is not able to control them. More he is in distress, more fires he causes. After spending five years in a government facility as a guinea pig, and one years on the street, at 23 years old he is tired and would only put a stop to his life. What he does, instead, is causing another fire and this time Pete is his rescuer. The 30 years old openly gay firefighter is immediately attracted by this young man and he is compelled to help him.

The story is not bad, on the contrary, I really like the idea of a all too normal guy who finds out to have some special powers he doesn't know from what or where. He was a foster child, so he didn't know his real parents. And when finally he finds a man he can be near to... guess what? he is a firefighter! But even if I like the story, I believe it suffered from the lack of space to fully develop: for a story like this one, 80 pages are really to short. Alan has enough space to enthrall the reader, but in the end we haven't answers on his past and on his future. Poor Pete, other than come out like a knight in shining armor, has not way to shine: I only know that he is very good at sex and that he knows that. Now don't get me wrong, this is not a bad story, in 80 pages I read stories that said a lot less than this one, I'm saying that with some pages more, it could be a very good one, instead of a nice one.

Where the Devil Dances by T.A. Chase: and here instead an example of a story of the same lenght, 80 pages, that it's complete and right as it's. With only few words, and with the help of two really cute dogs, I have all the details I need to enjoy both characters. Eric is a rather sophisticated man, an architect who lives in a Victorian house and works on "cultural" project; he has also a trendy dog, a Papillion, a dog cute as his owner... small the dog and small the owner, but both with temperament. Despite his diminutive body, Eric has a strong will, something he needed after escaping a nearly fatal fire, that didn't save his lover: even if, thanks to surgery, Eric has still a beautiful face, he is scarred in the body and cautious to let people see him in the nude.

Maybe since he is a firefighter, David is not so much impressed by Eric's body scars, and he is more interested in him as a possible partner. David is the classical good boy next door, big and strong, but with a tender heart; his good match is his dog, a big greyhound who has no problem to be lead around by the small Papillion... like his owner has no problem to be lead by Eric. David is, like his role as firefighter let imagine, a knight in shining armor and he will have his chance to save the damsel in distress, but all in all, he is not the stronger in the couple. For past experience and for attitude, the upper hand in the relationship, and also the role of caretaker, are more likely to Eric.

In a way both stories are similar, since they respect the hero image of the firefighters, but in the end, both men are more like supporting characters to the real man represented by their lovers; and nothing if not the attitude would lead to this conclusion, since the physique du role for both is right: big and strong the firefighters, lithe and pretty the damsel in distress they rescue.

http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/486900.html